There is no denying that smart home technology has become increasingly popular among many homeowners. Many people opt for smart home automation in their homes because of the convenience and comfort that comes with it.
With smart home technology, you can independently and remotely control all your smart devices however you like. This includes lights, speakers, door locks, doorbells, smart cameras, smart thermostats, among many others.
Even though home automation has become very appealing to people, like any other technology, it comes with some vices.
I have put together this article to highlight the good and the bad of using smart home technology;
Advantages of Smart Home Technology
So, here are some key advantages when implementing a smart home:
- Energy efficiency – One of the best things about smart home technology is that you’re bound to make substantial energy savings. Most smart devices in the smart home industry today are manufactured with energy efficiency in mind. For example, nowadays, there are smart thermostats from different brands, including Google Nest and Honeywell. These smart thermostats are capable of learning your daily routine and temperature preferences with ease. This enables them to take care of all your heating and cooling needs. These smart thermostats come with sensors that can detect which points of the house are empty and the ones inhabited. This means that you’ll never have to worry about your thermostat heating or cooling your home when you’re not there. This will help minimize your electricity consumption.
- Maximized security – Incorporating smart security devices in your homes like cameras, alarm systems, smoke detectors, and motion sensors is a great idea. This is because, with them, your home is bound to be more secure than ever. These security devices work together to detect any intrusion in your home and alert you in real-time. These days some of the security cameras even come with professional monitoring. This means that whenever there is an intrusion in your home, they can contact the authorities and alert you simultaneously.
- Remote control – A great thing about smart home technology is that you can control your smart devices even when you’re not home. For example, whenever you want to check in on your kids, you can access an indoor camera from anywhere. Some of these indoor cameras even come with a speaker. It means that you can talk to those at home to ensure that everything is okay. You can also power the thermostat remotely to cool or heat your home before you arrive using a mobile app.
- Easier manageability – Another advantage of automating your home is that you can manage all your devices and appliances a bit easier. Using apps such as the Home app, or Google Home app, you can create scenes for your devices. This ensures that you can control a bunch of appliances or smart devices with a single tap. Another alternative many people prefer is digital voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant.
Disadvantages of Smart Home Technology
And here are some of disadvantages of implementing smart home technologies:
- Expensive to buy – One of the biggest concerns for most homeowners is the high cost of automating your home. Some of these smart devices cost a lot of money, inconveniencing people trying to switch to smart homes. A smart thermostat could cost you over $300 depending on the brand, while some doorbells cost about $200. This makes switching to home automation a bit hard for some homeowners.
- Privacy concerns – Using smart devices comes with the uncertainty that your data could be insecure and end up in the wrong hands. This is because connecting some of these devices requires providing your Wi-Fi password or linking them to your Google Account. This is very risky since hackers might access your personal information if the native app malfunctions.
- A technical itch could prove costly – Most of the smart home automation devices rely on an internet connection to perform their functions. However, this could prove very costly for homeowners in case, for some reason, the network goes down. If this happens, you could end up losing valuable security footage. Some devices such as door locks and motion sensors could fail in their duties too. This ends up putting your home in a very vulnerable position.
Final Thoughts
Even though there are many benefits that come with smart home technologies, it’s also important to note the risks too. Always make it a point to go for the automation platforms that take privacy seriously. Platforms like this ensure that you get the comfort you need in your home while keeping your data secure.