The consensus is in: the smart home is the future. The advantages of the smart home are vast, and it is poised for considerable growth in the near future: IHS Markit estimates that 10% of all homes in the world will be smart home enabled by 2025.
A smart or connected home is powered by the Internet of Things (IoT), which effectively means that your devices or appliances are connected through the Internet, continuously exchanging data and information.
If you’re considering an investment in a connected or smart home, now may be the time. Whether you’re implementing a complete smart home which includes security, entertainment, energy, and water, or easing into the IoT world one step at a time, keeping connected to your home via the Internet has many benefits. How do you know if now is the time for you?
Here’s three key smart home benefits that will make your decision easier:
1. Savings
Most people may not realize the major advantage of smart homes – they save on costs. Utility prices continue to rise across all resources – electricity, natural gas, and water. In fact, homeowners are paying more for their basic utility costs than ever before.
Here’s where smart devices help: they are designed to increase efficiency and reduce waste. Products like smart thermostats (such as Nest and Ecobee) regularly monitor for movement in your home, and only power heat/cooling to rooms that require it. Smart windows are programmed to open and close, keeping your home warmer or cooler when needed. Water monitoring devices track water usage, reporting leaks, which can account for more than 10% of a home’s water usage (Source).
Reported savings for smart devices vary, but the biggest reported money savers are smart thermostats, lighting, and plumbing/water monitoring technology.
2. Protection
It’s not just savings that have homeowners excited about smart devices – one of the major reasons to adopt is increasing your home’s protection against damage, loss, and theft.
Do you travel? Whether you love to head south for the winter, or want to head to snowier climes, if you’re frequently away from your home, you’re a great candidate for smart devices. Did you know that most insurers will not cover water damages to your property if you’re away for more than 72 hours? Further, mold damage to your belongings is almost never covered through your insurance policy, as mold usually begins to develop after 3 days following a water incident. And let’s not forget the obvious threat of break-ins to your home or vacation property.
The connected home enables you to view your property remotely and take control more than ever before. Intelligent water monitoring lets you know the moment there’s an issue and, if enabled, you can remotely shut off your water from anywhere in the world. Smart security devices provide remote monitoring of who enters your home, and will alert you to intruders.
3. Convenience
More than any generation before, homeowners today like to be connected to their homes, and see all the information that smart devices provide. Smart devices provide convenient and efficient information that keeps them abreast of the comings and goings of your home.
And it’s not just the knowing, but the doing. Smart phone applications provide smart homeowners with the ability to unlock their doors, power their appliances, and shut off their home’s water – all at the touch of a button. Homeowners can power up their homes as they leave the airport from a trip, and turn on their ovens as they pull up in their driveways. Now that’s convenience!
The end result? Peace of mind and protection for you and your home.
Guest article written by:
Nadine Evans is a writer, marketer, homeowner, and smart home enthusiast, based out of Toronto, Ontario. She heads up marketing at Eddy Home, an Intelligent Water Monitoring and Leak Detection solution provider.