Turn your house into a smart home

We all know what a smart home is, don’t we? If you are still unaware about this term, a smart home is a home that is equipped with smart gadgets that you can control by voice or your smartphone.

So, what are the best devices you can get in 2022 to turn your house into a smart home?

Smart home

Speaker / Voice assistant

There are multiple options to choose from, but the most famous brands that produce excellent quality speakers with built-in voice assistants are Google Nest and Amazon Echo Dot. I personally have chosen Amazon Echo Dot with Clock, which serves me perfectly when I need to listen to my Spotify playlist, check the weather forecast, or even track my Amazon Prime parcel. I absolutely love it and use it daily.

Lighting

When it comes to lighting, the big name in the game is Hue by Phillips. Due to my personal antipathy with Phillips brand (poor experience with bad service and quality of some of their products), I found a wonderful alternative to smart light bulbs from Tapo. They give a nice light, brightness, warmth, and colors you can easily control from the Tapo hub app.

Security camera

I have never used a security camera myself. In fact, it is not allowed to use one outside of your home/flat in Germany due to privacy protection. But I do understand the need to have one in some other countries. A good security camera, according to my own research and reviews I have read, is Blink Outdoor wireless security camera. You can set it up so that you can see you are behind the door on the screen of your smartphone.

Power plug

A smart power plug is a genius invention. Why is it genius? Well, it can turn into a smart device into anything that consumes electricity. You set up each power plug, give it a name, connect it to your voice assistant (the smart speaker I started this post with), and you have a powerful tool that turns anything on and off. “Alexa, turn the lights on” or “Hey Google, fan in the living room off” will be your best friends. My personal recommendation is Tapo Smart Plug.

Thermostat

The Eve Thermo is an interesting gadget that turns your heater into a smart heater.

Lock

A door lock from Homematic IP gives you the option to control your door with your smartphone.

Doorbell

When it comes to doorbells, Google offers a gadget called Google Nest Doorbell, that comes with a little built-in security camera. Amazon also provides a video doorbell, called Ring Video Doorbell.

Smart home hub app

What I personally use are two different home hub apps. One is Amazon Alexa, which I use to control my Amazon gadgets. The second one is Tapo, that I use to control my smart lighting and smart power plugs. Both apps are easy to use but require some setting up to do. Believe me, as soon as you set your devices, your life will change, and your home will become a little smarter.

Those are the common smart home gadgets you can get already now and learn to control important parts of your daily routines. You can automate your life and make it simpler. Try it out and let me know what you think!

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Featured photo by Dan LeFebvre on Unsplash