Getting to Know Smart Home
Devices and Home Automation

Technology has evolved quite a lot over the last couple of decades, to the point of influencing various aspects of our society, from the way we enjoy entertainment to how we manage our money or talk with family and friends.

This, of course, is usually considered a very good thing, just because it has facilitated various aspects of our lives that, back in the day, were more complicated to deal with. Nowadays, there’s a specific area technology has been evolving quite a lot, and it is known as home automation, yet, a lot of people are unaware of it or don’t really know it that much, although it can bring a lot of benefits and facilitate various aspects of house management.

In this article, we will cover this specific aspect of technological advances, what home automation is, what is considered a smart home device, some of the most used smart devices out there, and why, when it comes to security, smart devices are superior.

What is Home Automation?

Home automation can be described as the implementation of technological smart devices for the sake of automatizing a household and several of its processes, which can be used and monitored through smartphones or computers.

The automation processes that can be automated, as now, are often related to lighting, security, climate-related devices like air conditioners and heaters, and various home appliances like ovens, microwaves, and refrigerators.

Although one of the main objectives of home automation is to simplify processes,  the reasons why people use some of the smart home devices is because they tend to be very easy to manage while also being secure and capable of reducing energy-expenses in most occasions.

What Are Smart Home Devices?

Now, there’s an incredible amount of home devices out there, most of them focusing on accessibility through smartphones and apps, so they can be dealt with at considerable distances.

A good example of a smart device that is used the most today is security cameras, which can be monitored and ordered through a smartphone and can also have multiple users accessing its system as long as they are authorized to do so.

Although a lot of smart home devices are capable of contributing towards creating a home automation environment, some of them are not as capable in this matter yet can grant a lot of comfortability when it comes to using them.

Which Are the Most Popular Home Devices?

There’s still a lot to learn about smart home devices, and a lot of people are not as interested in them just because they believe they are not as necessary. Although I can agree with this sentence to a certain extent, I would dare to say that some specific appliances are great when used along with a smartphone, and I will talk about them later.

Just so you know, the most popular out of all smart home devices are smart speakers, and if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. You can use them anywhere at any time as long as you are inside of their functional range and changing or selecting specific songs with your smartphone is a very simple task.

In comparison to other devices, it stands as the king with around 35% of American people owning one. Fridges are owned by 4.7% of the American population, dishwashers, and ovens by 4.2%, microwaves by 4.1%, and smart coffee makers by 3.4%. Some other appliances include blenders, rice, and slow cookers, pet feeders, kitchen scales, and air fryers.

Why Smart Security Systems are Different

When we talk about the previously mentioned devices, we can say for sure that, although they are much easier to use and provide a whole new level of utility, they are not actually more efficient at doing what they do than your regular appliances. They are, simply put, much more comfortable to deal with, which is important for some people, but most people out there are more than satisfied with their current appliances.

Now, things change quite a lot when we talk about security systems, just because they can, indeed, be superior to more standard security systems, and the reason is simple: they have a lot more advantages and benefits.

A good example of this is how standard surveillance cameras store information inside of a cloud or physical storage such as a hard drive, to be able to process all the information that is being filmed.

This is the same for smart security camera systems, but the biggest difference between the two is that traditional systems require you to sit in front of a monitor to showcase what is being recorded, while a smart security system can be checked with a smartphone.

Not only that, but you can also issue commands to it and even turn it down or put it in rest mode or activate the night-vision mode with just your phone.

This does not only apply to camera security systems. I can dare to say that it applies to multiple forms of smart security systems such as garage doors and regular doors. That is why I do believe that, in terms of security, it is better to take a step further and actualize smart devices, if possible, because they are not only more comfortable to use, but also, overall better than regular security systems.

One company you might take a closer look at is VIVINT Security. The Vivint pricing model may work very well in your home or business budget as an option.