What can a smart home do?
An increasing number of residential and office settings include smart home technologies, often several different ones operating at once. The list grows regularly as manufacturers release a succession of new devices to help us control and automate our daily environments and activities.
Smart home features and capabilities
Here are some of the most popular smart home device and technology categories:
- Smart home: lighting and music
This broad category ranges from whole-home lighting and audio controls to individual wi-fi speakers and connected plugs that can make any outlet (and the lights attached to it) "smart."
- Smart home: security
Doorbell monitors, automated locks, motion sensors, security cameras, and threat detectors (fire, smoke, CO) help make security one of the biggest markets for smart home devices.
- Smart home: heating and cooling
Automated thermostats were an original smart home feature, but now they activate by voice or just by entering a room, and window blinds can open and close as the sun moves across the sky.
- Smart home: irrigation and drainage
The latest smart home landscaping aids include remote sensing meters that tell your sprinklers when to water the lawn -- helping you save money and preserve precious water resources.
- Smart home: appliances
Carpet-crawling robotic vacuums can clean your floors while a new generation of smart kitchen appliances does everything from track what's in your fridge to start dinner before you get home.
- Smart home: Entertainment and multi-media
Home entertainment systems are often integrated with smart home controls, so the sensor that helps activate the lights as you enter a room can also trigger a favorite song or podcast to play.
The list could go on and on. New smart home features and capabilities emerge regularly, and respected analysts have predicted the smart home marketplace will grow to more than $50 billion in annual sales by 2022 or before.