Lighting is the cornerstone of the connected home and the starting point for most users, however, a smart home goes much further, there are countless products, yes, as you progress in this little world It is becoming increasingly complex to install these products and make them work properly. We bring you the last but not least part of the Connected Home Guide that we have created for you in Actualidad Gadget. Today we are going to talk about the best accessories to have a truly smart home, many of these products you may not even know about.
Previous versions of the Connected Home Guide:
Smart switches
We start with a product that is rarely talked about, this is known by professional installers but less by ordinary users. We have fully connected and compatible mechanical switches, like the ones we have analyzed here, as well as a series of WiFi adapters that hidden behind the wall allow us to manage the energy that passes through them.
These smart switches could make anything we control with a traditional mechanical switch smart like lights, motorized blinds, ventilation systems and much more. It is the cheapest alternative to smart bulbs as they should not be replaced in the long term, yes, they require more installation and knowledge of electricity.
Smart plugs
Sockets are the quick and easy alternative to smart switches. These plugs feature a simple design and require little configuration. There are many brands, we for example have tested this product from the brands Tecken and SPC. They are a very cheap alternative and allow us to manage any appliance connected to the plug to turn it on and off at will.
They tend to have limits with those products that have controls or do not turn on and off automatically (that is, they have stand-by), however, they offer good results with electric water heaters and similar products. They allow us to create routines, program the current input and even control electricity consumption.
Smart sound
Regarding the sound in Actualidad Gadget You have countless reviews of products of all kinds that offer interesting multimedia features and quality results. It is important that we consider how many virtual assistants they are compatible with before purchasing them. We have many alternatives at various prices, from the cheap Energy Sistem range to the more complete sound of Sonos.
We must always check compatibility with Spotify Connect or our favorite streaming music service as well as the possibility of adding them to multiroom devices either through Amazon Alexa or through integrated systems such as AirPlay 2, so we can expand the products little by little and create a music system at home that is easy to install.
BroadLink: Control your devices with remote
The "BroadLink" are devices that have an infrared emitter / receiver, basically emulate the operation of a traditional remote control and this has many advantages. With one of these small devices we will be able to manage our television, air conditioning, heating at a stroke. or any device that has a remote control and is within range of the BroadLink.
It is important that We will make sure when buying it that it has the protocol that gives it its name, so we have an important database and we make sure that the control of our device is included and that way we can manage it. These products usually cost between 15 and 30 euros depending on the capacities, the operating distance and the size of the device, personally I recommend one as small as possible.
Smart thermostats
The smart thermostat gives you incredible independence, yet this is a step beyond the connected home. These thermostats that are connected to the heaters or the boiler require installation, therefore, I recommend that for these terms you bet on an authorized installer and thus we avoid any mishap.
The most recognized brands of this type of product are Elgato, Honeywell and Elago to give a few examples. They are expensive products, but taking into account that thanks to their thermometers we will be able to manage the consumption of the boiler with great precision, almost certainly we are going to find savings in the short term in the utility bill and therefore it will be worth it. We can thus manage when it turns on, easily program the air conditioning and order your virtual assistant to put your home at the desired temperature.
Smart blinds and shades
We start with smart blinds, although there are many products on the market once again for this step of the smart home, we recommend that you opt for a recommended installer. Among other things, smart blinds are going to require a power supply, motor installation and possibly even brickwork, so I don't recommend it for "amateurs". However, if you are thinking about it, the best option is undoubtedly a professional.
On the other hand Ikea offers us a cheap alternative, without installation and above all intelligent, its range of smart blinds and curtains do not require a power supply because they work with battery, They are compatible with the Zigbee protocol of its Tradfri range and it adapts to many sizes and varieties of colors, for this reason, I recommend that if you do not want to complicate the installation of this type of products, you bet directly on the Kadrilj range from IKEA for its simplicity and above all how easy it is to access these products at our closest center.
Smart vacuum cleaners
Robot vacuum cleaners are part of an incredible number of homes in recent years, the lack of time for cleaning and the laziness of sweeping has quickly popularized them. But maybe something that you had not taken into account when you bought the robot is whether or not it included compatibility with virtual assistants, we have tried many of these from different ranges.
We recommend that if you are thinking of acquiring a robot vacuum cleaner that you take into account whether or not it has virtual assistant compatibility since you must tell it: Alexa, turn on the vacuum and seeing how that robotic version of a butler begins to sweep is priceless.