What is a Smart Home?

Officially, a smart home is "a home equipped with lighting, heating, and electronic devices that can be controlled remotely by phone or computer" - all of which help you create a safer, more convenient, and more efficient home.

In this guide, you'll learn all about smart devices, what they have to offer, and how they can help in your home,

Types of Smart Home Devices

• Smart Lighting - gives you the flexibility to change the color, hue, brightness, and ambiance of your lighting with a tap of your smart phone or the sound of your voice.
• Security Cameras - allow you to check on home and loved ones from anywhere, at any time, using your phone. Connect to the app to get alerts if activity is detected or enjoy 24/7 live streaming and recording.
• Smart Thermostats - make it easy to save energy by learning your behavior, automatically turning down when you're away, and offering control of your thermostat from anywhere.
• Home Assistants - work with your smart home devices and allow you to control them with the sound of your voice

Smart Lighting

Smart bulbs aren't your average bulbs. They can do so much more! They can be scheduled and controlled from anywhere. You can even turn them on and off with your voice. They dim, they change color, and they help you save energy.

Convenient

Smart lighting gives you the flexibility to change the color, brightness, and ambiance of your lighting to suit your mood or activity. Whether you're reading, relaxing, exercising, or socializing, you can adjust your lighting to meet your needs.

• Control from anywhere - whether on the couch or the beach, make adjustments by using the app or voice control
• Save ambiance settings - saving settings allows you to re-use preferences again and again (reading, movie night, dance party!)
• Set schedules - useful for automatic on/off timing throughout your home (so you never have to come home to a dark house)

Efficient

Smart lighting is not just cool, it also helps you save energy. Many smart lighting systems include energy-efficient, long-lasting LED bulbs. Remote phone access, sensors, and timers also help to reduce energy consumption.

• LEDs use less energy - 90% less than a standard incandescent, in fact!
• No more leaving the lights on by mistake - with smart lighting, you don't have to worry about forgetting to turn the lights off and wasting electricity. Just turn them off with your phone!

Shop Smart Lighting

Security Cameras

Smart security cameras are the ultimate security solution, allowing you to keep an eye on home at all times. They use advanced video and audio to capture every detail, send alerts to your phone if activity is detected, and have an app that lets you access live and surveillance from anywhere.

Indoor and Outdoor Cameras for Every Need

Surveillance may be about the serious business of keeping a watchful eye on your home, but can also be a simple solution for checking in on pets or loved ones while you're away. Regardless of your needs, both indoor and outdoor smart security cameras offer wireless connectivity and remote access. Built-in microphones and sensors are used to detect activity, and if something occurs, you get an alert sent to your phone right away.

Both our indoor and outdoor security cameras share the following features:

• Motion and sound detection - to monitor your home's activity
• Alerts - sent to your phone or email if something occurs (including key footage from the event)
• HD video - to clearly capture every detail (even in the dark)
• Speaker and mic - to listen and talk back
• Footage storage - conveniently store footage in the cloud to access any time

Shop Smart Security Cameras

Smart Thermostats

Smart thermostats are loaded with features that make it easy to save energy and money. They eliminate confusing programming, adapt to your preferred heating and cooling schedule, can be controlled from anywhere using a smart phone, and so much more.

If your thermostat maintains a comfortable temperature in your home, even when nobody's there to appreciate it, does it needlessly bloat your utility bills? Unfortunately, yes! Most people have felt the dread of opening a pricey bill as the result of maintaining optimal temperatures in an empty home. Smart thermostats are a simple solution and share the following features:

• Learning ability - to automatically adjust settings based on your personal preferences and schedule
• Occupancy sensing & geofencing - to automatically turn down temperatures to save energy when no one is home
• App alerts - to get helpful reminders and notifications sent to your phone if something is not quite right such as an abnormally high temperature
• Reports - to show you how much energy you've used and teach you how to use less

Shop Smart Thermostats

Not sure yet? Visit our Smart Thermostat Buyers Guide

Home Assistants

Home assistants (or smart speakers) connect to your smart home devices so you can control them with the sound of your voice. They also play music, provide answers from Google, and give you hands free help around the house. For example, you can ask your home assistant to turn the thermostat up, play your favorite playlist, or what time the pharmacy opens.

Voice-activated smart speakers have Google Assistant built in and simply your everyday life. Whenever you need hands free help, simply say "OK Google" to get answers, tackle your day, enjoy your entertainment, and control your smart home. Smart speakers come in a variety of sizes, all sharing the following features and benefits:

• Simple style meant to blend into any room
• Powerful speakers so you can listen to music, audiobooks, news, and more
• Get help with your schedule, calls, shopping list, and traffic updates
• Compatible with over 5,000 smart home devices including thermostats, lighting, and home security

Shop Home Assistants