By Adam Maguire
Business Journalist
Asking your home to do something for you â or having it automatically adjust
to your needs â may seem like the stuff of sci-fi. But the glut of smart home
tech now available means that the home of the future is actually relatively
easy to create today.
In fact there is so much smart home tech on the market today, figuring out what
is worth investing in is a serious challenge for consumers.
In a way, âsmart homeâ is kind of like the word âcraftâ.
Thatâs because neither have any legal or official definition, so they get
slapped onto all sorts of products as a way of making them more attractive, or
to justify a higher price.
Even if it doesnât really add any value. Itâs not always the case but, as
a general rule, something described as a smart appliance, or a smart home tech,
can connect to your smartphone, and the internet.
That can open up all sorts of different features that arenât possible with
"dumb" devices, some of which can be really useful.
Though the truth is that a lot of it can be pretty gimmicky, too.
What smart tech is gimmicky?
This is entirely subjective, but there are a lot of kitchen appliances now that
have smart features â that are of questionable value.
For example there are a lot of appliances that you can connect to your network
â and link in with voice control like Alexa or Siri.
The idea is that you can ask Siri to turn on your kettle, or dishwasher or
washing machine.
But you still have to fill the kettle, load the dishes or clothes, and then
unload it when itâs done.
In fact, pressing the âonâ button is probably the easiest part of the
process â so youâre not really saving much work.
There are also smart ovens that can be controlled by an app â you can input
what youâre cooking and it automatically sets the temperature and time, and
then your phone gets a notification when the programme is finished.
But you could get the same result by checking a recipe and then setting a timer
on your phone.
Then there are smart fridges which have cameras inside and a screen on the
front. They allow you to see inside your fridge without opening the door.
Some also claim to use AI to keep an eye on whatâs inside â letting you
know if youâre running low of something or if an expiration date is coming up.
In theory that will save you a few euro a year because youâre not wasting
electricity opening the door, and you may save money on food waste.
But itâs questionable whether that would actually work in the real world,
though. And even if you do think the feature sounds useful, itâll cost you.
These kinds of fridges are priced at more than â¬4,500 â some cost closer to
â¬6,000.
So what about the smart tech thatâs actually useful?
Again, itâs subjective but there are three areas where these smart home
devices can actually be useful â and where you actually get some value out of
the expense.
Theyâre the ones relating to lighting, heating and security.
How does smart lighting work?
These are a good starting point because theyâre arguably the most useful,
while also being the cheapest and easiest to install.
When youâre starting with any smart tech you might need whatâs called a hub
â which is a device that connects to your internet.
After that itâs literally as easy as changing a lightbulb.
You simply swap out a bulb with a smart version of the same thing, set it up
with your phone and youâre good to go.
And it means you can do things like turn lights on and off even when youâre
out â and thatâs handy if you want to make it look like thereâs activity
in the house.
You can also set lights to a schedule â like having some lights come on at
sunset, or at a certain time. You can even add sensors so lights automatically
come on when you walk into a room, and go off when you leave.
Being able to control it from your phone also means you can see at a glance
what lights are on in the house â and you can turn them off from the couch,
rather than having to get up and do the rounds.
You can get smart plugs for cheap enough too â which work like those old
timer plugs, except via your phone.
They can be handy for making devices like plug-in lamps âsmartâ â but
they work with any other kind of device too.
What are you looking at spending?
Like everything there are options at every price â but there are relatively
cheap, good quality lights on the market today.
The likes of Ikea sells smart bulbs that are only slightly more expensive than
regular ones, for example.
Their bulbs start at â¬8, but may be slightly dearer depending on the type
(and whether you want white only or colourful options).
But smart bulbs are generally LED, which means theyâre low energy. They use
about 20-25% of the energy an old incandescent bulb needed.
They also have a much longer lifespan â you should get five or ten years even
out of a bulb, even if itâs one thatâs used a lot.
So you do make your money back over time â and if you replace your normal
bulbs as they burn out, then it shouldnât be a huge hit to your pocket.
As for the smart plugs, there are also quite cheap options available there.
And they could help you to switch off devices completely rather than leave them
in standby mode - which can use a waste amount of energy over the course of a
year.
What about heating?
Itâs similar concept here â you can replace your heating controls with a
smart thermostat, which means you can control it from your phone.
At a basic level, that makes it easier to set up a schedule â because
youâre doing it through an app rather than trying to fiddle around with tiny
controls on the panel itself.
And you can really fine tune the schedule if you want â setting different
temperatures at different times on different days.
You can also set it up so that it automatically turns off the heating if the
house is empty â or turns it on when someone is within a certain distance of
the house.
That means you can ensure you come home to a warm house no matter what.
Itâs also possible to add smart controls to every radiator in the house â
so you can control the heat in each room, and only warm them up as you need
them.
For example there might not be any need to have the bedroom rads on in the day,
but you might not want to heat the living room when youâve gone to bed.
Rather than having to go around adjusting them manually, multiple times a day,
you can just set a schedule on your phone once and itâs done.
It should save you money, too.
What about cost there?
Itâs a bit more expensive than lighting, but there are lots of options for
smart thermostats.
You might be looking at â¬150-250 for one, and you would need to spend a bit
more if you need to get it installed too.
But before you splash out it is worth checking with your energy supplier,
because some have deals offering discounts on devices. At least one offers a
free smart thermostat â including installation â to new customers.
Thereâs also an SEAI grant for smart controls that some homes may qualify for.
The controls for individual radiators tend to cost anywhere between â¬50 and
â¬90, so that can quickly add up if you are looking to cover every room.
However switching from âdumbâ controls to smart ones on its own will make a
big difference, and probably save you a decent amount of money too.
And what about security?
Smart lights are a simple way you can make your house a bit more secure, but
another smart device thatâs useful for that are smart doorbells.
These are the ones that have a camera attached, and send a notification to your
phone when someone is at the door.
That means you can respond to a caller no matter where you are â and,
depending on the camera, it might also act like a CCTV device that lets you
watch back on the camera feed afterwards if thereâs something you want to
check.
There are also regular, smart security cameras on the market â that you can
monitor on your phone and save the video feed from.
But there are a load of other smart security devices out there for someone
looking for them; for example, you can get window and door sensors that send
you a notification if something is opened.
Besides security thatâs also a handy way of checking to see if you left a
window open when youâre out, for those times when you swear you closed it but
just canât say for sure.
There are also smart smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that also send an alert
to your phone, so you know if thereâs an issue even if youâre out (or just
out of earshot of the alarm), a handy feature that comes with those devices is
that you can also use the phone to silence your alarm â meaning you donât
have to suffer through the noise when youâve just burnt the toast.
What are the pitfalls people should bear in mind if they are making their homes
smart?
First and foremost you have to keep privacy in mind â because as with
anything "smart", any interaction you have with these devices is leaving a data
trail.
You need to be confident that thatâs properly protected - and if youâre not
comfortable with the idea, then youâre best to avoid it altogether.
The big brands like Google and in particular Apple do make a big deal around
privacy and promising that itâs protected. Generally itâs in the interest
of those firms to be as careful as possible, because thereâs huge
reputational damage if theyâre caught out on this.
But you should tread carefully when it comes to less well-known brands,
especially the cheaper stuff that you might find online, as some have been
found to be unusually active in sending data too and from their company servers.
The cheaper devices also tend to give people more issues â be it bulbs
burning out too quickly, or a regular failure to connect to the network.
Another risk with smart home tech is that the company goes bust, or just moves
on to a new product, and stops supporting the one you have.
In a worst-case scenario that could leave you with a smart bulb that can only
work in a âdumbâ way, or a piece of technology that simply no longer works.
Compatibility is also something you need to bear in mind.
Most devices play nice with Googleâs home control system, but not all do with
Appleâs, which can limit its functionality.
Thankfully that issue is beginning to come to an end, because there are new
standards (called Thread and Matter) emerging that every manufacturer is on
board with.
That should mean that, in the near future, any smart home device you buy will
work well, no matter what other things you have set up in the house.
What about money â because itâs not always about an upfront cost?
No, the cost can be on-going.
Of course if youâre kitting out your whole house with bulbs and heater
controls, it can come with a sizable upfront cost â but it may not end there.
Thatâs because some smart home devices require subscription fees in order to
get the most out of them.
Thatâs particularly true in the security area â and with the smart cameras
and doorbells.
You might find your doorbell has all sorts of features out of the box, like
being able to watch back on videos from days or weeks ago, but after a trial
period you get locked out unless you pay.
Ring is one of the most popular smart doorbells out there and it charges â¬4 a
month, or â¬40 euro a year for its subscription, which lets people watch back
on the cameraâs video feed from days or weeks ago.
Other smart doorbell makers offer the same service at no extra cost.
The same applies for heating â some offer remote control of a thermostat for
free, others charge for the convenience.
So the thing to do is carefully check the product, see if there is a
subscription service linked to it (and what it covers) and check what features
you have access to if youâre not paying a monthly fee.
From there you can decide whether itâs worth getting, or whether you can find
an alternative that offers the same features as part of the up-front price.
RTÃ Technology.
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