Picture this: You’re lying on a beach, relaxing, and an alert comes up on your phone telling you that your water heater’s leaking. Instead of ringing around friends and family, and panicking about where you left your spare key, you call your trusted plumber, let them into the house remotely, and then go back to enjoying your holiday.
How about walking into a room, sitting down comfortably and saying: “Movie night”. Presto – the blinds come down, the lights dim and the smart TV comes up with a selection of films for you to enjoy.
Or, you need to turn your smart oven on at 5pm, but you’re not going to be home at 5pm. There’s an app for that.
Want Christmas tree lights to turn on without you fumbling behind the tree to plug them in? There’s a smart gadget for that too.
WHAT IS SMART TECH?
Smart stands for self-monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology. In the case of smart home technology, this would be any home device or appliance that can communicate and work with other technologies and systems, using the Internet
The options for smart devices are immense and growing. So, where do you start, especially if you’re not a technology expert?
Ana Abend is a technology expert, and her company, ANA Solutions, sets up bespoke home technology systems for their clients. If you are just beginning your smart technology journey, she advised: “Start simple and build.” This is because if you take on too much at once, it could be overwhelming.
“There are quite a few things people use in Bermuda. Firesticks, Apple TV, Roku, Chrome TV, and YouTube TV for entertainment options. Ring, Swann and Arlo for home security cameras. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice assistants. Smart lighting such as Philips Hue, Sensibo for Air-Conditioning (AC) control, Schlage and August for smart door locks, various brands for smart blinds, Kasa smart plugs and surge protectors that also monitor energy consumption, water sensor devices to send you an alert when your water tank is low. Sonos for streaming music, and even Furbo, which is a pet camera that dispenses treats.”
INTEGRATING OPTIONS
“The key is to be able to integrate devices to a smart home hub, and have these assistants run routines such as turning on lights at sunset, starting the sprinklers, adjusting temperature or unlocking the door. Start off with a good framework and then slowly build.”
In order for smart technology to work well, you need reliable, stable Internet with minimal interference, but there are some unique Bermudian challenges to achieving this.
“Bermuda has really thick walls,” explained Ms Abend. “Unless it’s a new build and internet points have been provisioned, it can be a challenge because everyone wants WIFI, but WIFI doesn’t travel through our walls, so you end up having to put a wireless device in each room.”
She therefore suggested having some wired connections: “Mesh WIFI systems such as Eero and TP-Link Deco do quite well in pushing a WIFI signal around a Bermuda house. However, if the home is large, many of these devices are needed in various locations and not always in the most convenient of places,” she warned, “Full unified networks such as Ubiquiti is one of the most popular brands. They blend wired devices with wireless access points and have the ability to mesh together.”
MIXING LEGACY AND NEW TECHNOLOGY
As long as you have reliable Internet, you don’t need to make major changes to your home to incorporate smart devices and even Ms Abend enjoys a mix of old and new technology.
“I like to enhance my experience by working smarter, not harder,” she said. When you are done in a room and you say: ‘Goodnight Alexa’, the lights turn off, blinds close, AC is turned off, nightlight timer is set, all while you walk away to your bedroom.”
She is also a huge fan of smart plugs: “I actually got my first smart plug to use on my crockpot. I wasn’t able to come home to turn off a six hour recipe so used a smart plug to turn off the pot remotely.”
Most recently, she has been experimenting with energy monitoring devices, which are installed in electrical panels and show, via an app, which circuits use the most power: “The idea is to identify these circuits, and hopefully reduce consumption by using smart timers or plugs, or changing the way one uses a device.”
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
While there is an obvious convenience to mastering smart home devices, there are vulnerabilities. Firstly, if the power goes off and secondly, they could be hacked. Both these risks however, can be mitigated.
In the case of hacking, you can take various steps such as using unique and complex passwords for each device, ensuring the latest firmware and security patches are applied regularly or automatically, having strong network encryption, disabling unnecessary features such as remote access, and monitoring connected devices for unusual activity.
Remembering passwords can pose its own challenge and Ms Abend warned never to write these down or store them in a computer document. Instead, she recommended encrypted password apps. She finds the app ‘1Password’ user friendly.
Some more sophisticated smart devices will have a back-up in case of a power outage, and some security systems have cellular backup or batteries. Smart door locks have a battery and a key in case you leave for vacation and the battery runs out during this time. She also recommended a generator or UPS (uninterruptible power system).
While smart home devices can offer convenience, enjoyment and security, Ms Abend has found an additional benefit. They help her avoid cockroaches too: “The light switch for my pool lights is in the pump room, which at night is very cockroachy! I installed a smart switch which allows me to turn on the lights from my phone and completely avoids my having to face those creatures,” she laughed.
For information about ANA solutions, email ana4solutions@ gmail.com.
