7 Benefits of Home Automation

1. Save time on routine tasks – Tasks like vacuuming the house, mopping the floor and cleaning the pool take time. If you’re like me, each of those tasks takes about an hour every time you do it, which is at least once a week.  However each of those tasks can be at least partially automated with robots, freeing you up to work on something else…or dare I say it, freeing up time for you to relax!

2. Save money – I often joke that if Edison knew what it would cost to run a light bulb these days, he wouldn’t have gone through with inventing them. Gas, oil and electricity can cost hundreds of dollars per month.  Automating your heat, air conditioning and lights can pay for the cost of the units in the first year.

3. Safety and security – A dark house is a good indicator that no one is home. It’s also not fun pulling in to a dark driveway and then fumbling for the lights when you walk in.  Automating lights is an easy way to make your house safer and easier to navigate.  Smart smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, like the Nest Protect, can notify you of a potential emergency even when you’re not home.  Smart moisture detectors can alert you of a leak.  Automating your lights and adding smart devices throughout the home adds a layer of safety and security that can help even when you’re not home.

4. Increased comfort – No one likes to come home to a cold house in the winter or a stiflingly hot house in the summer. What about those mornings when you wake up early, or the nights you stay up late?  Smart devices, like the Nest Thermostat can adapt to your schedule and make your house noticeably more comfortable.

5. Peace of mind – Never forget to close your garage again with the Chamberlain Belt Drive Garage Door Opener, which has an auto close feature and built in MyQ technology. With smart locks like the Kwikset Kevo, you can lock or unlock your doors while you’re away from home.  Window and door sensors can tell you if your doors or windows are open.  And cameras like the Dropcam Pro allow you to see what’s going on from anywhere you have internet.  You’ll never find yourself wondering if you forgot to lock up again.

6. Simplified control of your home – Smart devices give you the ability to control your home from your phone, whether you’re there or not. Whether it’s turning on music or lights, running the sprinklers, opening the garage or unlocking a door, you have the controller right in your pocket.

7. Layers of automation – Some smart devices work together out of the box. For instance your Jawbone Up can notify your Nest that you’ve gotten out of bed early.  Coupled with a service like If This Then That, it can also tell your SONOS to start playing soothing ocean sounds while it tells your WeMo to turn on the power to the coffee pot.  There are endless possibilities.