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If you haven’t joined the smart home revolution yet, then you definitely should. Smart home appliances can help you to save energy, they can make your life a lot easier, and they’re just fun to use. After all, who among us can say they’ve never wanted to clap their hands and have the lighting in the room respond, Star Trek-style? With many personal loans and quick loans available from reputable providers, it’s never been easier or less costly to start building your smart home, so without further ado, let’s take a look at the 10 smart gadgets you should buy.
1. A smartphone
Okay, okay, so pretty much everyone has a smartphone these days, but if you don’t – if you’re yet to join the smartphone revolution for whatever reason – then now is definitely the time to buy one. With plenty of devices available across all kinds of different budgets, you’ve really got no excuse not to own a smartphone, and if you want to build a network of interconnected appliances, you’re going to need a smartphone (or a tablet) to control them all.
2. Smart lighting
Most people’s first smart gadget seems to be lighting-related, and there’s a good reason for that. Smart lighting feels great to control, and it’s much easier to keep track of how much energy you’re using and adjust your usage accordingly if your bulbs are smart. There are plenty of great options available out there for smart lighting, but we’d start with the Philips Hue system, which is easy to use and offers a huge range of different lighting control features.
3. Smart thermostat
As winter draws in, it’s more important than ever to keep absolute control over your heating. That’s where a smart thermostat comes in. You can use a smart thermostat to adjust temperatures on the fly, responding to your environment and making sure you’re never using more or less heating than you absolutely need to stay comfortable. Smart thermostats also let you view detailed statistics and information about your heating usage and that of your whole household.
4. Smart speaker
A smart speaker will make your life so much easier that you’ll wonder how you ever managed to get by without one. Using voice commands, you can do everything from checking the weather all the way through to ordering taxis and even food for yourself. Smart speakers can also do fun things like throw trivia quizzes at you, tell you jokes, and even give you a little greeting on your birthday. They’re essentially like automated assistants, so whether you prefer Google or Alexa, pick one up today.
5. Smart security
Estimates suggest that around 800 homes are broken into in the UK every single day, so the importance of having a smart security system should be obvious to you. Using a smart doorbell, you can see who’s at your door, and if you wire up smart security cameras in your home, then you can stay informed about any changes that might happen while you’re at work or otherwise away from home. This is especially useful if you travel a lot.
6. Smart plugs
When you plug appliances into a wall socket or extension, you don’t have any way of knowing just how much power those appliances are drawing…that is, unless you use a smart plug. These devices connect to apps that show you how much power an appliance is using when you plug it in, and you can also set schedules so that appliances turn themselves off automatically. If you’re not using smart plugs, you could be draining way more energy than you need to.
7. Smart lock
This device goes hand-in-hand with the smart security systems we mentioned earlier. A smart lock essentially works by adding a smart element to a traditional lock; you can still use your standard key with many smart lock options, but you’ve also got the additional security of being able to use other methods, like unlocking your door via your phone. If you’re the kind of person who regularly forgets your keys (no shame!), then a smart lock is definitely for you.
8. Smart vacuum
Let’s face it: vacuuming your apartment or house is an absolute chore, and nobody wants to do it. That’s where smart robot vacuums come in. Robot vacuums aren’t just convenient, they’re downright adorable, and if you get one with app control, you’ll be able to tell it exactly what you want it to do and where you want it to go without leaving the comfort of your sofa. You’ll wonder how you ever manually vacuumed your place once you’ve got a robot vacuum.
9. Smart display
As well as smart speakers, smart displays are also useful things to have. They perform many of the same functions as smart speakers – telling you the weather, showing you your calendar, et cetera – but they’ve got visual displays, making them arguably easier to use for certain functions. Google Home and Amazon Alexa both have a range of smart displays available, so pick the one that feels right for you and your home. You’ll be glad you did!
10. Smart alarm clock
With your smartphone by your side, you might wonder why you’d need a smart alarm clock, but it can actually be beneficial to have a separate device controlling your sleep cycles. You see, looking at your phone before bed can be deleterious to your health thanks to the emission of blue light, but you won’t have that problem if you have a smart alarm clock set to a schedule that suits your sleeping patterns. Sleep health is important, and the best smart alarm clocks know that.