Smart home tech doesn’t have to be complicated, and if you’ve been reluctant to dip a toe in the (smart) water, you might be surprised by just how cheap and simple it can be. You don’t have to fill your entire home with color-shifting lights, mount screens on the wall, or spend time tinkering with apps every day. The best smart home devices will make your life less complicated, not more, automating little tasks that are time-consuming or inconvenient.
Curious? Below, you'll find five examples where smart home tech can make your life easier, without adding any complications.
All the devices in this list can be controlled via a smart speaker, but if you don’t have one (and perhaps don’t quite trust them) then you can operate them all through your phone instead. Setup is a one-time affair, after which they’ll become a seamless part of your home, automating tasks so discreetly and effectively that you'll forget they’re even there.
No-touch lighting
Color-changing lights that bathe your home in shades of purple or green are fun, but smart lighting can be cheap, simple, and functional too. For example, swapping the bulbs in your hallway for simple smart bulbs and attaching a basic contact sensor to your front door means you’ll never need to worry about having to find a spare hand to hit the light switch when you’re coming home with multiple bags of groceries.
A stick-up motion sensor paired with a basic smart light bulb will work well for dark cupboards and closets, too, and if you use a sensor in your bedroom with a white LED light strip along the bottom edge of your bed, it will illuminate the floor so you can find your way to the bathroom at night without waking your partner.
For simple tasks such as these, look for smart bulbs and LED strips that only emit white light. The Philips Hue system is particularly well established (it currently holds the number one spot in our guide to the best smart lights), and its plain warm white bulbs are reasonably priced. There are versions for all the most common home light fittings, so there’s no DIY necessary. For more info, take a look at our guide to the different types of Philips Hue bulbs.
If you’re using sensors, you’ll also need a Philips Hue Bridge, which will connect them to your Wi-Fi network and each other. It’s very easy to use – just plug it into your router and follow the instructions in the Hue app. To learn more, see Philips Hue Bridge: what is it, and why is it important?
Easy gardening
Some seeds will grow happily outdoors, but others (particularly those native to tropical conditions) tend to benefit from a helping hand. There are a whole host of smart plant propagators such as the Aspara Smart Grower, for example, which use sensors to monitor variables including humidity, light intensity, water and nutrient levels, then sends notifications to your phone if you need to intervene. However, there are simpler ways to use smart home tech to help your garden grow.
For example, you can use a basic LED grow light with a smart plug, and set a schedule so that your seedlings get an appropriate amount of simulated sunshine. I use a cheap propagator (essentially a plastic tray with a lid) with a low-voltage heated mat underneath and an LED strip attached to a Philips Hue plug to help germinate chillis and peppers indoors.
Wildlife watching
Smart bird feeders (such as the Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder Pro) are a charming concept, alerting you when a finch or sparrow visits your garden for a snack, and allowing you to watch it enjoying a munch on a seed or two on your phone.
They can be pricey, though. So, if you don’t have the budget for a camera-equipped feeder, a simple stick-up security camera will do the job just as well. In a recent UK survey, Ring (maker of many of the best video doorbells) found that 60% of its customers were using its security cameras regularly to watch garden birds. Blue tits, great tits, magpies, pigeons, and owls are all popular among users' shared video clips.
Many of the best home security cameras use rechargeable batteries and are fully wireless, so can be placed just about anywhere without the need to drill any holes. Just check the specs first to see whether you’ll need a subscription to store video footage online, or receive alerts when the camera detects movement, and make sure the camera is rated for use outdoors.
Simple cleaning
Coming home to a clean house is a real-mood booster, and a robot vacuum can tackle one of the most common chores automatically while you’re out. If you think robovacs are too expensive, or just a gimmick, you might be pleasantly surprised by how effective and affordable they are now.
The SwitchBot K10+, for example, is small enough to slide under cabinets and weave around table legs, and can be yours for around $200 / £200 / AU$xx, thanks to regular discounts at Amazon and SwitchBot’s own website. While it isn't the most powerful robovac around, it’s a great option for keeping your house fresh between deeper weekly cleans.
If you have hard floors then a robovac with a mopping attachments can keep them free of dust and clean up splashes so they’re always presentable. The K10+ can drag a wet wipe around your floor, which is fine for a quick spruce up (I was surprised by how much grime it picked up from the corners of rooms after only a couple of days). For real cleaning power, however, you should take a look at the ***incomplete sentence***
Our guide to the best robot vacuums is packed with more suggestions.
Energy saving
The best smart thermostats let you optimize the way you heat and cool your home to save energy, but they’re pricey and usually need expert installation. They’re not the only way to help reduce your energy bills, however. A cheap smart plug can be just as effective, turning appliances on and off on a schedule, via a voice command, through an app, or when you’re in the room (as detected by a smart motion sensor).
Some of the best smart plugs can also monitor how much energy your appliance is using, and they’re often available in multi-packs so you can see which items in your home are the most power-hungry, and limit their use if possible. Do you really need that fan heater running for quite so long, and could you turn off your PC more regularly?
The Eve Energy Smart Plug and Energy Meter is a good option, and is available for both US and UK appliances.
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