Moving into a new home? Make your life more efficient and easier by turning it into a smart home. We’ve compiled some of our favourite smart home products to help you create a smart home starter kit for a first home, flat or apartment.
The first thing to consider is your smart speaker – Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. Choosing the best smart home system for you, depends on what suits your lifestyle best, as most products are cross-compatible (great for if you change your mind later down the line). Some things worth considering are:
- Design
- Price
- Compatibility
- Any existing subscriptions and products
- Artificial Intelligence
Alexa and Google compare well when it comes to design and price, with both offering affordable and aesthetically pleasing options across the board. Alexa has been around longer and is compatible with a wider range of products and would be a great fit if you already have Amazon Prime. However, Google is catching up quickly.
Smart Lights
Widely considered an essential aspect of smart home living, smart lights are the easiest and most accessible addition to your home and your security system. Tailor your home with bulbs or strips then create schedules to turn lights on when you’re not home or create ambience with dimmable lights, colour changes and adjustable daylight settings.
Cygnett and Lenovo have smart bulbs which can change colours and are compatible with both Alexa and Google – letting you adjust your lights with just a voice command. On top of that, Philips HUE is known for its Zigbee support and smart base station. This allows you to extend your lightbulbs outside of your Wi-Fi router range, and still control your lights if the internet goes down.
Smart Plugs
An essential for the energy conscious, smart plugs prevent your household items from running all day. Create a timer for your heater so you can return to a warm home and say goodbye to the panic of having left your hair straightener, iron, or oven element on and manually turn the appliance off using your phone. Cygnett, D-Link, Lenovo and TP-Link all offer great options for plugs, incorporating app control and schedules as well as voice control.
Smart Security
For the security-focused, a smart security system is the way to go. Create the perfect system for your needs with a range of smart security products like video doorbells, outdoor and indoor security cameras and floodlights. To start, we’d highly recommend a video doorbell like the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell or Ring Video Doorbell 3, both feature high-quality recording and two-way audio.
You’ll be able to talk to people, accept packages and check to see who’s at the door from your couch or the office. Secure the full perimeter with an outdoor security camera like the Swann SWIFI 1080p or Arlo Ultra 2 and add in indoor cameras for any rooms you want to boost security for.
Check out our range of smart home products and head in-store for tailored advice for your home.
