Smart Home: A residence that incorporates various devices, appliances and systems that are interconnected and can be controlled remotely to enhance convenience.
Many new home-owners are enticed with smart home systems. The ability to change the setting for most electronics with a single tap seems very tempting for urban lifestyles. As for myself, my heater takes 15- 20mins to heat up, and it seems like a waste of time to wait around so by changing to a smart switch has improved my convenience tremendously. Now I can switch on my heater remotely via an app 20mins before I reach home!
Or my own robot vacuum, Roborock, cleans the floor while I am busy at work. The smart system allows the Roborock to navigate around the house without hitting objects and it shows you real-time on the progress too. All I need to do is a simple tap on the app. In today's fast-paced world, convenience is key.
Smart home devices can automate routine tasks such as turning lights on and off, adjusting the air temperatures, and locking doors, saving you time and effort. All you need is to connect these devices to WIFI.
My personal experience with smart products has been a mixed feeling. Those mentioned above are products I rave about but there are also some smart electronics products which I did not use at all since I have moved into my own home, like my air-conditioner. I just don't feel the need to switch on my air-conditioner remotely before I reach home. I think it is a waste of electricity and most importantly, not environmental friendly at all.
I do feel that not all products require the smart feature. Whether it is a smart system or a smart product, the cost price for these items does not come cheap. For example, smart lighting products are at least 40% more pricey and having integrated home smart system will cost you from $X000 and you are only paying for the system, not the products. Furthermore there are risks of vulnerabilities in your home systems that are connected to your wi-fi network.
The next important question you must ask yourself is, whether this cool tech is something you need in your new home? Despite these costs, many people believe that the benefits of a smart home outweigh the expenses.
There are mainly 2 ways you can make your home a smart home, one is using built-in smart products, the other is integrating your home with a smart system. Let us break down to you the pros and cons.
Built-in smart products
Pros:
You can choose exactly which smart products to buy,
Only need Wi-Fi to operate, fuzz-free.
Mix and match with different brands.
Cons:
If you have multiple brands, you will need to download many apps to control individual brand of products.
Different brands may not work well with each other.
Smart home system
Pros:
They are able to do everything for you without you worrying (how to set up etc)
They provide after-sale services like maintenance and troubleshooting.
Cons:
Smart systems are expensive.
Not all brands work well with a smart system. From our experience, we do encounter smart system(especially dimmers) that have trouble working with our lights. So we highly advise you to find out more before investing in a smart home system. So far, Koble, Automate Asia's tech is compatible with our dimmable products.
For people who are considering built-in smart products, let us share more about smart lighting. There are common comparisons between Yeelight and Philips Hue.
Yeelight and Philips Hue are both popular brands of smart bulbs, and they do have some similarities and differences. You will get to understand more by watching this 3 min video.
In general, Philips Hue is considered a more premium brand with a wider range of features and greater compatibility. However, Yeelight is a more budget-friendly option that still offers many of the same features as Philips Hue.
Ultimately, the choice between Yeelight and Philips Hue will depend on your budget, the features you need, and your personal preferences.
The up-and-coming local brand, Near is also the talk of the town. Not only their product are specially designed for local market, their products are built on Zig-Bee technology which is one of the most popular protocol for smart products. And their latest product, 12W smart module is a good alternative compared to Yeelight and Philips Hue as it has a more suitable brightness for daily use compared the other smart bulbs in the market.
At the end of the day, if you are keen on having a smart home, we think you should visit some vendors and weight the pros and cons. Every individuals have different lifestyle and it is best to not follow the trend blindly and ask yourself the important question; do I really need a smart home?
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