Smart devices and smart homes are looking less like a passing fad and more like the future. Everything from thermostats to ovens are now available in ‘smart’ versions, allowing remote control, alerts, and assistance.

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Affording it

The first and most simple factor to consider is if you can afford to have your house automated. Something like automation could be an investment in your house as it will add value to it. Despite that fact you still need to be able to afford automation for your house for it to happen. It may be that you can’t afford to pay for it outright but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give up on the opportunity to have it done. For example, if you have built up enough equity in your house you may be able to release some it to make these home improvements. If you’re looking for a Equity Release Gloucestershire based company, then look no further than https://www.palmermortgages.co.uk/financial-services/equity-release-gloucestershire/

Devices to Start With

If you aren’t quite ready to begin with automation yet, there are still plenty of smart devices you can start with, without needing an engineering degree or vast sums of money.

To begin, you can get a smart electricity and gas meter from your utility supplier for free in the UK, or start greening your home with solar panels from a variety of suppliers for no cost. These can save you some money or give you a bit of information, but you aren’t going to get a lot of automation out of them.

To start making your life easier, you can look at smart plugs and thermostats. Both can be controlled through phone apps, allowing you to turn your heating on or off at a distance, for instance when you leave the office, so your home is warm when you arrive, but you haven’t been heating for hours if you worked late.

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Taking Things One Step Further With IFTTT

Once you have a device or two, you may not want to control everything manually anymore, so you can start automating with a free framework called IFTTT, or ‘If This Then That’.

IFTTT lets you set up simple relationships between your smart devices, from your car to your home security system, to heating and appliance power. As an example, you could have your security system automatically lock your doors and turn on your home security when you turned your car on, or turn your lights and entertainment system on when you unlock your door.

Home automation technology is still very much in its infancy, but already you can use relatively inexpensive devices to save yourself money, automate simple tasks, and make your life a little bit more comfortable in general. Make no mistake, home automation will only improve.