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Smart Home

7 Smart Home Must-Haves

Choosing the right smart home tech can feel overwhelming—there’s just so much choice. So, what is a smart home? Simply put, it's a home equipped with devices that can be controlled remotely, often via a smartphone or voice assistant. Here, we’ll look at what we think are the top must-haves for a smart home, such as smart security solutions, garage control, and much more. Discover the benefits of a smart home and find out what features to look for and what might work best based on your personal preferences.

1. Smart Security Solutions

Staying secure at home is at the top of most people’s lists of must-have smart home devices. If it’s not, this is seriously something to consider. With smart cameras, this is easier to achieve than you might think. For indoor, outdoor, or garage use, smart cameras are essential for real-time monitoring of your property, even when you’re not at home. You could be in a completely different state or country and still see what’s happening at home from your smart camera.

Motion sensors can also detect if someone is outside or pick up on any movements within your house, such as children running or animal visitors at night.

myQ’s smart security products, like the garage camera and video-enabled garage door openers, provide an added layer of security by allowing remote access and monitoring of your garage and entry points.

2. Thermostats and Other Smart Energy Devices

Not everyone is aware that a thermostat is a smart home tool – but many people today have one. Way too cold at night? Schedule when you need the heating on through your device. It’s that easy when it comes to other smart energy devices and features you might not have heard of, though. There are also plenty of other smart energy devices on the market for you to choose from. Some give features like:

  • Allocating daily energy use or telling you whether you’re about to reach your limit
  • Scheduling lighting to come on when you get home from work or to switch off before you go to bed
  • Smart plugs which can monitor how much energy your devices are using
  • Voice command functionality means you can control your smart home energy devices hands-free

3. Smart Garage Control

Next on our list of smart home must-have devices is the smart garage door opener. Smart garage door openers enhance convenience by allowing you to control access to your garage from your smartphone, whether you're at home or on the go. If you’re someone with a car (or several), this creates greater convenience and security. That’s because your smart device tells you if your garage has opened or closed from anywhere at any time. You can also integrate some smart garage tools with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors for greater safety and peace of mind in your own home.

myQ’s Garage Control system integrates seamlessly with your smartphone to offer remote monitoring, notifications, and control of your garage doors, providing security and peace of mind.

4. Smart lighting

Smart lightbulbs can make you feel well and truly in the future – their chip can communicate wirelessly with other smart devices. These lightbulbs can be dimmed and can change color, and you can schedule them to switch on or off during different times of the day. If you don’t feel like switching off all your lights at the end of the day, smart lighting is a time saver. Some smart lighting uses motion sensors, which can be perfect for those moments when you need to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. You don’t need to fumble around in the dark for the light switch—smart lighting does the job for you.

5. Smart home audio

Smart tech also covers music fans, with smart home audio tools giving you complete control over all the different systems in your house. This means easy multi-room audio accessibility—make sure you have the right app installed, your systems connected with your hub, and you can turn up the volume from wherever you are.

6. Smart Humidifiers

If you live in a dry part of the world, having a humidifier is often necessary. Humidifiers might also help you with breathing issues if you have the flu or a cold. Smart humidifiers are useful to have as they can detect how much water they’re using up. Since running out of water can damage a humidifier, having a smart humidifier notify you about this could be crucial to its longevity. Some smart humidifiers can also release a range of different relaxing scents if you need to unwind after a stressful day.

7. Smart Locks

Smart locks are an essential addition to any modern home, offering a convenient and secure way to manage entry points. With smart locks, you can lock or unlock your door remotely using your smartphone, ensuring you're always in control of your home’s security. Whether you’re at work, on vacation, or just on the go, these locks provide peace of mind by allowing you to monitor and control access from anywhere.

Many smart locks come with keyless entry, eliminating the need for traditional keys and reducing the risk of lockouts. Plus, you can grant temporary access to guests, such as house cleaners or maintenance workers, by sending them a virtual key that expires after a set period. With features like activity tracking and integration with other smart home systems, smart locks offer enhanced security and convenience for today’s tech-savvy homeowner.

Streamlined Home Access and Convenience

That wraps up our top smart home must-have choices, but there are many more to discover. If you’re wondering how to make a smart home, it starts with choosing the right devices to fit your needs. When building your smart home, ensure safety is at the top of your agenda. myQ’s effective and straightforward range of smart security cameras and garage door openers can make your rest easy, whether that’s in bed, when you’re at work, or on a trip away.

Combining smart garage control, locks, and cameras creates a unified system that simplifies home management and enhances accessibility. myQ products offer an integrated solution that gives you full control over entry points, keeping your home secure and easily accessible from anywhere. With these tools in place, you can enjoy greater peace of mind knowing your home is protected.

Sources:

Medical News Today. Benefits of using a humidifier. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322228

Science Direct. Environmental saving potentials of a smart home system from a life cycle perspective: How green is the smart home? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652621020631

NIH. An IoT-Based Smart Home Automation System. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8198920/