Smart automation allows homeowners to control and communicate with the many elements of their home, including mobile devices, light switches, heating systems, smoke alarms, security systems, and air quality monitors. This works through smartphone apps, voice-activated commands, smart speakers, or central home hub devices. Let’s take the bull by the horns and launch into our top tips for quickly and conveniently building smart automation into any new home.
And then there was light…
The number one smart automation to add to your new build is smart lighting. A range of smart bulbs, switches, and dimmers are available to help you create the most desirable lighting for any occasion. Lightwave’s 1-4 gang dimmers, for example, have built-in wireless technology and don’t require any extra wiring. You could also consider adding a smart boiler switch & thermostat. These can be used in conjunction with the Lightwave app to schedule and control your boiler remotely, allowing you to monitor your energy consumption and save money on your bills. In order to really keep an eye on your electricity usage, contemplate adding an electricity monitor that will enable you to track electricity use in real-time from your smartphone or tablet. That way, you can turn off any devices that are using too much power and establish the peak usage times of all your electronic devices. You can even communicate with your smart assistant to make sure the lights are never at 100% brightness, thus eliminating harsh lighting conditions, and adding an extra way to reduce your overall energy consumption.
Link All Your Smart Devices to a Central Hub
A central hub acts as the project manager of your smart home. Generally, the hub can be fitted into a spare port of any standard wireless broadband router, keeping things convenient with the hub and router housed side by side in one central location. It is easy to link all the smart components for your needs, such as lighting, thermostats, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, speakers, security cameras, irrigation systems, and sensors to the hub. There is also a simple way to control all of your linked devices without lifting a finger. Simply add the Lightwave Home or Away Button. All you’ll need to do then is use the App to set up the Home and Away buttons to automatically run any Lightwave automation, wherever you are in the world.
The Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of any home, and often the best position for your smart speakers ; aim to place them within a central location that you can easily reach while you are preparing meals. This affords you a convenient hands-free way of communicating with your smart assistant. Connect your Lightwave System up to an Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod and control all the smart elements of your home with your voice. Use the speakers to let your family know that dinner is ready, get instant notifications on your smartphone when your oven is at the right temperature or your fridge is out of ice. Or even entertain in the kitchen – set the smart thermostat to automatically heat the kitchen to the perfect temperature before your guests sit down to eat, create a dinner party playlist, and command your smart assistant to play it in the background, while at the same time dimming the lighting to create a mood to make your guests feel like they are dining at a restaurant.
The Bedroom
The bedroom is the ultimate place to unwind and recharge your batteries. Smart technology can be used to great effect in the bedroom, especially when used to create mood lighting. A wide selection of lamps, ceiling lights, and LED strips can be installed into the bedroom and operated from a central Lightwave smart dimmer. You can control the intensity of all bedroom lighting, and by voice commands alone, you have the power to turn the lights on or off at any moment. That way, you can produce the perfect atmosphere for any occasion, day or night, by simply triggering a pre-set lighting scene within your Lightwave mobile app.
The Bathroom
The bathroom is the ideal retreat to reinvigorate yourself and get ready for a brand new day. Why not set a command to heat the towel racks in time for the morning showers? Want music? Simply create a playlist and use your voice to ask for the perfect spa ambience, or you could even program the playlist to start at the same time as you use a smart dimmer to turn on your ambient shower lighting. To add an extra touch of luxury to your bath or shower, pre-set a softened and relaxing ‘bathroom lighting scene’.
These are just a few ideas to get you started on the exciting adventure of building smart home technology into your new build.