My Favorite Smart Home Devices
What smart home devices do you use? Have you already taken the plunge? How smart is your home already? Maybe you are curious on where to start? Are you a Google or Alexa house?
While there is nothing wrong with going the way of Alexa, for this article, we will dive into a Google smart home. It’s what I use, and I am happy with it. If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know. I’m always looking for more devices to add.
To start with, you will want to have the Google Home app installed on your phone or tablet, or both. This, ultimately, will control everything. Every smart item you add from here will all link to this app for you to control.
Do you like it Hot or Cold?
The perfect beginning for me, was the Nest Thermostat. This was mainly due to its great functionality. I’m able to adjust the temperature when no one is at home. I can set timers to have it turn on maybe 30 minutes before I wake up in the morning, or before I come home from work. There is also a feature to reminded me when it’s time to change my air filters.
I will be the first to tell you, that I am NOT handy at all, and this set up was super simple. It’s possible that I had had some adult supervision at the time, but the point is, an electrician is not needed. You can do it. Nest, which is also owned by Google, has its own app to use to control this device, but it also integrates with the Google Home app. Its the perfect start on your smart home journey
Voice Activation
What I added next was the Google Smart Home Speaker. Google assistant can recognize different voices and provide personal experiences for each user. This thing sat in the middle of my main floor in the living room. Ask it any question you want, and he/she/it responds. I can kick off a party playlist on Spotify, check the weather, or even start up a Netflix show, all with the soothing sound of my voice. To open Netflix or YouTube, you would need to sync your smart TV to Google, or add a device such as a Google Chromecast
Do I need Smart Plugs?
Next up for me was a few smart plugs. Currently, I am using the mini’s by Kasa. These are especially helpful at Christmas time. I simply named it “Christmas Tree”. Now when I want to turn the tree off and on, I just ask Google to do it. I now didn’t have to climb behind the tree, knocking off ornaments and pine needles, just to unplug it before I went to bed. One thing to remember is, these aren’t just for lamps. You can use one for your coffee machine, or TV. Anything you can plug in. No smart home is complete without a few smart plugs
Nest Smart Front Door Lock
Due to the sheer number of kids coming and going in my house, I knew the next best thing for me was a Smart Lock. I of course went with the Nest Yale lock. This is really one of the coolest devices for me. I can give each member of my family their own code. Having visitors from out of town? Create a code for them. Have a dog walker come to your house. Create a code for them. Being part of the Nest family, it connects seamlessly to the app. I can remotely lock, or unlock, the door at anytime. See which code was used and when. Because its tied into the Google Home app, I can also set up a routine to lock the door at a certain time. We’ll get more into routines a bit later.
Whose watching?
Next up, I decided that I also wanted some cameras to add to the mix. My cameras of choice were two outdoor Nest security cameras. I won’t get into the specs, as there are a lot of camera options available. I put a lot of stock in compatibility with the NEST/Google product line. Plus I have a friend who was already using these, so I knew that they would do what I needed them to. I can log into the Nest app at any time and see what is going on at my house. As an option, you can pay $60 for the year, and NEST will store footage on the cloud for the past 30 days. I went with outdoor cameras, but they also have indoor cams available.
Smart Light Bulbs
Next on my smart home list, were smart light bulbs. For any bulbs that you consider, just make sure that they are compatible with whatever else you have in your house (Google or Alexa). If they aren’t, it may be best to look at a different brand. For my kitchen, I added GE Lighting CYNC Smart LED Light Bulbs. I wouldn’t cheap out too much on these. They aren’t that expensive, but that really depends on how many you are looking to buy, as they do add up quick.
Because I can be a little “extra” sometimes, I decided to get color light bulbs for my kitchen. These can be really cool. You can adjust not only the colors, but the level of brightness. I usually keep them at about 75% and they are bright. This can be done for any of the many colors that you can choose from. I added a few other smart bulbs throughout the house. I like to think that they are energy efficient and I am saving money by using them, but to be honest, I have no idea. I’d love one of you to fact check me and give me some insight in this area.
Tie the Room Together
With all these devices in the mix, I decided that my Google Home speaker needed an upgrade also. Enter in the Google Nest Hub Max. I absolutely love this. This is the really the center piece that ties my smart home together and puts a pretty little bow on top. This does what the Google Speaker does, but so much more. For starters, it’s also a 10’ display screen. With this, I really no longer need to use my phone or the Google Home app to control everything.
I keep this bad boy on my kitchen counter and everyone can use it. I play music from it, check the weather in the morning, command my smart plugs to do their thing. As a screen saver, I linked it to a Google Photo folder and it scrolls through whatever images I want. You can play games, watch Youtube, check your nest cameras, and even make a phone call on it. So yea, overall, I love this thing.
Routines
To circle back to routines, there are a lot of options out there. I would suggest doing a search for what you may want to do or what you need. Chances are, someone has thought of it already. But you can have a routine make multiple actions. As an example, set a good night routine. Lock the door, toggle a smart plug, turn off lights… ect. We have game nights, so I set a playlist to shuffle when it’s time to pull out some board games. If you have multiple Google speakers, you can link them together in different rooms in your house and play the same playlist on all speakers. Those speakers can also double as an intercom so you can announce to the kids that it’s dinner time.
If you want to really get advanced, you can check out IFTTT, which means, If This, Then That. This is a little more advanced, so I wont get into that today, but with a little practice, you can continue to up your smart home game.
In Conclusion
I’ve been adding my devices over the years. This can get pricey if you try to do it all at once, so my suggestion is to start with what you think is practical and what you will get the most use out of, and then start with that.
What else can I add? What is your set up like? I want to hear from you. My wife will love it if you can give me some more ideas on how to spend my money!
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