Intrigued about a smart home? Do you want your new custom Florida home to be equipped with the latest remote-controlled, digital and electronic capabilities?
Smart homes are one of the hottest trends in the home-building industry, but like any trend, they come with many options, cautions and positives. The technology for smart homes evolves constantly, which means opting for one can be daunting.
What a smart home is
You probably know the term “smart phone,” right? Sometimes it may feel like all-purpose magic at your fingertips — a computer, search engine, camera, games, live streaming video — rather than a mere phone.
A smart home is similar. It features appliances and systems that can be controlled and programmed remotely by your smart phone, computer tablet or laptop. WiFi capability is mandatory. You’ll need the entire house to be able to receive WiFi.
Need a virtual assistant? Smart homes are getting closer
At the rate at which technology evolves, it likely won’t require another millennium for us to walk through our houses and speak our wishes into being. But depending on your level of connectivity and how smart you’d like your home to be, there are A LOT of things you can do as of this writing.
You can activate and extinguish appliances, lighting, security systems and much more with smart home apps. Refrigerators that allow you keep digital grocery lists right on their doors — and alert you when you’re out of butter — are on the market.
Home apps that allow users to program thermostats and whole-house systems, keep us comfy year round with only a few swipes of a touch pad.
Don’t expect in-house housekeeping
But, despite all the dizzying smart-home bells and whistles, you still have to mop the kitchen, clean the pool, and fold the laundry. The manual labor part of being a homeowner is still manual. That’s because smart-home apps and systems usually control actions that can be automated — flipping a switch, queuing a playlist, setting an alarm — on “things” that are programmable.
constantly, which means opting for one can be daunting.
