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New technology is everywhere you look, including your home. Not only can this new technology make your home safer, but it can also help you handle all types of everyday tasks. If you’re interested in making your home smarter, check out a few of these awesome upgrades.

Smart Light Bulb

If you want to start small in your transition to a smart home, smart light bulbs are a great option. You can find bulbs that not only let you turn them on and off using an app or smart home hub, but also let you control the intensity and color of the light. If you have dimmable lights in your house, you can get smart light bulbs that work with them. Smart light bulbs can even work outside for your porch lights.

Smart Plug

Looking for a quick and easy way to turn just about any appliance in your home into a smart device? Get a smart plug. Simply insert the smart plug into an outlet, and plug in your device like normal. Now you can use an app or smart home hub to turn the smart plug on and off. Many smart plugs offer additional features, such as voice control, scheduling, and power usage reports. This is ideal for convenience and for keeping your energy costs down.

Smart Power Strip

For times when you need to operate multiple devices from one outlet, choose a smart power strip. These are perfect for the home office, kitchen, entertainment centers, and more. A smart power strip works just like a smart plug except you get multiple outlets instead of just one. You can control most smart power strips using an app or smart home hub. Many options also let you monitor power usage for each outlet, which can help you see which home devices are consuming the most energy.

Smart Thermostat

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that heating and cooling account for nearly half of all residential energy consumption. If you’re interested in using smart technology to help trim energy costs and save money, a smart thermostat is an important switch to make. Smart thermostats can let you adjust the temperature with your voice when you’re home and using an app when you’re away from home. Some can even learn your schedule so they automatically turn off when you leave and turn back on right before you get home.

Smart Garage Door

Having a smart garage door can make your life much easier. Imagine having the peace of mind of being able to make sure you remembered to close the garage door whether you’re at work or already in bed for the night. There are two ways you can go from a traditional garage door to a smart garage door.

You can replace on old garage door opener with a smart garage door opener. Most smart garage doors work with an app that will let you see if it’s open and allow you to open and close it remotely. If your existing garage door opener is still in good shape, you can get a converter that offers many of the same smart features. Like the smart garage door openers, these converters can let you know if your garage is open or closed. Certain models can also open and close garage doors remotely.

Smart Doorbell

Smart doorbells are becoming more and more popular. They offer a variety of benefits that can make your life easier. Most smart doorbells are simple to install. In addition to offering crisp video of who’s at your door day and night, the majority of doorbells also let you change the range of motion to cover a wide or short area. This makes it easy to customize your smart doorbell to your needs. With live and recordable video, you can always see what’s happening on the other side of your door even when you’re not home.

Smart Lock

In addition to a smart doorbell, consider getting a smart lock for your door. A smart lock offers a variety of benefits. If you’re approaching your door with your hands full of bags, you can use the app to unlock the door before you get to it. Most smart locks also let you program access codes so friends and family can get inside if they need to without a key. Other smart locks can even keep tabs on who’s entering and leaving your home.

Smart Home Surveillance

For advanced protection throughout your home, go with a smart home surveillance system. You’ll find options that range from do-it-yourself to full-featured home security systems. Complete systems can include everything from fire and intruder warnings to 24-hour monitoring and customer support. You can also get smaller systems that are easy to install on your own and let you monitor your entire house remotely.

Smart Grill

Take your next backyard cookout to an entirely new level when you get a smart grill. With smart grills, you never have to worry about uneven cooking temperatures, flare-ups, or constantly needing to put wood in a smoker. They offer automated cooking that takes the guesswork out of how long to grill your meat. Most smart grills also connect with an app that lets you monitor cooking temperatures and times and get notifications when your food is ready while you’re inside watching the big game.

Smart Vacuum

With a smart vacuum, keeping your home clean has never been easier. A smart robot vacuum can learn the layout of your home to make cleaning more efficient and hands-free. If you have mostly tile or hardwood in your house, you can still enjoy the ease of robotic cleaning by getting a robot mop. Best of all, plenty of smart mops also come with a vacuum that can clean up loose messes on your hard floors.

With these outstanding updates, turn your home into a smart home in no time at all. If you need help converting your garage door to a smart garage door, contact Overhead Garage Door to discuss your garage renovation project.

Image via Flickr by highmarke