After spending two months with six smart irrigation controllers in a sunny South Carolina yard, we’re confident the Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller (Generation 2) is the best choice for most people with an in-ground sprinkler system. Any smart controller will save you water and money compared with a simple timer, but the Rachio is the best of the ones we tested.
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Connected technology in the home is a fast-growing area, providing inhabitants with enhanced conveniences, improved security and increased comfort. Known as “smart home tech,” everyday devices such as door locks, smoke alarms and thermostats use a connection to the internet, software programs and machine learning to provide added functionality and remote control.
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A few years ago, I moved into a new home and installed smart LED lighting throughout as part of an extensive remodel. In this post, I will share with you my personal experience living with smart lighting — including the benefits and the problems that I’ve encountered along the way.
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A bite-sized version of my extensive Smart Smoke Alarm review for The Wirecutter was posted on Endgaget.
I recently wrote about how smart home technology can help your home save energy. Chief among these energy-saving tips was installing a smart thermostat. A Wi-Fi-connected programmable thermostat can save you as much as 30 percent on your HVAC’s energy use. However, the potential to save money on your heating and cooling doesn’t end there. One of the biggest benefits of smart devices and the Internet of Things is the potential for integration. When these devices work together, you can create a smart home that actively and intelligently works to help you save energy.
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For anyone building or remodeling a home, energy efficiency is a key factor. From insulation to location, how you build a home can have a direct impact on how much energy it uses. While a Passive House, one that can remain comfortable through all seasons without employing an active heating or cooling system, may be a lofty goal for many people, there is something relatively simple you can add to your home to help passively control its temperature: smart shades.
Smart, motorized shades can help control the solar gain and heat loss your home experiences naturally throughout the day simply by opening and closing at pre-programmed times. With the addition of smart home technology, the blinds can actually learn when they need to open and close based on temperature and sun light, maximizing the energy efficiency of your HVAC system.
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When I talk to nontechie friends about my smart home, the reaction is usually a polite, bewildered smile. Occasionally, however, something catches their attention, because it relates to a personal need. Whether that’s getting a Wi-Fi camera for checking in on elderly parents, or painlessly dismissing an annoying false smoke alarm with a swipe of a finger, the appeal of the smart home for most people lies in individual situations. While smart things make life more convenient every day, I recently learned the hard way that coping with a natural disaster can be one of the most effective uses of smart-home technology.
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It’s hard to overstate the importance of having functioning, reliable smoke detectors in your home. From 2007 through 2011, almost a quarter of all home fire-related deaths in the US occurred in homes with nonworking smoke alarms. While any functioning smoke alarm will alert you to problems if you’re at home, a smart alarm can alert you anywhere your smartphone has an Internet connection. For our tests, a former firefighter installed every currently available smart smoke alarm in her own home, both hardwired versions and battery-powered models, to find the best one for keeping you informed about your house’s status, whether you’re home or away. After mounting them to ceilings and walls, blowing smoke at them, fiddling with their batteries and accompanying apps, and generally pushing their buttons, we found that the second-generation Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm is the best smart smoke alarm.
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The Internet of Things is a boon for businesses striving to be more sustainable, but at-home IOT is exhibiting worrying signs of stalling. Industry analyst Jan Dawson summed up many people’s concerns when he said the smart home market seems perennially stuck in the early-adopter phase.
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The American consumer is leading the march toward energy efficiency in this country. They’re embracing government-sponsored programs such as Energy Star and technological advances like the Internet of Things (IoT) and solar panels to reduce their annual energy usage and put money back into their pockets.
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At about five years old, I remember standing in my grandmother’s kitchen in Gainesville, Florida, and her telling me to put the juice in the ice box. “Ice box?” I thought. “What on earth is that?” The ice box—quite literally a box or cabinet with a block of ice to keep food cold—was a part of my grandmother’s childhood.
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Looking to give your small business a leg up, and at the same time, make it more sustainable? Cutting the environmental impact of your business not only helps the planet, but it can also positively affect your bottom line, both through a reduction in consumption of expensive fossil fuels and by streamlining your workflow. Here’s a look at some of the energy-saving, Internet-connected technology you can use in your office to create a smarter, more sustainable workspace.
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How many times have you seen someone’s sprinklers on during a rain storm? Or even worse, arrived home to find yours going while it’s pouring? I think you’ll agree that it’s a truly painful-to-watch waste of Mother Earth’s most precious natural resource. With today’s climate issues, where some parts of the country are living through significant droughts, it’s even more imperative that we be mindful of our water use.
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We spent more than a month trying five popular smart thermostats—testing the hardware, their accompanying mobile apps, and their integrations with various smart-home systems—and the third-generation Nest remains our pick. Five years after the Nest’s debut, a handful of bona fide competitors approach it in style and functionality, but the Nest Learning Thermostat is still the leader, despite the company’s recent upheavals.
Read the full review here.
Ask any firefighter to name the most important thing a person can do to prevent their house from burning to the ground, and he or she will tell you, “Install smoke alarms.”
As the wife of a firefighter and a former volunteer firefighter, I strongly concur. However, as a mother and somewhat erratic chef, I know how annoying those little plastic boxes can be. From false alarms caused by burning the toast to annoying low-battery chirps that wake up sleeping babies, I can empathize with homeowners who leave a smoke alarm dangling from the ceiling after a run-in with a broom....
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Home security once felt like a boring, expensive concept — call up a legacy security company, hand over a pile of cash, and then forget about it until disaster strikes (or your daughter sneaks in through the back window and sets it off at 2 a.m.).
Before you had kids, home security was probably one of those things you thought you should have, but never got around setting up. But once you have a family, that parental urge to fiercely protect your young finally drives you to open your wallet.
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Buying a new garage door is a once- or twice-in-a-lifetime project for most homeowners. If the time has come to replace yours, either as part of a remodel or because the old one has outlived its useful life, you are likely in unfamiliar territory. In this article, we’ll help you understand the many aspects of buying a garage door so you can choose the perfect one for your home with confidence.
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What's Cooking in the Smart Kitchen? Why the kitchen has been the slowest room to embrace smart tech and 3 gadgets that are changing that - For www.thedailymeal.com
http://www.thedailymeal.com/cook/whats-cooking-smart-kitchen
If you live in an apartment, perhaps you’ve heard the terms smart home and home automation and shrugged them off as the realm of suburban homeowners. Today’s smart home devices, however, are being designed with portability in mind, making them perfect for renters. If you want to lower your utility bills, increase your safety and make your apartment more comfortable, it’s time to tune in to the smart home revolution... Read more here.
In part 2 of the "Smart Solutions for Your Vacation Home" series, we'll teach you how to protect and manage your vacation rental efficiently and even remotely using smart solutions.
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