Automatic Shades
Lutron’s Smart Bridge ($120) triggers the brand’s Serena remote-control shades (from about $349) to open when you arrive home or close when you leave. Slick.
One practical advantage of Lutron’s Serena shades: they run on D-cell batteries hidden in the core of the roller, so you don’t need an electrician for the install. As TOH contributor Eric Hagerman explained, all you need are “a few kitchen-drawer tools and some D-cell batteries, then presto” — the shades are up and running with a radio-frequency remote.
Thermostat
The Ecobee3 (about $229) can leverage your phone’s GPS to adjust the temp as you come and go. Its unique remote sensors ensure the bedroom isn’t broiling at night.
Smart thermostats have evolved well beyond simple phone-controlled programming. Today’s models use both GPS geofencing and built-in motion sensors to detect occupancy — when no one walks past the thermostat for a set period, it automatically shifts to an energy-saving away mode. Some can even run just the fan to mix air between hot and cold rooms without firing up the heating or cooling system. One important installation note: most smart thermostats require a “C wire” (common wire) providing a 24-volt power supply. Without it, you’re stuck relying on batteries, which defeats the purpose of an always-connected device.
Smart Plug
Turn on lamps and such plugged into iDevices Wi-Fi Switch (about $60) by setting your iPhone to trigger it when you walk in the door or simply asking Siri to activate it.
Door Lock
Schlage’s Connect (about $199) dead bolt opens with a PIN code or an app, and can signal a Z-Wave hub to, for example, activate lights or other connected devices.
Doorbell
Every video doorbell on the market now offers motion detection that sends alerts to your phone before a visitor even presses the button, plus two-way audio so you can have a conversation from anywhere. As TOH Magazine’s Sal Vaglica noted in a roundup of the latest models, better microphones in the current generation make these conversations easier to understand with less lag time between responses.
Vivint’s HD Doorbell Camera lets you clearly see and speak with visitors, and the app logs video clips of activity. Available with a $60 per month monitored security contract.
Before You Install: Since all video doorbells transmit data over Wi-Fi — the existing doorbell wiring is just for power — it’s critical to check your Wi-Fi signal strength at the mounting location before buying. Take your phone outside, run a speed test app right where the doorbell will go, and make sure you’re getting well above two or three megabytes per second. A weak signal means choppy video and missed alerts.
Protect Your Privacy: When choosing any video doorbell, look for 256-bit encryption and two-factor authentication. It’s also worth reading the fine print on how the company handles your data — make sure they aren’t sharing it with third parties or affiliates.
Router
Securifi’s Almond+ router (about $250) sets up in minutes (sans computer) and doubles as a hub to command other Z-Wave or ZigBee devices.
A robust Wi-Fi network is essential for any smart home. Wi-Fi routers have switched to a higher frequency (5 GHz) to handle HD content, but at that speed, the signal has more difficulty passing through walls than the previous 2.4 GHz signal did. One solution is a mesh network—a web of Wi-Fi routers that talk to each other, extending a full-strength signal throughout the house.
