How Easy is It to Convert your Apartment into a Smart Apartment?

Just bought a new apartment and not sure how to make it your own? Or perhaps you’re looking to refresh your existing one. One way to upgrade your space while personalising it is to transform it into a smart apartment. If you set up a home automation system, with just a tap on your phone or a spoken command, your apartment will respond to your whims. Who needs a butler anyway?

But just how easy is it really to turn your apartment into a ‘smarter’ version of itself? And what are the benefits? Let’s find out.

Start with the Lights

If you’re new to smart home automation or smart apartment automation as it were, start small. An easy place to start is the lights. Install smart lights so that you can turn them on and off using your smartphone or tablet.

Or, if you have connected your home automation system to a device such as Amazon Echo, Google Nest or Apple’s HomePod, then you can control the lights with just a few words. Voice assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri use powerful voice recognition software to communicate your spoken commands to smart devices in your apartment.

Any Appliance Can Become a Smart One

Another easy way to turn practically any plugged-in device in your apartment into a smart one is by using smart plugs. Via the smart plug, you’ll be able to turn your appliances on and off no matter where you are in the apartment (or even from work or when you’re away from home).

Lose the Keys!

You can also automate your apartment’s access mechanism. Instead of having to fumble with a key every time you need to re-enter your home, how great would it be to just use a fingerprint to enter. Or even unlock your door with your phone as you leave your car?

This way misplacing your keys or arriving home with a handful of groceries wouldn’t pose any problem.

Climate Control

Other things that you can use smart technology for include your climate control systems (i.e. for air conditioners, for example); and blinds (if your apartment tends to get a little too much sunlight at certain times of the day, this can be helpful).

Automate your Home with Timers

For those looking to have a fully automated apartment, you can go the whole ten yards with a smoothly integrated home automation system. One in which each device and feature of your home can communicate smoothly with one another and with you, no matter where you are.

Everything from lights, blinds, doors and sound systems to air conditioners, fridges and water heaters could be put on a strict schedule to optimise your life on a daily without your interference. And when you do want some control, it would just be a tap or voice command away.

The benefits of being able to set timers for water heaters, air conditioners and other appliances are twofold.

One, you can save energy. Just shaving off a few minutes of unnecessary usage each day can add up to quite a bit of savings each month; which is great for your carbon footprint and your wallet.

Two, timers can make it seem like you have a private butler to yourself, getting everything ready for you just the way you like it. For example, hot water would be ready for you to enjoy a shower just as you wake up or a warm bath just as you get home from work.