Top 10 hottest home automation technologies in 2017
2017 Home Automation Technologies & Systems that Make Your Home & Office Seamless
Home automation is a subject that becomes more and more approachable and of interest to everyone. Whether you are a multi-million dollar homeowner, an owner of a vintage house, or a person fascinated by technology, you should know that there are plenty of solutions to offer you a lively house, while maintaining the appearance that you love and appreciate. In the last five years, Geeks of Technology has tested out thousands of home automation technologies, starting with climate control gadgets, security and surveillance cameras and monitoring systems, and even more advanced, digitally controlled sound systems and access control devices. Today, we are going to talk about the most appreciated gadgets and technologies that people want in their homes in 2017. We really like the fact that home security is a hot subject this year, and in this list, you will see that lots of smart locks and surveillance systems are available. Alongside surveillance, the second place was taken by climate control gadgets and digital personal assistants like Alexa and Google Home. Without any further ado, here are the Top 10 Hottest Home Automation Technologies for 2017.
1. The Nest Learning Thermostat
Google managed to bring a great innovation in terms of home climate control with the first generation of Nest products. For those of you who don’t know, Nest is a remotely controlled heating system that has a built-in Wi-Fi system that can be set-up and customized using your PC, tablet, or mobile device. As a result, you will be able to tell Nest to heat your home and keep it warm for a determined time, or tell it to cool down your house to a desired temperature. In 2017, Nest reached its peak with the third generation, which brings a great addition of thermal sensors, furnace monitoring, and geo-fencing support. According to Google, their Nest product already helped people save billions of kilowatts/hour of energy power worldwide.
Why use NEST?
Geeks of Technology loves to install Nest in luxury home automation systems in South Florida because it’s easy to use, it has a beautiful, sharp design, and it’s quite affordable when you think about how much energy it can help you save. After all, their slogan is – “Programs itself, then pays for itself!”
Big sharp screen
Learns what you like
Automatically develops a working schedule
Helps you save lots of energy
Helps you track energy consumption
Compatible with PC, tablets, and mobile phones
2. Crestron TST-902 Wireless Touch Screen
If you are interested in the ultimate home automation set-up, then you need to have a controller like Crestron TST-902. It’s like having your personal assistant following you every step of the way. Crestron TST-902 is a thin and stylish, cutting-edge touch screen controller designed to offer you a wide range controller for your entire home. It comes with voice recognition, video streaming support, and even web browsing. We enjoy the clean, minimalist user interface, which makes it easy to control even by a child. Besides that, Crestron is known worldwide as the leader in home automation technologies, offering a large variety of gadgets and tools to make your home work alongside you.
Why TST-902?
It’s a great, easy to set-up controller that makes home automation a child’s play!
Wide-range support controller
Very comprehensive and intuitive
Table dock charger
Instant-waking system
Voice controller + audio feedback
3. Lutron Serena Remote Controlled Shades
This is a motorized shading system designed to fit to your room’s look, giving you privacy while maintaining the ambiance you want. Lutron is quite popular in the motorized shading area, offering the best shading solutions available for over 20 years. They are great in terms of customer support, always providing top solutions, and customized designs. The Serena system comes with mobile and remote controllers, and they are available in a roller and honeycomb style, which makes them flow even more with the existing style and decor of your home. In short, Lutron Serena remote controlled shades are a great way to control the daylight in your home while maintaining a high level of elegance and comfort.
Why we like Lutron Serena
They are affordable
The shades move in unison
Battery powered
You can cut glare while keeping the view outside
Quiet motion
Wireless remote controllers
4. Amazon Echo
With Echo, Amazon managed to bring artificial intelligence to a whole new level. If you think that talking to an item in your house is crazy, one trial one with Echo and you will love it! What is Echo? Amazon Echo is basically a wireless speaker that comes with a built-in personal assistant named Alexa. Alexa can help you create a schedule, play music, search for certain queries, read news for you, tell you the forecast and even answer crazy questions. It has a top ring that you can adjust for volume and a simple microphone switch command. It’s extremely easy to set up and it takes only few seconds to do it.
Why Amazon Echo & Alexa
Easy to install
It feels real to talk to Alexa
We like the ease in the set-up process
Accepts voice commands and can be operated remotely
Will work with future smart home items
It can tell you jokes
Works with Spotify
5. Philips Hue Wireless Lighting
A smart, app-based lighting solution from Philips. You simply screw in the bulb, connect the bridge to your router, then choose the colors of the lighting in your entire house from their application, which works for iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile. You can choose when you want to turn on the lights and even setup a customized schedule for leaving and arriving back home. Another great thing that Geeks of Technology loves about Philips Hue is that you can choose how warm the light is, so that you can build perfect moments when you need to.
Why Philips Hue?
Easy to install
It can help you create lighting shows
You choose the colors and the intensity
It’s compatible with multiple applications and mods
Quite affordable and durable
They come in a lightstrip and bulb form
6. AXIS Companion Camera
Are you in search for the smartest surveillance solution in 2017? Look no further, because AXIS brought the digital surveillance system called Companion Camera to play and it beats out all the competition! The Companion Camera is an all-in-one surveillance system designed to help you keep track of your home, office, or store 24/7. You can do this via a network connection and it is a comprehensive device that can help you keep an eye on your work environment. It records automatically on a SD card without requiring a DVR or a server, while broadcasting live images straight to your smart device.
Why AXIS Companion Camera?
Network access from mobile or tablet to live images and recordings
24/7 smart 360 filming
HDTV image quality
3D View with zoom functionality
Portrait and landscape view
Dual image support
7. Canary Security System
An all-in-one home security system that comes assembled out of the box. Canary is a smart device that can be activated using your mobile device through an app that works on Android and iOS. The Canary has a HD wide-angle camera that detects movement and records 24/7, also broadcasting videos with sound. Canary will check out for temperature, air humidity, and alert you if those levels are changing if you choose to. Also, the Canary will work on 3 main schedules, Home mode, Night mode and Away mode, choosing how it will act on each of those according to your customization. If Canary detects movement when the system is in the away mode, it will notify you and choose to call the police or activate the built-in siren, or both.
Why Canary?
It blends well
It has a loud siren embedded
It works with Android and iOS
Easy, comprehensive setup
Includes night sensors and movement detectors
Sends you live feed automatically in away mode
8. Skybell
Don’t you wish you know who’s at your door even before they ring the bell? Now you can with Skybell, a smart doorbell and camera that is activated when someone approaches your door. You can check who’s at the door by tapping into the mobile app and request the on-demand video feed. Skybell includes smart sensors and night vision. The bell has a minimalist design and clean, sharp look that fits on every door and is also quite small in size.
Why Skybell?
Wireless notification and answering system
Mobile control
Motion sensors for night and day
Easy installation
Live video feed
WiFi connection
9. Sesame Smart Lock System
A cutting edge smart lock device that is compatible with any door lock that you have. It comes with mobile control and smart-unlock system triggered by knocking on your mobile device, or by tapping into the application. Sesame Lock allows you to configure privileged phone users and restricted ones, so no one who is not welcome can enter your home. On top of that, Sesame has a voice command control and is quite responsive locking and unlocking your door within 1 second. You can also choose a design that fits your door and instruct it to respond to door knocks when your phone is near the door.
Why Sesame?
WiFi Support + Bluetooth for low battery consumption
Get notification when lock opens and closes
Military grade encryption system
Add privileges to other phones
10. Samsung SmartThings Hub
This is the largest open smart hub available, with over 200 smart devices compatible. The Samsung SmartThings Hub will help you pair all your smart home devices and bring in the full, home automation feel. All you have to do in order to set up SmartThings is to simply plug-in the hub to your router and start configuring it from the official mobile app. With SmartThings, you can control locks, TVs, thermostats, lighting, audio and video and much more. The hub connects wirelessly to your devices and makes them work for you by giving your phone voice commands. You can also use a device like Google Home or Amazon’s Echo to work with the devices in your home.
Why SmartThings?
Easy to set up
Works with multiple brands and over 200 devices
Wireless connectivity
Battery powered
Full guide and configuration included
Supports patterns
Conclusion
We are pleased to see so many creative and powerful gadgets that offer us more freedom and access to our home environment, and Geeks of Technology believes that quite soon, we will see major improvements in terms of communication with our smart devices and our home, making home automation not a luxury or thing of the future, but a day-to-day necessity and built-in home feature.