Do you hire a house sitter when you go away? If you’re like most people, you probably don’t. At best, you have a pet sitter who walks and feeds the dogs or a neighbor who waters your plants. But what about the actual house? Who is keeping an eye on that?
If concerns about home security cause you anxiety when you travel, new smart home technology might be the cure. Consider investing in these 5 handy tech tools before your next trip.
Adjust The Lights
One of the simplest ways to protect your home when away is to make it look as if someone is home. In the past, this meant using analog lamp timers – you set it to the time you wanted the lamp to go on and off, then plugged the lamp in via the timer. It was easy, but limiting; plus, a small error or power outage could screw up the whole thing. With Wi-Fi equipped smart bulbs, though, you’ll never have this problem.
Wasserstein’s Smart Light Bulbs are Wi-Fi controlled, allowing you to turn the lights on and off using the app, no matter where you are. You can also pre-program the lights to turn on or off, dim, or change colors while you’re away. It’s way simpler than those old lamp timers and more reliable, to boot.
Call On Your Camera
Many of us find it hard to shake the pressing belief that something bad is going on while we’re away, whether it’s hoodlums pulling up your garden or a thief climbing in through the window – but in the past, it took several steps to receive and dispel an alert when away from home. That’s because old alarm systems relied on remote monitoring, calling you if the alarm was triggered, but modern systems let you monitor your own home.
For security you can trust, check out the Netatmo Welcome, a security camera so smart it can recognize family and friends. That means you won’t get false alarms when the pet sitter comes to feed the dog, but you’ll still know if someone unknown come through the door. The Netatmo also offers motion sensors for the door and windows, keeping you on alert for all points of entry – and you can check up on all of it with full HD videos.
Program Your Control Tower
In order to keep all your smart home devices working in harmony, you’re going to need a central hub – and that’s where the new smart speakers come into play. Devices like Amazon’s Echo are perfect for coordinating all of your smart home tools at once, plus add-ons like the new Amazon Echo show are perfect for eliminating security anxiety when you’re busy around the house. This add-on screen will tap into any security camera by voice command and show you what’s going on at the front door, in the playroom, or anywhere else. No doubt it will help you breathe easier.
The Little Extras
Security is covered, but that doesn’t mean you’re traveling worry free – not yet. This is where the little extras come in. For example, just like you don’t want to end up in a city without the right navigation apps, you also don’t want to go away and hope for the best in terms of home temperature. Using the Ecobee4, you can manage your home temperature, adjust for humidity, and monitor multiple rooms. No more coming home to a humid, uncomfortable house because there was a heatwave while you were gone.
Last up, everyone who goes away misses their pets, even if the pet sitter is providing plenty of updates. Check in on your favorite pooch – and provide some treats – with the Petcube Bites treat camera. Honestly, more of us could do without a security camera as long as we can check in on Fido. That’s all the security we really need.
