Smart House: The Benefits of Home Automation

In 1999, Disney channel released an original TV movie called “Smart House,” about a family who wins a computer-programmed home that soon takes on a life of its own. It’s a common theme in stories written when society was on the verge of high tech automation: the idea that computers will one day take over. But today, smart houses are becoming more and more common — without any controlling side effects. If anything, they help to give homeowners more control of their home. Smart thermostats allow homeowners to change the temperature of their home remotely from their phone. Smart locks give the home stronger security, and smart lighting offers energy efficiency.

The benefits of adding automated features to your new home are numerous. Here are a few of our favorites:

Energy and Utility Savings

One of the biggest perks when it comes to smart home features is the energy and utility savings. Again, consider smart thermostats that allow you to program your home heating and cooling or change it remotely. This keeps your HVAC system from using any more energy than it has to in order to make your home comfortable, so you can save energy...and of course, costs on your HVAC bills. The same applies to automated, motion sensor lighting. Sometimes we just forget to turn the lights out when we leave a room, but that forgetfulness can cause the bills to go out. With automated lighting, you don’t have to think about it.

Better Security

Automated lighting can also add stronger security and safety to your home. For instance, if a burglar is trying to break into your home and motion-sensored lights suddenly switch on, they’re likely to be scared off. With smart locks, you don’t have to worry about forgetting to lock your doors and windows before vacation, or forgetting your keys when you need to get back in. You can lock and unlock your home from your smartphone. Worried about your child while you’re in your home office or leaving them in the care of a new babysitter? Consider a smart camera that allows you to check up on them from your phone. The idea of knowing your home is safe without having to put much thought into it is a level of comfort that feels almost luxurious.

Comfort and Ease

Which leads to the next point. With so many automated home features, the upkeep of your home becomes so much...easier. You can adjust your home’s features from an app on your phone, or even create preset programs so that you don’t have to fuss with it at all unless you need to change the program. Customizing your home to your comfort and preferences is not only easy to achieve, but practically out of sight, out of mind.

Finally, the more smart home features you add to your home, the more the value of your home will rise. Interested in getting a more accurate appraisal of how smart home features can boost your home value? Talk to a College Station realtor today.