- Category:
Energy Efficiency - Published:
August 31, 2018
Best Ways to Make a Pet-Friendly Smart Home
Americans love their pets. According to the ASPCA, 44 percent of American households have a dog, and 35 percent have at least one cat. And that’s not counting the millions of birds, small mammals, reptiles and fish with whom we share our homes.
With the development of smart-home systems like Constellation Connect, an explosion of pet tech gadgets has hit the market, from virtual toys and the best automatic pet feeders to wearable technology for pets—all of which can be controlled through your home’s compatible smart hub. Now you can rest assured that leaving the dog alone while at work won’t be a problem!
Monitor Your Pet While Away
Check in on your pets from any location with smart video cameras.
Leaving a dog at home while at work can be worrying, especially if you’re wondering what your pet is up to whenever you’re out of the house. Home security automation makes it possible to watch your pets from work so you can check in on them (and enjoy their antics).
Keep your pets and your home safe with pet-friendly motion sensors.
Not all home security systems include remote video monitoring, and rely on sensitive motion detectors instead. If a motion detector detects an unusual motion, the system sends a notification to your phone.
You can use this tech to monitor pets while away from the home so that you always know where in the house your pet is. If you don’t want a constant stream of security alerts originating with your pet, pet-immune sensors can be set to alert you only to motion suggesting human activity.
Unlock your house door remotely and give access to your dog walker or sitter.
Keeping track of your house keys can be a hassle, especially when it comes to giving copies to pet sitters. With smart locks, however, you can provide access to your home for pet sitters and dog walkers without having to give anyone a physical key. Smart locks will also alert you to when pet sitters arrive, so you’ll know your pets are getting the attention they need.
Manage and monitor all smart technology with compatible smart-home hubs.
Smart-home products intended for humans also work as technology for pets. You can easily use smart thermostats, motion-detecting lights and other home automation ideas by connecting these products to a home automation hub like Constellation Connect. Controlling your energy consumption and appliances helps you save on energy costs—you’ll have more money left over for cat toys!
Comfort and Care with Smart Pet Technology
Set the optimal home temperature for your pets with smart thermostats.
Keeping your home at the ideal home temperature will also keep your pets cool and comfortable. This is especially important in hot climates, as most pets don’t have sweat glands like humans. Dogs pant to stay cool, while cats sweat through their paws. Simply turning on ceiling fans won’t keep your pets cool. Instead, set smart thermostats to keep your home comfortable for pets while you’re away.
Keep your pets out of the dark while saving energy with smart lighting.
Do you really need to leave lights on for your pets? Cats can see in the dark, and dogs do just fine in dim light. Take advantage of this with smart energy-efficient light switches, which allow you to set your lighting to turn off and on at specific times. You’ll save energy, and your pets won’t mind.
Keep your pets happy and fed with the best automatic pet feeders.
Of all the pet tech products on the market, automatic feeders are perhaps the most useful. The best automatic pet feeder will feed your pets on time, dispensing enough food to keep them healthy and happy. Many come with features to ensure pets don’t eat too fast. Automatic feeders are available for dogs, cats, birds and even fish.
For the best automatic pet feeders, look for features that allow you to program dispensing times and food portions. Make sure that the feeder is pet-proof to keep food secure and prevent break-ins, and ensure that the feeder has battery backup in the case of a power outage. Some models will even send alerts to your smartphone so you monitor your pet’s feeding from any location.
Constellation Connect protects your home.
And your peace of mind.
Save water and keep your pet hydrated with automatic waterers.
Much like automatic feeders, pet tech products provide your pet with fresh water on demand. Automatic water dispensers replenish water dishes when you’re not home, pulling water from an attached water reservoir so that you don’t need to attach the water dispenser to your plumbing. Great for pets that aren’t motivated to drink enough, automatic dispensers often use fountains to stimulate pets to drink more and stay hydrated.
Save time with self-cleaning litter boxes.
If cat litter isn’t kept clean, your kitty may develop behavioral problems in protest. One of the greatest pet gadgets ever invented (if you’re a cat lover) is the self-cleaning litter box. Perfect for busy pet owners, self-cleaning litter boxes also help safeguard pregnant women from Toxoplasma gondii (commonly known as toxoplasmosis), a cat-borne parasite that can cause neurological damage in unborn children.
Play with your pets while you’re away with smart pet technology.
If you’re away from the house, you can feed your pet remotely with the best automatic home feeders, but you can’t offer in-person comfort and attention. Luckily, smart tech for pets helps you keep your pet happy and entertained while you’re away from the house. You can even use your home’s smart-assistant routine to talk to your pets or signal an automatic treat dispenser from your work office.
Smart pet technology also includes a wide variety of remotely operated pet toys—so you can play laser tag with the cat during that boring keynote speech or train your dog to solve electronic puzzles on your coffee break.
Smart Tech for Pets and Safety
Secure your home with an energy-efficient dog door that only opens for your pet.
Pet doors have always been problematic. Your pet can enter and exit the home freely, but the door creates energy-consuming air leaks and provides a possible entry point for human or animal home invaders (coming home to a raccoon in the living room is less fun than it sounds). A smart energy-efficient pet door offers better insulation than a simple door flap and works with wearable technology for pets so that only your pet can use the door.
Protect your pet with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Technically, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors aren’t intended as smart tech for pets, but they’re vitally important for your pet’s safety. Smart detectors continuously monitor your home for signs of smoke and carbon monoxide. If they detect anything, the monitors send immediate notifications to your smartphone, allowing you to take steps to protect your pets.
Keep track of your pets—and never lose them—with smart collars.
An excited dog may bolt away from its owner, while cats are notorious for wandering far from home. According to NCBI, 14% of dogs and 15% of cats are reported lost in the United States every year.
Fortunately, smart pet technology can help pet-owners recover their pets so that they’re safe at home in no time. Wearable technology for pets includes GPS tags so that you can always locate them should they go missing, and embedded microchips allow animal shelters to quickly contact you should your pet end up at their door.
Prevent water leaks in your fish tank with aquatic leak detectors.
Technology for pets extends far beyond the best automatic pet feeder for cats or dogs. Smart devices also help aquarists take care of their fish. Smart leak detectors notify you the minute your tank springs a leak, allowing you to both save your fish and prevent water damage to your property.
For better monitoring, protection, and care, smart tech for pets is increasingly available and increasingly helpful for creating an energy-efficient residence. Whether you need to provide access to your home for a pet sitter, want to ensure pets don’t overeat while you’re out or want to monitor pets while away from home, the booming pet gadget industry has all the solutions you—and your pet—could ever need.
