- Category:
Home Energy Savings - Published:
December 20, 2018 - Updated:
July 6, 2021
Best Smart Home Trends and Devices in 2018
Not so long ago, a smart voice assistant would have seemed like something out of a science fiction story. Today, smart devices and other home technology trends are affordable and easily available. With the latest home technology, you can monitor home energy use, connect with family and friends, and remotely monitor the safety of children and make taking care of elderly parents simple.
To add a new smart device or system to your smart home, the two systems need to be compatible. Smart-home security systems like Constellation Connect, for instance, seamlessly integrate themselves with new and existing smart devices, linking systems together to improve functionality and user access.
Five Best Smart-Home Trends in 2018
Smart-home technology trends in 2018 focus on convenience, interconnectivity, security and energy use. Voice-controlled apps are an integral part of smart-home future trends, allowing users to control appliances, lock doors and perform daily tasks simply by talking.
What’s more, these smart-home trends are bringing down the cost of home automation.
More homeowners are using smart speakers as voice control becomes more popular.
Smart speakers are one of the most popular home technology trends, primarily because they increase the range of where you can access your smart-home hub. Smart speakers connect to your home’s smart hub so you can order the hub to play your favorite music, shop online for groceries and control hub-connected smart devices from any room.
Home hubs are making it easy to connect all apps and devices in one location.
A home hub is the hardware that connects all devices on a home’s smart network. Once any device is connected to the hub, you can control that device through voice commands or smart routines.
Alexa and Google Home are two of the most popular hubs, and you can use a smart hub to make video calls, ask questions and check the weather. Adding smart speakers to the system allows you to verbally control the hub even if you’re out of range of its microphone.
Pro tip: The technology associated with smart hubs is remarkable. For example, video applications like Facebook Portal can keep you in frame as you move around the house without you having to move the camera.
Smart security systems are giving homeowners new ways to protect themselves.
Home security is an important consideration, so it’s little wonder so much of the latest home technology centers on security. Smart security systems wirelessly connect to your home hub and can be controlled through smartphone apps.
A security system like Constellation Connect, in addition to controlling security lights and cameras, connects with more than 2,000 smart-home products, so you can use it to set thermostats, home lighting and more.
Constellation Connect protects your home.
And your peace of mind.
Smart home routines are saving homeowners precious time to free up their day.
Future-home technology is designed to make our lives easier and more convenient, so smart devices allow you to create automated routines—or “scenes.” A smart assistant routine might slowly increase the lighting in a bedroom in the morning while turning on the coffee pot and playing music or news.
Routines can be used for home security, to control when children access the internet or to automatically order groceries when a smart refrigerator detects supplies are low.
Smart appliances are giving homeowners new ways to save on their energy use.
Large appliances consume significant amounts of energy, especially if used during peak utility times. The latest home technology lets you schedule when appliances operate, so your dishwasher, for instance, will run when energy demand is low, and rates are cheaper.
Large appliances increasingly come with integrated smart capabilities, or older models can be controlled using smart plugs. Smart assistants can even control your microwave, allowing you to create programmed settings you can prompt with your voice for perfectly heated food or drinks.
More connected smart-home technology trends in 2018
The latest smart-home technology can do everything from setting your thermostat to cleaning your cat’s litter box. Future home technology is also making great strides in home safety for the elderly, alerting relatives to accidents or security concerns or even whether loved ones are taking their medications.
Here are a few of the latest smart-home technology trends:
- Smart thermostats. Control the temperature in your home from anywhere with your smart home! Smart thermostats can save you energy by lowering the thermostat when no one’s around and maintaining ideal temperature settings for your home.
- Smart locks and doorbells. Smart locks for homes allow you to lock and unlock your home remotely through your smartphone and assign digital key access to friends and family. Virtual doorbells increase your safety by letting you know who’s at the door before you open it.
- Smart lighting. Smart assistants can interact with smart bulbs or smart light switches to control the lighting in your home.
- Smart plugs. Transitioning to future-home technology takes time, and most of us have older devices without wireless capabilities that we’d still like to connect to our smart hubs. One of the best things to use smart plugs for is to make any device smart simply by plugging the device into the smart plug and then plugging the smart plug into the wall.
- Smart pet technology. Not all smart-home future trends are for people—pets get some love too! Smart pet technology includes remote-controlled dog toys, self-cleaning litter boxes and fish-tank sensors to guard against leaking. You can also use your home security system to keep tabs on your pet while you’re out.
- Outdoor automation. Outdoor automation systems can be used to control your porch lights, close automated window awnings, provide motion-detection security for swimming pools and monitor how much fuel is left in your barbecue propane tank.
What’s Next: Future Smart Homes Trends in 2019
Smart devices are becoming more and more common in American homes: Adobe Analytics suggests fifty percent of US householders will own a smart speaker by the end of 2018.
What smart-home future trends do we have to look forward to? Advances in video sharing will soon allow smart kitchen appliances to help people cook food or take videos of themselves preparing meals. Connectivity between devices will improve with new technology, including the recent development of a smart spray paint that operates as an antenna.
To take advantage of the latest smart-home technology—and the devices of the future—it’s important to have a versatile smart hub that offers connectivity to as many other devices as possible. Systems like Constellation Connect don’t just interact with the latest smart devices: they offer connectivity with the future.
