Home safety is one of the top priorities of homeowners and renters alike. Your home should be a place to relax, play and enjoy spending time with family and friends.

Here are a few of the latest trends in home automation so you can make yours a home sweet home that’s equally safe.

Home automation and controls

Home automation and controls is exactly what it sounds like: automating the ability to control items around the house — from window shades to pet feeders — with a simple push of a button or voice command. Homeowners now have the ability to make sure they really did lock the back door or turn off the lights. This trend is taking a security system and turning it into a smart home device, and consumers are loving it.

Voice Assistants                                                                                                                        

Voice-controlled smart ‘assistants’ such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri are becoming the gateway to whole-of-home control. At your vocal command, you can turn on the lights, record your favorite TV shows or even pre-heat your oven.

Solatube Daylighting System with Integrated NightLight

Solatube Daylighting Systems have become even more innovative. They harvest sunlight on the roof and shoot it down a tube of the most highly reflective material made and into the home environment. Not only do the residents experience natural light during the day, with the NightLight they get the soft glow of the moon at night. Solatube integrated a small solar-electric system that collects the sun’s energy by day to power a NightLight that automatically comes on at dark. You won’t have to turn on lights for trips to the bathroom or navigate dark hallways any longer.

Video monitoring

Having a good indoor security camera is now the cornerstone of any good home security system. This allows homeowners to watch live video footage of their home from their smartphone anytime, anywhere. It also takes the stress away when leaving pets at home for any amount of time. Owners can monitor and speak to their animals while they are away. This trend is convenient, offers peace of mind and may deter burglars.

Geofencing

You can think of geofencing like an invisible fence serving as a virtual perimeter. With it, homeowners can draw around any location on a map and trigger actions from their smartphone when they enter that location through an app. A great example would be an electronic notification sent to Mom’s or Dad’s cell phone when their child arrives home from school, triggered by the child’s cell phone. This technology also allows parents to establish a “safety” zone outside of which their child is not allowed to venture. The geofence sends mobile alerts the moment their loved ones enter or exit the area established, tracking their children’s whereabouts. Overall, this trend is making homes safer, smarter and more efficient.

Home automation with GPS

Home automation with GPS is less of a safety feature and more of an added convenience for homeowners. Home automation uses GPS in smartphones to trigger assigned actions. For example, when a homeowner pulls into his or her driveway, the home alarm is deactivated and the front door lights turn on. This trend simplifies consumers’ daily routines by putting the house to work.

Television Home Hubs                                                                                                            

Smart assistants began to establish themselves as the hub of the home last year. Brands like Samsung and LG are pushing for your TV to be the hub for your home in 2018. The TV is already considered a central point of the home in terms of family living, but now companies are seeing the remote and TV itself as the brain of your home’s functionality. TVs have the ability to control smart home devices. Newer TV models allow vocal commands to switch lights on, lock doors, turn on appliances and more.

Wi-Fi                                                                                                                                                 

We’ve come to take it for granted now, but your WiFi network is crucial for making all of the above actually work. The only issue with emerging technologies is that a lot of them rely on a strong Wi-Fi connection. And if that isn’t up to snuff, your smart home will fall dumb very quickly.  New Mesh Wi-Fi systems like Netgear’s Orbi and Google Wi-Fi are a much-needed solution to growing problem of network connectivity. Put simply, a better internet and advances in wireless technology make these things a reality that couldn’t have been before.

Smart technology is available everywhere, through nearly everything. Williams Roofing Company is also proactive in the management of people’s greatest asset – their homes – by providing peace of mind as we cover your home with high quality roofing systems. Contact us for a free roofing evaluation.