41 Actionable Tips To Help You Build A Smart Home

Here’s a list of 41 actionable tips to help you get started with your smart home.

As you might guess, I included tips which I learned through my own experiences and research. In addition, I reached out to the blogosphere and included advice from several other smart home bloggers.

A Quick Guide to Keeping Your Smart Home Secure

It’s expected that by the year 2025, there’ll be over 64 billion IoT devices, and most of them will be inside our homes. Smart TVs, smart locks, smart lights; they all offer great convenience but expose users to great threats as well.

When thinking about cyber threats, what comes to mind most often is computer viruses. Thus, many people seem to believe that cyber-security stops at anti-malware software installed on a smartphone or PC.

However, there are many types of cyber-security threats, and every internet-connected device must be properly protected, smart homes included.

Lutron Caseta Review: The smart, reliable lighting solution

For the most part, everyone else is always gushing about how good these Lutron switches are. So, when I saw a starter kit on sale during Prime Day, I decided to pull the trigger and try them.

The fact that they can be used on switches with no neutral wire AND can dim LEDs was a big selling point for me. Additionally, the ability of the Pico remote to make 3-way switching super-easy helps to set the Lutron system apart from other options.

Should you use a Powerline Adapter to extend your home network?

In order to create an awesome smart home that is reliable and easy to use, you have to have a robust home network. If your WiFi router is leaving you with spotty, unreliable coverage, a powerline adapter may be able provide the extra coverage you need.

Ideally, a home would have ethernet cable drops in every room. However, that’s not the case for most people. What we do have in every room is electrical outlets. A powerline adapter let’s you use your home’s electrical wires to transfer network data.

5 Smart Switches for heavy duty loads

There is no shortage of smart switches and plugs available for your typical in-home application. There’s probably 100 different brands, and if you look, you should be able to find just about any feature you could want.

However, your average smart switch can only handle somewhere between 10 and 15 amps of electrical current. That’s fine for switching a few lamps or even a coffee maker. But if you want to do some heavy duty switching (for example, an electric garage heater or a pool pump), you’ll need something more.