It is often heard of the smart home devices are ideal for home automation and energy efficiency. What people tend to overlook is the fact that some of these smart devices are great for home security and monitoring purposes as well.
While we can go on and on about how smart devices allow for us to automate certain aspects of our homes in an inexpensive manner, and simultaneously help in reducing energy wastage with the added benefit of reducing utility bills overtime, we want to further explain on the overlooked factor: security.
So how do smart devices help with home security and which specific devices would be great examples of these? Read on below because we picked out 3 smart home devices that are not just inexpensive and a great investment into your home, but they serve as great security alternatives for a home.
- Get a Video Doorbell
Video intercoms had made it safer to answer the door. Not only could you speak to whoever was there and unlock the door for them, but with a doorbell camera it made it easier to see who was at the door. Fast forward to now, the era of some of the greatest technology available, a smart video doorbell is a far more advanced version of these video intercoms.
With a video doorbell, homeowners are not fixated to walk to a screen mounted somewhere in their home in order to answer the door. Instead, like all smart devices feature mobile applications, the same way all smart video doorbells feature their own mobile applications whereby which homeowners can get alerts, see and speak to whoever is at the door from wherever they are! That’s right, even if you’re at the grocery store or at work, the doorbell which is essentially synced to the home Wi-Fi network sends in an alert to your mobile device so that you may answer.
But though that may be the greatest bit of video doorbells, the technology in the device is much more than just remotely answering the doorbell. These cameras feature HD video with night vision, and a complete head to toe, wide angle view so that you don’t miss anything. Its motion detection features can send alerts whenever it detects any movement within a designated activity zone, regardless of whether someone rang the bell or not. Certain video doorbells also allow for facial recognition features too.
- Install Smart Cameras
Similar to video doorbells, smart cameras have similar features when it comes down to the video quality and viewing the video footage from their associated smartphone applications. When compared to the regular surveillance cameras, you can say smart cameras are a league ahead in every way.
Smart Cameras are available in wired and battery powered variants, meaning they can be placed practically anywhere – mounted onto a wall or hidden within a shelf. The devices are also weather resistant and can automatically adjust the brightness level in the after dark hours as well for a better and clearer view at night. But here is how smart cameras are brilliant, and it’s not just because the video footage is available on your smartphone; it is because these devices support two-way audio allowing people from both ends of the camera to communicate easily. Imagine catching an intruder on live footage and being able to call them out immediately – what’s a better deterrent than that?
- Switch to a Smart Door Lock
Keys can be duplicated and locks can easily be picked. There’s tons of tutorials on the internet that can teach people the skill. That is why installing a smart door lock at your home entry points can be very helpful in keeping your home impenetrable.
With keyless and tamperproof entry to your home, smart door locks are enabled through personalized passcodes that can either be punched into the device at the door, or wirelessly through its mobile application, depending on the gadget itself. Some smart door locks also use the phone’s location in order to lock and unlock themselves automatically, whereas some even happen to lock the door a few seconds after shutting. But apart from that, homeowners have the privilege of having to set schedules for the device to follow too. It’s perfect for someone that happens to fall asleep often while watching TV and forgetting to lock the door, or for when you’re finally in bed only to realize you forgot to lock the front door.
Conclusion
Subscribing to companies like ADT and Vivint are great and mostly people’s go-to when it comes to home security, because what’s better than a monitored system right? There is now, and smart devices are here to take the cake. Highly reliable technology that allows homeowners to watch over their homes from miles away, and stay safe even while indoors. Check out FirstEnergy Home’s smart home device collection at www.firstenergyhome.com and you’ll surely find some device that is worthwhile for your home.
