OPENING THE DOOR

Smart Technology in the Home Is What You Make of It

What if you could keep watching the football game and turn off the oven at the same time? Or switch on all your holiday lights, indoors and out, with a single press of a button? Or open the door for weekend guests who have arrived while you’re still running last-minute errands? Here’s the good news: You can! Thanks to the internet and advances in technology, if you have a smartphone, you can live in a home filled with “smart” possibilities that can make your life easier and more enjoyable. But before you jump in, here are some realities to consider. 

An array of options
The kitchen is the heart of the home, where hours are spent preparing and serving family meals. Many newer kitchen appliances – wall ovens, ranges, refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves and ice makers – have built in Wi-Fi capabilities. 

“You just use an app downloaded to your phone,” says Carl Ramsberger, president and CEO of Appliance Studio in Roanoke. “You register the appliance and then can coordinate everything through your phone. And you can get alerts [when something is amiss].” 

Delayed start time has been an available feature on ovens for years. Now, you can turn on your electric oven when you’re heading home from work or errands. (Remote start isn’t available on gas ovens.) 

“People love the idea that the oven can be preheated [remotely], but you have to set that up before you leave in the morning,” Ramsberger says. 

If you’re at home, however, you can take full advantage of smart options. With a Wi-Fi-connected oven or grill, from your couch you can change the temperature or let a probe tell you if a dish is fully cooked. A smart refrigerator sends alerts when the door is open; some Sub-Zero models even offer a night mode that automatically dims the interior light when the door is opened to a darkened room. Certain dishwashers can be connected to an Amazon account, which prompts automatic ordering and delivery of detergent and rinse aids. 

Beyond the kitchen
Smart technology can control much more than kitchen appliances. Smart thermostats allow you to turn on the air conditioning in a vacation home as you drive there or verify you’ve turned it off after you’ve left. They can also let you override a guest’s setting. 

Window drapes and shades can be controlled remotely, so normal household routines can be mimicked even when the house is empty. The same goes for lighting: smart plugs don’t require any changes to the home’s electrical system, because they go into existing outlets, but they do require dimmable light fixtures. Outside lighting can be set to turn on automatically or on demand. 

And you don’t have to have a new home. During a renovation of his 1978 house, Chris Burriss, project manager for L.G. Flint General Contractors in Lynchburg, expanded Wi-Fi and added a security system with door and motion sensors, and exterior deadbolts. But he warns against hard-wiring everything, because technology changes. 

“There are a ton of houses built in the early 2000s with wired systems: music, speakers, security,” he says. “Now those aren’t used. We always look at what to preinstall and what not to.” 

Homeowners should also consider what systems are most useful for how they live. “I have appliances where I can log in with my phone, but have I ever used that?” Burriss says. “When I want to bake something, I walk over to the oven and turn it on.” 

Maintenance and security
Whether you care about smart technology or not, it’s here. “Even if you have knobs [on an appliance], there’s a control board behind it,” Ramsberger says. “If [your service technician] doesn’t have a computer that works on that particular manufacturer’s products, you’re out of luck.” 

One upside of advanced devices is that a repair can begin even before the homeowner knows one is needed. “[The customer’s] refrigerator will email me, I can go in remotely to diagnose [the problem] or get a good idea,” Ramsberger says. “Then I call the customer to let them know they need a new part or a visit. That’s handy.” 

But humans are still necessary. Ramsberger says fault codes, which are supposed to identify the problem for a technician, are more often wrong than correct. “You’re relying on something that’s broken to tell you what’s broken,” he notes. 

And if you want to use remote access, an encrypted Wi-Fi system or personal server is essential. “To have a smart-capable home, you have to start with a home network that will deliver all those features,” L.G. Flint’s Burriss says, adding that an in-home server can be as small as a brick. “If there’s a Wi-Fi-compatible deadbolt on the garage door and coverage isn’t strong in the garage, that lock can be useless.” 

Criminals who access home systems can unlock doors, open garages and even discern whether people are home. “If a refrigerator hasn’t been opened or closed for a few days, they assume nobody’s home,” Ramsberger says. 

Burriss notes that some insurance companies are beginning to require monitored home security systems. “As homes increase in value, [the current homeowner] might get snapped with an expensive new policy or the cost goes up with a change in ownership,” he says. 

Putting it all together
Homeowner Randy Dunn, whose move from Bedford County to Altavista brought him fast internet, admits he’s the person in the family most excited about smart technology. 

“It’s possible I went a little nuts,” he says, pointing to the smart devices in the home: video doorbell, thermostat, smoke alarms, door locks, rear security camera, and even a ceiling fan. “That was for my son’s room,” Dunn says. “It amused him slightly, then that was the end of that.” 

The thermostat and locks are the most practical items, Dunn says, but he also enjoys the lighting system, which is connected to a voice-activated assistant. “This is where I won [my wife] over completely,” he says. “She loves holiday lights, and she could spend 30 minutes every day plugging them in. Now, we can say, ‘Hey, Siri, good morning Christmas’ and ‘good night Christmas,’ and the entire house can respond. 

“Some may think that’s way overboard, but for me it’s saving time, making life more efficient, so I can do other things,” he says. 

True efficiency comes when all devices can be managed from one platform, even if they’re different brands. Matter, a relatively new networking protocol, is offering such an option, as it can “speak” to devices from different manufacturers and also connect to smartphones operated by different companies. 

Ultimately, Dunn says, homeowners get to decide what makes sense for them. “You always want to ask the question: Is this something that will be worthwhile for us?” ✦