If you’re anything like me you’ll find yourself constantly returning home to check you’ve locked the doors or turned off the stove. Barely a week goes by when, if you were my stalker, you’d see me turn around before I’d even got to the end of the street and checking I’d locked the door to the office when it comes time for me to go home.
Some say it’s down to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), others say it’s a short term memory problem, but personally I put it down to an incredibly short attention span. If I deliberately try to notice something or do something out of sequence, such as turning the locks in a different order, then the event is impressed into my memory and I can get on the bus, safe in the knowledge that work will still be there when I come back in the morning.
If the anxiety sets in soon enough I can come back and check, but sometimes that nagging doubt doesn’t manifest itself until I’m on the bus miles toward home. I reassure myself with the fact that never once have I ever forgotten to lock up and, thanks to the aforementioned short attention span, I soon forget to worry about it and carry on without turning back.
Better To Be Safe Than Sorry
So, that’s just me being forgetful, but what if you’re the type who really does worry about making sure everything is set and done before you can relax? What if you do have memory problems that mean it’s quite possible that you may have left the door open or the iron on? Is there anything out there which could help put your mind at rest? Something you can carry with you which you could check and, if you find something amiss, rectify without having to cancel your plans in order to turn back home?
It may not simply be you, if you have a relative who needs help and you’d like the reassurance of being able to just check that things are going smoothly then Smart Home Automation is a practical, easily introduced, unobtrusive solution.
If it’s just due to forgetfulness or anxiety that you’ve left something switched on, a set of Smart plugs is a great gadget to start your home automation environment. So if you think you left your hair straighteners or iron switched on and you can’t get back to check all you need do is open the app and turn off the plugs.
Know Who’s Knocking
If, like me, you can never remember if you’ve locked the door then access controls and Smart locks are just the thing for you. With these it’s simple to make sure the door is locked, and it’s equally simple for you to talk to anyone who comes to your door whether you’re in the bath, out at work, in the garden, or simply not in the mood to accept guests. Via the app on your phone or computer you can talk to them, open the door and invite them in, ask them to go away or even give them one of a number of pre-recorded messages which give callers no idea if you’re in, out or indisposed.
Home cameras are also terribly handy if you’re care about someone who’s indoors a lot, or you’re anxious about things being left on. Marketed as a way to talk to your pets or kids if they’re at home unsupervised, they’re actually incredibly useful if you care for an elderly relative who has chosen to Age In Place. You can set them up to send an alert if something hasn’t happened, or if it does. So if someone doesn’t get up by 10am, for example, you’ll be made aware that there has been no activity in the living room so you can call to make sure they’re OK. Conversely you can get alerts if your camera detects the sound of a fall or breaking glass.
Keeping An Eye On The Family
Your home camera can also send you a notification if there is movement inside your home, much like a CCTV camera it can pick up footage of a break-in, and the picture quality is so good the police will have no trouble using it as evidence when the burglar is caught trying to sell your stuff.
Smart fridges, cookers and other home appliances are kings of convenience. Forgotten your shopping list, but you’re absolutely sure there’s something you need? Look in the fridge from the supermarket aisle with your fridge’s onboard camera! If you’re not sure if you left the oven on, just take a look. And if you left a joint in to roast but you had things to do, check it’s ready by once again, taking a look via your phone.
A Warm Welcome Home
Controlling your light and heat remotely is a wonderful application too. If you leave the lights on on the way out you can easily turn them off, or, if you’re called away unexpectedly you can turn them on to make it look like someone’s home. You can turn the heating on and off from anywhere that has internet or 4G coverage too. So if you’re not going to be in you can turn the heat off. Or, if it’s a miserable, cold wet day you can turn the heat on so it’s toasty and warm when you get in and you can hang your coat and shoes on the radiator to get them dry.
The fact that you can turn things back on again is a brilliant point behind Smart Home devices. If it’s reassuring to be able to turn things off from anywhere it’s equally handy to be able to turn them on again. The Smart Home revolution is all about efficiency savings and convenience, and what could be more convenient than being able to turn things such as kettles, coffee machines, hair straighteners and other similar devices which need time to warm up so they’re ready for you instead of waiting around for them?