Home technology
Home technology has exploded in recent years and I personally can’t help but say I LOVE IT! I have always been a huge fan of technology. No matter where it be in the home, car, personal it really didn’t matter I liked it all. When my wife and I bought our house I instantly couldn’t wait to load it with as much tech as humanly possible without the home growing its own brain. I first invested in electronic door deadbolts. I have them on all my exterior doors and it is a game changer. The units I bought are the schlage touch pad units, they go for about $150-$200 battery life is great and you never have to worry about carrying your keys again.
Next item that I feel is a must for everyone, is the Nest thermostats. The phone app and setup up is extremely easy and functions on it are awesome. At the end of every month Nest sends you this nice email that shows how much energy you have saved over the previous month and they rate it on a “leaf” saving point card. It’s a nice touch to be able to see how much you save and I can confidently say the scheduling feature has saved us money month after month. Not to mention that Columbia gas offers a rebate if you buy the unit. I know we received $100 back after I mailed them proof of purchase. Nest thermostats go for around $250.
Naturally the next item up for grabs was the Nest outdoor camera. The outdoor unit was like all the other Nest products easy to set up taking only 20-25mins after finding the prime location on the front of my house. It connects to WIFI and uses the same app as your Nest thermostat so you can have this one command center app I guess you could say for all your home tech. Picture quality is great during the day and night. My only problem I have is that you get this nice free trial where your video gets stored and they activate Nest aware so you are notified if an intruder passes by. Then after a month your subscription goes away (unless you pay) and you now no longer have video storage or half the other cool features. It was kind of upsetting to pay around $200 for one camera and not have recorded video to play back. In the end the camera looks great on the house and if your dog barks and you want to see who it is you won’t have to get off the couch to see.
To round it all off I had to get the google home. Not so much a fixture to the house but more of a personal aid. Google and Nest paired together really come to life. Just ask your Google Home what the temperature is in the house and she’ll tell you. If you want to know when the Patriots game is you can ask that too. The speaker on the unit has great sound quality for a little unit. It fills my kitchen and living area with plenty of noise if I want to listen to some music, it was well worth the $150. The Google Home is a work in progress I like to say. It is always learning new commands and getting new features monthly almost getting to the point where you wonder is it always listening? Very controversial topic that you can look into but for the sake of this blog I’ll stay out of it.
Technology is inevitable, you are either in or your out. I tell everyone if you can work your smart phone all this other gear would be no problem for you. I would encourage you to start small maybe door locks or at least a thermostat. I think if you were to try one item you would be pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I have read many different articles on if it affects home value, some say yes others say no. One thing is for sure buyers I have worked with always notice these items so they must count for something.
