Locking it Down: Smart Home Trends

Voice assistants, WiFi-enabled whole home systems, smart lights, locks, and thermostats; apps, and robots are creating new standards for home security.

Whether professionally installed or implemented piecemeal by the homeowner, single-family home tech products and systems can detect whether windows are opened or closed, water leaks, whether lights are on or off, gauge appliance functionality, and be used to program personalized indoor temperatures. Homeowners can go basic, with simple camera monitoring systems, or sophisticated, with artificial intelligence or facial recognition capabilities, The New York Times reports. Regardless, homeowners are shopping on a wide smart spectrum for their homes. Dino Iuliano, chief revenue officer at concierge, security, maintenance services firm Planned Companies, says, “We’re at the point where security in some high-end buildings is starting to resemble systems in casinos and airports,” he said.

Nicholas Yallo installed a relatively simple security system when he moved from an apartment into a single-family home on Staten Island about 10 years ago. As smart home technology has improved, he has upgraded to a fully integrated system that allows him to use his cellphone to monitor video footage of his house, and also to control the lights, thermostat and garage door. “I travel a lot so being able to see and control my home while I’m away is very important,” he said. “It makes me feel like I have a presence there while I’m gone.”

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