You take pride in inviting your friends over to your house on the weekends, and your home is now hailed as the hang out spot among your friend circle. The living room bustles with sounds coming from your television when your friends get together. However, you can’t help but feel like something is missing from these gatherings—could it be that your entertainment center is too dated? If you’re still not using a flat-screen television or you don’t own a set of speakers yet, then it’s time for an upgrade. 

You know about smart homes, and you’re most likely living in one. Have you ever pictured your office benefiting from smart home technology? What started off as a futuristic concept is now an attainable reality that you and your employees can take advantage of. From 2015-2017, the number of smart homes increased from 17 million to 29 million, according to data from McKinsey Quarterly. That growth is only projected to keep increasing, with experts predicting that the smart home market will surpass $158 billion by the year 2022. It’s no longer just homeowners who are making use of smart home automation, now you can also use smart home technology at your company’s office. 

 When you upgrade your office to smart home technology, you’ll not only be modernizing your office to new, smaller appliances that are more eye-catching, but you’ll be able to monitor your systems around the clock. This will dramatically increase the efficiency in your office. You might hold some understandable reservations about implementing smart home technology into your office, such as worrying if your employees will be confused about smart technology usage. However, programmable ecosystems should set your mind at ease, since connected smart home devices learn how people live and know how to adjust to their comfort accordingly. In a business setting, these smart home devices can automatically optimize an office’s environment by learning the times your office is most occupied, as well as by helping your employees be the most productive they can be. 

Connected smart devices will help your company cut back on inefficient operations. All you have to do is take advantage of the wide selection of smart home technology and tailor it to your office; this will turn your space into a more valuable, strategic asset. 

Increase Energy Efficiency 

One of the most important smart home advantages that can be applied to your office is learning to automate your environmental control. The market for smart thermostats, which includes both residential and commercial, is expected to grow by more than 20% within the next five years. Having the privilege to automatically monitor your office’s energy usage to adjust your space’s temperature, lighting, and water usage goes a long way toward reducing wasteful energy consumption. The emergence of smart home thermostats gives companies the opportunity to boost their efficiency, and smart home thermostats can lower your office’s electric bills by roughly 25%. A smart home thermostat will reduce heating and cooling to a minimum when employees aren’t present in the office, but the smart thermostat will also optimize these temperatures when people are in the building. It’s no secret that smart thermostats provide one of the most immediate returns on investment. 

Enlist a Virtual Assistant

Have you ever needed an extra hand at the office? You’re already busy enough running your company and ensuring that your employees are working at their peak performance. Take some of that weight off your shoulders by making use of a virtual assistant that ties all of your smart devices together into a cohesive office. 27% of people in the United States currently own a virtual assistant. These consumers primarily use a virtual assistant to connect with and command apps instead of picking up their phones to manually do it. Using your phone is becoming the old-fashioned way of commanding apps. Imagine using your personal virtual assistant to quickly skim through emails, schedule meetings, and receive important information within a matter of seconds. Ask your virtual assistant what the weather is like outside, or you can ask about what last quarter’s revenue looked like. Although Artificial Intelligence still needs further development to fully emulate human-to-human dialogue, the prospect of an AI robot that you can hold a full conversation with is only a few years away.

You know about smart homes, and you’re most likely living in one. Have you ever pictured your office benefiting from smart home technology? What started off as a futuristic concept is now an attainable reality that you and your employees can take advantage of. From 2015-2017, the number of smart homes increased from 17 million to 29 million, according to data from McKinsey Quarterly. That growth is only projected to keep increasing, with experts predicting that the smart home market will surpass $158 billion by the year 2022. It’s no longer just homeowners who are making use of smart home automation, now you can also use smart home technology at your company’s office.

Smart technology is no longer limited to your phone—it’s everywhere. The latest home trends all incorporate smart home technology, which is designed to make your day-to-day life fun and easy to navigate. Smart homes aren’t necessarily new, they have existed since the 1920s. The first smart home technology that was developed are the appliances that are staples to our homes today. Smart home technology came to be with the advent of the vacuum cleaner. The next two decades introduced the television, washer, and dryer. Although we no longer perceive these appliances as “smart,” they were innovative during this time period. Now, these are items that your home can’t do without. 

Similarly, smart home technology is now an advancement that your home can’t do without. The idea of a futuristic home was once a concept that only existed in science fiction. Now, smart houses are a tangible reality. 28% of all houses will transition to smart homes by the year 2021, according to the media research group, Kagan. 

You don’t need the entirety of your home to be fully self-automated, but there are a few parts of your home that can easily be upgraded to smart home technology. You don’t need to live in a mansion to reap the benefits of smart home technology. Not only are smart homes an intelligent experience, but they are also a personal one. Why would you willingly stand up to do simple tasks, when they can now be done through your phone? Phones and tablets are the brains of your smart home, as several tasks can be performed now by using apps. The truth is, manually doing chores is becoming an artifact of the past. Smart home technology improves your daily routine.

Smart Home Light Bulbs

Have you ever been comfortably sitting on your couch, enjoying your favorite show when suddenly you realize that you forgot to turn off your lights? It’s annoying. Lucky for you, by switching to smart home lighting, you won’t ever have to go through that undesirable experience again. Upgrading your house’s lights should be the first step in your smart home journey. Not only is it the easiest step, but it is also one of the most affordable changes you can make. Simply by changing your dated LED lights to smart light bulbs, you will experience a shift in the environment. Smart light bulbs can be controlled using an application on your phone or tablet or through your computer. 

You can program your lights to turn on and off at a certain time. You can even program your smart lights to start dimming at a certain hour, no dimmer switch required. One of the best parts about upgrading to smart light bulbs is the accessible price range. If you’re not too concerned about looks and are looking for a bulb that is both functional and cheap, a white smart lightbulb will suffice. If you want a pop of color in your home, you can also upgrade to color-changing smart light bulbs. Color-changing smart light bulbs are fun and customizable. Right out of the box, most color-changing smart light bulbs can be adjusted to mimic the sunrise and sunset. You can set your light to any color of the rainbow; you can even replicate a rainbow. You can streamline your color-changing light bulbs with your everyday tasks. You can make your light bulb turn green whenever you receive an email. Do you find it difficult to wake up? When your alarm goes off in the morning, you can set up your color-changing smart light bulb to flash red while your alarm blares. Your smart light bulbs will change the mood of your atmosphere with no effort. 

Smart technology is no longer limited to your phone—it’s everywhere. The latest home trends all incorporate smart home technology, which is designed to make your day-to-day life fun and easy to navigate. Smart homes aren’t necessarily new, they have existed since the 1920s. The first smart home technology that was developed are the appliances that are staples to our homes today. Smart home technology came to be with the advent of the vacuum cleaner. The next two decades introduced the television, washer, and dryer. Although we no longer perceive these appliances as “smart,” they were innovative during this time period. Now, these are items that your home can’t do without.

The creation of a smart home is personal and layered. Every homeowner can go about it in their own way and in their own timing. Maybe you want to get it done all at once, with an integrated system that is designed as one. Or perhaps you’d prefer to build your system slowly and meticulously, choosing pieces that work for your needs and finding ways to integrate what you can. There are pros and cons to every way you choose to create your own smart home system  It all comes down to what you need, what you know, and how you want your smart home to develop. 

AMT Integration is where you can turn for smart home solutions of all shapes and sizes. We are passionate about modern technology that can make your home more comfortable, safe, responsive, and energy efficient. We love to help homeowners create a smart home system that meets their personal needs, not just the fancy new pieces of technology that your neighbor brags about. AMT Integration knows all of the different options for smart home technology on the market today, and exactly how they might work in your home. We can consult with you on a personal level to answer your questions about different smart home options and ways to keep your family safe. 

What is a Smart Home? 

Before we dive deep into what your home needs and what options are available, we should first define what a smart home can be for you and others. A smart home is one that uses technology to improve the function of the home in any major way. A smart home is one that is more comfortable, energy-efficient, remotely controllable, safe, secure, and targeted than the standard home by use of special technology designed for homeowners. It may mean one or two pieces of technology or smart technology on every single wall and in every single room. A smart home is simply one that is using technology to improve the lives of the people living there. 

5 Things Your Smart Home Needs