Smart Bedroom: 9 Incredible Ways to Automate Your Home

Smart technology extends way beyond your handheld mobile phone these days. In fact, digital, wireless, computer-based networks control much of modern life and extend into all areas of the home environment, even the bedroom. Modern possibilities add levels of control, convenience, safety and flexibility that, even just a few years ago, were thought impossible or unthinkable.

Even though it may be far-fetched to think the day is coming when you don’t ever have to leave your bed, the ability to accomplish tasks, monitor and control your environment, change settings at will, and accomplish tasks from remote locations has never been greater. And new advances promise more to come — at a dizzying pace.

If You Can Dream It

No longer tied to central systems for security and task management, home systems are small, portable, efficient and powerful. Integrated devices can be tied to your smart phone, enabled by other devices, preset on a timed basis, and changed at will. There are also sensors and gadgets that “talk” to one another and change the environment in predetermined ways. Do you remember when the only way to know for sure if your home was secure was to manually check every window and door? That has not been the case for a long time, but today it is possible to lock or unlock your front door, open or close your garage, monitor the humidity level in your home, check carbon monoxide levels in your garage or turn on backyard lighting with a touch of a finger or the swipe of a screen.

It is also possible to walk from room to room without ever opening a door or touching a light switch, even in the middle of the night, or to keep tabs on your property from across the street or across the globe.

There are a number of other things you can do with today’s smart technology. And, while the future has already arrived in some ways, there are many more just waiting to be introduced.

9 Incredible Ways to Automate Today

1. Voice (or Sound) Activation: Control various functions, including lighting and a variety of home gadgets just by using your voice. One such product is the Amazon Echo, which allows you to check the weather or listen to an audio book with equal ease. It also operates as a bluetooth speaker for all your devices.
2. The Smart Battery: Stand alone smart devices are available for many functions from smoke alarms to baby room monitors, but a new “smart battery” will convert many older, dumber devices into items that you can monitor and control remotely from your smart phone.
3. Air control: You know the advantages of set-back thermostats and the ease with which you can program temperature settings from afar, but there is now a sensor that will monitor humidity levels and automatically activate a fan or vent to keep you comfortable. Think about sleeping comfortably through the night no matter what the weather conditions; or keeping your bathroom comfortable before, during and after a steamy shower.
4. Monitor the baby’s room or keep tabs on the teen party in the basement. A new app allows you to actually see what’s happening in and around your home anytime and from anywhere. All you have to do is set the camera where you want it!
5. Smart Appliances: From a slow cooker that responds to smart phone instructions to a new refrigerator model that lets you view your food stock and prepare a shopping list with ease, it’s not hard to believe that you can preset the time to brew your morning coffee as you turn in for the night. Now, if you just had someone to deliver it!
6. Check your front door lock, turn on a welcoming light and open the garage door when your husband is due to arrive home from a business trip. You can schedule the timing in advance, or do it only when required. No need to leave your bedroom.
7. Smart Light Bulbs: Not only for bedroom use, but think of the advantages if your light bulbs can adjust themselves to compensate for cloudy days or alert your heating and cooling systems when the temperature soars or the winds get blustery. You can always greet upir day with a smile.
8. Hubs and Consoles: Home controllers are the trend, and the obvious direction is toward more individual input into the way our home environments work. The possibilities are limitless, and the future is the stuff of science fiction. What will come next is anyone’s guess, but it’s sure to be exciting.
9. The Bed Itself: Command Central, plus a good night’s sleep! A new Sleep Number Bed will not only adjust every which way, separately, to keep you and your partner comfortable, but is also equipped to monitor your heart rate, breathing and movement. The data can provide guidance for you and your doctor to help you rest better and wake more refreshed.

What’s happening on the home front is nothing short of revolutionary, and much of the new technology is easy to use and affordable. Why not check it out by starting in the room that is your private retreat?

2 Point Highlight

No longer tied to central systems for security and task management, home systems are small, portable, efficient and powerful. Integrated systems can be tied to your smart phone, enabled by other devices, preset on a timed basis, and changed at will. There are also sensors and gadgets that “talk” to one another and change the environment in predetermined ways.

A new Sleep Number Bed will not only adjust every which way, separately, to keep you and your partner comfortable, but is also equipped to monitor your heart rate, breathing and movement.