At the heart of most smart home products are smart sensors designed to react automatically to the world around them. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned smart home enthusiast, smart home sensors provide simple solutions to common problems around the house. Here’s more about smart sensors, their use, and what Lifetronic Systems can do for you.
What are smart sensors?
Often battery-powered and wireless, smart sensors add a level of convenience that’s missing in traditional homes. They can also serve as an excellent energy savings tool, depending on the type of sensor. There are various types of smart home sensors, including the six mentioned below.
#1: Motion sensors: Smart products that use motion sensors include smart bulbs and switches, speakers, appliances, and many more. With these types of sensors, a device turns on or off automatically based on what’s happening — or not happening in a location.
There are many security uses for smart sensors that can help to ward off trespassers and help illuminate areas outside. For example, a motion sensor can detect when someone steps onto your property. When someone does, the home’s outside lights will turn on.
Motion sensors can also provide everyday convenience. In another example, you might use a smart motion sensor to turn off your television if no one is in the room. In still another, all the lights might turn off inside your home when everyone leaves.
#2: Contact sensors: Typically attached to doors and windows, contact sensors can be used to react to movement. Imagine it’s the middle of the summer, and your home uses central air for cooling. With a contact sensor, you can have that automated air shutdown automatically whenever a window opens and back on when the window closes.
#3: Temperature sensors: These types of sensors are beneficial when indoor or outdoor temperatures change, depending on your setup. Temperature sensors can trigger automatic shade control to close, for example, when the temperature in a room rises to a specific level. A similar sensor can turn on the smart heater when the temperature drops significantly at certain times of the day
#4: Water leak/freeze sensors: An unexpected pipe leak or rising water, thanks to heavy rains, can cause significant problems in lower levels of a home. Humid conditions in a home can also cause damage. Water sensors can alert you when these types of situations can occur so you can decide what to do next to resolve the issue.
For something completely different, you can use water sensors to determine when there hasn’t been any water collected. In instances like this, for example, you might have an outdoor lawn irrigation system kick in water your lawn or outdoor plants.
Smart Smoke and CO Sensors: Just as water can cause damage, so can smoke (and fire) and unhealthy levels of CO concentration in the air. You can put these sensors in critical areas of the home so that measurements are taken 24/7.
#5: Video doorbells/vibration sensors: If you’re new to the smart home phenomenon, a good starting point is to purchase a video doorbell. These devices connect to the rest of your smart home and alert you when someone is at your door. Better still, most are equipped with audio, so you can talk to the person without opening the door.
Even without a video doorbell, you can receive an alert when someone is at the door. This type of situation can be achieved using vibration sensors that turn on whenever someone touches a door.
#6: Sound sensors: These sensors can detect when there are loud sounds on your property. Sound sensors are especially useful in older homes that have legacy smoke detection systems. Rather than replacing these, which could prove costly, you can install a few sound sensors around the home that will listen for smoke/carbon dioxide detectors to make a noise. When they do, you are alerted.
What ties all these sensors together?
Perhaps the most crucial reason smart home sensors have grown in popularity is their ease of use. Each uses a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection to communicate with other sensors in the home. You can use smartphone apps within the home to monitor what’s happening or make changes to the setup with just a few clicks on a screen.
Better still, modern sensors are accessible worldwide, assuming you have an active internet connection. This means, for example, knowing who’s at your door from hundreds of miles away or getting an alert when an environmental problem is detected in your home’s basement.
Finally, it’s important to note that you can add new smart devices to your home anytime your needs change. This means it’s possible to add devices while maintaining a budget.
What can Lifetronic Systems do?
Lifetronic Systems are experts with smart home installations. The company’s goal is to help you seamlessly integrate your home’s tasks and make your life simpler, easier, and safer.
All Lifetronic Systems’ home automation installations are fully scalable, so you can start small, large, or somewhere in between. All along the way, Lifetronic Systems provides personal attention and quality without taking shortcuts. If you’re ready to learn more about installing smart home sensors in your home, contact us here.
