What smart home features do you have? Need more recommendations

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What smart home features do you have? Need more recommendations

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1409

by BTSSG

ago

I have just moved into my new place and having stayed in a 'non-smart' home for the past decade, I find that having smart appliances really makes a difference in the day to day ease and convenience. For our new 4-room HDB we did not really go crazy and overboard with our smart devices (No Alexa or voice controls in our place because we still find it uncomfortable to talk to electronics + the possibility of privacy issues), but even simple ones such as smart lighting that changes the white-balance (warmness and coolness) of the light bulbs makes the atmosphere much comfortable as the night winds down.

Right now we only have two smart features but we are looking for more!

Smart lighting

Feature: Remote controlled lights that can be brightness adjustable, and warmness adjustable depending on

Helps: Great for winding down at the end of the day, less exposure to blue light at night means much easier to fall asleep. Dim-able lights also helps to set up atmosphere to chill before sleeping

Electronic Lock

Feature: Lock/Unlock metal gate and main door with either finger print, password or app

Helps: no more carrying of multiple keys outside. As minimalists ourselves we can now just bring out smartphone out, and maybe a wallet if we are expecting cash requirements! Keys are one of the most hefty items in pockets, and eliminating them really frees up quite some weight?

Looking for more features which we can implement to our home, hope to hear from more homeowners!

Reply

8 replies to this topic

Answer 1

For me I love Alexa which has worked brilliantly for me such that I do not need to touch a switch anymore since I've moved in. I'm running a Fibaro/HA bridge/Alexa ecosystem for all lightings which are dimmable, operable blinds and of course door lock. I've also set up my aircon and various other switches with IOS and Alexa directly and it really works wonders.

I want to be able to dim all the lights in my house to specific percentages, curtains and blinds to open up to specific percentages, programmable scenes based on sensor settings or timing, controllable voice and app, running almost instantly.

This is how I ended up with what I have after consulting my smart home expert. Anything they have recommended is entirely correct. They have experience with all sorts of systems, diverse ecosystems, various products and combinations ... etc.

Answer 2

by BTSSG

ago

2

I agree, for me this is the smart lighting which i have installed for all the rooms in my house. It is such a game changer, with the remote (looks like an Apple TV remote!) which i can adjust warmness, and brightness in varying settings, and yes, it works with Alexa too! 😄

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2

Answer 3

Just got ourselves a smart auto vacuum cleaner. I would say it is the best investment ($250) ever made. It auto maps out our entire floor plan within our house which free us up so much additional time for other tasks. Also helps that we have two cats in our house so it gets their fur up clean! 🐈

You can also see it's progress from an app 😄

Answer 4

I am not fully onboard this new tech smart appliances movement yet. Have seen quite a few news regarding these smart devices having weak security and are easily hacked. A lot of these so call "smart" home cameras has been hacked with their videos leaked of the homeowners in compromising activities on the dark side of the internet. Right now unless have no choice (e.g. got baby, old parents) at home that needs for safety, I wouldn't be on board on it.

Side note, good to see stricter regulations on it.

https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/tech-news/cyber-security-labelling-scheme-expanded-to-include-all-smart-home-devices

Answer 5

by minionsgang

ago

5

I think majority of homeowners in Singapore are still not very convinced with smart technologies yet. When i was living in Korea everyone uses smart locks and no one carries keys. In sg i think smart locks compared to normal key lock is still a minority

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5

Answer 6

Smart vacuum clean is a must for me! The smart vacuum cleaner we bought has saved us so much cleaning time at home. Just let it run when you are out and once back home all areas of the home are done nicely (remember to leave room doors opened). They are even able to climb onto carpets too 😄

Answer 7

Just gotten my home a couple of these motion sensor lights and its awesome. Cannot believe I lived years without these. Can put anywhere and no when going toilet at night no need to press switches. Will auto turn on a warm light when detecting motion, and turn off after 15 secs. bonus that they can set the brightness too!

Answer 8

I live in Singapore and I mostly prefer smart home devices like thermostats and appliances which are highly efficient because they can automatically adjust to changing energy needs. Plus, they can detect inefficiencies so electricity, water and gas waste can be minimized. I notice that my energy consumption has drastically reduced after using these smart devices.