Gadgetory

if you're starting your smart home from the ground up it can seem really overwhelming when you look at everything that's out there but you can customize your smart home to fit your specific needs the easiest place to start is probably with a smart speaker I like the Amazon echo because it's accessible and practical and it has a growing set of skills and integrations for your smart home once you have your smart speaker set up its easy to extend your smart home into light bulbs we like the Philips hue white LED starter kit because it comes with a hub and two really good bulbs they have flicker free dimming and work with every major smart home platform if you want extras they're just 15 dollars now if you don't want to go around replacing every bulb with a smart light bulb but you still want smart control over your lights I'd recommend the Lutron cassada in-wall smart switches these are super easy to use the app is really intuitive and it works with nearly every smart home platform they also include cool features like geofencing and scene management if you want your smart home to be more energy efficient you should consider a smart thermostat like the Eco b4 it includes a remote sensor so it can accurately monitor and regulate your whole home's temperature it also includes a ton of integrations like a built-in Amazon Alexa speaker if improved security is what you want out of your smart home I recommend the Amazon Cloud cam it's got 1080p video prompt notifications and it's free 24-hour clip storage makes it more appealing than the competition it also works with screen integrated Alexa speakers including the Amazon fire TV stick another way to smart in your home security is by adding a smart lock the auguste lock is a retrofit style that's really easy to install it also works with nearly every smart home platform and if you add an august connect Wi-Fi adapter you can control your lock remotely all of these devices are great ways to smart in your home but it's important to remember to pick the things that you like and create a home that works for you