Technology – Making a Vintage Home “SMART”
I have been a techie since I purchased my first computer, a Commodore PET, in 1997.
I paid $800 for a computer with a 9 inch black and white monitor, a cassette tape storage drive, and a chicklet style keyboard. I upgraded the memory to a whopping 8K.
Below are some of the technology gizmos and gadgets I have currently added to the house or are planning to integrate soon.
Smart Video Monitoring
Blink Security Cameras – These things are AWESOME. They run off of lithium AA batteries so you can put them anywhere. The camera can notify you when it detects motion and automatically records to the cloud. The cloud storage is FREE! They are available for indoor and outdoor.
The links below take you to the corresponding Amazon page. By following these links, I receive a small Amazon affiliate fee.
Smart Shower – Wifi!
This is one of those wow features I will be installing in each of the downstairs showers. They are a bit spendy, but worth the $$. You can say “Alexa, turn on my shower” and the shower will come on and warm to the present temperature, then shut the water off and wait for you. You can also control it with your voice, your phone, or by touching the buttons. Sounds amazing to me. BUT… I’m installing them so if I need to replace it with a standard shower unit, the change-out will be simple. (Easy access to the valves and the plumbing already there.)
Smart Valves – Automatic Water Shutoff
Smart Valves – A few years back, I had a GIANT water leak at our lake cabin. The utility company called, but I was at a meeting over 500 miles away. Luckily, the neighbor was able to come over shut off the water. Smart Valves allow me to turn them on or off with my phone. AND… I can set them up with moisture detectors that turn them off if they sense a water leak.
Smart Home Security
I’ll touch on my favorite home security devices here. Please go to my Home Security Blog page for a detailed description of the amazing security devices that are now available.
Smart Lighting
After security, having the ability to have lights turn on and off is one of the best features of a smart house. You can make the house look lived in when you are away and have lights automatically turn on when you enter a room and off when you leave. I control the room ceiling lights by replacing the current switches with smart switches. I control lamps and christmas lights with an in-line switch that plugs into the wall.
Smart Heating Control
Smart Locks
Home Controllers
The controller is the brain behind the devices in a smart home. It allows you to remotely manage and control the devices.
SmartThings Hub – After a ton of research, this is the controller (hub) I am using in my current house. It allows remote access to all of my devices and integrates seamlessly with the Amazon Echos in the house. But, it is a single stand alone device. The MESH hub to the right… let’s you connect multiple SmartThing hubs. It automatically connects up to 32 SmartThings routers together to give you a strong internet signal in any part of the house along with allowing you to control most smart devices.
Recent Comments