7 Ways to Make Your New McCormick Home ‘Smarter’

Posted February 7, 2018

7 Ways to Make Your New McCormick Home ‘Smarter’

FAST INTERNET
1)  WAVE Broadband: As you’re getting ready to move into your new McCormick home, one of the first things on your to-do list is to connect to WAVE high-speed internet service. Don’t worry, it will be a simple task: All you need to do is schedule an appointment, and then sit back as WAVE’s friendly technicians come to your home and set up everything you need. What you may not know is that WAVE provides the fastest internet speed. You don’t even need cable service because the speed options available allow you to download or watch HD movies and shows on multiple devices. Feel free to join the cord-cutters generation if you wish!

Of course, high-speed internet is now a basic requirement for our always-on, always-connected lifestyles. If you are like many others trying to be trendy and make their life more convenient, you likely already have a personal digital assistant like Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant.

If you’re looking to add more ‘smart’ gadgets to your McCormick home, here are some great choices.

HOME SAFETY
2) Keyless entry: If you’re always hassling to give access to your home to housekeepers, dog sitters and houseguests, a keyless system will simplify your life while adding a layer of safety to your home.
The Schlage Z-Wave Connect Camelot Touchscreen Deadbolt allows you to program as many as 30 user codes for its touch-pad lock, and you can easily remove access once your houseguest is gone or you’ve changed housekeepers. What’s great about it is that if your child forgets the house key, or a family member drops in unexpectedly when you’re not home, you can open the door remotely, either from a computer or your smart phone.

Bonus: You can install the Schlag­e Connect yourself, it works with a Z-Wave home-automation system and it’s compatible with Alexa.

3) Remote-controlled lights: When you want to give the appearance of being home while away, an inexpensive way to do that is with a device like the Milight WiFi Bridge Box Controller[RT1] . It uses special bulbs (which are only around $10) that work both indoors and outdoors. A remote-controlled outdoor safety light can also come in handy when you forget to turn on the outdoor lights and come home to darkness. Just use your smartphone to turn the light on — problem solved.

HOME EFFICIENCY
4) Smart plugs: If you want to be wiser about power use, a smart plug is a must-have gadget. Koogeek’s WiFi-enabled P2 plug is great because it works both with iPhone and Android smartphones, and is compatible with Alexa. You’ll get the most mileage out of it with an iPhone though, because it responds to Siri voice commands and is compatible with Apple’s HomeKit.

Regardless of what smartphone you have, the P2 Plug lets you remotely control your devices, great feature if you frequently forget to turn off the coffee pot or want to turn on a lamp while away. You can also program appliances to turn on automatically — which is great if you want to come home to a cool house but don’t want  to leave the air conditioner on all day long.

5) Smart sprinkler controllers: If you want to save on your water bill a bit, you need a smart sprinkler controller. Rachio claims to save as much as 50 percent on the water bill because it uses information like weather, plant and soil type, and sun exposure to provide the exact water your plants need. Plus, it’s compatible with several digital home assistants.

CONVENIENCE
6) Smart fridge camera: If you’re not ready to replace your refrigerator but want some of the cool features of a smart fridge, start with a camera. The FridgeCam made by Smarter is a wireless camera that is designed for your fridge and keeps tracks of expiration dates and your refrigerated products — and even lets you know if your fridge is too hot or too cold.

The camera will automatically recognize and track the content of your fridge so you’ll never wonder whether you’re low on milk or carrots when you’re shopping. You can also have it send you shopping reminders and integrate it with some online grocery stores.

7) Robot vacuum: If you’ve ever received a call from a relative on the way to visit and suddenly realized you hadn’t vacuumed for a couple of days, you know the panic as you race home in hopes to beat your guest there and quickly tidy up. No more. With Samsung’s POWERbot R7070 Robot Vacuum, you would just turn to your smartphone and let the robo-vac do the rest.

It’s true that at a price of over $500, it’s a bit of an investment. But you get a lot more than remote capabilities. The robo-vac uses onboard cameras and smart sensors to vacuum your home without bumping into furniture and other objects and can be programmed to do the job on a set schedule. Bonus: You can activate it with Alexa or Google Assistant. [RT1]I linked to Amazon because the manufacturer’s website lists prices in foreign currency (British?) and there’s no actual  product page,  I hope Amazon is OK

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