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09/22/2020

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09/20/2020

SMART HOME TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS SENIORS TO AGE IN PLACE
Providing peace of mind that loved ones are safe, smart devices are helping people age gracefully in their own homes.

As the population ages, people of all walks of life are faced with the dilemma of how to best care for their older loved ones. Sure, nursing homes are one solution, but the costs are astronomical. For this reason, many caregivers are exploring ways to enable the elderly to stay at home where they can age with dignity and grace. The Aging in Place movement, also known as Living in Place, focuses on creating a home environment that is safe, comfortable, functional, and is able to adapt to the changing needs of aging family members. There has been a growing interest amongst interior designers and other industry professionals on how to increase safety and accessibility in the home, and they have been exploring new resources to improve daily living and security for this demographic.

As many caregivers and accessibility-focused designers have discovered, smart-home technology can lend a helping hand, enabling seniors to live independently in their homes and provide caregivers with priceless peace of mind—both emotional and financial.

Do you think the older generation isn’t ready for modern technology in their homes? Think again. According to data from the Pew Research Center, four in ten seniors now own smartphones, more than double who owned a smartphone in 2013. Granted, that’s still not the vast majority, but it points toward a deepening comfort level among the elderly for technology.

There’s also been a movement among the smart home industry to make devices simpler to install and to use. Moreover, about any smart home device you buy today can connect to the Internet. This enables caregivers to easily keep tabs on their loved ones, even from miles away. The Internet connection happens so transparently and seamlessly, that it requires no special steps taken by seniors and without any sacrifice of their privacy or independence. Here are some of Internet-enabled products that caregivers and/or interior designers can add to a space in order to provide peace of mind, comfort, and control in the home.

SENSORS

Certainly, sensors are an important element of overall safety at home, watching for and reporting break-ins, fire, and flooding. There are many more things sensors can do, though, to ensure personal safety and well-being of stay-at-home seniors. Sensors applied to doors can report when they have left the house and when they have returned. They can also monitor when the doors on medicine cabinets and the refrigerator open and close, so caregivers know if and when their loved ones have taken their medication or eaten.

SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS

Taking monitoring a step further, surveillance cameras provide visual and audible verification of activities in the home. Images and audio can be transmitted in real-time to a caregiver’s smartphone; should the caregiver need to respond to a situation, he or she can speak with their loved one through the camera’s built-in microphone. Wireless cameras can be positioned easily throughout a home, and smart intercoms located at the front door can enable seniors to see and speak with visitors directly from a tablet or phone before letting them in.

SMART LIGHTS AND THERMOSTATS

When mobility declines, having a way to manage a home without excessive effort is key to independent living. Smart lighting keypads can turn select fixtures on and off automatically at certain times of the day, for example, even activating hallway lights at a dim level to make nighttime trips to the bathroom or kitchen safer. When programmed appropriately, smart lighting can also serve as reminders, flashing the kitchen lights when it’s time to take medication or when the mail has been delivered, for example. Buttons on a smart lighting keypad can simplify routines, too. By pressing one button a user can launch a command that turns off every light before bed or activates them all when there’s a knock at the door, for example.

Smart thermostats, meanwhile, ensure the comfort of those who choose to age in place by maintaining preferred temperature settings throughout the day automatically—no fiddling with buttons, dials, or k***s. If a loved one feels too warm or cold, they can adjust the settings directly from a smartphone or tablet.

VOICE-ENABLED HOME CONTROL

When smart products are tied to a home control system that can be controlled by voice commands, aging in place becomes truly effortless. By speaking simple phrases, seniors can manage every aspect of their home environment—lights, temperature, music, video, security, window shades, and more. Another benefit: caregivers can access the system remotely via an Internet connection to ensure the well-being of the house and senior. If the exterior lights are still on after midnight, for example, a caregiver can turn them off.

Aging in place in an environment that’s comfortable, convenient, safe, and easy to manage requires a home design that adapts to the special needs of occupants. Technology is well poised to provide the means to that end. From simple devices like sensors to comprehensive control systems, smart home solutions provide seniors with the tools for independent living.

At Smart Home Consulting we can offer an array of products to help you or your loved ones age in place gracefully. Contact us today for additional information and next steps.

09/20/2020

Are Home Security Cameras Good for Home Protection?

A home security camera system is an excellent tool for home protection, and it can work both as a deterrent and a recovery tool. Burglars are wary of properties with visible security cameras. Plus, if a crime does occur, security cameras can help gather evidence. From property damage to potentially identifying criminals who break in, if you capture the action on camera, you're more likely to be able to remedy it.

If you want to be able to identify cars, people, and other moving objects, it’s worth investing in a camera with super or ultra-high definition video (2K or 4K, respectively). This technology uses more pixels in the image, meaning you can zoom in to see more detail on license plates and identify more physical characteristics. An HD or full HD camera won’t get you that type of clarity, especially at night.

Ultimately, home security cameras work best to protect your property when they're integrated with a home security system. To save their batteries, wireless security cameras only start to record when they detect motion, which means they may not record everything you'd want them to. With a home security system, cameras can be set to start recording as soon as any part of the security system is triggered, such as a contact sensor, a glass-break sensor, or a motion sensor. This makes it more likely the cameras will record everything that’s happening on your property and not just the few seconds of motion that occurred right in front of them

What Are the Most Important Home Security Camera Features?
First, decide whether you want your home security camera to record footage continuously or based on a trigger, such as motion. Recording continuously will make sure yo don't miss anything, but it will require a lot of Wi-Fi bandwidth and isn't suitable for battery-powered wire-free cameras. The footage should be stored either on the camera itself or on a cloud-based server where you can access it for a period of time. The camera also should alert you to motion by sending a notification to your smartphone or tablet and quickly deliver clear, good-quality video of the event.

The power source is another key feature of a security camera. If you're buying a wireless camera, look for one that's powered by batteries or AC (which means it plugs into a wall outlet). AC power is preferable but not always available where you want to install a camera. As a result, the ability to use both allows for maximum placement flexibility.

Other important features include:

Night vision for seeing what happens when the sun goes down, unless you have a lot of motion-activated outdoor lighting installed
Two-way audio so you can hear and speak to whoever is on your property
A built-in siren and/or a floodlight for extra deterrents
A mobile app that's easy to use

09/18/2020

SMART LIGHTING IDEAS
1. One button press turns on all lighting for a given room or floor, not just one light.
2. Double-tap the same button to turn everything (lighting, electronics, devices, etc.) in the room off.
3. Lights flash in your garage when someone rings the doorbell.
4. When then garage door opens after dark, the outdoor lights leading up to your door and just inside the house automatically turn on.
5. Motion sensors in critical areas can signal the automation system to switch off lights when a room has been vacant for some time.
6. Landscape lighting can turn on automatically at sunset and off again at sunrise.
7. A “Bedtime” scene can set bedside lamps at a level just low enough for comfortable reading.
8. With the touch of an “All Off” button, all of the lights in your entire home turn off.
9. Midnight snack – just enough light to make your way to the refrigerator and back without disturbing family members.
10. Motion sensing – At night, when motion is sensed, ramp lights to 15% (just enough light to see, not to be blinded).
11. Turn off lights automatically each morning when kids leave for school.
12. If the natural light in the room is less than 50%, lights adjust to 50%. If natural light is less than 40%, lights increase to 60%, and so on. This helps for when the shades are drawn, or on a cloudy day in the middle of summer.
13. Landscape lighting – have the lights come on brighter at sunset, and then dim to 20% at 11pm to conserve energy.

09/18/2020

A well constructed home automation platform opens up an almost endless array of possibilities. From smart lighting and smart security ideas to technology that allows seniors to stay in their homes longer, Smart Home Consulting has a solution to reinvent your home. Send us an email or give us a call today to get started.