After sliced bread and the dishwasher, the smart home is one of the great comfort innovations of the modern age. It puts every appliance in your house at arms reach. Want to turn on the air con? Forget the remote, use your phone.
And so much of it is simple to set up – typically all you have to do is find the right appliances and then perhaps even Google “electrician near me” to book the right technician for any hardwired installations.
But there is just one discernible caveat: your built-in smart home tech may end up being outdated fast if you make poor buying decisions. So, you want to make sure your smart home stays smart for years to come. After all, this fast moving world makes new tech toys everyday, and you want to install only the best.
Here are our top tried and tested strategies for making sure your smart home is as ‘future proof’ as possible.
Invest in Strong Network Infrastructure
Your home WiFi network is the backbone or more accurately the circulatory system of your smart home. It connects everything and it needs to have the equipment to add connections and carry heavy bandwidths into the future. That means you want at least a WiFi 6 router, though a newer WiFi 7 mesh router is guaranteed to be a touch more ‘future proof’.
Whatever option you do go for however, these both offer faster speeds, low latency, and can work within a busy space across many devices. You’ll also want to install ethernet cables for the major equipment – your PC and TV – as well as WiFi extenders if you have connection dead zones.
Plan for Scalability & Integration
Not all home devices play nice with each other. Some want to only talk to the devices in their brand – think Apple’s closed ecosystem. So, you’ll want to check if the devices you’re buying support open standards. These are basically connectivity rules that allow your devices to connect with a wide range of devices, now and into the future. Examples are standard like Zigbee, or Z-Wave.
Invest in Energy-Efficient Solutions
Everything you install in your home is going to be a permanent draw on your power, and across their lifetime that can chew up a big bill. So, when you’re buying your devices, be wary of their eco-rating. You don’t want to pick out a power-hungry machine when there’s a low-energy alternative right next to it. A good example of this are smart lighting systems. LED bulbs burn around one tenth of the energy that incandescent bulbs do, and that adds up.
Prioritise Security & Privacy
A smart fridge might not sound like it needs secure encryption, but if it connects to your other devices, it could be a weak link in your digital chain. You’ll want smart security systems for both your physical home and your smart home. Be sure to check the cybersecurity of new devices online or in store before adding them to your home, and keep your devices updated to avoid security issues.
Plan for Future Entertainment Needs
When you’re building your smart home, don’t be afraid to dream a little big. One cable port in your entertainment room might be enough for your tv today, but what if you get a projector? Or surround sound? It’s easier to buy and install a system with a few extra nodes and ports than to upgrade later down the line.
Read Up on What’s New
If you want to predict the future, you’ll want to be up to date on the present. So, just have a look at the upcoming and latest release for smart home tech. There’s likely a bundle you haven’t heard of yet, and if they sound exciting you’ll want to make allowances for them in your planned smart home. And if you’ve got an active imagination, you might even see what’ll be next too.
Design a Centralised Control Hub
Besides having your phone, you’ll want something in-house to be your smart home controller. That’s exactly why smart home hubs like Google Nest exist.
The common smart home control hubs you can find on the market today are powered by one of three different digital assistants: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri. These can all be connected to your smart home to voice control your lights, temperature, and everything else. Not to mention they can be used on the fly when you don’t have hands free. With basic voice commands and the right smart appliances or plugs, you can get your smart home hub to do anything – from having the oven heat up while you’re mixing your dough to turning on the air con while you’re on your way home so the house will be cool and comfy once you arrive.
Leave Space for Future Investments
Technology might’ve gotten a lot smaller over the years, but not all of it. In fact, some machines are getting bigger – like the Google TV Streamer – and you’ll want to leave enough space for future machines in your home. Especially since you’re unlikely to be adding every device you want in one fell swoop. You’re more likely going to add machines over time and as they are available. So, if you’re planning a room, a space, or installing smart devices, consider if they’ll be easy to access or use when paired with other machines– like adding a subwoofer to a tv, or a projector to a tv room.
Conclusion
There’s no way to predict the future, so there’s no way to future proof everything– especially when it comes to technology, which is as exciting as it is unpredictable. But thankfully, a smart home system isn’t as complex as it can sound. You can build infrastructure that’ll be able to support whatever weird and wonderful gadget comes after it.
