It’s almost time for packed lunches, tons of homework and crazy morning (and bedtime) routines. As parents, we are always looking for ways to make our back-to-school routine easy, simple and efficient. So how can smart home technology help us accomplish this? The answer is very easily.
Google or Alexa Hub
Google or Alexa can truly be your personal assistant and, let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want one? Depending on your preference of devices with the Google assistant or devices with Amazon Alexa, there are a wide array of options to fit your family and needs. You can either get a device with a screen or one without but either way they are voice controlled and can help you with everything from compiling everyone’s schedule into a central location or helping answer what is the square root of 853. There is also a specific kids edition of the echo dot that offers all of the help with parental safety features. With this wide variety of options, you can find the right “assistant” for your family’s back to school schedule.
Smart Thermostat
Back-to-school also means changing seasons and in Wisconsin, whether we like it or not, that means it’s getting colder. And when the furnace turns on, we tend to see that spike in our energy bill. A smart thermostat can really help keep that under control. When you are running between work, soccer practice and ballet, you can make sure your heat isn’t running all day when no one is home to enjoy it. A smart thermostat can learn your routines and preferences and then automatically turn the heat off when you away and back on when you get home. But it also gives you the freedom to check your thermostat from anywhere. Do your kids get home before you do? You can make sure they haven’t turned the thermostat up to 80!
Smart Lock
A smart lock has so many amazing applications to make your life simpler! It is a lock for your door which can be opened via your smart device or with a code. So what practical applications does this have for you? Do your kids ride the bus and get home before you? They can open the door with their specific code so you will know exactly when they get home. Plus, you don’t have to worry about them losing a key or hiding one for anyone to find. Each child can have their own code so you can track when everyone arrived home.
Smart Camera
Want to make sure once your kids arrive home from school that they are doing their homework? Or want to keep an extra eye on your home or pets while you are away for parent teacher conferences, school recitals and football games? An indoor smart camera allows you to keep an eye on things from anywhere. This will give you extra peace of mind during the busy back-to-school routine.
*The smart thermostat, lock and camera used for this blog post are Google Nest products. In The Lite is a certified Nest Pro and can install these for you or answer any questions.
If you have any questions or comments, contact Sasha at sasha@inthelitellc.com. As always, we hope we’ve made your day brighter!