Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
A new study reveals that 29% of UK adults would consider purchasing at least one smart home device in 2017.
The survey, commissioned by appliance repair network Go-Assist.co.uk, is based on the responses of 1,000 UK adults aged between 25 and 64.
The most well-known smart home product is NEST, a thermostat which learns your habits and controls your heating, allowing for complex personalisation and automation. The device uses WiFi to connect to your mobile phone, giving you complete access to your home’s temperature no matter where you are.
Similar products have joined the market to rival NEST. These include British Gas’ HIVE and the Honeywell Lyric, a thermostat which tracks your location via your mobile phone and turns on the heating or air conditioning depending on your distance from the house.
Home security is another popular area which smart devices are tackling. Sentri, which is less expensive than a traditional security system and does not require professional installation, provides a 360-view camera which allows you to view your house remotely via your phone.
There’s also Canary, a small home security camera device which includes a siren to chase away thieves. Goji takes this one step further, acting as a lock for your front door, sending photos of visitors to your phone and even giving temporary access if you’re away.
Handling all these devices from many different apps can become complicated and problematic. To address this, Amazon has created Echo, a voice-activated device which allows you to control everything, plus play certain music, depending on your mood.
In the latest Apple IOS updates, iPhones now include the ‘home’ button, designed to be the hub for connecting and controlling your smart home devices.
