SEPT 2016 – Smart Homes: Let your home do the thinking

Kathie Thurston, Executive Director of the Redlands Chamber of Commerce. The mission of the Redlands Chamber of Commerce is to serve our members as an advocate of business throughout the greater Redlands area, at all levels of government, to create a business climate that will advance the economic, educational,

cultural and civic vitality of the Redlands Community.

Smart Homes: let your home do the thinking…

First there was the Smart Phone, a tiny little computer that you can hold in your hand and can search the internet, make and receive phone call, capture your emails and send instant important messages and photos to anyone you know and love (who also owns a smart phone). Then came the tablet; an even more sophisticated tool that allows you to carry your office, TV, movie-theater and concert hall with you wherever you go.

We learned and conquered the technology and now can’t leave home without them.

Now we can add Smart Homes to our inventory. At home or not little doubts crowd your brain, “Did I turn off the coffee maker, the iron, turn down the heat, set the alarm, lock the door, close the garage door…?” With a Smart Home you can quiet those worries AND save energy at the same time.

Whether you are on the front porch or on the other side of the world, with the press of an icon, you can turn on or off your lights in any room of the house. You can heat the bedroom before you get up in the morning. You can control the temperature of any room in the house at any time of the day.  You can turn on the oven so the roasted chicken is ready for you when you get home. You can even spy on the kids who are home before you get there.

Each push of the button, contributes to conservation efforts. Controlling lights, window coverings, HVAC, even irrigation systems adjusts the consumption of the planet’s, limited resources.

A Smart Home not only saves you energy and money it makes you look pretty darn smart too.