The technological revolution of the 21st century has produced many marvels and infected nearly every aspect of our lives. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the home. There is a stark difference between the homes built in the last two decades and those built before that. If you have a newer home, you may have some of these amazing technological advancements. If you have an older home, you may want to consider upgrading your home by installing a few of these.
Smart Tech
With the advent of Wi-Fi and the smartphone has come the amazing innovation of smart technology. Smart tech allows users to easily program different devices around their home to do more than they normally would be able to. One example is with lights. Using a smartphone, you can check if you left your smart lights on or off from anywhere that you have an internet connection. With the tap of a finger, you can turn them on or off. This is incredibly convenient if you are looking to save power or you want to make it seem like someone is home while you are away.
Porch Cameras
While porch cameras and security cameras have been around for a while, there have been several notable improvements. One is that due to a reduction in camera sizes, cameras can now fit into your doorbell. Another is that these cameras can be connected to your smartphone. If someone comes up to your door, you can receive an alert about it. If you choose to, you can even talk to the person through your porch camera even if you are away. One of the best innovations is motion-detected camera activation. This innovation turns on your camera only when it detects motion in the area. That way you only receive alerts when something interesting is happening on the camera.
Energy-Efficient Appliances
One of the negative aspects of the industrial and technological revolutions has been the increase in pollution. One solution to that would be to give up on technology. Unfortunately, that comes with its own set of issues. A better solution is to create technologies that are more energy efficient. These days, you can buy energy-efficient appliances for your home. Not only do these appliances help save the environment, but they also help save your bank account. By using less energy, you don’t have to pay as much on your electricity bill. So, if you have old appliances, it may be worth the cost to just get new ones. The savings will pay for the appliance in a few years.
HVAC Innovations
There have been many innovations in HVAC (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning) over the past couple of years. Not only are there more energy efficient compressors, pumps, and heaters, but HVAC has also started to incorporate smart technology. This allows you to adjust the temperature of your home with your smartphone. Some systems allow for multi-zone temperature settings. This allows individuals to set a room’s temperature to their individual preference without affecting the rest of the house. Smart tech also allows you to set automated programs to cool or heat your home depending on the time of day. That way if everyone is going to be gone in the middle of the day, you don’t have to be wasting electricity. If you’re looking for more ways to save, you can further increase your energy savings by keeping your HVAC system maintained.
Solar Optics
Solar optics is a relatively new innovation and one that is slowly gaining more attention. One of the drawbacks to this innovation is the upfront costs involved. Natural light is much better for you than LED lights and other forms of electrical light. However, skylights can’t illuminate your whole home. Solar optics use solar collectors to channel light through fiber optic cables. At the end of the cable, the light can be released into any room in your home. This allows you to have your entire home lit by the natural light of the sun. Many of these systems can even filter out any harmful UV rays. Besides the benefit of the natural lighting is that, although they can be pricey to install, you aren’t paying an electric bill to light your home. After all, sunlight is free!
Solar Panels
To continue with the theme of sunlight being free, another great innovation for homes is the development of solar panels. Solar panels can be installed anywhere on the exterior of your home, but they do best if they are used on the roof since that is where they will receive the most sunlight. Solar panels can harvest the energy of the sun to produce electricity. Since you still need electricity at night, you can’t completely go off the grid with solar energy, but you can use them to significantly reduce your energy bill. In the long run, these solar panels pay for themselves and help save the environment by producing green energy.
Tankless Water Heaters
Tankless water heaters are a huge improvement over regular water heaters. Regular water heaters store gallons of water in large tanks kept at a specified temperature. This generally wastes a lot of energy and takes up a lot of space. They also involve a relatively large amount of maintenance, and if one fails, things can get wet. On the other hand, a tankless water heater heats the water in your pipes. Not only do they save on energy costs, but they also save water. We generally waste a lot of water waiting for hot water to arrive at our sinks or showers. With a tankless water heater, there is no need to wait. The water comes out hot immediately.
Eco-Friendly Materials
When thinking about technology, most people don’t consider that material developments are an important part of technological advancements. You can’t build high-tech gadgets without specifically engineered materials to build them with. In the home, there have been many advancements that allow for building with more Eco-friendly materials. Hardwood floors are beautiful, but they don’t come from a sustainable resource. On the other hand, corkwood floors and bamboo floors are much more environmentally friendly. In many cases, these materials can even outperform their conventional counterparts.
Technology is changing so fast that it may be hard to keep up. Don’t worry, you don’t have to implement all these things in your life. However, if you do like the sound of some of these technologies, you could save yourself both time and money by implementing them. This will help make your home life much more comfortable.
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