The Pros and Cons of Home Automation
The Pros and Cons of Home Automation
With the advancement of technology, we are finding more and more ways to automate our lives and homes in order to make our lives easier and more efficient. Many people are protecting their homes with smart cameras, saving money with smart thermostats and lightbulbs, and forgoing keys altogether with smart locks on their doors. And though all smart devices have their benefits, they also have risks in security and accessibility. The University of Fairfax education programs in IT and Cybersecurity allow you to learn about this growing technology field – so we must explore: what are the pros and cons of making your house into a Smart Home?
What is a Smart Home?
Currently, it seems that almost every device has some sort of smart device within their home – from an Amazon Alexa or Google Home sitting in the den to doorbell cameras guarding the front of your home, not to mention the ever-increasing popularity of smart phones that reside in most people’s pockets. These devices are created to make your life easier and more efficient – rather than sit down to read the news, you could ask Google or Alexa to read you the biggest news stories, or if you hear a knock at the door, you can check who it is from your smart phone. All of these devices are connected to a central network that the user accesses in order to make every day life simpler, faster, and more automated.
What are the pros of upgrading to a Smart Home?
- Save Money and Energy – Not only does it save you time and energy to use a device at the click of a button, but it also is saving you money and consumption. With the introduction of smart thermostats, you can control the temperature of your house when you’re not there. Keep it warmer during the summer day when no one is home, only to start cooling once you leave work to save on energy consumption. There are many devices that can help you with energy consumption like thermostats, smart lightbulbs, smart power strips, and more!
- Convenience and Accessibility – Imagine being able to turn the lights off in your den after you finally settle in bed, or locking the front door of your home without having to move from the couch – all with the touch of a button! This helps not even in convenience, but it allows for more people to access their home with ease.
- Home Value Increase and Insurance Incentive – Smart homes are paving the way for modernity in homes. If you are selling your home that is integrated with smart technology, you will find that your home value increases as these devices are factored into home appraisals. And some insurance companies may offer some form of a discount for having smart home security systems in place!
What are the cons of upgrading to a Smart Home?
- Different Vendors May Cause Connectivity Issues – Many of the companies dominating the smart technology market are creating the own unique tools, which means it may be harder to combine different brands together when integrating your smart home. If you have brands that don’t work well together, then you’ll be without the ease or efficiency that smart homes offer.
- Reliance on Internet – As much of technology is today, you need internet in order to connect your smart devices to your phone. When your internet goes out, much of your control can go with it. And a weak connection will create unreliable use.
- Security Risks – Like with any device that connects to a network, you could be at risk of security breaches. As rare as it could be with security innovations, it is also something to be prepared for. Each connection will need a strong and unbreakable password, and those devices connected through Wi-Fi should be on your personal, private network and not a public one.
With the innovation of Smart Home technology, there will always be a bad reason for every good reason in buying these devices. At the University of Fairfax, you can not only learn more about the good and bad of these devices, but also what goes into creating them. View them as a Cybersecurity professional to learn about the security that does or does not exist within these devices. Or learn about the Cloud Computing that must going into these devices in order for them to be accessible to the consumers. Whichever way you decide to study Smart Home devices, the University of Fairfax can help you learn all you need to know from the comfort of your own home through our innovative online education. Go to https://ufairfax.edu/university/elearning/ to learn more!
The University of Fairfax – Secure Your Future.