Stepping Up Your Game with Smart Appliances in Your Home

As human society evolves, the one thing that is becoming clearer is the value of our time this is why you need to be Stepping Up Your Game with Smart Appliances in Your Home.

Life is busier now than ever before. We rush from here to there and have little time for ourselves, but there seems to be nothing we can do about it.

Or is there?

The big brains behind smart appliances have other ideas and are continuously developing a plethora of devices that have been designed specifically to make our lives easier. To give us more time.

Lets find out more, shall we?

Smart Appliances Meaning

So, what exactly do we mean when we refer to smart appliances?

Definitions vary depending on the product, but essentially a smart appliance can connect to the internet and be controlled remotely from another device. It can also relate to a self-monitoring product that can have the intelligence to analyse, report on its function, and adjust its output accordingly. For example, an appliance that receives external signals from a third-party energy provider can regulate its usage based on external signals relating to peak-load times or costs.

We can interact with these inanimate objects via a touch screen or another interface, and the appliance can recognise and adapt its function based on our input. More advanced smart appliances use AI or machine learning to provide additional functionality.

That’s interesting information, but does it have practical value?

How Do Smart Appliances Work?

The trend towards building smart homes is gaining momentum with connected devices creeping into our everyday lives. Who hasn’t asked Alexa or Siri for directions to the nearest Chinese takeaway?

Smart homes are made up of smart appliances and the software that holds them all together.  To fully understand how smart appliances work, let’s unpack some examples.

Home Security

The most common use of smart devices in the modern home relates to security.

South Africans employ several devices to ensure their security at home. These may include an alarm system linking out to a security company, CCTV cameras connected to recording devices, internal and external motion sensors, window and door sensors, and perhaps carefully positioned floodlights.

When going ‘smart’, these individual devices merge their skill sets and provide a comprehensive security function. For example, a motion sensor is triggered which turns on floodlights and the high-definition cameras start recording that specific area. An alert is sent to your mobile phone and you observe the video stream from your holiday home on the beach. The security company is alerted, and a message is sent to your neighbour to be on the lookout. You then open the gates from your mobile device for the security company to check the property, and you rearm your alarm system once they have gone.

Efficient. Practical. Smart.

Smart Home Appliances: To Aid In Stepping Up Your Game with Smart Appliances in Your Home.

While we can see the benefits of smart devices in the example above, we must ask the question, how can connecting my fridge to the Internet of Things (IoT) make any difference to my life? Also, do I really need to connect my oven to the world wide web? After all, these appliances perform a simple and basic function.

The magic is not so much in the connectivity of the appliance but its new and improved functionality.  Today’s fridges can do so much more.

Modern appliances are now created with multiple, practical functions. Here is what that looks like.

Smart Fridges

Smart fridges are a fascinating addition to our lives, with functionality that we didn’t know we needed.

• Making use of barcode scanning, smart fridges can keep track of what products you purchase.
• Set up alerts to notify you when certain staples are running low.
• Set expiration notifications on products in your fridge that will alert you before food spoils, thereby reducing waste.
• View the contents of your fridge from a connected device, or even from a touch screen on the front panel. (Which reduces the amount of time your family spends opening and staring into the fridge, and keeps the cold air in.)
• Request meal plans based on the contents of your fridge and view them while you’re out shopping.
• Request meal plans based on specific dietary requirements and create shopping lists based on what you have versus what you need. (A great way to keep your family’s healthy eating plan on track with very little effort.)
• Some models adjust their energy consumption based on peak energy use times, or when you are away on holiday.

Oh, and these appliances keep your food cold too.

Smart Ovens

There is definitely something to be said for the gentle art of cooking, sitting around a fire with your loved ones, and enjoying delicious aromas and quiet conversation. In many ways, it’s a lost art and a time that families used to use to bond.

However, day-to-day life looks a little different, and meal preparation is a necessary function as opposed to an enjoyable pastime. This is especially true for working parents with a host of responsibilities and far too little time.

With this in mind, how can smart ovens enhance your life?

This is just some of the tech that you can expect:

• Remote control of your oven from a connected device with the ability to check timers, temperatures, and turn it on, off, up, or down.
• A built-in camera that streams live, high-definition colour images to your device whilst cooking.
• Turn your oven on when you’re on your way home and return to dinner that’s almost ready to eat.

Do you prefer to braai? That’s okay too, because Weber has developed the iGrill braai that allows you to cook your meat perfectly every time. The temperature of up to four pieces of meat is carefully monitored, and a notification is sent to your phone when it’s done just the way you like it. The days of charred chicken and tough steaks are well and truly over.

The Key Benefits of Smart Kitchen Gadgets

These intelligent systems are driving innovation and creating a wave of truly electrifying smart appliances. The benefits are exciting.

Smart appliances:

• Reduce energy costs in the home by operating more efficiently, and only using the power that they need.
• Offer unmatched convenience for users.
• Provide perfect results when used in food preparation.
• Save you time in mundane tasks like stirring pots or monitoring cooking times.

Add to these exciting enhancements a voice-activated system, and you can simply tell your coffee maker to have a steaming, fresh cup of Joe waiting for you once you’re out of the shower.

Now this is living!

Smart Appliance: Gadgets for Every Home

The amazing potential of these smart devices is mind-bending, and tech gurus around the globe are enhancing them all the time.

Lights turn on when you enter a room but remain off while it’s not in use. Smart thermostats keep your home at the perfect temperature in the most cost-efficient way. Biometric security features grant you and your family entry without the use of keys. Talk directly to the delivery guy at your door while you’re at work through your smart intercom. Your favourite music can be requested and streamed to any room in the house on command. Keep an eye on that new au pair via live video feed.

There’s no doubt that smart appliances are here to stay. They continue to add a simple practicality to our busy lives, give us more time for the things we love, and still reduce our energy costs.

Visit your nearest Hirsch’s Homestore and take a look at our specials, and what’s on offer in the exciting world of smart appliances. Have a look at our Blog for more information, news, recipes and much more.