What Is a Smart Home?

The future has arrived with a high-tech bang when it comes to home, sweet home. Meet the "smart home," a modern concept turning the humble abode into a hub of connected technology. Let's delve into what a smart home really is, why it matters, and what it could mean for you and your family.

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A smart phone is used to operate devices on the Internet of Things. — Image source: Getty Images.

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Every TV screen in my home is connected to a media-streaming device. My fridge, washer, and dryer all have Wi-Fi connections that come in handy sometimes. A smart lock might be on the horizon for my home, but as of November 2023, that particular piece of the puzzle remains to be added. This journey into smart home technology is an ongoing process. Much like Rome wasn't built in a day, the creation of a fully integrated smart home takes time and thoughtful consideration, even in our fast-paced digital world.

Your ideal smart home setup probably looks very different, but that's OK. It's a flexible system, and you don't have to install anything that makes you uncomfortable.

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About the Author

Anders Bylund is a contributing Motley Fool media and technology analyst covering semiconductors, cloud computing, internet infrastructure, quantum computing, and streaming media. Previously, Anders was a systems administrator for Nielsen Technology and CSX, gaining hands-on experience with enterprise-class systems. He was also a freelance writer for Ars Technica, TIME, USA Today, CNN, WIRED, and AOL's Daily Finance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in library and information sciences from Florida State University. He believes in coyotes and time as an abstract.

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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet and Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Remember, not all smart devices play well together, so choose a platform and stick with it. For example, your Amazon (AMZN +0.26%) Echo hub can't control Google's devices and services, and vice versa. There's no technical reason for this; the companies just don't want to support each others' smart home visions. However, smart home devices from smaller third-party companies tend to support the control hubs of every major smart home platform. It would be silly not to support them and skip a large portion of the potential customer demographic.

Your home might already be halfway in Alphabet's (GOOG +2.00%) (GOOGL +1.71%) smart home world if you have an Android phone and Android-based streaming media systems. Apple (AAPL +2.59%) offers its own smart home solution in the HomeKit framework, tightly integrated with Cupertino's famous iPhone ecosystem. It's a little harder to stumble into an Amazon smart home since the company doesn't make mobile phones, but its Alexa-based family of Echo devices can compete with the best of them.

It's not all wine and roses, though. Smart home systems often cost a good deal more than their un-networked alternatives. Despite the device makers' best efforts, anything connected to the internet can be targeted by remote hacker attacks. Some people avoid smart homes due to privacy concerns -- the video camera is always watching, the microphones are always listening, and what if that data falls into the wrong hands? And lastly, it can be very inconvenient when automation goes awry. How do you unlock the smart door if the power is out or the Wi-Fi connection is glitching? And how much time are you willing to spend on learning how to control all this stuff?

So, a smart home isn't for everyone, but it can be a serious timesaver and convenience booster if you're ready to deal with the possible downsides.

The smart home in action: A glimpse into the future

Let me walk you through the smart home solutions in my own home. It's not a complete package yet, but the collection of networked devices keeps growing over time. As you might guess, I find the data security sufficient and don't mind sending data to the likes of Amazon and Google for further analysis, even if the companies may use this info to send targeted ads in my direction. The ads are coming anyway, so why not make them more interesting?

Anyway, here's a quick summary of the smart home devices around me:

One of the larger Amazon Echo speakers sits on my kitchen counter, acting as the Alexa hub for the whole home. I make it a point to manage every possible automation through this device. Every weekday morning, for example, my family wakes up to the sweet tones of Captain & Tennille's Muskrat Love, streaming through this speaker from the Amazon Music service. (After all, the alarm doesn't have to be boring.)
Smaller Echo speakers are found in most of our living spaces, just in case we want to bark a command at Alexa -- or have it play or say something.

The walls are peppered with inexpensive smart home plugs, converting any power outlet into a configurable device. I turn on the lights in my home office with a simple voice command -- "Alexa, turn on the office light!" With the help of Alexa and the kitchen hub, I schedule the heating lamps for our pet lizards and the lighted holiday displays in the front yard.

The air conditioning in this Florida home is managed by a Google-branded Nest thermostat, adjusting the temperature to the weather and to the presence of actual people in the house. You can save a lot of energy by allowing the AC to slack off when there's nobody home. Of course, this break from the Alexa ecosystem is controlled by the Google Home app and doesn't work with Alexa. Silly me, living in a house divided.

The solar panels on my roof come with a SolarEdge (SEDG -1.57%) power inverter. I can't really do anything through that connection, but it does let me monitor the power production in real-time, with handy long-term charts to boot.

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