Smart homes optimize comfort and convenience, but can smart home technology save your life? Yes, it can, in so many ways.6 Ways a Smart Home Might Save Your Life…or the Life of Someone you LoveSmart homes do more than ensure that your house is toasty warm when you arrive home in the dead of winter or alert you when your dryer load is finished. Smart home technology saves lives every single day. Here’s are some of the ways.1. Brightening Walkways Inside and OutLight sensors can mean that you never walk in the dark from your car to your front door or from there to anywhere inside. Just convenience? No, because trip-and-fall injuries are the leading cause of injuries at home. In 2014 in the US, more than 20,000 people died from tripping and falling at home. Poor lighting is cited as one of the major causes, a problem that bright, automatic lighting solves. Of course, the lights must be bright enough and in good working condition, so annual inspection and immediately replacing burned out lights are essential.2. Alerting You to Smoke and Carbon MonoxideThe failure rate of older alarms combining both smoke and CO sensors was unacceptably high. Today’s smart smoke and CO alarms have, “progressed in technology to provide a fairly accurate blend of the two.” These devices offer a variety of ways of alerting you including sending notifications to your smartphone, increasing the likelihood you’ll be informed before it is too late. If you’ve got older combination smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, replacing them with smart detectors makes safety sense.3. Keeping your Home SecureHome invasions are on the rise, and that is a terrifying fact of modern life. The good news is that modern technology, smart technology, offers excellent protection. First, you can lock your door from anywhere, and that is the best deterrence to random home invasions. Secondly, you can be immediately alerted of an invader, so you’ll have the maximum time to escape or be prepared. Thirdly, the police receive immediate notification for the fastest response. Today’s smart home security systems are affordable, offer DIY installation and support a range of integrated alerts including home entry, smoke and fire, carbon monoxide, medical emergency, water leaks and extreme cold, all useful whether you’re home or away. Home security capabilities are also being developed for home assistants Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Say the word to Alexa or Home, and your doors will be locked, safe lighting will come on or emergency help will be summoned.4. Alerting Medical AidA dedicated medical alert system is an important part of a smart home setup for the elderly and those with existing medical issues. Smart televisions are equipped with hands-free video calling, another immediate way to contact emergency medical help. If older adults or those with chronic illness are part of your household, having some form of medical alert technology is essential. Some private insurance plans help pay for the devices.5. Preventing Garage Door InjuriesThe most common garage door injuries are very easy to prevent. Garage door sensors are the eyes of the system that detect a person in the path of a closing door and immediately stop the door’s movement or cause it to retreat upwards. Parents of small children and caregivers to elderly adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and other ailments report “near misses” when door sensors stopped closing doors and prevented them from striking someone, injuring them on impact or potentially causing them to fall and hit their head on concrete. Of course, only sensors in good repair can be expected to work, so consider having your garage door system inspected and serviced soon.6. Alerting You to Children in DangerKids get into things they shouldn’t, like cleaning supplies, and out of things they shouldn’t, like upstairs windows. Smart home technology systems monitor doors, windows, closets, cupboards, gun cases and other off-limits-to-kids spaces and stuff. The system can send a sound warning or an immediate text to your phone, or both. Here’s more information on how a smart home helps parents keep their kids safe.Just the Start of Safer HomesLives are already being saved by smart home technology, yet the revolution is just beginning. The global smart home industry was worth USD 47 billion in 2015 and is expected to nearly triple to USD 122 billion by 2022, or about 14 percent per year. What’s your next step in being part of the integration? Each step you take might be the one that saves your life or the lives of people you love the most.
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