Relocating to an apartment can be an exciting yet burdensome process, especially if you’re planning on converting your new place into a smart home. While there are some smart home features that you may want to avoid as an apartment tenant – for the sake of not making any modifications or violating the terms of your lease – there are plenty of non-permanent, plug-and-play style devices that can be easily installed in any apartment. With that said, here are 7 tips you can use to simplify the challenge of turning your new apartment into a smart home.
1. Start with a Furnished Apartment
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If you’re planning on starting with a blank slate, you’ll have an uphill battle ahead of you. Knowing that you’ll need to furnish and decorate the place before you can even start to think about adding smart home features can be discouraging. Instead, you can find furnished and serviced apartments in your area by running a simple web search using the terms “furnished apartments” followed by the name of your city (e.g. – “furnished apartments Los Angeles”). Using a trusted provider of furnished apartments ensures that you’ll be arriving at a picturesque tech-savvy abode. that’s ready to be converted into a smart home as-is. Blueground for example, offers completely equipped homes for monthly rentals, in many major cities around the world. luxurious furnished monthly rentals and corporate rentals in many major cities, including Los Angeles.
2. Get a Voice-Controlled Home Assistant
Voice assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa give you the power to control all of your smart devices with the sound of your voice. The best way to integrate these assistants into your smart home apartment is to mount a few smart speakers around the most frequently used areas of your home. For example, you can put one on the coffee table, one on the kitchen counter, and one in your bedroom. These speakers have built-in microphones that pick up your voice commands and process them through your chosen smart home assistant software. Popular smart speakers include the Amazon Echo, Sonos One, and JBL Link 20.
3. Use Smart Plugs
Smart plugs give you the ability to remotely “unplug” any device or appliance in your home. They come in the form of power strips or outlet plugs that can be activated and disabled via an app. If you accidentally leave an appliance or device plugged in, you can use the smart plugs turn it off while you’re away from home and stop it from drawing power continuously. These are always wise to include in any smart apartment because they’re cheap and very useful for saving energy and avoiding disasters.
4. Install a Smart Security System
Installing hardwired cameras in your apartment building is probably a no-go. Luckily, there are plenty of wireless smart home security systems available. It always makes sense to invest in one of these because having the ability to keep watch over your apartment will give you peace of mind and potentially help you protect or recover your belongings in the event of a break-in.
5. Install a Wireless Video Doorbell
Doorbells that contain hidden cameras are useful for seeing who is at your door, especially when you don’t already have a peephole installed. Changing the door or installing a hardwired doorbell camera might not be allowed in the terms of your apartment’s rental agreement, so choosing a wireless, battery-powered option is the best move. Aside from just being able to see who’s knocking, many of these devices also offer the advantage of letting you speak with the visitor via a built-in microphone and speaker.
6. Install Smart Lighting
Smart lighting systems are able to automatically turn off or dim the lights based on the apartment’s occupancy, the time of day, and even the amount of available daylight. For example, you can set the lights to turn off when you leave and turn back on when you return home. Or, you can set them to turn off every evening at 7 PM. Some smart lights even contain light sensors and will only turn on when there’s no light in the room. Of course, smart lights can also be turned off remotely, so you’ll also have the option of turning the lights off after you leave in case you forget.
7. Get a Robotic Vacuum Cleaner
Walking around your apartment and manually cleaning the floor isn’t exactly the smartest approach when there are countless robotic vacuum cleaners available that will handle this routine chore on autopilot. Smart vacuums come equipped with sensors that help it navigate around rooms without bumping into walls or furniture. As such, you’ll have no problem using one of these devices in a fully furnished apartment.
Most Smart Devices are Apartment-Friendly
Fortunately, you’re not limited solely to the suggestions above, because most next-gen smart devices are being designed with wireless capabilities. With a significant portion of the population living in apartments, condos, and other shared living spaces, and with the world having more renters than homeowners, it’s understandable that manufacturers have started releasing many apartment-friendly smart devices.