For many homeowners, one of the first steps to creating a smart home is adding Wi-Fi cameras. From cameras, people tend to move on to Wi-Fi door locks and smart lighting. When you realize how great all of these devices work together, you want to keep expanding on your smart home. That’s when smart appliances come in.
Smart appliances are becoming the next big trend for kitchen renovations. There’s a good reason too. These Wi-Fi-connected appliances offer the homeowner convenience, ease of use, energy savings, and an added layer of security. Whether you have one smart appliance or your own eco-system of smart appliances that work together, they make your day easier than you can imagine.
A smart refrigerator to control everything
Smart refrigerators have been around for a few years, but the latest models are making people stand up and take notice. They have technology designed to store your food more efficiently as well as a full touchscreen you can use to control your home and manage your life.
Some models of smart refrigerator have interior cameras to cover every corner of your fridge without you having to open the door. Why would that be helpful to the average grocery shopper? If you’re in the middle of the store and you can’t remember if you have ketchup or apples at home, all you have to do is open the app and take a look. If you don’t want to go out for groceries, you don’t have to; just order everything you need off the touchscreen in your kitchen.
If you have a busy family and you record every event on a calendar, a smart refrigerator will take over syncing your schedules. Every family member can put their important dates into the app and send them to your smart refrigerator. They’ll be displayed in one spot, and you’ll always know what’s on the agenda for that day.
Smart refrigerators also offer you a screen to watch videos, stream music, or enjoy family photos. Some smart refrigerator models can be used as a smart home hub, giving you the option of using an app to control the lights in your home, turn down the thermostat, and lock the door.
There are also models of smart refrigerator without a touchscreen. These models will alert you if you left the refrigerator door open, let you connect to your ice maker so you can make extra ice for a party, and offer voice control so you can issue a command via Google or Alexa.
Smart ranges or ovens
Have you ever put your dinner in the oven and forgot to turn it on? It always happens after you think your food has been cooking for an hour or more, and only then do you realize just how long dinner will be delayed. With smart ranges or ovens, you won’t have to worry about forgetting about the oven. You can control it remotely via an app.
A smart oven has Wi-Fi to let you control your temperature settings or turn your oven off and on from wherever you are. Some models have touchscreens to let you choose dinner pre-sets for roast, chicken, bread, and more. It takes the guesswork out of cooking and ensures everything you put in your oven will turn out perfectly.
Smart dishwashers
No one really loves to load the dishwasher, but a smart dishwasher can help make it less of a chore. If you have different dishes you need to wash and aren’t sure which setting to choose, some models of smart dishwashers will let you download custom wash cycles.
If you’re having an issue with your dishwasher and aren’t sure what’s wrong, you don’t need to call in a repair tech right away. Wi-Fi controlled dishwashers have smart diagnostics to detail what’s wrong and let you know the best course of action.
Smart washing machines and dryers
Smart appliances extend beyond the kitchen and into the laundry room. A smart washing machine and dryer can connect to your Wi-Fi network and let you choose custom cycles, turn your washing machine and dryer off and on, and alert you when a load has been completed.
A smart laundry pair is a great choice for anyone who hates to iron. Since you’ll receive an alert when the dryer has finished, you can immediately pull your dry clothing out and hang it up. There are also de-wrinkle cycles you can choose to minimize creases in your clothing.
Smart small appliances
Wi-Fi-controlled small appliances really do make your life easier, and once you have a few of them, you’ll wonder how you managed your home without them.
A Wi-Fi-connected robot vacuum cleaner makes cleaning your floors simple. You can log in to the app and set a schedule for cleaning. If you’re out of the house and know someone is going to stop by, you can quickly log in to the app and send your vacuum cleaner off to clean your floors. Some of the latest robot vacuum cleaners will also head back to the dock and empty their own dust bin. Some can also do mopping as well, or you can opt for a partner robot mop.
Wi-Fi-connected fans and humidifiers give you easy access to the on, off, and mode controls if you’d like to control them remotely. Having app access to a fan or humidifier is great if you want to turn it on for your kids but don’t want to wake them up when you do.
How smart appliances work within your smart home
Once you’ve brought home your Wi-Fi-connected refrigerator, laundry pair, or smart range, you can begin connecting to your other smart home devices. Some models of smart refrigerator can connect to devices like your Ring Doorbell or your Nest IQ cameras.
If you use IFTTT (If This Then That), you can also perform custom actions with your smart appliances with a little bit of know-how. You can set up an action to blink your smart lights when your laundry cycle is finished. You can also have your refrigerator send you a text when your water filter needs replacement.
Choose your smart appliances
If you’re considering a kitchen renovation (or just an upgrade to your existing appliances), take a look at smart appliances. These connected appliances are a great way to take on daily tasks and make your home more efficient.
