Today we examine the 3 pillars of Smart Home products and explore the ways in which specific examples from each category can help to enhance your own smart home ecosystem. But first, what are the 3 pillars of a smart home? Answering this question is the purpose of today’s blog. Read on for a complete explanation of each of the 3 pillars of smart home products as well as an example of a product or two from each.
The 3 pillars of smart home products explained
Included in the 3 pillars of a smart home are, in no particular order, Safety and Security, Comfort and Convenience, and Energy and Efficiency. These categories are intended to make your smart home shopping experience easier by breaking this broad category down into smaller, more manageable parts that make logical sense based on what the products within bring to the table. This makes it easier for you, the Best Buy customer, to assess your needs and determine which smart home products will best fit into your unique smart home ecosystem. Let’s explore each pillar now in greater detail with some specific product examples to help clarify these categories.
Safety and security
Products in the Safety and Security category include items that protect you and your home from all manner of threats and hazards. For instance, to protect your home and everyone in it, you may choose to install Smart Locks & Doorbells, Security Cameras, and Safety Sensors & Detectors (such as carbon monoxide and smoke detectors). These products will not only prevent intruders from entering your home uninvited, but in many cases they can also alert you to potential trespassers and other dangers.
Popular items in this category include smart locks such as the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock (4th Generation). Not only will a lock like this one keep you and your family safe and secure in your home, but it’s also got a number of extremely useful features. For instance, it eliminates the need for you to use physical keys to get into and out of your home—instead using features like app-based control, virtual keys, and proximity sensing to allow you to come in while keeping intruders out. You can share access to your home with those you love and trust, and then use the app to see who’s been by, receive notifications when someone tries to enter, and do many other useful things. With a lock like this, you’ll enjoy Safety and Security with a little bit of Comfort and Convenience thrown in.
Comfort and convenience
Products in the Comfort and Convenience realm are intended to make your life more pleasant and easy. Digital Assistants (in the form of Smart Speakers, Displays, & Accessories) and Smart Furniture & Décor (including smart blinds and smart lighting) are among the most convenient product types you can buy to enhance the comfort level of your home. If you want your home to be as comfortable as it is clever, you can’t go wrong with this type of product.
Take for instance the digital assistants offered by Amazon and Google. This sort of device represents the absolute epitome of smart home convenience. Need to know the upcoming weather forecast? Just ask the built-in assistant and you’re sure to get your answer. Similarly, if your child has a question related to his or her schoolwork, these device are extremely likely to know the answer. If you need something turned on or off, the assistant can do that too. Just make sure your other smart devices are connected to your smart home ecosystem, and the possibilities will be endless.
These can also play you a song, translate a foreign language phrase for you, or calculate the tip for your pizza delivery person, just to name a few of their many talents. Bottom line: today’s digital assistants are invaluable tools—and the heart and soul of your smart home setup!
Energy and efficiency
Those whose smart home concerns revolve around Energy and Efficiency want products that help to track and regulate power consumption in and around their homes. Such products include Smart Thermostats and Smart Lights of the LED variety. Smart Switches and Plugs also inhabit this category for their ability to be controlled remotely, thus allowing you to turn your lights and other electronic devices on and off from the road via a smart phone app (just one of many such examples).
Among the most popular products in the Energy and Efficiency category are smart thermostats. Models such as the Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat 3rd Generation help you to reduce your energy expenditure through various clever means. For instance, remote monitoring via a dedicated app allows you to track and collect detailed information on your energy consumption and make adjustments remotely, thereby better controlling your overall power consumption.
Even more impressive is Nest’s smart learning technology, which allows your thermostat to learn your daily schedule (along with your heating and cooling preferences) over an extended period of time. The data that’s collected will ultimately allow your Nest thermostat to self-program in a manner that’s conducive to a significant reduction in energy output while still keeping your home perfectly comfortable. In fact, an up to 20% reduction in energy costs is Nest’s goal and claim. That’s pretty impressive!
Overlap among the 3 pillars
Good on you if you noticed that several of the products discussed today fit nicely into 2 or more of the 3 pillars of smart home products. Some items, such as smart thermostats and smart plugs and switches, can occupy more than one of the pillars at the same time. Such products offer both Energy and Efficiency benefits and provide Comfort and Convenience in your everyday life.
And then there is smart lighting, which pulls off triple duty by serving customers in all three of the major pillar categories. In fact, smart lighting options like Smart Light Panels and Smart Light Strips are also used for decoration and entertainment! For instance, they provide Safety and Security by lighting the dark portions of your yard and helping to discourage trespassers; they provide Comfort and Convenience via their various remote control capabilities; and they provide Energy and Efficiency support through means such as their ability to be set to timers, as well as through their low energy draw.
As you can see, there are many great benefits to employing smart home products in your home, and classifying these benefits according to the 3 pillars of smart home products may be useful as a means by which to analyze and prioritize what you need for your own smart home. Good luck!
For further exploration of Best Buy’s vast selection of Smart Home products, just follow the link and see what turns up!
