Making Your Home Tech Smarter in 2016

Featured article by Diana Smith, Independent Technology Author

We take technological advancements for granted nowadays – the astonishment lasts until the hype wears off, which often happens quickly. This, however, has streamlined many tech solutions that make our daily lives easier. Keeping up with smart tech innovations and gadgets, helps keep your home a tad smarter with each new upgrade.

Temperature control sheets

Ever felt cold regardless of how thick your bedsheets are? Doubtlessly you know the feeling. However, with temperature control sheets this feeling is a distant memory. Originally developed for NASA, this technology contains tiny capsules that absorb heat when you’re hot and release it when you’re cold. This technology is so well-designed that it has transcended its Army use into an Average Joe’s and Jane’s bedroom.

Strong glass

Even though the prices of this type of glass have fallen in wake of Katrina, these still are 45 to 60 percent more expensive than your traditional windows. However, by coughing up some extra cash, you get glass built to withstand a 2 x 4 flying debris at speeds as high as 34 mph. However, if you do not really live in a place that is plagued by tornados and hurricanes, you’ll be happy to learn that this types of glass are more than enough to keep a bad guy with a crowbar on the desired side of the window. If this hasn’t convinced you, well, these windows increase energy efficiency and noise resistance by means of quality insulation.

LED lights

It’s true, these tend to be a tad more expensive than your regular bulbs, but also do tend to pay off in the long run. The benefits of using LED bulbs, however, do not end here – they tend to spend less energy (at least 20% less), while lasting over three times longer than traditional bulbs. What this means is not only less money spent, but also less energy spent – eco friendliness is actually cheaper this time!

Dimmers

Now, while these are fantastic for bedrooms, creating a desired atmosphere, sleeping, romantic or workout-oriented, the dimmers are fantastic for every room of the house. If you want to tone down the light when watching TV and yet don’t want to completely stay in the darkness, light dimmers are there for you. The best part is: these can be easily connected to dedicated apps.

Smart TV

The world of television has changed tremendously when the Internet became mainstream, but the television is fighting back – smart TVs allow you to connect to the Internet and access a majority of apps, such as YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, etc. Smart TVs with good enough resolutions and aspect ratios allow you to do anything, from browsing the Internet and streaming content to playing video games on modern consoles or PCs.

Home theatre

Home theatre systems are no longer merely realities of the reach and dreams of us mortals. Nowadays, providing yourself with one can be quite affordable. There are many interesting options on the market, from systems themselves to their installation.

Dual flush toilet

Your typical low-flush toilet dups as much as 1.6 gallons of water down the drain. Now, we live in a world that is slowly running out of water – we cannot afford to do this. Modern, dual flush toilets use only 0.8 gallons per flush, using air to compensate for the other half of water spent. Nowadays, these toilets have progressed and they are no longer too loud – using the vacuum created as the trapway depressurizes, the bowl is emptied silently

Making your home smart is not an expensive venture nowadays. The boost in technology that we’re still experiencing has made a vast majority of innovative products available at affordable prices. Most are actually fun, so consider getting some of them.