Who is watching who?

You may want to keep an eye on your dog while you’re at work. Is he sleeping or is he waiting for you? With the smart home security systems you will know the answer

You can check your garage door and lights in your home from thousands of miles away with just a click of your phone. You can have a cosmic light show flashing in your house, the oven go on, the refrigerator take an inventory of food on hand, Watch your baby sleep and play from work on your laptop, check to see what the babysitter is doing without her knowing it, The heat or air conditioning turned on just minutes before you arrive home, and …

Three popular smart house products are:

1. Lighting Products

Philips’ Hue lights can create a lighting concert with your music, romantic mood lighting for those special moments, produce show piece or back ground lighting for your art and architectural highlights, or signal you with special light changes of incoming social media messages.

2. Nest Thermostats, Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detctors

3. Security Systems

There are many excellent camera and security type devices now on the market that can provide tremendous security for both outside and inside of the home. Lights can go on, cameras can record, alarms can go off and security companies and police can be notified.

Caution

It is important to remember that many of these devices and applications come with standard passwords and use your homes Wi-Fi. Often, new users forget to read the instructions and change the passwords and codes so that hackers, even inexperienced ones, can’t access the privacy and security of your home.

Smartphones and tablets

The iPhone, android phones, laptops and portable devices have made the use of smart home  Gadgets and applications possible.

At first glance, they appear really cool and easy to use.  Then once purchased, a few may not be as great as they claim they are or they may be so complex and difficult to operate, that you may want to go back to your dumb old house ways.

If your adventuresome or brave, try some. Start with one or two that are not real complex and work your way up.