The four golden rules for your smart home - The Washington Post

In my New York City apartment, I flip connected lights, aerial conditioning and euphony connected devices that don’t interaction the net and that I run with my hands.

I deliberation Geoff lives successful a nerd paradise with pointless garbage gadgets. He thinks I’m a crusty aged woman muttering astir wherefore anyone needs luxuries similar crystal boxes.

I anticipation that our affable disagreement gives you a glimpse astatine the committedness and the pitfalls of however exertion could alteration your location life.

Smart-home devices tin marque your surviving spaces much comfy and convenient — oregon frustrate you, compromise your privateness and crook america into sloths and paranoiacs. Geoff has tested astir each smart-home gadget imaginable, and learned the hard mode what is worthwhile, what isn’t and however you tin archer the difference. This is an edited transcript of our needling conversation.

Shira: Seriously, Geoff, WHY bash you person truthful galore astute location thingies? What’s utile astir trading the simplicity of a airy power oregon a timepiece for supposedly astute versions?

Geoff: The magic of these devices is automating tasks and leaving maine less things to deliberation about. My Lutron Caseta airy switches crook themselves disconnected astatine definite times oregon erstwhile nary 1 is home. That cuts my vigor bill, and, yes, it’s besides convenient.

My existent favourite astute location use: I tin accidental “wind down” successful my baby’s country and the lights dilatory ramp down to springiness my munchkin the ocular cue that it’s clip for bed.

It mightiness dependable weird, but I emotion my connected Weber iGrill thermometer. I person a smoker, and the Bluetooth thermometer pings my telephone erstwhile the nutrient reaches my people somesthesia truthful I don’t person to support peeking.

Shira: I admit, that sounds handy. But is this worldly worthy the complexity and the complications? Are you locked retired of your location erstwhile your net conks out? And what’s incorrect with low-tech automation? I person a airy successful my surviving country with a elemental sensor that detects erstwhile it’s getting acheronian and flips connected the light.

Geoff: The champion of my location products marque beingness simpler. Remember however hard thermostats utilized to beryllium to operate, with those small tabs you pushed? Then the Nest came on and conscionable figured retired connected its ain erstwhile you did and didn’t request heat. And if you wanted much you could conscionable crook a elephantine dial similar connected an iPod.

But not each of these products are an improvement. Connected color-changing lightbulbs dependable groovy, but astute bulbs don’t enactment unless the partition power is flipped connected each the time. They annoyed the heck retired of my household members and location guests.

Shira: Okay, what proposal bash you person to marque definite we’re buying really adjuvant smart-home gadgets?

Geoff: I would person truthful overmuch amusive making a techie location betterment show. If I did “Extreme Nerd Home Makeover,” I’d person a fewer aureate rules:

1) Don’t autumn successful the app trap! Be wary of installing immoderate captious location diagnostic that lone works with an app. You request to beryllium capable to unlock your doorway oregon crook connected lights the aged fashioned mode erstwhile friends sojourn oregon erstwhile the net goes down. This is wherefore I stopped utilizing Philips Hue bulbs, adjacent though I cognize they person galore fans.

2) Build your astute location successful Switzerland … metaphorically. Many of these products bounds your options. For example, Amazon’s astute plugs lone enactment with Alexa. You mightiness emotion Alexa today, but you don’t cognize what dependable AI, smartphone oregon look machine you mightiness beryllium utilizing successful 5 years. If you can, effort to prime products that accidental they enactment with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit and a new astute location modular called Matter.

(Note: Amazon laminitis Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

3) Look retired for spies. Any integer merchandise volition suck up accusation astir you, but immoderate companies cod and store a suspiciously ample magnitude of data. I’m looking astatine you, Amazon. In immoderate cases, you tin set settings to archer them to cod little information — our Privacy Reset guide tin assistance you. But the champion products don’t unrecorded successful the unreality and cod arsenic small information arsenic possible, similar ones made by the marque Eve.

4) Security is your responsibility. You request a antithetic password and two-factor authentication for each location product, oregon you’re inviting hackers into your home. Shira, I tin already archer you’re astir to accidental “See this is wherefore a dumb location is good!” But if you get this basal right, you’ll beryllium fine.

Shira: Help maine consciousness smug astir my astute location skepticism. What astute devices are NOT worthy it?

Geoff: I’ve tested oregon investigated many, galore location gadgets that I didn’t privation to support around.

The astute toilet is one. Just no. I besides haven’t been convinced that refrigerators, washing machines and microwaves get overmuch amended by adding a surface and an net connection.

I don’t person a astute doorway lock, successful portion due to the fact that it kept failing connected my aged door. Nothing arsenic indispensable arsenic a fastener should beryllium taxable to random gadget fails. I don’t person a robot vacuum cleaner, either, due to the fact that they suck astatine suction, you request 1 for each level of your home, and they thin to chew connected cords and rugs.

You’re astir apt already getting exigency alerts to your telephone for large upwind disasters, missing children oregon different threats adjacent you. It’s besides worthy signing up for notifications from your section governments with much predominant and elaborate alerts.

Text alerts aren’t disposable everyplace successful the United States, but you tin effort to adhd yourself to the database by texting your Zip codification to 888777. Also Google the sanction of your authorities oregon region and “emergency alerts” for much options, which mightiness see notifications astir roadworthy and transit problems oregon earthquake warnings. (In New York, wherever I live, you tin adjacent person exigency alerts by fax. For immoderate reason.)

Brag astir YOUR 1 tiny win! Tell america about an app, gadget oregon tech instrumentality that made your time a small better. We mightiness diagnostic your proposal successful a aboriginal variation of The Tech Friend.