Smart Tech Can Make Working From Home Work for You

Now that more businesses have invested in the technology and training necessary for employees to work remotely, many of those remote workers have chosen to stay in their home offices.

Whether you’ve been a full-time telecommuter since the beginning of the pandemic or are working at home during the summer, consider upgrading your home with a few gadgets that can make life easier and save you money and energy.

Here are four popular smart home features.

Smart assistants. Voice-activated personal assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple’s HomePod respond to voice commands by answering questions, turning the lights on or off, reading your schedule, playing music requests, and reminding you to do the chores you have programmed it to track. The devices use very little energy to fulfill requests or wait in idle mode to assist.

Smart appliances. A smart refrigerator can let you know when you’re low on milk. Smart washers and dryers can remind you when it’s time to do the laundry—and allow a repair tech to fix a problem remotely so you don’t have to be home to let someone in. Smart appliances can detect inefficiencies so that resources can be minimized.

Smart security. Whether you’re on vacation or out running errands, you can always see your porch if your doorbell is equipped with a camera. Some devices even let you speak to someone standing on your porch. This tech can be battery operated or wired in.

Smart thermostats. These easy-to-install thermostats that connect to Wi-Fi “learn” your family’s behavior and set the heat and air conditioning accordingly. Some manufacturers claim a household can save 10% on heating bills and 15% on AC with a thermostat that adjusts itself to raise or lower the temperature when nobody’s home.