Homes are getting smarter every day. Video doorbells, digital personal assistants, smart thermostats, even smart lighting and garage doors are no longer exclusive to science fiction: they are common in homes today. Smart homes are making life easier and more convenient for home owners everywhere and more people are using smart home technology every day.
You may be curious about what home automation can do for you, but with all of the options and potential, home automation and smart home technology can be overwhelming and intimidating. Fortunately, there’s plenty of information out there with guides, how tos, and more for making your home smarter.
We’ve shared 73 of the best resources for smart homes and home automation. These guides, blogs, social media accounts, and more offer insight into the why and how of creating a smarter and more technology enabled home. Check them out to find out how you can make your home a smart home.
Smart Home Guides
These smart home guides offer an overview into how you can make your home smart, popular home automation technology, gadgets, and how to get connected.
- Smart Home Solver: Use this website’s free tool to find suggested gadgets for your needs. They also offer top picks in every category, comparisons, reviews, and more.
- CNET Home Automation Buying Guide: This up to date smart home buying guide explains what you can automate, how home automation works, and how you can get started with home automation for a smart home.
- Amazon Smart Home: Amazon’s smart home buying guides explain how to choose and use smart home controllers, door locks, lighting controls, and more.
- Consumer Technology Association: Turning Your House into a Smart Home: The Consumer Technology Association offers this guide to getting started with a smart home.
- This Old House: How to Get Your (Smart) Home Connected: Learn about smart electronic gadgets you can use to reduce energy costs and streamline your home from This Old House.
- SafeWise: Take a Tour of Today’s Affordable Automated Home: SafeWise offers this interactive guide to home automation. See common features and even future trends they expect to develop in this guide.
- The Hartford: Top Smart Home Technologies for Mature Homeowners: The Hartford uses its research power to share the leading smart home technologies for homeowners over the age of 50.
- Postscapes IoT Home Guide: The Postscapes IoT Home Guide offers a comparison of the top Internet of Things home products and systems. Using this guide, you can narrow your choices on use, price, and available integrations.
- Observer: 3 Ways to Turn Your House into a Smart Home for Under $200: This guide explains how you can get started with low cost smart home technology for lighting and sensors.
- New York Daily News: 5 Smart Home Devices to Live Your Best Life: Learn about some of the most popular smart home devices for enhancing your life and making your home smarter.
- Komando: 3 Crazy Smart Home Gadgets You Won’t Believe Exist: An egg minder, dental floss dispenser, and connected home fragrance dispenser are on this list of strange but oddly useful smart home gadgets.
- Building Jarvis: Find out how Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg built his own artificial intelligence system that runs his home, just like Jarvis in Iron Man.
Smart Home How tos
Need help walking through home automation? These how to guides offer tutorials and resources for taking on smart home projects even if you’re just getting started.
- PC Mag: How to Make a Smart Home From a Dumb One: PC Mag explains how you can set up your smart home with power strips, smart light bulbs, and more.
- Gizmodo: 11 DIY Projects to Turn Your House into a Smart Home: Get links to useful smart home tutorials here including a DIY security camera, hands free garage door opener, a smart fridge door alarm, and more.
- NBC News: The Easy Way to Make Your House or Apartment a Smart Home: NBC News explains how you can make lighting, cleaning, temperature control, and more smarter in your home.
- Bob Vila: 9 Ways to Turn Your House into a Smart Home: Bob Vila’s guide shares nine options for making your house smarter.
- TechAdvisor: How to Make Any Home a Smart Home: TechAdvisor explains how you can use smart lighting, heating, switches, plug sockets, vacuum cleaners, and doorbells to automate your home.
- Smart Home: How to Wire Your Home for Automation: Find out how to cable your home for automation if you’re building a new home or remodeling.
- Make Use Of: 5 Easy to Setup Smart Home Gadgets for First Timers: Just getting started with smart home automation? This Make Use Of article shares five smart home gadgets that are easy for people who are trying out home automation for the first time.
Smart Home Safety and Security
A smart home isn’t necessarily a secure home. While home automation technology has the potential to make your home safer, it can also open you up to hacking and other security issues. Learn more about safety and security with smart homes and what you can to to make your smart home safer.
- Popular Mechanics: Are Smart Homes Safe from Hackers?: Read this article to find out how vulnerable smart home devices are to hackers and what that means for your security at home.
- The Hill: Your Smart Home Could Kill You: The Hill explains how your connected home can turn dangerous and even deadly if you’re not careful.
- Travelers: Travelers: 5 Smart Home Automation Safety Tips: Make sure your home is not just smart, but safe and secure as well with this article from Travelers Insurance.
- Techlicious: 6 Must-Do Steps for Securing Smart Home Gadgets: Keep your home smart and safe with the tips in this article.
- USA Today: 6 Ways to Prep Your Smart Home Before You go on Vacation: This guide explains how you can use smart home technology to keep your home safe, secure, and connected even when you’re away on vacation.
Smart Home Benefits
Want to learn more about what you can do with a smart home? These articles offer insight into some of the most appealing and exciting applications for smart homes.
- Fortune: For the disabled, smart homes are a sweet home: This article explains how smart home technology can make life easier and more convenient for people with disabilities.
- CNET: Can smart home tech stop a roommate from stealing your food?: Check out this article to see how smart home technology can lock down your refrigerator.
- Smart Things: 9 Ways a Smart Home Can Improve Your Life: Smart Things explains several ways a smart home can improve your life, from saving money to protecting your home.
- Kansas City Star: Creepiest Pad Ever, or the Healthiest?: This article explains how a home that gathers data can be helpful for health (even though it’s creepy).
- SF Gate: The Advantages of a Smart House: Read this guide from the SF Gate to learn about the advantages a smart house offers, including convenience, security, accessibility, and more.
Smart Home Improvement
Do you think of smart home technology as an investment in your home? If not, maybe you should. Home buyers are increasingly seeking out homes with smart home features, so you could make your home more attractive and valuable if you invest in home automation technology.
- 25 Smart Home Technologies That Matter Most to Home Buyers: Smart homes are attractive to home buyers and more smart home features are making their way into listing descriptions. Homes with smart home features and technologies even sell faster than those without them. If you’re thinking about selling your house soon, learn which smart home features are the most attractive to potential home buyers.
- Digital Trends: How Four Tech Renovations can Increase Your Home’s Resale Value: Preparing to sell your home? Consider investing in these tech renovations that can increase your home’s resale value.
Smart Home Blogs
Stay up to date with the latest in home automation and smart home technology with these blogs. They offer the latest news, reviews, and support for smart homes.
- At Home in the Future: Read At Home in the Future to learn about solutions for making your home safer, more organized, and simply a better place to live.
- All Home Robotics: Welcome robots into your home with this blog that explains how you can take advantage of trends in smart home automation, home robotics, and more.
- Automated Home: Automated Home is a trusted resource of information for smart homes, sharing news, new products, reviews, tutorials, and more.
- For the Smart Home: For the Smart Home covers smart home technology for every room in your home from the kitchen to the bathroom and entryway.
- CNET Smart Home: CNET’s Smart Home category offers featured stories in smart home technology. Read along as they test smart home gadgets that are designed to make your home more comfortable, convenient, and secure.
- Lifehacker Home Automation: Stay up to date on the latest smart home devices and developments with Lifehacker’s Home Automation category.
- Build Your Smarthome: Build Your Smarthome offers resources and news for home automation and home automation systems. Read along to find reviews, tutorials, and ideas for how you can benefit from smart home technology.
- HGTV Smart Home: Learn about HGTV’s smart home and see how they’ve created a sophisticated, modern, and connected home.
- Smarter Home Automation: Smarter Home Automation has smart home reviews, first looks, articles, and trends in smart home technology.
- Electronic House: Electronic House offers project topics, downloadable guides, weekly smart home highlights, and other great resources for smart homes.
- Digitized House: Digitized House focuses on how smart homes can be sustainable and even zero energy with the right technology. The blog shares product briefs, security, smart and sustainable home tours, and more.
- Techlicious: Automation Systems: The Automation Systems category on Techlicious is a helpful resource for learning about practically using smart home technology.
- Connectedly: Connected Home: Connectedly’s Connected Home offers a view into connected home technology including smart appliances, connected lights, and streaming media players. On this blog, you’ll find connected home reviews, photos, guides, and more.
- House O Matic: House O Matic is a guide to home automation, sharing devices, apps, the basics of home automation, home entertainment, and home security.
- Internet of Things: The Internet of Things Podcast has episodes covering new products in home automation, privacy, safety, and more.
- Home Automation Nation: Home Automation Nation offers blog posts, videos, podcasts, reviews, and more on home automation ideas and developments. You can even join the forum to connect and find out more about smart home technology.
Smart Homes on YouTube
Get video instructions, reviews, and news for home automation and smart homes from these YouTube channels.
- HomeAutomationX: HomeAutomationX shares reviews on everything you need for a smart home, including home repairs and the latest tech gadgets.
- BRUH Automation: BRUH shares home automation for everyone with tutorials for using home automation and smart home technology.
- SuperHouseTV: Tune in to SuperHouseTV to find out how you can automate your home with open source technologies.
- diyAutomate: Dedicated to home automation and IoT hobbyists, you’ll find plenty of guides for automating your home on diyAutomate.
- MK-SmartHouse: On MK-SmartHouse, you’ll get instruction in how to create your own smart home using open source home automation. Every video offers different projects and tutorials for a more technologically advanced home.
- Smarter Home Life: Find home automation and LED lighting product reviews, tutorials, ideas, and more on Smarter Home Life.
Smart Homes on Instagram
See smart homes in action on these Instagram accounts. They feature smart home projects, applications, reviews, and more.
- @cpihomeav:
CPI Solutions shares highlights from their custom home automation solutions including home theater, security, lighting, outdoor speakers, and climate control. - @arlosmarthome:
Follow @arlosmarthome to see what you can do with Arlo smart home technologies. - @control4_smart_home:
Control4’s Instagram highlights features, advances, and things you can do with Control4’s home automation systems for entertainment, lighting, security, climate, and more. - @vivinthome:
Learn about the latest from Vivint Home on this Instagram feed — including some of the most interesting videos captured by the Vivint Doorbell. - @smarthomepros:
Follow @smarthomepros to see smart home projects in AV design, installation, maintenance, automation, and more. - @askmarvee:
Follow @askmarvee to learn more about this Alexa Skill that offers help with communication for people with limited vision, mobility, or aging challenges. - @xtestitallx:
@xtestitall reviews and tests technology items including smart home tools. - @themeleashow:
YouTuber Melea Johnson reviews and explains smart home technology including Amazon’s Alexa and Vivint smart thermostats, doorbell cameras, smart door locks, home security cameras, and more. - @jannarobinson:
Janna Robinson is a technology, lifestyle, and design expert. Known as the Techorator, Robinson is host of the Hollywood Hi-Tech show on the DIY Network.
Smart Homes on Pinterest
Get links to smart home projects, product ideas, tips, tricks, and more on these smart home Pinterest accounts.
- Alysa – Smart Home Solver, tech & gadget blog:
Alysa shares pins for simplifying your smart home tech. Her shares will help you cut down on monthly bills and make your life easier. - Smart Home:
Smart Home offers product ideas, apps, and DIY tips and tricks for smart homes. - Ideaing: Get smart home ideas and discover smart home products to make your home automated and beautiful with Ideaing’s Pinterest account.
- Making a Smart Home: Making a Smart Home is a great resource for finding smart home gadgets, learning about home automation, and finding news on smart homes and trends.
Smart Homes on Twitter
Get the latest in home automation news from these smart home Twitter feeds.
- @ottomate: Find home automation news and reviews on this Twitter account.
Watch This: 25 Minute Tour of the Loxone Smart Home https://t.co/krNsjpZPPJ https://t.co/RfDV5r9kan
— Automated Home (@ottomate) April 20, 2017
- @OpenHomeAuto: See how Open Home Automation is building home automation systems with open source hardware.
Download my FREE step-by-step guide to build a simple thermostat with the Raspberry Pi https://t.co/9S1abAtZ9G pic.twitter.com/kF3iqjnRJ5
— Open Home Automation (@OpenHomeAuto) March 21, 2017
- @edge_home: EDGEhome shares the latest in technology news and views on smart homes and the Internet of Things.
How Samsung’s connected fridge is advancing the smart home https://t.co/PLmfragkz8 via mashable
— EDGEhome (@edge_home) January 7, 2016
- @InternetofHomes: A Connected Home is where the Internet of Things meets the home.
The Age of Automation presented by @google at #PropTech2016 #London pic.twitter.com/bKJyoLqW1C
— A Connected Home (@InternetofHomes) May 19, 2016
- @thesmartabode: The Smart Abode shares all things to make your home smart, highlighting Google Home Easter eggs, smart home security fixes, integrations, and more.
IKEA will make smart home systems affordable with new collection https://t.co/6z5lDJ3nqd #IoT #SmartHome pic.twitter.com/Qmp8sUwoQM
— TheSmartAbode (@thesmartabode) March 28, 2017
- @Stevie_Griffin_: Self proclaimed home automation nerd Stephen Griffin explores the newest tech and ideas in smart homes.
IKEA ventures into smart home products with Trådfri lighting series https://t.co/qepKfQSTW2
— Stephen Griffin (@Stevie_Griffin_) March 29, 2017
- @SmartHomeStuff: Smart Home Stuff covers home automation, connected objects, and apps.
#Amazon Echo Look: Hands-Free Camera and Style Assistant, $200. https://t.co/pGqtFVe5cZ pic.twitter.com/Ibt7iIQjVV
— Smart Home Stuff (@SmartHomeStuff) April 27, 2017
Photo by Flickr user geoliv
