You may spend most of your time in your bedroom sleeping, but it can still benefit from SmartHome technology. Smart bedroom can help you fall asleep and wake up in the morning.
Why smart bedroom?
Bedrooms are a unique room in your living space, you spend a lot of time in it, but most of that time is usually spent sleeping. Adding SmartHome technology can enhance a bedroom if you think about it. With multiple devices, you can make your bedroom more comfortable for sleeping and relaxing. Smart display, backlighting, elegant shades and smart plugs will help you get into bed and wake up feeling fresh.
Add Smart Lights to start and end your day
Philips
Sometimes you want to relax in the bedroom before you want to sleep. So you can read or watch TV in bed. The problem is that when you’re ready to go to bed, the switches can be out of reach. Or the lights may be too bright for your spouse or partner.
Smart lights are great for controlling from the comfort of your bed. You can create timers, turn them on and off with your voice or phone, and if you’re using smart bulbs, you can scale down or change the colors to something less garish for the evening. And with a few treatments, you can create the sunrise effect without having to buy an expensive watch.
And if you have a large headboard, you can add ambient light by running LED strips around the back of it. You can do the same with the TV in your bedroom.
For smart bulbs and LED strips, we recommend Philips Hue for several reasons. They run on Zigbee, so they’re less likely to interfere with your Wi-Fi devices. Philips Hue is compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant. The Hue app has a built-in wake routine that takes care of the sunrise function without having to set up multiple routines. And you can pair your Hue lights with a Lutron Aurora light switch that slides over your standard light switches.
The main problem with Philips Hue is the cost. A starter kit with two white bulbs and a grommet will set you back $70. For the price you get a better bulb, usually brighter and brighter if you buy colored bulbs. Hue lamps also use Zigbee, which means they work even when the internet is down. Other smart bulbs may rely on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and therefore may experience range issues or lose their intelligence when the internet goes down. But if you’re looking to save money, we’ve also rounded up cheaper alternatives for you to consider.
Smart Shades Can Cut Lights Down
Ikea
Once you’ve taken care of your lighting, you might want to consider getting another light source in your bedroom: your windows. Smart shades are like smart lights: you can live without them, and they don’t provide an important function. But if you have them, you may no longer want to live without them.
Not only can you raise and lower the tones with your voice or phone, but you can create timers and routines that take care of them for you. Your routine might raise the curtains when it’s time to get up or lower them as part of a «goodnight» protocol. This is the power of smart homes; one team can take care of many things.
The Lutron Serena shades work well and are compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant, and even the Apple Watch. But they are expensive, often hundreds of dollars.
If you want to spend less, you can keep an eye on Ikea’s Fyrtur shades. While the company won’t release them until October, the price will range from $129 to $179 depending on the size, which is a lot cheaper than most competing products. And they will be compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant.
Consider Voice Assistant with Display
Bedrooms usually have an alarm clock, but you can upgrade to something better. The smart display can control your other smart products throughout the home and provide information such as weather and calendar appointments.
You can use the voice assistant without a display, but you won’t have enough hours to read and other visual information. Sometimes it’s easy to read your calendar appointments, for example, listen to them one by one.
Amazon offers both Echo Show and Spot, and of the two, Spot is better suited for bedrooms. It’s smaller and designed to mimic an alarm clock, which helps it fit right in your bedroom.
But we prefer Google Nest Hub. Unlike Echo devices, the Nest Hub lacks a camera, which adds a sense of privacy to your bedroom. And it doubles as a digital photo frame, a feature we love. The Home Hub also does a better job of adjusting screen brightness than Spot, a feature you might like if you prefer a black room when you sleep.
If you prefer Google Assistant but in watch format like Amazon’s Spot, our review partner Geek calls the Lenovo Clock almost perfect. Priced at $80, which is almost half the size of the Nest hub, it’s smaller, and rips the camera off again for more privacy in the bedroom.
If you’re all in one ecosystem or another, this should ultimately determine your decision on which device to buy.
Use smart plugs for all your dumb stuff
Your bedroom probably has a plethora of electronics, be it chargers, fans, heaters, humidifiers, or TVs. Smart plugs are a great way to make these devices smart without having to buy a new TV or change the outlet.
The smart plugs are easy to set up too; just plug one into an electrical outlet and then plug anything into it. You need to set it up with the app and then pair it with Google Assistant or Alexa, but once you do that, you have your phone and voice control.
They are also a great option if you like to sleep with the fan or heater on but don’t want them to run all night. When used correctly, smart plugs can potentially save you money. If you have a habit of leaving your humidifier on all day long, a simple timer can solve the problem.
With smart connectors, you don’t always have to buy a brand new device to give you what you have with intelligence and voice control. In the past, we’ve covered a few inexpensive options that can be cheaper than buying a new heater, for example. Before you buy a smart plug, you must turn your devices on, unplug them, and then plug them back in. If they do not turn on and start working automatically, they are not suitable for the smart plug.
RELATED:The best smart plugs
Rounding the bedroom
Having a wireless charger on the same level as your bedside table is extremely convenient.
Some smart homes may not be physically present in the bedroom. While a smart thermostat can’t save you money, the convenience of changing your set temperature based on your bed’s comfort is something you’ll appreciate at three in the morning. Both Nest and Ecobee offer temperature sensors and it can help to place them in the bedroom. Depending on which thermostat model you choose and how many sensors you want, you’ll be spending between $180 and $350 on your home.
And you may want to consider adding amenities to your bedroom that don’t exactly fall into the SmartHome category. Wireless chargers are good in low light, and trying to find a charging port on your phone is difficult. We love charging pads that sink into the nightstand, which reduces both wire and surface clutter. All you need is a hole saw and a drill, as well as a nightstand that will allow you to run the cord to the exit from under the top surface. Wireless chargers are also relatively inexpensive, typically around $20. You may need to provide your own wall adapter.
A particular one-bedroom smart device that we don’t offer is the Zigbee fans. Currently, the most famous fans are designed to work with Wink, a smart hub that we no longer recommend. Even if you’re comfortable taking risks, Alexa integration only gives you voice control of the built-in light. You must control all fan operations from the included remote control or the Wink app. You can also save money and buy a fan with a remote control.
Not all offers are ideal for every bedroom. Assess the situation and only stick to smarthome technology that works well for your bedroom. Remember, the goal is to add convenience, not trouble and frustration.
