While the two terms are often used interchangeably, smart homes and home automation are not the exact same thing. If you’ve been considering an upgrade to your Milton, Florida, home’s capabilities, here’s what you need to know about the differences between a smart home and home automation.
Smart Home Is the Part, Home Automation Is the Whole
In short, a smart home is a term for when your home has numerous gadgets that improve performance and convenience. For example, you might have smart light bulbs you can operate remotely, a smart thermostat that lets you control the temperature while away from home, or a security camera that lets you see live feeds while you’re on vacation.
Home automation, on the other hand, refers to when these smart devices communicate together to provide greater functionality in your home.
Smart Home vs. Home Automation Examples
To better illustrate this point, pretend you have smart light bulbs and smart door locks installed in your home. These devices qualify your home as a smart home because they allow you to tinker with them remotely.
However, for them to qualify as home automation, they need to be connected to one another. This means you might be able to program your lights to shut off any time you remotely lock the door. The two actions are connected because the devices can communicate data with each other.
Another example might be if you have two smart home devices that start up the coffee pot and play music when you wake up. Rather than controlling these functions separately, you would use home automation to link them together so they both start with a single tap on your smartphone.
Both smart homes and home automation are great concepts, but they might not have a big effect on your monthly savings if your HVAC system isn’t functioning properly. That’s why Lunsford Air Conditioning & Heating offers HVAC maintenance plans and services to keep your system operating smoothly and efficiently. Give us a call today at 850-203-3200 to take full advantage of smart products in your home.
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