MindHome has entered into a distribution partnership with EZLynx that will allow EZLynx users to build custom packages for their customers and outfit their home with the latest robotic smart home gear, featuring specialty home safety devices designed for insurance and other utility savings.
Daniel Turgel, MindHome CEO commented, “We are excited to offer MindHome robotic smart home bundles in partnership with EZLynx and all of the agents and homeowners that use EZLynx to obtain homeowners insurance. We came up through the insurance industry and know how difficult it is for agents to recommend and deliver these solutions. With EZLynx, the premier insurance agency software and rating provider, MindHome seamlessly bundles device packages, policies and savings tied to the quoted policies in the form of approved discounts from the insurer and conveniently display all of this information for the agent. “Providing independent agents on the EZLynx platform the ability to offer MindHome’s suite drives their competitiveness and offerings to the leading edge of home insurance solutions and fills a void where carriers alone have failed” Jason Yaker, CMO added.
EZLynx said about the partnership: “Building a digital insurance marketplace has always been on the product roadmap for us here at EZLynx. Things like home security and IoT are a very logical way to introduce this concept to our partnered agencies and their clients. Agents would love to make additional revenue on solutions like this without having it distract from their core offerings. With EZLynx making the point of purchase seamless, the agency doesn’t need to do anything but help drive their clients into the offering. For the customer, it is easy to purchase and easy to manage right within their EZLynx experience. This is a true win-win for everyone!”
MindHome has developed the first and only whole-home robotic service home platform. As a robotics technology industry leader, MindHome and its robust product marketplace, partnerships, and discount programs offer customers a seamless experience to improve their home experience at zero net cost. For partnerships and more information, please contact Info@MindHome.co .
EZLynx will further expand its digital marketplace in 2021 as it looks to become, not simply an insurance self-servicing platform, but a place where policyholders can purchase more insurance and ancillary products. These offerings will be presented for the user to buy both digitally, or directly through their agency.
About MindHome
MindHome is the world’s first whole home robotic services company and is based in Louisville, Colorado. Founded in 2018, MindHome designs, builds, sells and installs the highest quality robotic service home ecosystem that is always cost neutral. MindHome offers direct to consumer digital distribution as well as partnered retail distribution across the US and Canada.
About EZLynx
EZLynx, an Applied company, pioneered personal lines real-time comparative rating, enabling agents to generate quotes from multiple insurance carriers with a single data entry point. Today, over 20,000 agencies rely on EZLynx to provide more than eight million home, auto, and package rating transactions every month. EZLynx has also expanded beyond personal lines comparative rating by creating innovative software solutions that transform every facet of agency life, including agency management, client self-servicing, sales pipeline management, marketing and communications, accounting, eSignature, and more, all available on a unified, one platform solution.
]]>The curiosity for smart home technology has been officially piqued, and is blossoming into adoption. This is, in part, due to the popularity of the smart speaker and voice assistant. There are various reasons why it’s broken into the average home, perhaps due to the many use cases, convenience, novelty, and ease-of-use.
Smart speakers have served as an entry point in opening homeowners’ eyes to the benefits that other smart home devices can provide, and showing that the Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t just for the hobbyist but is now in about present in one third of U.S. homes.
With thousands of IoT devices available from startups, the big names in tech, and other companies with products on Amazon and at Best Buy (which is also an ever-growing list), smart home adoption continues its upwards trajectory, because of the wide range of benefits it can provide including smart lighting, thermostats and plugs to save energy and keep the house comfortable. Every home is unique and every smart home is different. Regardless of the family’s lifestyle, safety and security devices are a common thread for adoption, as every home needs protection and insurance.
Part of the growing smart home adoption is occurring as homeowners are learning that technology can become an integral part to managing their home. Beyond the basic smart home security system, advanced systems like Mindhome incorporate robotic water and fire protection and cameras that preventing disasters before they ever happen.
A security camera lets a homeowner check that the house is secure when they’re traveling, and a smart doorbell camera lets them safely answer the door remotely or deter porch pirates. Sensors have a broader range of benefits, and provide intel on the home’s conditions to the homeowner such as carbon monoxide and temperature spikes, leaky pipes, and glass-breakage.
As the average consumer becomes more accustomed to and comfortable using smart home technology, Mindhome is paving the way with the broadest range of standard sensors and robotics to proactively manage homes, cut home expenses, and delight homeowners.
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The first benefit you will receive from Mindhome white glove service is that we have tested and tried every product we sell and know they all work well together. Together is the key part, as many products only work well if they are integrated. In addition, with Mindhome, we ensure everything appears in one app together and communicates together to give you a carefree experience. For some of our products this is essential, such as a Flume water flow monitor and a Guardian water shutoff. Separately the Flume is just a provider of water flow information and a Guardian just saves a few trips to the basement to shut the water off before you go on vacation, or if you notice a leak. But when they communicate together, they can detect leaks and stop the water flow immediately.
Secondly, do-it-yourself installation is a hassle, often not as easy as it looks and often causes would-be enthusiasts to lose interest. Sensors need to be spread out correctly and placed in a spot that provides the correct reading. Wifi Mesh Networks require both a technical understanding of the product and a spatial understanding of the home. For example, when my parents set up their mesh network, they failed to realize that the two repeaters were located almost directly above each other, defeating the very purpose of those repeaters. And everyone’s favorite, security cameras, are much more useful if strategically placed to ensure any intruder is caught on camera.
Finally, white glove installers will show you how to use our system so you get the most out of it with minimal effort. Do you have six changes you want your system to do during your commute? We will set up a one-step robotic automation for that. In addition, we will finnish by showing you exactly how to use it and all the nifty tricks we included.
Some insurance companies also need white glove installation to ensure their discounts are not given to people for devices installed incorrectly or not installed at all. Simply having them in the home does not mean they are protecting the home. Our installation provides a guarantee each device is operating properly.
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What’s a smart home?
A smart home can take many forms, as it’s customized to suit the house and the family, built with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or other connected devices that you can control with your smartphone (or your voice). Many homeowners already have a Google Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Echo or Apple Siri, or a Sonos speaker.
But the smart home isn’t limited to entertainment. Did you know, convenience, energy efficiency, and security are top reasons to get a smart home? Devices like sensors, cameras, thermostats, and more can do more than entertain you. Smart home devices like those from Notion are simple to install and can grow to suit any home. Starting with a few sensors is the beginning to better, proactive home protection. With motion, temperature, humidity, and other sensors, you can care for your home from your smartphone. A sensor placed under your kitchen sink can send an alert to your smartphone when extra moisture is detected, or a motion sensor can alert you to unusual activity in your home.
Using smart home technology like this can make your life easier and give you peace of mind. If a sensor alerts you to a leaky sink or a puddle in the basement, you can stop it before it damages your home. Isn’t it better to prevent an issue from happening, than to handle the time, cost, and aggravation associated with fixing a damaged floor, cabinets, or even electronics? We think so. A smart home can do even more for you with the right insurance partner.
SmartInsure designs policies to protect your home, but equips you to prevent the problems with smart home technology. By connecting your home technology with your insurance policy, you benefit from peace of mind and a protected home, and a partner who wants to help you keep your home safe.
Connect the dots of home care with SmartInsure. Chat with us today to get a custom insurance policy to protect your home, and a complimentary smart home starter kit so you won’t have to use it.
Let’s go.
Let’s start with how our system works. Fundamentally each part of our safety system is either a sensor, monitoring for problems or a device ready to turn problems into solutions. All the smoke alarms, water sensors, temperature sensors, motion sensors, and water flow sensors monitor conditions to understand when a threat exists. All of this monitoring creates data. This data will be used strictly to put solutions into action. If a leak is detected, that data will be used by your automated home to shut off the water, alert you, and nothing else. We have no intention of sharing any of this data with anyone, except for a certificate to your insurer stating that you have the system and it is in good working order and sending emergency signals to our central station alarm partner Noonlight I in the event a fire is detected, or motion around your house when nobody is home.
For Insurance companies only ONE data point is needed per device. That is, it is in normal working order. These devices by their nature, make you a safe customer. They know you’re a safe customer because this system will do so much of the home safety stuff for you that 90% of claims will be prevented. That they won’t worry that your pipes are freezing while you're away. That your fireballs will extinguish any fire that reaches them and the fire alarms are top quality and ensure the fire department shows up in time to save your home.
Some data is needed to be stored. Flow monitors need a baseline of water activity, and webcams are much more useful if you can go back and see what happened, either for fun or as part of a serious investigation.
At Mindhome we view your data as private, and something to be guarded with the greatest care. We want you to keep your data safe, and away from people and companies we seek to abuse your data. We promise your Mindhome data will never be left unsecured, sold or distributed outside of the two exceptions outlined above.
]]>Smart thermostats find are purpose built to avoid this issue. First, easy to use home automation calendars can allow you to set a schedule for changing the desired temperature. Using weekly and one-off “events” we can tell the thermostat when it should maintain a comfortable temperature, and when it can cut energy usage. In addition, you can always change the setting when you want to or tell it to have the room warm up or cool down in advance of you using it. This enables you to use your home's HVAC systems as little as possible.
And there are still other ways to save energy with smart thermostats. You can have it turn off the heating or cooling whenever your phone leaves the house, or your alarm system is activated. Since most home security systems have sensors to track unexpected openings of windows, they can also prevent your heating and cooling from running when a window is open.
It’s not just about what thermostats you use but where you use them. Thermostats placed in the wrong place can be inaccurate and run less efficient schedules. All thermostats should be away from any heating or cooling source. This way its reading air is close to the room’s average temperature. If your AC blows air on a thermostat it will be cooler than the rest of the room, especially if the AC is just starting to cool the room off. In such a situation the thermostat might shut off prematurely and may confuse you into making the room too cold, since the set temperature appeared too warm. The same is true if it is near appliances which can make your thermostat heat up and make the reading inaccurate. Another way to improve the readings is to add sensors to monitor the temperature in places poorly monitored by the thermostat, something we at Mindhome believe should become a standard robotic smart home feature because of its importance for connected fire prevention.
For those with the opportunity to make big changes to their HVAC system, adding zones is an important way to save energy and increase comfort. A zone is an area of the house that has one control for the heat or AC. More zones mean more control. Having one zone per floor is important since hot air rises meaning each floor has different heating needs. Having multiple rooms on the same floor can also be an issue since the sun will shine through the windows at different times. More zones will allow the heat to adjust for sunlight in each part of your home. In addition, more zones allows you to reduce the number of rooms you heat to something closer to the minimum. Ideally each room would have its own thermostat so it can be controlled independently so you only heat the parts of your home you’re using. Adding zones is complicated though and requires installing at least one remote controlled valve or switch to control the amount of heat going into a room.
]]>In the future my Mindhome will take care of me. That is the promise of the robotic smart home. Included in this request is that the home also take care of itself - after all if a home can take care of me, it can take care of itself too. The home should serve me, it should run diagnostic tests on itself every day, and it should call service providers whenever it requires servicing. Home ownership and home automation are converging in the age of the Internet of Things. It is not simply that a home has smart locks and some cameras that can detect a loved one or service provider. The future of the smart home - the robotic smart home - promises so much more including but not limited to the following major breakthroughs:
This is a grand vision for the future of homes and it is all made possible by the explosion of robotic technology and smart home technology that is happening all around us right now.
]]>The home is not only where your heart is, it is increasingly becoming an automated cash cow by offsetting its own costs of maintenance with gains from production of everything from energy to food thanks to the revolution in home automation, home robotics and so many other promising technologies making the home the next great frontier of technology and it is all happening now.
At Mindhome our goal is to reduce recurring home expenses by 90% from 2020 levels and lead the new era of the robotic home experience. If this trend continues as we expect it eventually a small home can become so efficient that it may even allow you to live there like a bank lives of interest or a manufacturer produces goods that pay for its industrial real estate. In order to better understand how such a future will come about, let’s take a closer look at both insurance and energy savings for your home available today.
In 2020 ,a new benchmark for decreasing home flooding risk using robotic systems was finally supported by good data by Flo’s LexisNexis study that showed a 93-96% reduction in water losses. For years we have had good data on sprinkler system effectiveness for preventing fire losses, but sprinkler systems are seldom actually installed in homes even though practically 100% of catastrophic fire losses are preventable by them and their inclusion in most international building codes as of last decade. Finally, some insurers offer over 40% for wind and hail exposed homes that upgrade their roofs using the Fortified Roof standard. That is because 70-90% of catastrophe claims are roof losses which is precisely what the Fortified standard is proven to prevent. Fortified is so effective that we expect the savings to increase from 40% to 90% in the coming years.
At Mindhome we have been tracking these roof-related improvements for three years and one day in 2019 we found a home builder in Florida building a new type of house known as the Hurricane Proof Home. When we met EcoHome at one of their homes in the suburbs of Orlando, they turned us onto the idea of the connection between solar roofs, impact and wind resistant roofs, and smart homes. It turns out that the home expense savings could be doubled or tripled by adding solar power with Passive House standards.
The Passive House movement is revolutionizing energy consumption. At Mindhome, we are working with Emu to map out new construction and retrofit solutions that increase home energy savings by 75% more than current green energy solutions like wind and solar. Low cost, highly protective and solar roofing solutions combined with the Passive House standard and Fortified standard maximizes home expense and maintenance savings to the tune of hundreds of dollars per month. Enjoying a better life has never been this easy.
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Insurance companies have mastered the business of risk financing. The insurance industry has developed the science of pricing risk into an incredible art that now blends data science, actuarial science and behavioral economics seamlessly across most lines of business to varying degrees. While many insurance companies have helped pioneer risk management techniques for factories, commercial property, homes, automobiles and all other types of property, it is clear that in the last two decades insurers have not developed their own digital products to enhance risk control, instead relying on external vendors for software and hardware solutions. In fact, capital markets have pushed this divide further and further to the point that the average insurance company may write about and even practice risk management, but still rarely markets or sells digital risk management tools and a hardware first approach to risk management and mitigation, opting instead for pricing, savings and humorous advertisements and messaging as the way to build long term customer value.
The technology industry, on the other hand, focuses on risk control through control systems, behavioral psychology, changing and augmenting human behavior and the new world of artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Technology is overtaking insurance as the leader of risk management innovation in a sensor-based world. Even with billions of sensors deployed globally, sensors are still early in leveraging machine learning but gaining quickly. Soon instead of paying to transfer and finance risk, a home robotic system will reduce the likelihood of major hazards and risks causing any damage to less than it costs to finance their preventative solution.
Many categories of losses, including water and fire, two of the big three in property insurance, are set to change drastically in 2021 and beyond. In fact things have already changed in the special case of the disastrous water loss situation across the US and Canada. One of the most common and costly homeowners loss categories is water leak damage. In a historic and landmark IoT study published this year about the Flo Water Shutoff Valve device, LexisNexis showed that homes in the study saw a 96% decrease in paid water leak claims compared to two years prior to installation.
Though detractors were given voice by certain industry media outlets and are still to be found in actuarial and underwriting departments in a majority of insurance companies, the attainment in a significant sample of a 96% reduction in losses is unambiguously historic - a landmark moment for humanity to control the most basic substance in the most fundamental place in the human experience. This substance which expands as it freezes, punctures pipes, blows out bathrooms and fills up basements destroying tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of property in large loss It is both sustaining life and inundating fortunes knows no bounds. Conquering water damage in the home is a milestone for mankind and a loss of partial responsibility for property insurers. The significance of this home water related loss exposure taming by a sensor, actuator and machine learning masterpiece demonstrates quite clearly that in this case and therefore henceforth in all major cases rests the realizable potential to be crossed. We at MindHome call this the Technology-Insurance Risk Entropy (TIRE) Line and crossing over it means quite simply that the risk tends to be more economical to finance using a technological risk prevention solution rather than paying the actuarial fair rate to insure the loss exposure.The Flo device dramatically reduces the risk of home water loss exposure - so much so that the money it saves on insurance for some carriers is far more than the cost to finance the device given reasonable financing assumptions.
Smarthome devices can easily pay for themselves when they prevent damage to a home down the line. For example, reputable insurance industry research firm LexisNexis proved a smart home device that detects water leaks will prevent 95% of water damage incidents not caused by a flood. This is the strongest evidence yet that smart home devices are the most cost effective method of managing a home's risk. Still some in the industry are skeptical. ITL’s Paul Carroll criticized this incredible success as too expensive a proposition for the customer and quipped ‘That math doesn’t work for me.’ This myopia is pervasive in the insurance industry and the reason why modern technology and financing tools are radically changing the property insurance business beneath a blind eye.
Here is the crux of Carroll’s argument:
“Each device is about an $800 proposition — roughly $500 for the device and $300 to have a plumber install it in a home. Multiply that $800 by 2,306 homes, and it costs you $1.85 million to install the devices...so I made a couple of educated guesses and estimated that those $1.85 million of devices saved the 2,306 homeowners and their insurers about $240,000 a year. That would mean it would take a decade to earn back the cost of installation — $1.85 million plus $50,000 a year for 10 years equals $2.35 million, or almost exactly the $240,000 a year of saving times 10. The payback takes longer, of course, if the devices need any maintenance or, heaven forbid, don’t last at least a decade...Some insurers seem to hope that customers will buy the leak detection devices on their own, but that seems unlikely, at least in any numbers...But, if you assume a deductible of $1,000 on a homeowners policy, you’re asking people to spend $800 up front to avoid a one-in-100 annual chance of paying $1,000. That math doesn’t work for me.”
There are two oversights in this argument:
First of all, the vantage point is biased towards an insurer, not a consumer. Insurers care about profits and losses, portfolios and investment theory for insurance companies and anything that can help them more reliably extract as much profit as they can out of consumers. On the other hand, consumers look at insurance as one of a handful of monthly expenses that they see as an unnecessary burden with invisible benefits and a steep cost that they would like nothing more than minimize.
Notably this argument also fails to concede or even mention price deflation from competition in competitive technology markets or the corollary growth curve that accompanies explosive products. Carroll assumes that consumers will always have to pay $800 for this suite of benefits, will always have a $1,000 deductible, and will therefore never want to invest. This is ignorance of technology at its apex. If perhaps any mention of the future - say five to ten years from now - was made, then a concession as to the eventual ubiquity of this as a low cost solution would be made obvious.
What is even worse is that there is no mention at all of bundles, rebates or long term financing for this type of product which is common for all types of smart home devices that fit broadly into the different categories of water, energy and other conservation, which brings us to our second oversight.
Like so many other great smart home technologies that have come before it, there are implicit and explicit benefits that extend beyond the singular benefit that is being evaluated at any given moment. While certain customers that purchase devices like Flo care primarily about insurance savings, it is also true that many care even more about green causes like energy and water consumption. Indeed, this is precisely why Flo and other water hardware companies are partnering with water utilities every bit as much as insurers and builders. Built-in water conservation features are a crucial component of Lennar homes going forward and the builder believes that these features increase the value of the homes by so much more than can be measured in insurance savings alone.
Consumers demand more from their technology providers every day and the Flo device has become the standard for delivering the twin benefits of water conservation and water damage prevention. Water however is but one small piece of an increasingly complex and interwoven circle of home automation and robotics that is changing insurance and everything else about the home in a way that computers revolutionized business and home operations a generation ago and mobile phones have changed all of our lives over the last ten years. The most important response to any such contrived par pro toto argument is to expand the perspective. The insurance community needs to narrow the gap between their understanding of consumers’ hopes for great comprehensive benefits that improve their life and what the carriers themselves want, which according to Carroll is “data generated by Internet of Things (IoT) devices can lead to a more accurate and comprehensive view of risk and improve loss costs.”
The property insurance Internet of Things (IoT) revolution is but a part of a much larger series of IoT disruptions not affecting every other related industry vertical connected to real property. The outcome will be a series of new platforms that combine all of these benefits into seamless digital customer experiences. Insurers need to better incorporate the needs of the consumer and how their roles as both risk managers and risk financiers can better serve their customers by rethinking choice architecture, even if it means radically shifting their approach to home risk financing from indemnity of pure risk to amortization of pure risk control. Once they do that they will open themselves up to the future of growth in this industry and also contribute to so many direct non-insurance benefits to their customers, be that water conservation, energy conservation, health improvement, or any of a dozen other things that their customers actually want, and not what they can take solely for themselves in their current modus operandi. Indeed this will eventually lead to an inversion of the traditional loss ratio and expense ratio which though foreign to property insurance is actually a standard in many other P&C lines of business which therefore is a lens that insurers should be able to see through after all.
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The last three years have witnessed an explosion in smart home device adoption and home security. Have you joined the smart home revolution yet and purchased smart thermostats, lights, doorbells and other cool devices or have you been taking your time waiting for an easier way or better offers?
The seeds for the smart home future are being sewn today and they include huge leaps in home infrastructures of the mechanical and hardware kind that are going to transform the way we live. A country as rich as the United States and equipped with as much low cost hardware and better production techniques could realize utopian visions as they dwell in sustainable homes that maintain themselves and even create income through energy harvesting and micro farming.
Earlier this year we inquired of a national home builder how much they believe their smart home infrastructure and starter packages increase the value of the home and they said $40,000 (1). An informal survey of our industry peers and realtors in 2020 indicates a steady opinion of 2-3x return on investment (ROI). And according to Coldwell Banker’s most recent smart-home survey, most potential home buyers now want smart-home tech included in the deal. And finally according to a 2017 survey from T3 Sixty and Coldwell Banker, 91.3% of brokers and agents said they would benefit from the incorporation of smart home technology into marketing of a home and 82% said they believed smart home technology streamlined a sale. (2) Even trusted household consumer stalwart Consumer Reports advised that these purported increases in home value are real. (3)
This validation from such a large scale real estate broker with a national footprint shows how smart home is quickly establishing itself as the very top returning investment you can make in your home. But inevitably an ROI calculation alone undersells the disruptive force of smart homes.
Smart homes create huge operational gains for homes by lowering insurance, water and energy bills and they save customers hours and hours of time by vacuuming the floor, folding the clothes, and cleaning the toilet.
The best approach for adopting smart home holistically and maximizing your investment return to as high as 4-5 times your investment focuses on the following major keys to success:
As smart homes become ubiquitous and the technology experience inside the home using voice assistants and various home automations, homeowners that are planning to sell their homes in the coming years need to prioritize their technology spend among other big remodel or fix-up priorities like kitchens and bathrooms or risk missing out on maximal resale value. Given that smart homes make life easier and more fun from day one, it’s time every homeowner considers all of their smart home upgrade options.
(1) 12% of the value of the home value
(2) https://www.housingwire.com/articles/49925-smart-home-upgrades-that-raise-home-value/
(3) https://www.consumerreports.org/smart-home/smart-home-tech-upgrades-to-help-sell-your-house/
Accepting that risk management technology is the most effective and affordable way to protect property takes time. Homeowners tend to not have much free time. Well actually they have more and more free time all the time it's just they tend to use it more and more for a historically great life balance between work and leisure that keeps getting better every year.
Homeowners want smart homes: smart lights, cameras, actuators. Homeowners do not want boring water shut off valves. Though logically all rational homeowners should care about advanced protection of their property, and even though the investment payback is superb, most homeowners not care about this. Who could blame them? After all, most local municipalities do not enforce even basic fire sprinkler protection code in brand new home construction let alone any sort of auto water shutoff retrofitting.
But some insurers are leading in this area and it is important that these Insurers and their smart technology partners combine to create the new value chain, fill the gaps and give customers what they really want - a beautiful and intelligent smart home that pays for itself or pockets them savings every month. They can attain both by insisting on giving customers the things they need but don’t necessarily want: advanced home protection.
A Mindhome bridges the gap between a dynamic smart home and a money saving safe and strong home. Mindhomes promise to pay for themselves in primarily insurance savings but also in maintenance, utility and other savings over the life of the system starting from day one.
Mindhomes grow around consumer budgets and desires for more savings and more hands-off, luxurious management of their stunning homes. There is nothing like a Mindhome because there is no mission like the Mindhome mission: to deliver 90% reduction in all home operating costs within 10 years. Whether it’s a water protection system, a fire protection system, or even a simple camera with motion detection, risk management for the home has never been so affordable or attractive to the average homeowner now that it comes with the luxury smart home they want. To see more information on packages and how to calculate projected savings, click here.
PC Mag recently reported data from Statista research showing the popularity of security and smart home: “Smart home security is more popular in the U.S. than anywhere else, at a household penetration rate of 18 percent.” Homeowners are looking to new smart home technology such as door locks, sensors, thermostats, etc. to secure their home, but other devices can protect their home and belongings from damage, with the potential for insurance savings.
The curiosity for smart home technology has officially been piqued, and is blossoming into widespread adoption. This is due in part to the popularity of the smart speaker. There are various reasons why it has proliferated into the average home, perhaps due to the many use cases, convenience, novelty, and ease-of-use.
Smart speakers have served as an entry point in opening homeowners’ eyes to the benefits that other smart home devices can provide, and showing that the Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t just for the hobbyist. Last year the Consumer Technology Association showed that ownership of a smart speaker experienced almost 100 percent growth in ownership in the prior two years and are now in about one third of U.S. homes. This is a new operating system in the home and it is being pioneered by the largest forces in technology.
With thousands of IoT devices available from startups, the big names in tech, and other companies with products on Amazon and at Best Buy (which is also an ever-growing list), smart home adoption is on an upwards trajectory, because of the wide range of benefits it can provide: solutions for every home, family and person. Dongles, remotes, and speakers enhance entertainment, lights set the mood or brighten rooms automatically, and thermostats help to save energy, keep the house comfortable and make customers happy. Homeowners can mix and match the experiences that they care about and the benefits that they need. Every smart home is different; while some families might start with smart speakers, others might have a smart thermostat and add light bulbs to save energy.
Regardless of the family’s lifestyle, safety and security devices are a common thread for adoption; every home needs protection just as every home needs homeowner’s insurance. In this advance of adoption, International Data Corporation identified home monitoring and security devices as the second-largest device category that will continue growing, including moisture sensors, doorbells and locks, cameras, etc. according to its latest “Worldwide Quarterly Smart Home Device Tracker.” Part of the growing smart home adoption is occurring as homeowners are learning that technology can become an integral part of managing their house and help them become more proactive managing something they love. The features of a basic smart home security system comprising water, temperature, or door/window sensors, door locks, and even cameras can help a homeowner work towards lessening home damage or preventing it by acting on alerts.
Security devices may be the go-to adoption point after smart speakers because even a few can make a difference for safety and peace of mind. A security camera lets a homeowner check that the house is secure when they’re traveling, or a smart doorbell camera lets them safely answer the door remotely or deter porch pirates while they’re at work. Sensors have a broader range of benefits, and can provide context about the home’s conditions that can be used to monitor activity from doors and windows, share alerts about carbon monoxide, detect water in leaky areas, keep tabs on the temperature in each room, or listen for a potential break-in with a glass-break sensor.
These experiences can easily be added to almost any dwelling (traditional homes, apartments, or condominiums), families of all ages, and any lifestyle. In my own home, I started a smart home with a few devices and I’ve kept adding as I learned what else I could control, and our family has certainly benefited from the peace of mind and home protection. I have about 25 devices in my home with our hub. I use them to manage my home when I’m traveling, like adjusting the temperature from my Ecobee thermostat, and being able to stop water damage from my Guardian water shutoff valve once it’s detected from a sensor.
I followed what would be the traditional path for adoption, starting out with a first device that inspired me to add more and more so that I could control or keep tabs on other parts of my home. But what I realized along the way is that try as they may to make integrating all of the smart home devices available into one platform and easy for the average consumer to install is not working. It is still like trying to ask a customer to assemble a mini computer or a car or build a house - I shouldn't be doing it and neither should the average homeowner or renter. So before you embark on your own smart home odyssey, forget it and call up a trusted smart home partner that does all of the software, hardware, installation, setup and servicing combined in one place so that you can enjoy the benefits and forget the headaches.
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Data is an increasing point of discussion for the potential it can have to benefit a wide variety of industries, from agricultural to automotive, manufacturing and beyond. It can also become practical for the average homeowner, family, or renter through Internet of Things (IoT) technology that’s giving them control of and information about their property that they can use to their advantage.
This can be done by starting simply with a smart home system, which can comprise several devices: door/window sensors, smart light bulbs, smart thermostat, or water, temperature, and motion sensors. Depending on the manufacturer, a hub may be required, and users may also opt for a smart assistant like Google Home or Amazon Alexa for voice control. Commonly, these systems start small with 2 to 5 devices, and can grow to suit the home to benefit users in a few ways. In a survey, PC Mag found that the top four smart home device purchase reasons were for convenience, energy efficiency, home security, and cost effectiveness.
Many homeowners get their first taste of a smart home from a voice assistant as a fun and easy way to play music, get information about the weather and other fun facts, plus benefit from a bunch of cool experiences, even ordering Pizza Hut from a command. Aside from the novelty it can provide, a smart home system of smart light bulbs, sensors, and a thermostat can make managing a home more convenient. Remote, in-app, or voice control of key devices like lights, locks, and thermostats enables management from the office, on the road, or on the way home. With a system in place, parents can get notifications to see when kids open the door as they arrive home from school, making sure it gets closed, or check that the garage door is shut at night before they go to bed. Automated lighting schedules can also brighten the house as the sun goes down, so families don’t come home to a dark house.
According to recent data from Parks Associates, cost savings is a key driver for smart home device adoption: “The prospect of saving money, either through reduced household bills or a discount on insurance premiums, raises the interest in smart home devices among 60 percent of the U.S. broadband households that do not own and do not intend to purchase a smart home device.” In line with the schedules set to coincide with their lifestyle, a smart thermostat can automate the HVAC system to save energy by keeping it low during the day while the house is empty, and kicking it up ahead of the family arriving home at night. Over time, they can see whether their automation schedule is saving them money, and adjust it to do so depending on the season. Smart lights can also help to reduce energy usage in a similar way; homeowners can set a schedule to keep lights off based on their schedule or how natural light moves through the house. They could also coordinate it with a motion sensor to activate only when someone enters the room.
Smart home devices can also help secure the property while the family is away. Sensors can provide live updates about the conditions of their home, whether a door or window opens, when a room gets too hot or too cold, or when water is detected in the basement. This data can be actionable for users, providing peace of mind as they know their house is safe, or the opportunity to step in to check out potential security issues or home damage. While on vacation, unusual activity can be monitored, so if a window opens a friend or family member could go to scope it out, or check in when water is detected under the kitchen sink. The sensors that provide data about conditions like water presence or temperature conditions of the property allow the family to intervene, using a smart thermostat to adjust the temperature before a room gets too cold (risking pipes bursting) or inspecting a potential water leak sooner rather than later when greater damage has happened.
Data from smart home devices can facilitate proactive home management which can, in turn, reduce common reasons for damage and claims for water damage or even fire. When water is detected in the basement or under the sink, user intervention can stop a leak before it spreads or further damages the home, preventing aggravation and the costs of a claim. Insurers are beginning to recognize these benefits and starting to offer programs to support those using data from smart home devices to manage and protect their property.
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We recommend that every homeowner adopt the following core water loss prevention technology:
Basements, attics, bathrooms, refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines all need water leak detectors because that’s where water leaks occur.
These three technologies can combine to reduce water losses in the home by 72-96%. We don’t have to live with water losses any more - within one to two years that will be 99% and we will start using it for even more advanced water use optimization and conservation. The IoT (Internet of Things) enables automation to do amazing things at scale. If there is a problem, homeowners should be notified at the first sign of condensation, drips, leaks, or flooding via app and then connect to a central station monitoring system that has your back and can shut off the water for you in case you are not available or don’t recall how to do that in your app. We prefer to deliver this through text, app, 3D model and when an emergency happens of course to shut off the water.
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Hackers in the news again? Every time this happens, most owners of smart homes shudder at the thought of a security breach in their house and the fear is justified. Real risks exist in the digital systems of smart homes.
While the risk isn't imaginary, as Cavalier Estates team points out, smart homes provide numerous benefits and make your life more convenient. There's no need to ditch the technology that makes your life better. Instead, the best course of action is to make your home secure.
In this article, we'll discover the top ways you can make your smart home more secure against hacker attacks. After applying these practical suggestions, you'll enjoy peace of mind in your high-tech home.
#1: Go over the device settings
Many IoT (internet of things) devices in your home may have default privacy and security settings. You might want to review these settings. Some of the default checkmarks in your settings could serve the interests of the company instead of yours.
#2: Reset your router's name
Never settle for the default router name provided by the manufacturer. Criminals may use this name to identify a particular model, giving them more information and power. Also, make sure your router's name doesn't contain any personal identifiers.
#3: Register every new device
Every time you get a new device, register it with the manufacturer. This is a very important step. New security issues and bugs are discovered all the time. Only the manufacturer's regular updates and patches fix these problems.
#4: Unplug devices that are not in use
Leaving your home for a weekend trip or longer? Unplug all the inactive devices. While doing this saves you money on the electric bill, it's also a great way to make the devices completely inaccessible to hackers.
#5: Set Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication uses your smartphone for completing a sign-in. In addition to typing in your password, you'll need to enter the code that is sent to your phone.
Two-step authentication has become a popular sign-in method online, such as on Facebook and Google. However, you can use the same authentication approach for numerous smart home cloud services.
#6: Use Factory Reset When Needed
Do you plan to discard, gift, or sell a smart home device? If so then it's essential to erase all your data stored on a particular device. Just follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer. A factory reset is the best action you can take before disposing of a smart device.
#7: Disable Unnecessary Features
IoT devices are likely to have more features than you need. Some of these functions may significantly raise security risks. For example, remote access is a service that could easily get abused. Always disable the high-risk features that you don't use.
#8: Create strong passwords
Too many owners of smart homes use weak passwords for their WiFi networks and device admin accounts. When you create a password, use a mix of numbers, letters, and symbols. Make sure that the password you set for each account and device is unique.
#9: Separate your WiFi networks
Does your router support more than one SSID? If so then you can open up two independent WiFi networks. The first network is used for computers, smartphones, and tablets. The second one serves all the smart home devices.
Consider that you'll exchange sensitive information using your computers and smartphones including credit card numbers and vital sign-in information. It's more secure when this data is on a separate network from your home electronics.
#10: Benefit from VPN services
Virtual private networks (VPNs) support network security in your home. When you use a VPN, you are able to benefit from a closed system for any internet connection. As a result, you'll significantly decrease potential security risks.
VPNs allow you to enjoy an added layer of encryption and security. Hackers and other malicious internet users will have a hard time pinpointing your current location. Also, it makes it difficult for them to track your online activities.
In a nutshell: Tips for Increasing Security in Your Smart Home
Smart home solutions need clever action to improve their security. In this article, we listed the top tips for boosting the security of your smart home. Here are the essentials:
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