Time to upgrade to smart home tech?

I moved into my unit just over a year ago. Downsized from my house to somewhere more manageable, more modern and with a courtyard rather than an unruly garden to upkeep. No disrespect to all the awesome gardeners out there, but gardening is not my thing! I have a couple of mini fruit trees and a few other plants in tubs and that’s just perfect for me. Low maintenance and I still have a lovely space to sit in of an evening to enjoy the fresh air and summer breezes.

I’ve upgraded a few things inside. I put in a new air conditioner in the open plan area (the old one was spitting out ice shards and was not working that well). I also put an air con unit in the main bedroom, it has a ceiling fan, which is perfect. However, it can get mighty hot here in the summer.

I changed up my gas cooktop to an induction/convection cooktop and I love it! It’s far more economical energy wise, doesn’t discolour or burn the bottom of saucepans – so that’s a definite win for me. Cooking is nice and easy too, it’s a bit faster to heat up, so you need a minute to get used to it and then it’s fine and dandy.

My next upgrade is smart home tech. I found a company that does a range of products, from smart lighting, a garage door that can be remotely closed if you forget to do it on your way out (and who hasn’t forgotten that now and again?) The garage door can also be opened remotely (all from an app on your phone) if you need to give someone access. There is also the option to program your air conditioning to come on just before you get home or to go on during the day if it gets too hot and you want to keep your pets cool!

In terms of security, I was chatting with the sales guy and he said they have “bank level” security. Well, mmhmm. But what does that even mean? Which bank? Which country/countries do they adopt as the standard? Australia, UK, Europe or the U.S? Even banks within a country have different levels of standards. SSL Labs (they can test the strength of a website’s security) have tested the four top banks in Australia. Only one had an A rating, the others were B and F and none were A+. Not very reassuring!

Not surprisingly, the sales guy had no idea when I asked him. He’s selling me the products, it doesn’t mean he has the technical expertise to answer my questions about security. However, he should have had the information easily accessible. Saying it’s “bank level” is meaningless. It probably is enough to satisfy most customers as it sounds impressive. But, given all the data breaches lately, I would anticipate they have a better answer for the once in a blue moon customer (me) who asks more probing questions.

Generally, smart home security is at the ISP level and your WiFi password. My ISP claims they have top level security to ensure no data breaches and that’s only if they are one step ahead of any hackers. Your WiFi password needs to be strong, don’t use the default that comes with your modem and definitely do not use things like your date of birth (or your kid’s) or the name of your dog or anything else that is easy to guess or hack.

Should you install smart home tech? Maybe, maybe not. Hopefully some of the above helps you in making an informed decision. The main thing is – do no be afraid to ask questions. Be prepared, be confident, sound knowledgeable and don’t be snowed by the sales pitch!