Smart Home Solutions for Your Boston Apartment

You have probably heard a lot about Smart Home design lately but assumed it didn’t have anything to do with you. When you are a renter there isn’t much you can do to your apartment without your landlord's approval and input. You are not allowed to just start ripping down walls, which is often required. Particularly for upgrades like adding advanced home technologies, upgrading appliances, HVAC systems, or water heaters with smarter, more energy-efficient counterparts.

In a city like Boston, most of the apartments are often far behind the technology curve- unless you move into one of the newer luxury buildings. Truth be told, it is a lot easier to add in larger and more complex smart home solutions as you are building a new property. Retrofitting older buildings can often be far more difficult.

Well, you're probably saying to yourself “I can’t afford to live in a luxury apartment in Boston” and you might feel like you're missing out. Don’t worry. We have some easy-to-deploy smart home products and service suggestions.  These options won’t cause your landlord to lose their mind, or you to break your bank account. You can have a smart home by focusing on products that deliver overall efficiency rather than just adding new major systems to an apartment or home. It’s also about convenience, optimization, and personalization. There are many ways for property owners and renters in Boston to make a home smarter. With the right vision and some tech savvy, you to take advantage of the functionality and cost-savings promised by smart accessory and appliance manufacturers. You can also take many of these products and services with you to your next apartment in Boston.

Smart Locks and Security Systems

There are now a very wide variety of smart solutions to make your Boston apartment safer. Over the past five years Smart locks have dramatically improved battery life and overall functionality. Smart locks deliver features ranging from voice control, remote locking and unlocking functions synced to an app on your phone, and much more. Some of them even convert your current deadbolt into a smart lock, so you don’t have to remove the existing hardware and install a new system. You’ll also find smart security in the form of camera systems, door sensors, and more to ensure you, your family, and pets are given a higher level of security and peace of mind. The software is also improving at a rapid pace and recording quality has really become amazing over the last several years. There are also a variety of different companies that provide both paid and self-monitoring services to match your lifestyle and budget.

Make sure you talk with your landlord about installing smart locks first because it may violate clauses in your addendum. That being said, more landlords than ever are now moving over to wireless touchpad remote entry than ever before. Landlords find that it saves them significant time in providing access for contractors and handymen in addition to switching codes on the fly rather than replacing keys. More Boston landlords are preferring the time savings they are receiving because less trips to the property equals a happier landlord. Being able to open an apartment door from nearly anywhere in the world is a great feature. It also helps with high turnover apartments or larger bedroom units with lots of subletters.

Home Assistants

With AI moving at an incredible pace, we are seeing numerous digital assistants bring an amazing amount of handsfree help when you are busy multitasking around your Boston apartment. Nothing can be better than when your cutting up vegetables for dinner and you tell your Alexa to set a reminder to call your friend tomorrow at 8am.

There is no question that we are rapidly moving towards the Jetsons-inspired life of the future many of us watched on TV as children. Today’s assistants provide an unlimited amount of information such as weather and sports scores, stream audio and video, make calls or Skype, add to your shopping list or order for you–the list goes on forever. While they can’t yet make your dinner like a robot, they can call a sushi restaurant or fetch a car to take you to your favorite coffee shop, so that’s almost as good, right? Yeah, I am still waiting for that flying car – but it’s coming!

Smart Lighting Options

Smart Lighting takes a variety of forms, from smart bulbs to smart lamps to smart light strips to smart bulb/speaker combinations. As you might imagine, this means a variety of different functions, from ambient accent lighting to remote controls, from the ability to change lighting colors to the ability to integrate other smart devices like an Alexa home assistant or a home theater setup. It’s also nice to set up random times for your lighting to turn on and off while you are away to make it seem if your home even when you are not.

Smart Home Hub

As more and more devices become Smart-enabled, it helps to have someone in control. No, not you. Your Smart Home Hub, which can integrate a variety of Smart elements and help you control them all from one central gateway. Smart Outlets and Switches transform traditional appliances into smart home devices by allowing them to be controlled remotely through a Wi-Fi connection. These devices either plug into existing outlets or replace standard switches, enabling you to manage appliances like lamps or fans via a smartphone app.

Their functionality is significantly enhanced when integrated with Smart Home Assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple's Siri, which introduces voice control capabilities. Furthermore, these smart outlets and switches can act as a central hub in a smart home ecosystem. By connecting various appliances to the network, they allow for centralized control and automation. This means you can manage multiple devices from a single platform, streamline routines, and create custom automation scenarios, making your home more interconnected and responsive to your needs.

Make Your House a Dream Home

Imagine this scenario: You walk in at the end of the day and the door unlocks at the sound of your voice. As you enter, the temperature is exactly as you like it, the house is scrupulously clean (thanks to your Smart Robot Vac), the lights come up at the level you prefer, and your favorite Chill Out playlist begins to play on your speakers. What a welcome! And all of this can be yours with the right Smart Home Hub and integrated system.

You don’t have to have a degree in engineering or even a toolbox to create the Smart Home apartment of your dreams. Most of these items can be installed quickly and easily without any structural changes to your apartment, and they can really add comfort and functionality to your everyday life.

Looking for an luxury apartment in a Green building? How about one with Smart Home function already built in? Or perhaps you are just looking for a great deal on an apartment so you can spend more on everything above?

Let Boston Pads help you find a real estate pro to locate the apartment or home of your futuristic fantasies. We can even find a custom tech or home designer to help you create and integrate your ideal Smart Home environment. Contact us today, and let’s get started!