Perhaps you’re stuck in a snowstorm, yearning for a long soak in the bath the second you get home. Maybe you’re travelling abroad, and would love to check in on your home and personal belongs (since you left the teenagers home alone). Or, you need to schedule a virtual at-home doctor’s appointment and health statistics update.

The smart home of the future, as featured in science fiction movies and cartoons like the Jetsons, is amongst us. While we are not quite to the state of transporters and jetpacks, with the significant advancements in network technology and platforms combined with the power of smart phones, our homes are getting much smarter and sophisticated – and more accessible.

Real-time monitoring of every aspect of your home is already here – from plumbing to entertainment to lighting to security – and companies like Control 4 and Cisco are leading the charge with cutting edge technology combined with iphone, ipad and android devices. Through one simple device, companies promise to revolutionize the way we think about and interact with our homes. Homeowners can now “tell” the house to turn off its lights, start dinner, vacuum the floor, or turn on or off the heat. Especially exciting are advancements in home security where smart technology provides a safer more secure living environment – alerting homeowners to natural disasters, protecting residents and their belongings from intruders, locking doors and turning on lights, and providing real time video feed to smart phones for monitoring anywhere in the world.

... and smarter can be greener too.

With the increasing costs and depletion of energy worldwide, it is becoming more important to be energy efficient. A smart home makes heating and cooling systems turn on and off as needed and optimizes energy use throughout the house. Lights, computers and appliances are only on when in use. This ensures your smart home is not only ultra convenient but also good for the long term health of the planet.

Kim Robertson