I learned early on in our relationship that my guy is a techie. He LOVES all sorts of technology and this became quite apparent when he built a quadcopter before quadcopters were a thing. He also did this while preparing his dissertation proposal that was due in a few days…You know, just a little side gig, to give his mind a mental “break.”
I truly don’t understand how this guy is wired, but to him, it works. This would leave me in a ball of stress, but that’s neither here nor there for this post.
Once we bought our home and had free reign to do as we pleased, the techie in him really came out.
The first week we moved in I accidentally left our garage door open over night (whoops) and sadly we had some things stolen from it. (A-holes.)
Well, The Hubby made sure that would never happen again. The first thing he got for our home was a new garage door with an automatic close function that shuts itself after being open for 10 minutes, or however long we choose. We can also close it from our phones and are notified if for some reason there is a glitch and it has been left open. It is also still capable of opening and closing during power outages as we recently experienced. This ended up being incredibly useful and I may have kissed my husband’s feet for this one.
Also in the garage, The Hubby installed a proximity sensor that shows me how close I need to be from the wall before I hit it. Because uh…. we wouldn’t want THAT to happen. As I enter the garage the light is green, as I get closer it turns yellow, and when I have reached my ideal spot, it turns red.
Park Zone PZ-1600 Precision Parking Aid
To improve the efficiency of our sprinklers and water usage, The Hubby got a Rachio Iro, which applies the exact amount of water each zone of our yard needs based on soil type, amount of sun, sprinkler head, and slope of grade. It will also anticipate rain by reading the forecast, and skip planned waterings. No wasting water, here! Problem… solved.
Rachio IRO Smart Wifi Enabled Irrigation Controller 8 zones
We also have a drop camera in our home which allows us to check in on things from our phones to ensure our safety and peace of mind. I have found this extremely comforting on the nights when The Hubby is away. You know, when you think you hear lurking weirdos outside and whatnot. Now I can check in on things to make sure we are all safe and sound. We have also used this is a baby monitor as well.
Inside our home, The Hubby installed automatic door locks so that a door is never left unlocked. After being closed for 30 seconds, all doors leading outside will automatically lock. What happens if it locks you outside? Well, there is a key pad so that you can get back in as well. This has become very useful since the kids are in and out of the house and I now don’t have to run a half marathon every time we leave the house checking whether or not all doors are locked. This has also relieved us of having spare keys as we are able to create temporary pass codes for people we may need to let in while away.
Schlage Connect Camelot Touchscreen Deadbolt w/ Built-In Alarm, Aged Bronze, BE469 CAM 716
Tired of the kids (ahem, it was all the kids I tell you) leaving the lights on in the bathrooms, pantry, and closets, The Hubby installed automatic lights that turn on when you walk into the room, and turn off once it senses no movement for 30 seconds. Electricity, saved. Bickering, squashed.
To control the heat in our home, we now have two Nests. These make controlling the temperature extremely easy (you literally just turn it left or right) and it has learned how we like our settings during different parts of the day and will automatically change it to that temperature for us. We can also access if from our phones, which may sound lazy, but I have found it SO useful in the middle of the night when I am feeding Franklin and notice he is a little cold and can turn up the heat without getting up. This has saved us money on our heating bill every month and has already paid for itself. Winning!
Nest Learning Thermostat, 3rd Generation
The last time we were in Reno visiting our friends, The Hubby noticed their outlet covers. They act just like little night lights, so of course, we now have these, too. These have become really useful as they line the hallway leading from our son’s bedroom to the bathroom so he can easily see where to go without turning on bright lights. I have also found this useful when I am walking to the kitchen at night for uh… various reasons.
So that our exterior lights turn on and off at dusk and dawn by themselves, The Hubby got automatic sensors so that we aren’t running back in the house when trying to get out the door to turn on and off lights. Efficiency, he says!
To top it all off, we have a home security system that not only secures our home, but it also notifies us when any exterior door is opened. It also let’s us know which door was opened so that we know where the kiddos are at all times. I am also thinking this will come in handy when the kids are teenagers and may get thoughts of sneaking out. NOT going to happen!
What about the windows? That is part of the alarm system, too. Any time a window is opened or shattered once the alarm is set, we will be notified. Smoke and carbon monoxide? This system is all over it.
And for fun, we got a Dragon Box from our friend, which is a device that allows us to stream ANY movie or TV show, even those currently in theaters. So, we recently watched The Good Dinosaur (currently in theaters) as well as the Conner/McGreggor UFC fight from our own home without paying anything extra. This can replace all cable/Netflix subscriptions as well. If interested in learning more, shoot our friend Kika a message by visiting the link below.
And honestly, while I may have initially rolled my eyes at some of his suggestions, they have all either improved our home’s efficiency or saved us money.
Fine, he wins.
