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Smart Lock Scout

Smart Home Scout

The source for smart home buying advice.

IoT Home Guide Image

IoT Home Guide

Find and compare top Internet of Things Home Products and Systems. Quickly narrow your choices based on use, price and available integrations

The following handbook will:

  • View product app reviews, and see if the devices can work with your Android or iOS smartphone or existing integration platform (ie: Home Kit, Samsung Smarthings, etc)
  • Help you clear up confusion on which wireless connections you will need (WiFi, Bluetooth, GSM Cellular, etc)
  • Filter based on product type (Energy Savings, DIY Systems, etc)

 

11/01/2019

Energy & Lighting

Smart Irrigation Controllers

Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller 2nd Gen

Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller 2nd Gen Image

Highlights

  • Auto weather adjustments
    • WiFi Connectivity (Works with Echo, Nest, Wink, others)
      • Get alerts when schedule changes..

Quick Links


Merchant

$229.99 - Direct

Online Pricing

$209.99 - Amazon More

Smart Plugs / Outlets

Belkin WeMo Insight Switch

Belkin WeMo Insight Switch Image

Highlights

  • Set Schedules and receive customized notifications
    • Amazon Echo, Nest and IFTTT Compatibility
      • Wi-Fi enabled

Quick Links


Merchant

$34.99 - Direct

Online Pricing

$42.96 - Amazon More

Smart Temperature Sensors

SensorPush

SensorPush Image

Highlights

  • Bluetooth Connectivity (300 ft range)
    • Temp Range (-40°F - 140°F) and accuracy ±0.7°C / ±1.3°F typical
      • Android and iOS apps

Quick Links


Online Pricing

$49.99 - Amazon More

Home Energy Monitors

Neurio

Neurio Image

Highlights

  • Real-time energy monitoring
    • Installation time of around 15 minutes on your breaker panel

Smart Thermostats

ecobee4

ecobee4 Image

Highlights

  • Built-in Alexa Voice Service built in, so you can ask your ecobee to set a timer, read you the news, adjust the temperature, and more.
    • Comes packaged with a temperature and humidity sensor you can place in your home.

Quick Links


Merchant

$249 - Direct

Online Pricing

$189.00 - Amazon More

WiFi Bulbs

Phillips Hue

Phillips Hue Image

Highlights

  • Light schedules
    • Apple HomeKit compatible
      • Requires Bridge -- Philips Hue system supports up to 50 Philips Hue lights, luminaires, switches and other accessories.

Wireless Smart Vents

Keen Home Smart Vent

Keen Home Smart Vent Image

Highlights

  • Room-by-room Control (Typical house needs 4-8 smart vents) and auto-balancing mode
    • Integrations with Nest, SmartThings, Lowes Iris
      • Battery life: 2+ years and 802.15.4/ZigBee Comms

Access & Monitoring

Smart Door Locks

August Smart Lock Pro 3rd Generation

August Smart Lock Pro 3rd Generation Image

Highlights

  • Check your doors status when you are away from home
    • Provide key codes to friends and family and use auto lock feature when you leave the house
      • You need the Connect Wifi Bridge accessory device ($79) to control it remotely

Smart Garage Doors

GarageMate

GarageMate Image

Highlights

  • Uses Bluetooth 4 (Approx 50 foot range)
    • Up to 8 Android/iOS devices can be pired to one receiver
      • 5 Minute installation

Quick Links


Merchant

$49.95 - Direct

Online Pricing

$53.95 - Amazon More

DIY & Open Source

OPen

OPENHAB

"A vendor and technology agnostic open source automation software for your home. Build your smart home in no time!"

CASA

CASA JASMINA

Our goal is to integrate traditional Italian skills in furniture and interior design with emergent skills in Italian open-source electronics.

HOME

HOME ASSISTANT

"Home Assistant is an open-source home automation platform running on Python 3. Track and control all devices at home and automate control....

ECLIPSE

ECLIPSE SMART HOME

Eclipse SmartHome serves as an abstraction and translation framework that makes interaction possible across system and protocol boundaries.

Additional Projects

  • Domoticz
  • Mozilla Project Haiku
  • "An international joint venture between ABB, Bosch, and Cisco. We develop and operate an open software platform for the connected smart home."
  • Supla
    "Open Source building automation system based on Rasberry Pi, ESP8266 and Arduino "
  • Calaos
    "A free software project (GPLv3) that lets you control and monitor your home."

Blogs

Websites / Resources

Companies

Investment and Acquisitions

A sample of Smart Home financial activity. For a more complete list visit out IoT Investment page.

Smart Home Companies
Looking for more startups targeting the connected home market?

Additional resources

Awards

Books

// Articles

// Smart Home History

1913: First refrigerator for home use invented by Fred W. Wolf of Fort Wayne, Texas
1923: Le Corbusier writes "A house is a machine for living in" in Toward An Architecture
1935: First home clothes dryer
1957: Monsanto House of the Future

From 1957 to 1967 millions of visitors toured the Monsanto House, features include its intercom and climate control system, microwave, and ultrasonic dishwasher and of course plastic everywhere.
1966: Jim Sutherland, an engineer with the Westinghouse Corporation, created the machine known as the "Electronic Computing Home Operator," or ECHO IV

"Jim will experiment with the computer as a temperature-controlling device for the home. After interrogating weather instruments on the outside of the house, the computer will be programmed to compensate for weather changes and make automatic temperature and humidity adjustments on the inside."

1967: The Philco-Ford Corporation released a short film titled 1999 A.D looking at the home of the future.
- Video: Walter Cronkite in the Living Room of 2001 (1967)
1969: The Kitchen Computer was featured in the 1969 Neiman Marcus catalog as a $10,600 tool for housewives to store and retrieve recipes. With the tagline "If she can only cook as well as Honeywell can compute."
1969: BT Research created a film looking at the future of communications at home and at work including a wood-cladded display that is capable of transmitting and receiving documents via a UV light and photo sensitive paper.
1975: X10 Project was created by Pico Electronics of Glenrothes, Scotland
1984: The term "smart home" was coined by the American Association of Home Builders