Using Home Tech to Make Life Easier

Have you tried using technology in your home to make life a little easier?  You’ve heard of home tech to make your lights turn off, have mood music turn on when you come home, or even the ability to close your garage door if you forget to close it.

There are literally thousands of products now available to make controlling your house easier…but where do you start?  Choice is good, but too many choices can get overwhelming.  Coming up with the funds to automate the whole house for home tech all at once is difficult.  

Fortunately, with today’s available technology, you don’t need to come up with a comprehensive solution.  You can start out small, controlling one item, and build as you understand what’s possible.

As one of our nation’s largest retailers, Sears has seen a large number of home tech automation products come to the market.  They recognize that with so many options available throughout the house, it’s nearly impossible for

1.) a customer to know what’s even available and

2.) what is feasible for a customer to implement without breaking the bank

To show you how easy it is to implement technology in your home and how it t makes your life more manageable, we worked together with Sears Connected Solutions to highlight a few home tech products they sell that you may not have known existed.

A Day in the Life with Home Tech

This past month, I have added 4 cool home tech products in my home to make life easier for me, as the manager of our home.  A WeMo controlled Mr. Coffee maker, a WeMo Crockpot, a WeMo Insight Switch, and the Roku 3 player.

If you’re unfamiliar with WeMo, WeMo is a product line made by Belkin.  They offer a family suite of home automation products that allows you to control elements of your home from anywhere!

Coffee, Anyone?

WeMo Mr. Coffee Maker

I have used a Keruig 2.0 coffee maker for a year now.  I enjoy making just a single cup in the morning after I drop the kids off at school.  So, when I began using the WeMo Mr. Coffee Maker, I wasn’t sure if it would fit into my lifestyle, even with it’s own app.

I was wrong.  With the app, I have scheduled my coffee to be ready at 9 am every week day, using the convenient WeMo app (Google Play &  Apple iTunes).  My WeMo Mr. Coffee Maker makes me a full cup of coffee each morning and I absolutely LOVE the smell that comes from fresh brewed coffee.  I can’t say I’ve really experienced this delightful smell with my Keruig.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, but isn’t it more work to put in a new filter, scoop out coffee, clean out the pot, and get it ready so it can brew the next morning?  Well, yes, it’s a little more work, but let me tell you about the benefits…

Benefits of WeMo Mr. Coffee Maker

1. Fresh Coffee Aroma – I absolutely love scooping out my bagged coffee and putting it into my filter when preparing the coffeemaker for the next day.  The fresh coffee smell is so decadent, so robust.  Keruig cannot offer this alluring aroma.
2. Postpone Your Brewing – Sometimes I get tied up at my son’s school talking with other parents, which means I will not make it home in time for my 9 am coffee.  No worries, I can just stop my brewing schedule and brew, with a tap of a button on my app while away from home.
3. Brew from Bed – I don’t schedule my coffee on Saturdays and Sundays.  Once I awake, I can begin brewing coffee from bed using my WeMo app.  By the time I get downstairs, it’s waiting for me!
4. Fast Brewing & Hotter Coffee – The WeMo Mr. Coffee Maker brews 20% faster than other coffee makers and boasts a temperature of 205 degrees, it makes a hot cup alright!  And with the carafe, I can enjoy a half cup and pour another hot half cup when I’m ready.

And of course, now I can easily brew just for me…or for a crowd when we have friends over.  I can make up to 10 cups of coffee at once.  I also love how I get an alert on my phone when the coffee is ready!  

Oh, and sometimes I forget to put the carafe back in the coffee maker so it can brew the next day.  No worries, the WeMo app reminds me with a notification to place it in the Mr. Coffee maker.  Cool, huh?

The WeMo Mr. Coffee Maker is on sale right now at Sears for $119.99, including free shipping.

If Only I Could Turn My CrockPot to Warm!

WeMo Crockpot

Now, what other appliances would it be handy to have this kind of WeMo control?  How about some help with dinner?  OK, OK, there’s no home tech appliance that I’m aware of that makes dinner for you, but WeMo does make a crockpot that you can control from afar.

Think about it, you were super efficient in the afternoon and made a delicious meal, put it in your crockpot, turned it on high, and scheduled it to be ready at 6 pm.  You are on top of things, you feel good about your day.  Then, your son’s baseball game goes into extra innings.  Now you’re stressed because you know your awesome dinner is no doubt going to shrivel up.  Ugh.  You can’t go home and turn it to warm, you’d miss the most exciting part of the game!

With the 6 quart WeMo Crockpot, you can open your app and turn the crockpot down to Warm or Off.  No worries.  I have turned my crockpot off before when on a whim, we decided to go out to dinner with friends after my daughter’s practice, rather than come home an eat.  The crockpot is still warm when I get home.  I just refrigerate it for the next night.  

Benefits of the WeMo Crockpot

1. Control from Afar – you can control the heating temperature (High, Low, Warm) from the next room or the next town.  Use your app to make adjustments to your crockpot.  Yes, I have actually adjusted the crockpot from my office, which is just a hallway away from the kitchen…just so I didn’t have to get up!
2. Tells Your Cooking Time – the app keeps track for you how long your food has been cooking.  This information is handy to help you determine to switch the WeMo Crockpot to Warm.
3. When Your Meal Will Be Ready – the app tells you at what time your meal will be ready, dependent upon whether you selected High or Low.  I like the option of jump starting my WeMo Crockpot on High and later in the day when I’m out and about, I can change it to Low for slower cooking.

The WeMo Crockpot works for you, not the other way around!

The WeMo Crockpot is available at Sears for $129.99.

 

You Forgot to  Turn Off that Light!

WeMo Insight Switch

The WeMo Insight Switch allows you to control anything plugged into it.  

We mostly have ceiling lighting in our house, so it took some thinking to decide where to use the WeMo Insight Switch.  It’s perfect for a plugged-in lamp for sure, but here are some other uses for it.

Control your…

• Kid’s radio/CD player
• ECHO/or other home surveillance cameras you do not want on (inside the house) when the family is home
• Christmas tree lights!  Have them come on at 6  pm each night so the family can enjoy!
• Christmas lights on the stairs banister or in the living room or bathroom.  Set the timer and forget about turning them on and off
• Floor heater – set a timer so that it goes on and off at a certain time each night.  No need for a remote control!  Oh, and if you don’t end up using the heater one night because you’re out, turn it off from your WeMo app!
• Fan – in the Summer, you can put the fan on a timer or turn it on or off with your app.  Also great to have connected in your kids’ room so you can turn off the fan with your app if they forget to turn it off when they leave the room
• TV – you can even connect it to your TV.  If you have a TV that gets left on a lot, you can now control it with the app!  You can also know when your child is watching TV (or playing the game console) by seeing if the on button is turned on within the WeMo app!

I am currently using the WeMo Insight switch on my Christmas tree.  I love the control I have as to when the lights go on or off.  And if we leave the house and forget to turn off the Christmas tree lights, I can open my WeMo app and turn them off.  And I love the convenience of not having to bend over and plug in the tree lights anymore!

Benefits of the WeMo Insight Switch

1. Control!  You can control anything you plug into the WeMo Insight Switch with just a touch of your finger, the item turns on or off.
2. Timer – You can set your light/device to turn on at sunrise and off at sunset, to turn off automatically after 1 minute or up to whatever minutes/hours you’d like, or at a certain time each day/night.
3. Mix it Up – You can even set the WeMo app to randomly turn on your lamp plugged into your WeMo Insight switch, so it appears as if someone is home and turning on the light.  Very cool.

Want to include motion sensing control?  With the WeMo Switch + Motion Sensor, you can set up a sensor up, to 10 feet away from your lamp (plugged into your WeMo Switch), and it will automatically turn on your light for you.

Once you begin using the WeMo Insight Switch, you’re sure to find many other uses for it…it won’t be long before you’ll want to buy another one!

The WeMo Insight Switch is $59.99  and the WeMo Switch + Motion Sensor is $101.29, both available at Sears.

Entertainment on My Terms!

Roku 3 Player

Are you a Neflix or Amazon Prime subscriber?  There are a multitude of ways to stream content these days…via your smart TV, Tivo, Blu-ray player, game consoles, tablets, phones, you name it.  But finding one device to stream all of the content you are interested in can be tricky.  For example, Apple TV allows you to stream Netflix but not Amazon Video.

Although there are many ways to stream content, there is only one streaming device that allows you to stream over 2,000 channels, including the most popular Netflix, Amazon Prime videos, Hulu Plus, YouTube, VUDU, vevo, Sling, sports channels, movie channels, international channels, and more.

The Roku 3 Player makes it easy to stream from my favorite online channels and it’s super easy for kids to find their content.  Just choose the channels you prefer and set up your passwords, then it’s easy to get right into your favorite channel with the Roku 3 remote control.

And with the included earbuds, your child can attach them to the Roku 3 remote to listen to his/her shows without disturbing the rest of the family if they prefer not to watch TV.  The earbuds are great for couples too if one wants to watch TV and the other prefers to read before retiring for bed.

The Roku 3 Player even has games included like Angry Birds, You Don’t Know Jack, SUDOKU, Blackjack, Jeopardy, and more.  Some are free and many are available for purchase.  Just used the Roku 3 remote control as your game controller and if you want to keep things quiet, use the earbuds.

One of the coolest features of the Roku 3 Player is the ability to display pictures and movies directly from your phone (using the free Roku app) to your TV.  It works seamlessly and immediately! Now our family can see our pictures and videos together immediately after an event happens…like going to Disneyland, re-watching our Christmas Show play the kids were in, reliving a recent birthday party.  

In fact, towards the end of my son’s Top Chef themed home birthday party, I was able to easily display the pictures from the party so his friends could all see the pics I took on my camera before they left!  So cool!

Benefits of the Roku 3 Player

• So Many Channels – Roku offers more streaming channels than any other available player.  There are 100’s of free channels as well as paid channels.  Just enter your login/password to start watching your paid channels from Roku.  It’s nice having access to your favorite content in one spot.
• Do Not Disturb – one member of the family can watch their favorite channels or play a game using the earbuds so they do not disturb other family members in the room.
• Don’t Like to Type? You can use the remote or app to search for your movies or channels.  Easy!
• Want to Play a Game? Roku includes favorite games to play, just use the remote as your game controller.
• Watch Your Photos on the Big Screen – Using the Roku app on your Android or Windows phone, you can flick your pictures, videos, even phone stored music to your Roku 3 Player so you can watch them with your family or friends on your TV.

The Roku 3 Player is on sale at Sears right now for $99.99 plus free shipping.

A Mom’s Perspective

Life is full of unexpected delays.  You can plan out the most efficient day and then your child’s practice runs over, you get home late because you ran into a friend and chatted for a while, or you’re delayed getting home from work due to bad traffic.  WeMo helps you manage these unexpected delays so your coffee, meals, and lights will be ready when you are…no questions asked!

WeMo is a great home automation platform to begin with because as you come up with more items in the house you’d like to automate, you can buy one device at a time…at your own pace, rather than buy a complicated comprehensive system at a hefty price.

And for under $100, adding a Roku 3 Player to your home gives you easy entertainment at your fingertips to watch your favorite online streaming channels….and phone pics!

Home tech products make life easier…or at least more fun.  Visit Sears Connected Solutions to find more ideas on how to automate things in your home.  I love Sears Connected Solutions center because it breaks connected home products into several different categories to help you find what you’re looking for.  Shop by Brand, each Room of Your Home, Type of Technology, or by Compatibility  (Apple Homekit, Vera (Z-Wave), WeMo, Insteon, Nest, Logitech, etc.)

With Sears Connected Solutions, implementing home automation in your home is simple.