If I could have just one smart home product in my home, although it’s a tough choice, I’d absolutely choose the Honeywell Lyric Wi-Fi Water Leak and Freeze Detector.
The hardware for this early warning system is about the size of a square hockey puck and is powered by 3-AAA batteries. Download the free Honeywell Lyric app (iOS and Android) and it walks you through an easy and quick setup to pair and name your detector and connect to your existing Wi-Fi. The app also lets you choose who will get notified in the event of a problem.
The innovation behind this device is the 4-foot braided cable sensor which plugs into the jack on the detector extending the water sensing area. Water can touch any part of the cable for the alarm to sound; early detection could avoid expensive repairs. In addition to water detection, you will be alerted to changes in humidity and pre-set temperatures. You can have the detector on a floor or mounted on a wall.
The detector is shipped with a single cable; additional cables can be purchased ($19.99) to extend the reach. The detector has a speaker, which can be muted and an LED to display the Wi-Fi connection, power, and leak detection.
yourhome.honeywell.com $79.99
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You no longer need to hire an electrician to install dimmer switches throughout your home. The Lutron Caséta Wireless lamp dimmer is a complete smart home system that controls on/off and dimming of table top and floor lamps and takes just minutes to install (no wiring involved).
The setup is simple, download the free Lutron app and plug the unit into a standard AC wall outlet. The dimmer has a built-in outlet for plugging in your lamp. Each dimmer allows you to turn the lights on or off or to dim as you like from almost anywhere in your home, or remotely with a smartphone.
A smart bridge is included to connect to your existing Wi-Fi router, which when paired, then connects to the dimmers to let everything talk to the app, via Wi-Fi. Within the app, Geofencing technology turns the lights on as you arrive home. You can also set up schedules to turn the lights on/off at specific times.
The dimmers work with Halogen and Incandescent bulbs to 300 W, or LEDs up to 100 W and is certified to work with Apple HomeKit.
lutron.com $189.95
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Not sure you turned the oven off before leaving the house? No problem, GE smart home ovens can be controlled via an app making it easy to turn on or more importantly off, remotely with your smartphone.
The Wi-Fi enabled ovens allow you to remotely control the mode, temperature and timer allowing the oven to be preheated and ready for cooking when needed. You can also set the timer, temperature and check the cooking status; the oven will even send a notification to your smartphone when the cooking is complete. This technology is available on new GE smart home ranges and wall ovens.
products.geappliances.com prices vary by model, size, gas or electric
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Contact Gregg Ellman at greggellman@mac.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greggellman
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