Smart apartment: Discover the possibilities
Smart home doesn’t work only in a house – you can also use a variety of smart devices in your apartment and easily connect them with each other.
There’s a rumor that smart home systems are only for those who own houses with yards. That’s not true, though – apartments also can be smartly connected. There are numerous possibilities here – for example, to increase security, to save energy and money, or simply to live more comfortably.
There have never been so many ways to set up a smart home as there are today. Still, many people still hold a big misconception: smart home systems are often seen as relevant only for those who own a house with a yard and/or lawn. Far from it! Smart solutions also work in apartments, of course – and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a condominium or a rental property.
Simple and cost-effective: your own smart home apartment
What applies to a smart home house also applies to an apartment. It’s true that the ideal path to a luxury smart home starting from scratch – in a newly constructed building. But the entire range of the smart home world is just as open to you in a rented apartment, thanks to the technical progress of recent years. Today it’s much easier and, above all, more cost-effective. Most smart home brands offer you numerous ways to make your apartment smart without having to make large investments or tear open the walls.
From lighting control to smart plugs, intelligent heating control to video doorbells – you can easily integrate wireless smart home solutions via your Wi-Fi network. If you then connect your smart home devices with each other via an app, you create a smart basic set-up that makes life in your home even more comfortable. Best of all, your smart home can be flexibly upgraded at any time.
Clever solutions for your smart home apartment
Do you live in a rented apartment? Or do you want to upgrade your own home to a smart home? Either way, there are efficient solutions for every area of smart living today.
If you live in a rented apartment, however, you should bear in mind that usually you have to return the apartment to its original condition when you move out.
If you want to implement a larger smart home project – such as a smart home solution based on a bus system in the entire living space – or equip the front door with smart technology such as security cameras, it’s best to contact your landlord or the owners’ association (condominium association) in advance. They might even help you pay for it. After all, the expansion of an efficient smart home also means an increase in property value.
Within the apartment, it’s best to use wireless smart home devices, as they can be installed without major construction work and removed without leaving any traces. A big advantage with this is that when you move to a new apartment, you can quickly put almost any smart device back into operation in your new home.
Getting off to a smart start in your connected home
As you’ve already learned, there are plenty of ways to intelligently connect your home. Only one question remains: what’s the best way to get started?
A big advantage of wireless smart home solutions is that your smart home can be expanded little by little. If you like to stream movies and TV shows, you can jazz up the atmosphere with a smart lighting solution. Would you rather take a more practical approach to setting up your smart home? You can connect your lamps, window blinds, and other household appliances via smart plugs, making your home that much smarter.
For example, you can create a presence simulation as a protective measure against burglars. Just connect existing lamps to smart plugs and set up automatic control via an app. Roller blinds can also often be made “smart” these days with retrofit solutions. With both lighting and blinds connected to a smart home system, you can lower the blinds and turn on the lights at certain times every day to simulate your presence, even if you’re actually away from home for an extended period of time, such as on vacation or on a business trip.
Voice assistants for more convenience
Voice assistants are great everyday helpers, and they also do well in an apartment. You can use them to easily control other smart home devices or start customizable scenarios on demand. With the command “Start Relax Scenario,” for example, you can play music via a streaming service while the smart living room lamp dims and the blinds descend, darkening the room. The options here are diverse and customizable.
Save energy – and cash
Want to live more sustainably and save money at the same time?
It’s also possible to reduce energy costs in an apartment with the help of smart devices, such as with the heating system or lighting. Today, most thermostats on existing radiators can be replaced and smartly upgraded without much effort, even by people with no technical skills. You can then always control the optimal room temperature, using automatic heating plans or suitable scenarios/automations. Or control the temperature spontaneously, via an app.
Such solutions become even cleverer when coupled with door and window sensors or roller blinds or shutters. If you ventilate the room, a sensor signals that the window is open and the valve on the radiator is automatically closed. Heating resumes only when all windows are closed again. Smart blinds also close automatically in cold weather, keeping heat in. Or the heat is turned down when no one is in the apartment.
The same principle works for switching smart lights on and off. Smart lighting can also be automated and timed to help you reduce energy consumption in your smart home. For example, by automatically turning off all lights and smart plugs when you activate an appropriate scenario when leaving the apartment. There are lots of possibilities!
The smart way to secure your apartment
Smaller smart home solutions such as door and window sensors, and motion detectors, help you protect your home. In an emergency, they sound an alarm and notify you on your smartphone. Conveniently, these are also available as bundles for different apartment sizes. Other options for more security in the smart home are smart room thermostats or smoke detectors. These little smart home helpers constantly check the quality of the air in the apartment.
A smart lock on the apartment door activates itself automatically when you leave the apartment. You can unlock the door via smartphone if you want. This is practical if, for example, you want to allow a cleaning service to enter the apartment, without having to give out a real key. Or if you want to give your neighbor access to water the flowers while you’re on vacation. Smart lock access via smartphone can be limited to a specific time window.
Smart home made simple: one app for everything
As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities to equip your home with smart home devices and to connect them with each other to make your everyday life easier. Are you a smart home beginner? We recommend that you don’t spread the control of your smart devices over too many brand apps – otherwise it’s easy to lose track. The solution is a central app that clearly combines all the most important smart home components. This is exactly where Home Connect Plus comes in. It offers you a simple and efficient solution, as it bundles all your smart devices across brands in one app.
Smart insights for your intelligent home
Download the Home Connect Plus app for free
Device categories
Strong Partners, strong network
The open ecosystem of Home Connect Plus offers the advantage of being able to continuously expand the partner network – regardless of the device category. This means that users can remain flexible in the design of their smart home and can be confident that the devices will work and harmonize perfectly with each other.
