MAKING YOUR HOME SMART IS AFFORDABLE

If you have been investigating the cost of a smart home or considering installing smart home components in your home, there are lots of systems and lots of choices in the market.

If you have a budget and want to avoid the additional cost of installing a hard wired system, consider the lower cost of a "plug and play" system. Using smart plugs, smart bulbs, infrared and WiFi will lower your costs dramatically.

If you’re starting out creating your smart home, you’d be forgiven at balking at the price of many of the systems on the market. Some of the latest and greatest connected home tech can be eye-wateringly expensive – but luckily there are plenty of inexpensive options for the  smart bulbs, connected cameras, smart speakers and other devices that you will need.

As the smart home has matured, prices have dropped and there are much less expensive alternatives for many types of the products. What we’ve tried to highlight, however, is the Tecus line of products. Customers who have used our products give a thumbs up. Tecus might not be the best, but it does a great job for the price. Let’s get your bargain hunting hat on and go shopping at Tecus.

WHY CHILDREN NEED SMART HOMES

As smart home technology becomes increasingly more popular, the benefits of it are becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity, especially for parents. As a parent, you want to do everything you can to keep your children and your home safe. With a smart home, you can still all child safety worries, whether you're in the home or not.

There are 5 basic benefits of smart home technology for parents  that you might not be aware of.

Know Who’s at the Door
Have you ever noticed that peepholes are taller than the average child? With a smart home system, it’s possible to see who’s at the door without answering the door. With a video intercom system, you can see who's at the door through any of the touchscreens spread throughout your home. When the door rings, quickly see who's there, unlock the door and hang up the call with ease.

Be At Home Even When You're Not
Currently, more than 40 percent of children are left home alone at least part of the time, according to industry statistics. A smart home system ensures you'll be able to keep tabs on your children even if you are not home. Whether you want to know if someone has entered your home or if you have teens and want to know if they’re sneaking out, with smart home technology installed in your home, you will know. Various alerts can be sent to your smartphone to let you know if any door in your home has been opened. In addition, you can also see a real-time view of what your children are up to at home.

Emergency Situations
In emergency situations you may need to call an ambulance, the fire department or the police at any given moment. If your children haven’t figured out how to work a phone or they don’t know where one is, you can have a control panel that will auto dial emergency services.  An intercom can then be used to communicate with the first responder who is on the other line. In addition, you can integrate a preset function that unlocks all doors and flashes the lights in your house to help first responders identify you are at home.

Provide Fire Safety
A fire can happen at any moment and your sole focus in that moment is to keep your family safe. While you might already have the fire department on the way, there are steps you can take to keep your children and possessions unharmed. With a simple voice command, doors to certain rooms can be closed automatically as a way to cut off air circulation to try stop the fire from spreading and ensure everyone is evacuated safely.

Automate Household Appliance
A smart home will automate all sorts of tasks for you, too. This can simplify your life as a parent. If you have ever wished lights would come on when you arrive home so you don’t have to walk into a dark home with children in tow? Perhaps you'd like to have all TVs shutoff at 9pm if you're getting home late. The automation possibilities are endless.

You can create a smart home for your children safely and economically with TECUS.

WHY SENIORS NEED SMART HOMES

If you are getting on in years or have an elderly relative, it is good to know those golden years do not have to be spent in any kind of institutional care. Instead, many senior citizens can live quite happily in their own homes, assisted by a smart home automation system that makes life comfortable, convenient and safe. You can find many useful devices and services on our home security systems site.

Smart Locks
These devices present multiple benefits. They rely on a code, rather than a key, so you do not need to worry about a misplaced key or have to dig around in a purse or pocket when returning home. You can also control these locks with a smartphone, which means you can do things like double-check the door locks while safely in bed at night. In addition, many are equipped with an easily grasped and maneuvered lever-style door handle rather than a knob-style opener, which makes it easier for someone with arthritic hands to open and close doors. They also add an elegant flair to any door.

Medical Alert Devices
Falls are a serious matter for older people, and the sooner emergency help arrives, the better. A medical alert pendant worn around the neck or stored on a key fob can be a true lifesaver. If you fall down and are hurt enough to prevent getting up again, simply pressing a button can summon help in short order.

Automated Thermostats & Lights
These handy home management system devices offer exceptional benefits for anyone of any age, but are especially useful for seniors. When coming home at night, you can simply tap your smartphone to turn on extra outside lights to permit safe entry into the house. You can also program the lighting so it appears someone is home when you're gone.

The thermostats in the best home automation systems are great too, since you do not have to get out of bed to adjust the heat in winter or the air conditioning in summer. One easy tap does it all, creating greater security and comfort at the same time, not to mention reducing utility costs by turning off lights or changing temperatures at appropriate times.

Motion Alerts
There now are motion sensors on the market that can help a senior who lives alone by detecting numerous activities that suggest things are OK or sending alerts to trusted people if something seems amiss. For example, there are monitors that note whether someone has gotten out of bed and is moving around during normal daylight hours. Other devices can tell if someone enters a room and there is sudden motion but no subsequent movement, which would indicate a fall.

There are even devices that can detect when the medicine cabinet is opened, which would mean you have gotten necessary medications to maintain good health. You can choose people to whom the alerts will be sent, and if anything goes wrong, or just appears to be wrong, then loved ones can check in.


With modern technology at your fingertips, there is no reason for most reasonably healthy senior citizens to leave their beloved homes for institutional settings. Instead, you can live a long time in your favorite surroundings and still enjoy safety and security through the wonders of smart home systems.

SMART PARENTS = SMART HOMES = SMART KIDS

The children are our future, so why not leverage some futuristic technology to help them grow?

While most smart home products are conceived as machines of convenience that will save users’ time and energy, there’s an entire sector of devices that aid you as parent and teacher.

When you're not home, nagging little doubts can start to crowd your mind. Did I turn the coffee maker off? Did I set the security alarm? Are the kids doing their homework or watching television?  With a smart home, you could quiet all of these worries with a quick glance at your smartphone or tablet. You could connect the devices and appliances in your home so they can communicate with each other and with you.

Any device in your home that uses electricity can be put on your home network and at your command. Whether you give that command by voice, remote control, tablet or smartphone, the home reacts. Most applications relate to lighting, home security, home theater and entertainment, and thermostat regulation.

The idea of a smart home might make you think of George Jetson and his futuristic abode or maybe Bill Gates, who spent more than $100 million building his smart home [source: Lev-Ram]. Once a draw for the tech-savvy or the wealthy, smart homes and home automation are becoming more common.

What used to be a quirky industry that churned out hard-to-use and frilly products is finally maturing into a full-blown consumer trend. Instead of start-up companies, more established tech organizations are launching new smart home products. Sales of automation systems could grow to around $9.5 billion by 2015 [source: Berg Insight]. By 2017, that number could balloon to $44 billion [source: CNN].

Much of this is due to the jaw-dropping success of smartphones and tablet computers. These ultra-portable computers are everywhere, and their constant Internet connections means they can be configured to control myriad other online devices. It's all about the Internet of Things.


The Internet of Things is a phrase that refers to the objects and products that are interconnected and identifiable through digital networks. This web-like sprawl of products is getting bigger and better every day. All of the electronics in your home are fair game for this tech revolution, from your fridge to your furnace.

Children are safer in a Smart Home

There is probably not a parent alive who has not at one time or another been overcome with fear when they find that their child is not where they thought they were, or where they should be. It is truly a heart-stopping moment. We fly through the house and run outside until we finally find them, playing with toys outside. The relief we feel when we find them is great, but greater still is being able to prevent the problem in the first place.

Be Aware of your kids Comings and Goings
When you have kids, you learn to expect almost anything. Every time you turn around, the teens are scheming to get out at night or little ones are going outside without asking. Common problem, solved with smart home security. Simply use door sensors and receive alerts when the doors open and respond immediately.

Make Some Areas Inaccessible
There are some places in the home that we need to keep off limits from small children. Common areas such as the kitchen and garage contain items that could potentially cause harm if misused. Other areas are meant just for adults, such as the liquor cabinet. The best way to keep kids safe from these dangers is by making the areas off limits. Door sensors placed on garage, closet, cupboard, and cabinet doors can send instant alerts when activated and put you, the super-parent, on alert too.

Get Open Door Alerts
We all know how easy it is to forget to close the front door when we are unloading groceries or trying to get kids through the door. It is a common mistake, but a mistake that can lead to big, unforeseen problems. With the door open, small children can slip out and into danger or intruders can easily find their way in. Open door alerts can solve the problem by triggering an alert when the door has been left open for longer than 60 seconds.

Just some of the tools that can be used to smarten up your home include video cams, remote door locks and motion detectors, all linked to an app on your smart phone. www.tecus.ca

Where do I start with a home automation setup

Here are a few basic categories of tasks that you can pursue:

1. Automate your lights to turn on and off on a schedule, remotely, or when certain conditions are triggered.
2. Set your thermostat to keep the house temperate when you're home and save energy while you're away.
3. Open your blinds during the day and shut them at night (or when it's particularly hot or cold).
4. Feed your pets on a schedule and with pre-determined amounts of food.
5. Open your garage door with voice commands.
6. Set your coffee maker to have a fresh pot ready as soon as you wake up.
7. Let a relative or friend into your home remotely with a smart doorlock

The most dead-simple way to get started with simple home automation tasks is to buy products  that are specialized for certain tasks. For some things, you can use simple timers and sensors to turn the ordinary devices you already have into smart robots from the future.

In the same vein, there are very simple remote control outlet units that allow you to press a single button anywhere in the house and turn anything connected to a power outlet on and off. Smart thermostats are a similar category of dedicated units that function a single automation purpose, rather than attempting to be a complete solution. They can be used to remotely control temperature, learn your preferences, and even intelligently disable your heat/AC while you're out and reactivate it before you get home so it never feels uncomfortable. In addition to being convenient, these can help save a lot of money on your utility bills, depending on your situation.

There are a number of standards out there that you can choose for your devices, and if you decide to go this route, the bulk of your time will probably be spent deciding which one to go with. Z-Wave for example  is world standard. 

• Software: Whether you'll be controlling your system via your desktop, smartphone, or tablet, you'll need software to run the system. You can get much of this for free either by buying dedicated devices (A Hub) or using open source software. Some solutions offer subscription packages that can range up to $99/year.
• A Hub:  Your commands are useless if your master control software can't talk to your peripherals. A hub is the brain, a box (or set of devices) that issues wireless commands to your network. More common devices are simple, self-contained units that even come with some software. You can scrape the cost of the coordinator down to $40-50 if you need to, but be careful as many cheaper, USB devices don't come with software or require that dreaded subscription.
• Sensors, switches, and peripherals: Something has to carry out your commands. Depending on what you want to automate, you may need to install wall switches, replace a door lock, or do other light maintenance. Peripheral devices can be as cheap as $40-50 per unit, but can get as pricey as a few hundred bucks.

You don't have to stick with the basic software, either. While you have one device that acts as the master control program for your network, there are always neat ways to extend your setup.

SMART HOMES KEEP SENIORS SAFE

Governments are more and more encouraging seniors to live more independently, therefore staying in their own homes. While this is a good thing for government budgets and lessens the financial load on seniors and their families (retirement care facilities are not cheap), it does increase the risk of an accident or a medical emergency going unnoticed.  

The advent of Smart Home technology helps mitigate many risks involved with a senior couple or senior person living alone. With today's technology and a Smart Phone app, it is easy to set up a system that monitors a senior's movement but also respects privacy therefore the placement of cameras (for example) a's in the home should be be discussed by the family.

The following is a list of products and their use that can be used by a family to keep their seniors members safe.

• Smart Door Locks: Family members can use a code to enter in an emergency. 
• Closed Circuit Cameras; One or two strategically placed (kitchen, stairs) can be useful in monitoring high accident areas.
• Motion Sensors:  Scenarios can be created where if there is not motion at certain times, a warning is issued.
• Motorized Drape and Curtain Motors: Allows the senior to control these from a smart phone or smart switch.
• Smart sensors to detect water or gas leaks.
• SOS button can be worn around a seniors neck. A press of the SOS in an emergency sends a signal to a family members smart phone or that of a care giver. SOS buttons now come with a number of functions such as lighting control and smart lock opener.
• Smart Mattress: Sends a warning if the seniors falls out of bed or if there is a wetting incident.

For more products, please review the product list a www.tecus.ca