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For years, we’ve wondered when we’d get to live like The Jetsons, where we’d have homes equipped with robot butlers, perfectly automated temperature, proactive security systems, and video doorbells to chat with visitors – even if you’re halfway around the world.
Well, the future is (almost) here. We have connected devices like smoke alarms with smart fire sprinklers, light systems controlled from our phones, leak sensors with automated water shut-offs, and security systems with remote locking features. Sure, we don’t have robot butlers yet, but the rest is here.
On top of making life easier and more convenient, some smart home devices like monitored fire alarms and intrusion alarms, could help you save big on your home insurance and utility bills.
Home security
There are a variety of different smart home security devices available, including doorbells, locks, cameras, alarms, and sensors for your doors and garage doors.
Most of these –if not all – can connect to your phone to notify you wherever you are, and give you the control to see who just rang the doorbell, let you know if the garage was left open, and lock your doors remotely. By allowing you to answer the door, speak to unknown visitors, or enable your alarms when you aren’t home, smart security systems like Nest, SimpliSafe, and Ring can help reduce the risk of burglary. They’re also great if you have guests coming to visit or if somebody is house sitting, as you can unlock the doors using your phone while you’re away.
Damage prevention
In addition to smart security devices, you can protect your home with flood, fire, and carbon dioxide sensors and alarms.
If you’ve ever had water damage, you know it’s no joke. Leak sensors detect moisture from both inside and outside the home, and can proactively notify you of cold temperatures that could cause your pipes to freeze and burst. These sensors can also shut off valves to potentially save you from thousands of dollars of water damage.
Smoke, fire, and CO2 alarms detect smoke or gas leaks and even identify where in your home the emergency is happening. Smart sprinklers can ping your phone to check with you to see if your food is burning if there’s an actual fire before turning on and soaking your home.
Between minimizing the risk of water and fire damage, you’re also minimizing the likelihood of making home insurance claims. And with insurers like BCAA Home Insurance, you’ll get discounts on your premiums for installing certain smart devices and for remaining claims-free.
Energy savings
Now that your home is safe, you can turn your attention to using smart tech to make your home more energy efficient – and save some money on utility bills in the process.
With smart devices like thermostats, light switches, bulbs, outlets, and even window blinds, you can automate the temperature in your home, turn off the lights after rushing out the door, and close your window blinds on a hot day. While these may seem like minor changes, they’ll add up to big savings over the life of the devices.
To protect your identity and reduce the risk of fraud, you should always use strong and unique passwords for your device accounts and review the privacy settings to make sure you aren’t sharing more information than required for the devices to function properly.
Before installing smart devices in your home, contact BCAA Home Insurance to see which devices will get you the best discounts on your premiums. With BCAA Home Insurance, you also get 24/7 access to their local claims team and loads of other benefits and Member perks, including savings of up to 20 per cent.
Visit BCAA.com/home today for an instant quote and to purchase a new home insurance policy.
