Best Smart Home Gadgets to Keep You Cool This Summer
When the temperature outside is inching past 90, and the humidity is making your clothes stick to your body, there's always relief to be found in the climate-controlled comfort of your home. There are a number of smart home devices, from fans to thermostats to shades, that will not only help keep your place cooled down, but, thanks to their interconnectedness, will also do so efficiently — so you won't have to sweat your electric bill, either. Just as important, most of these gadgets support both Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can cool things down with a simple voice command.
Credit: Haiku
Bond Fan Controller
By moving air around the room, a ceiling fan is an efficient way to reduce your heating and cooling costs. If your ceiling fan is controlled by an RF or infrared remote, you can use Bond's device to turn the fan on and off using Google Assistant and Alexa.
The Bond also works with IFTTT, so you can create recipes and link it to other devices. So, for example, you can have your fans turn on when you get home, or have them turn off when you say, "Alexa, good night." While it works with just fans and electric and gas fireplaces, the company is looking to add functionality for shades, A/C units and more.
Credit: Olibra
Cielo Breez
The Wi-Fi-connected Breez sends commands from your smartphone to your window-mounted AC using IR signals, but the Breez does more than just help you control the temperature remotely. The Breez also has a color display that you can personalize with a photo, and it shows the current time and temperature.
Cielo's app lets you create schedules, cooling zones and has a geofencing feature that will activate or deactivate your system when you leave or return home. It can also be controlled by Alexa and Google Assistant. The Breez has an average Amazon rating of four stars, but Fakespot (which judges the quality of the rating) says that about 27 percent of them are low-quality.
Credit: Cielo
Sensibo Sky Window AC Controller
The Sensibo Sky is another device that makes a "dumb" appliance smart. Provided you have an air conditioner (window, split) that has a remote control, you can use the Sensibo to control it from your smartphone, set timers and more.
A built-in thermostat will automatically adjust the A/C, based on conditions you set. It can turn off automatically when you leave your house, and turn on when you get home. Of course, you can also control it with Alexa and Google Assistant.
Credit: Sensibo
Flair Puck and Smart Vent
Similar to the Sensibo, the Flair Puck ($99) has a built-in thermostat and can be used to control window and split AC units from your smartphone. However, if you have a central air system, Flair makes the Smart Vent ($69), which opens and closes automatically to help regulate the temperature in individual rooms of your house. In addition to Alexa, the Flair works with Nest, Ecobee and Honeywell smart thermostats. A starter kit of one Puck and one Smart Vent costs $158.
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Ecobee4
This Wi-Fi-connected window air conditioner is compatible with Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and IFTTT, so you don't need an intermediary device to control it remotely or from your smartphone. The A/C is Energy Star certified; among its features is an Energy Saver mode that turns off the fan and compressor when the room has cooled, a light that reminds you to clean the filter, three cooling speeds and three fan-only speeds. This 8,000-BTU unit, meant for rooms that measure between 250 and 350 square feet, is the least expensive of GE's smart models; a 10,000-BTU unit goes for $349 and is designed for rooms measuring from 300 to 450 square feet. The company also makes Home Depot-exclusive models.
Credit: Ecobee
GE Window Air Conditioner
This Wi-Fi-connected window air conditioner is compatible with Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and IFTTT, so you don't need an intermediary device to control it remotely or from your smartphone. The A/C is Energy Star certified; among its features is an Energy Saver mode that turns off the fan and compressor when the room has cooled, a light that reminds you to clean the filter, three cooling speeds and three fan-only speeds. This 8,000-BTU unit, meant for rooms that measure between 250 and 350 square feet, is the least expensive of GE's smart models; a 10,000-BTU unit goes for $349 and is designed for rooms measuring from 300 to 450 square feet. The company also makes Home Depot-exclusive models.
Credit: GE
Haiku Smart Ceiling Fan
Haiku's smart ceiling fan isn't cheap — the least expensive, all-white model is $600 — but this stylish 52-inch fan also has a built-in LED, whose brightness (and fan speed) can be controlled using an included remote or Haiku's smartphone app. And, you can turn it on or off using Alexa. Fan-blade colors include white, black, cocoa and a wood-grain caramel.
Credit: Big Ass Fan
Lutron Serena smart shades
Another way to keep your house cool is to limit the sunlight that gets in. Lutron's Serena smart shades can be programmed to let you automatically raise and lower them, based on the time of day. Via the Lutron app, you can also connect it to other smart home systems, including Nest and Ecobee thermostats, Samsung SmartThings, IFTTT, Alexa and Google Assistant. Because Serena shades are custom-fit to your windows, pricing varies based on size, materials and included features.
Credit: Serena