Optam Now Building Smart Homes

Sunshine Coast Smart Homes
Smart homes – connected homes – intelligent homes. Whatever you call them, more and more people on the Sunshine Coast are becoming interested in home automation. And why wouldn’t they? With a wide variety of connected devices and appliances to choose from as well as a host of benefits to boot, there are plenty of good reasons to consider making your new house a smart home. Optam are one of the Sunshine Coast’s best home builders and we can help you install these computer technologies when constructing your new designer home or during a major renovation.

So, what is a Smart Home?
An intelligent home is just that – a place where each appliance, device and other fittings are interconnected to make your life easier and more enjoyable. Each room in a smart home is equipped with a variety of timers, switches and sensors which are connected to a central control system using smart wiring or a purpose-built home network. With the help of you local Sunshine Coast home builder, you’ll be able to create different scenarios that can be programmed into the central control system. For example, a “Return from Work” scenario could trigger the garage door to open and security system to turn off as well as turning on the oven and playing your favourite song as you walk through the front door. Basically, smart homes are there to create an environment in your home that can be varied depending on your mood, the time of day or other triggering event.

Types of Smart Home Technologies
With smart homes gaining popularity both on the Sunshine Coast and around the country, more and more devices and appliances are integrating the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies into their design. Just a small selection of areas in your home that could be automated include:

– Automated lighting
– Automated air conditioning
– Automated roller blinds and windows
– Automated garage doors
– Automated smart appliances such as fridges, ovens, washing machines

As time progresses, more and more options will become available and an increasing number of homeowners will jump on the bandwagon. Another smart home technology that is becoming increasingly common are smart locks.

The Best Intelligent Home Technology: Keyless Smart Lock Technologies
One of the newer intelligent home technologies are smart locks. There are many reasons to use a keyless smart lock at your Sunshine Coast home. This access control method is perfect for allowing entry in a variety of different situations including for students, guests and deliveries. Besides improved security, keyless locks enable after hours entry at any time – even if you’ve lost your key. It’s also useful for enabling guests to enter at their convenience without disturbing others at the property. You can also rest easy knowing that you can remotely set a code for delivery drivers to drop off your parcels in the knowledge that they won’t be left outside where they may be stolen.

There are a wide variety of smart locks available including those without handles such as smart deadbolts and those with handles such as slimline smart door locks. Modern day smart locks are wireless with a long battery life and low power consumption. Digital door locks can be opened using a variety of different measures depending on the model. Some of the most common access technologies are:

● Fingerprint access
● Keypad access
● Key card access
● App access
● Smartwatch access
● Smartphone access
● Smart assistants access such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home

These cutting-edge locks have built-in activity logs and alarms that add an extra layer of security for added peace of mind. However, despite their advanced technology, keyless smart locks are simple, intuitive and have user-friendly operation. For those people who might be worried about the potential for their smart locks to be hacked, you can rest easy in the knowledge that manufacturers have added military-grade security features including encrypting access codes, ensuring resistance against electric shocks as well as the smart lock sending push notifications and alerts of any failed entry attempts.

Benefits of Smart Home Technology
Whenever a new technology comes onto the market, it is usually an improvement on the old way of doing things. It is now being applied to our homes to help make us more comfortable and increasingly enjoy our downtime.

Some of the advantages of our intelligent homes include:

● Increased Convenience
Smart home technology makes things such as entertainment a breeze. From turning on the TV with voice to having our favourite happy song play when we wake up in the morning, this setup just helps make everything easier. Additionally, repetitive or complex tasks can be automated so you can focus more on doing what you enjoy.

● Improved Sustainability
IoT can also help make your home more sustainable. Using this technology, you’ll be able to save energy by efficiently controlling when items are turned on and off or when shutters are opened to allow cool breezes in or keep sunlight out. Additionally, you’ll have the ability to keep an eye on exactly how much water and energy your home is using and adjust accordingly. Smart home technologies are also helpful for identifying plumbing issues such as leaking pipes and other problems by the use of smart detectors. This can reduce your living costs as lights can automatically be switched off and the energy use of other appliances are optimised. Your home maintenance costs will therefore be reduced as you save electricity, gas and water through the use of smart technology.

● Disability Management
For those people who have a disability themselves or one of their family members does, smart home technologies can also be used to facilitate access and control features around the home. For example, a person with limited mobility can use voice commands to turn on and off appliances instead of having to physically get up and move.

● More Comfort
Another major advantage of connected homes is improving the comfort levels of those living at your place. Climate control systems such as air con, heating and roller blinds as well as lighting systems can be adjusted according to time of day, surrounding environment or your mood.

● Increased security
Technologies such as smart locks and smart sensors using advanced communication systems are perfect for monitoring your property both when you’re home and away. These modern day fittings help keep unwanted visitors out and their remote abilities means that they can be controlled from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.

● Add Value
By being an early adopter of smart technologies, you’ll add value to your home. As more and more people will be demanding smart home technologies in the coming years, getting them installed now will future-proof your home and put your in a very good position when you decide to sell down the track.

Get A Smart Home with Optam Building Group
Optam is one of the best-known builders of sustainable and luxury designer homes on the Sunshine Coast. An award-winning company, we have been involved in incorporating sustainable principles into our designs for over 30 years, well before it was popular. In fact, our expertise and experience in this field has been acknowledged with our accreditation as a HIA GreenSmart Certified Builder. We are now applying smart home technologies in our quest to build as many Net-Zero Energy homes as possible. Whether you’d like to incorporate smart technologies into your brand-new build or alternatively add them to your home during a major renovation, Optam have the expertise to find the best solution to ensure sustainability and comfort. If you’d like to be ahead of the curve and consider installing smart technologies in your home, please feel free to contact us and speak to one of our sustainable building experts. For your free discovery consultation, please contact us on (07) 5443 3780 or email admin@optam.com.au.