Crafting a smart home ecosystem can be tricky. There are a lot of product categories, and it can be hard to know which ones to prioritize. Here are some of my go-to smart home recommendations for outfitting a smart home — and they all make great gifts this holiday season.
Lutron Caséta
There’s no better option for smart lighting solutions than the Lutron Caséta system. Lutron’s smart lighting switches replace the existing switches in your walls, which means they work via smart control solutions, and you can just flip the switches on and off.
Smart bulbs
If you’re in a situation where Lutron Caséta switches aren’t an option, such as renting, you have other options. Smart bulbs are a staple of the HomeKit ecosystem, and there are more options on the market now than ever before. Smart bulbs are also incredibly useful for lamps.
Lutron Aurora
The Lutron Aurora is a wonderful accessory that solves one of the most frustrating Philips Hue smart bulb limitations. The smart lights will go unresponsive whenever a wall light switch is flipped off. This is because Hue bulbs require the lights to always stay in the “on” position to be controlled via the Hue app or HomeKit.
The Lutron Aurora is placed on top of the physical wall switches. Once you have the hardware installed, you set up the Aurora’s integration with the Philips Hue app.
The Lutron Aurora is available on Amazon for just under $40. If you’re a Philips Hue user, this is an easy way to add some additional convenience to your smart home setup
Home Key Smart Locks
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