Author Archives

Eric Murrell

Eric is the creator of At Home in the Future and has been a passionate fan of the future since he was seven. He's a web developer by trade, and serves as the Director of Communication and Technology for a large church in Nashville, TN (where he and his family are building a high tech home in the woods).

Automation

FIRST LOOK: Flic Wireless Smart Button

July 11, 2016 4 Eric Murrell

A shortcut for your smart life. Smart devices are cool, but sometimes controlling them can be an absolute pain. Although it sounds convenient to control your home with a bunch of apps, it can be kind of maddening in practice.…

Lighting

REVIEW: SnapPower Guidelight Outlet Cover

July 7, 2016 8 Eric Murrell

It’s time to upgrade your outlets. Disclaimer: The folks at SnapPower very kindly provided Guidelights for this review. As always, the opinions are my own. I don’t know if it’s just me, but a few months ago I began seeing…

Heating/Cooling

REVIEW UPDATE: Culer Solo Cooler

July 5, 2016 0 Eric Murrell

Some cool improvements. Disclaimer: The folks at Culer very kindly supplied a Culer Solo for this review. As always, the opinions are my own. As we enter the thick of the summer, if you’re anything like our family, I’m sure…

Audio/Video

10 Reasons Your Family Needs a Drone

June 30, 2016 0 Eric Murrell

A different perspective. Something dangerous happened to me in Vermont this May… I caught drone fever. I go on a trip to help church plants with a group of creatives every May, and this year several friends brought their drones…

Automation

FIRST LOOK: Amazon’s Echo Dot

June 29, 2016 1 Eric Murrell

Upgrade your nightstand It’s no secret that we love the Amazon Echo; what I initially wrote off as a bizarre little gadget quickly became our current favorite smart home gadget. There’s something about that readily-available combination of knowledge and speed…

Audio/Video

FIRST LOOK: Ring Stick-Up Cam Outdoor Camera

June 27, 2016 0 Eric Murrell

All seeing; all knowing Indoor surveillance cameras are a dime-a-dozen these days (with excellent offerings from Canary, Nest, Netgear, and others), but there has been a hole in the market for a while now for user-friendly outdoor solutions at an…

Automation

Is it Dumb to Build a Smart Home?

June 23, 2016 7 Eric Murrell

If you enjoy reading tech journalism or watching HGTV, you probably know there’s a bit of a renaissance and a backlash occurring at the same time in the smart home/IoT (internet of things) world right now. The renaissance is coming…

News

Our Home Building Horror Story

June 22, 2016 8 Eric Murrell

“You haven’t moved in yet?!” Hi; remember us? I know, it’s been a while. You’ve probably noticed that updates have been sparse around here; now that the worst months of our living nightmare seem to be drawing to a (thankfully)…

Gadgets

7 Days with the 9.7″ iPad Pro

April 6, 2016 7 Eric Murrell

I’ve owned three iPads since 2010, and I’ve never cared for any of them. What began as an initial excitement about the impending tablet “revolution” always regressed to a casual indifference toward a device that only seemed suited toward content…

Audio/Video

REVIEW: Sonos PLAY:5 (2nd Gen)

December 28, 2015 2 Eric Murrell

Still king of the hill. Disclaimer: The folks at Sonos provided a PLAY:5 for this review. As always, the opinions are my own. If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you’re aware of my untamed affection…