10 Cheap Ways to Upgrade Your Home
Big changes with small money One of the most common objections to building a smart home is a lack of funds; thankfully, there are quite a few upgrades you can make to your home that won’t cost you an arm…
Planning
6 Reasons Apple Shouldn’t Run Your Smart Home (Yet)
Not quite magical. I’m an Apple guy. I was raised on a Power Mac in the 90s and our home currently houses 2 MacBook Pros, 3 iPads, 2 iPhones, 2 Apple Watches, and 2 Apple TVs. It’s safe to say…
Is it Dumb to Build a Smart Home?
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…
Our Home Building Horror Story
“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)…
How I Made My Internet Connection 10x Faster
Get what you’re paying for. Netflix was dropping out constantly, and that was the final straw. Like many of you, Netflix has become the focal point of entertainment in our house. It’s what the kids watch when they need a…
Apple Watch and the Smart Home
Yes, I’m getting an Apple Watch. It may not be the first “wearable” computer on the market, but it’s probably the first one that matters. The Apple II made computers accessible. The iPhone made them a constant companion. The Apple…
Rethinking Your Home Audio System
Music to your ears. Our family listens to music. Constantly. I don’t know if it’s because of our industry (we work from home a lot), but we normally have one room in the house cranked up at least once a…
Building a House: Getting Started
This December is a big milestone for us, as we break ground on the home we started planning for over 3 years ago (and started saving for 7 years ago!). This is our first time building a home from scratch,…
Smart Bulbs vs Smart Switches
The Great Lighting Debate Lighting your smart home can be confusing. A decision that used to revolve around a handful of bulbs must now account for dozens of variables… How important is power consumption? Do I need colored light? Do…
Rethinking the Home Security System
Better choices with a smaller budget. A few weeks ago, we sat down with our builder to go over an itemized budget as we break ground on the new house. One thing that stuck out to me was the $1200…
