Over the last couple decades, smart home products have crept their way into a staggering number of homes. Homeowners can control a variety of devices around their homes with smartphone apps, allowing them to experience a significant level of connection and convenience. In addition to these features, many of them also offer unique security features! As such, we offer several smart devices to enhance our customers’ security experience while also helping them experience the connection to their homes offered by smart devices. In this post, we detail some of the Z-Wave smart devices that we offer to our residential customers.
First, we’ll explain what we mean by the term “Z-Wave.” Smart appliances come in many varieties, and we’ll want to start with an understanding of our chosen smart device platform. From there, we’ll look at specific smart home equipment that we offer. This equipment includes devices that add security, devices that add connectivity and convenience, and some that combine all of the above! Now, let’s get started and see what’s entailed with installing Z-Wave smart appliances.
Understanding the Z-Wave Mesh Network
Although they represent one of the newer additions to the security industry, smart devices have quickly become a prevalent part of home security. Some of these devices operate over a home’s wifi network. However, many people prefer smart home products that communicate independently. This keeps their network of smart home appliances from experiencing (and adding to) wifi interference during high internet usage times. Moreover, maintaining a separate home network can allow smart home appliances to work even when the wifi goes down.
In order to create a mesh network for smart home devices, you must first have a “hub” that communicates to the devices in your home. From there, any appliances you purchase on that same platform will form a mesh network. This means that the more devices you have, the stronger the communication between all of the devices and the hub.
Our cellular dialer customers can use the Alarm.com smartphone app to control their alarm systems, as well as their smart home devices, remotely.
We sell and install products that work on the “Z-Wave” network, for a couple reasons. First and foremost, this network offers superior network security. Additionally, the Alarm.com cellular dialer that we use monitor most of our alarms has a built-in Z-Wave hub! This means that the majority of our alarm customers can start working with smart home products without buying a separate hub. With this background under our belts, let’s look at some specific Z-Wave smart devices for your home.
Z-Wave Options to Add Security and Convenience
When we install Z-Wave devices, we wish to accomplish a couple goals. Of course, as a security company, we like to offer smart devices that increase security. Additionally, since we’re dealing with devices that users control with their phones, our customers also wish to gain convenience and ease of use with the installation of these devices. We’d argue that any of the devices described here offer both! Let’s begin with a look at the power of smart locks.
Automated Locks
Keypad locks have steadily risen in popularity over the past several years. We recommend these locks for a couple reasons. For one, keypad locks can add convenience by allowing you to grant access to your home without the need to stop at home yourself. Simply provide a “user” code to the friend or worker who needs access to your home, and you can even choose to delete the code afterwards if you want to make sure that nobody comes back and uses that code to enter your home down the road! Furthermore, keypad locks can solve the problem of people making unwanted key copies. If you use codes, rather than keys, to grant access to your home, you can add and delete codes as needed without worrying about someone creating a key copy to use down the line.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen the advent of smart keypad locks. These locks have all of the features of regular keypad locks, with some additional technology-related features added on. For example, you can lock and unlock a smart lock using an app on your phone. This allows you to grant one-time access to your home without providing a key or a code. Additionally, smart keypad locks can send alerts to your phone. This lets you know who uses a code to unlock your door, and when. The extra security and convenience provided by this technology has made smart keypad locks one of the most popular residential locks we provide. Furthermore, many manufacturers create smart keypad locks that work with your Z-Wave network. Next up, we’ll look at some environmental and energy-related Z-Wave smart devices.
Environmental and Energy-Related Devices
One of the biggest benefits of Z-Wave smart devices lies in the ability to control your home environment. Z-Wave thermostats, such as our preferred Alarm.com model, allow for both remote control of your home’s temperature and instant event notifications. In this case, the “control” feature entails the ability to set the desired temperature at your home from a smartphone or other internet-connected device. This feature allows you to manually adjust the temperature at any time. Furthermore, it allows you to set temperature schedules based on your own regular activity. For example, many homeowners set a schedule for their home’s temperature to cool down overnight and warm up again as they rise. Additionally, this device also provides instant alerts in the case of temperatures outside of a customizable range. Therefore, you will receive an alert for either a dengerously high or low temperature.
The Alarm.com Valve + meter can both detect and help prevent water damage with one compact piece of equipment.
Moreover, Alarm.com offers the ability to to stop HVAC failures in their tracks with their new Water Valve + Meter. This new offering works with customers’ existing Alarm.com water sensors to provide proactive security against flooding. For example, if one of your water sensors detects a leak, this piece of equipment will shut down your home’s water. Because it contains both a valve and a meter, it can do this without the need to purchase any additional equipment. The device’s meter feature also allows it to detect leaks, even in areas without water sensors. Both of the devices detailed in this section provide customers with tremendous control and security. Let’s look at a few other devices that work under the Z-Wave platform!
Smart Lights and Other Various Appliances
Z-Wave light bulbs offer you the ability to make your home look occupied in your absence. While away from the house, you have a couple different options to control your smart appliances. You can set a manual schedule for your lights that varies every day. For example, you can program your lights to turn on at 4pm Monday. Then Tuesday you can have your lights turn on at 5pm, set up a noon schedule for Wednesday, and so on. You can also randomize your light schedule, making lights turn on and off at unpredicatble times. This does a much better job of making your home look occupied than installing lights that turn on and off at the same time every day! As with the other Z-Wave smart devices described in this post, you can also control these lights manually using a smartphone app.
Finally, universal Z-Wave outlets and plugs can offer you control over any household appliance. Most popularly, using these outlets with devices that present fire hazards can provide security and life safety to your alarm. For example, coffee makers and beauty devices such as hair curlers and hair dryers can create a major fire risk if left powered on and unattended. Plugging these devices into a Z-Wave outlet allows you to remotely turn them off after leaving your home!
Putting Our Z-Wave Smart Devices to Work for You
We hope that this post helps you understand your options for installing Z-Wave smart devices! Furthermore, we encourage you to contact us with any questions this post may raise for you. We will happily answer any and all of your security-related inquiries. Additionally, we also invite you to take advantage of our free site survey program. We offer complimentary security audits and equipment quotes to both new and existing customers alike. While on site, we can address your home security concerns. Moreover, we can also make suggestions of our own after assessing your property. Together, we can create a complete system of security products and smart devices that adds all of the security and convenience you desire!