Does anyone actually use their smart appliances' features?

[Cozyhomeforu]

Do you use the smart features on your home appliances?

Like controlling your washer from your phone or getting notifications when a cycle is done.

Do these features genuinely make life easier, or are they just nice to have?
I'm hesitating whether I should buy one applied or not...

Yes I use it all the time. It's very handy to see how long the washing has left without having to go upstairs.

I quite like smart home stuff, I might program one of my hue lights to give me a signal when the washing is done 😀

Mine has quite a handy feature where it will start when energy is cheap. When I get a dynamic contract I expect to use that a lot.

I don’t control my washer and dryer from my phone as can’t see why this is useful as I still have to load the laundry so I’m stood in front if it anyway. I like the notifications as I can check without having to go to the utility room ( especially useful if I’m wfh upstairs).

Yes everything washer, dryer, robot vac, cameras, lights, heating, aircon, blinds, seasonal decorations,

Our washer has a billion more programmes via the app than it does on the machine.

The smart oven was a godsend with a newborn, many a meal was saved by being able to turn the oven off from my phone when I got unexpectedly trapped on the sofa.

The robovac is my favourite appliance in the house and being able to control the heatimg, lights and certain sockets from my phone/watch/smart speakers is just handy.

I have smart features on my washing machine but can't be bothered trying to figure it out. I'm happy with it as a manual machine. Technology can be a bit unnecessary at times.

Yes. My heating, dishwasher and washing machine. Although my washing machine will only partially connect for some reason. It’s very useful when you have lots of loads to do in not much time. I love a smart device and specifically chose the devices for this feature.

My air fryer is smart connected but I’ve never needed it. Can imagine it might be useful if you wanted something ready cooked for when you get home though.

My bosch dishwasher app is a pain in the neck however it has programmes that i'd like to use (quick wash eg) however it's just impossible to get it to work.

the app which is called home connect is the pits and i will actively never buy another machine that needs an app.

I’ve been using a washer-dryer combo, and i really like it. I love not having to wait around or keep checking on it just to switch the laundry over.

My washing machine can supposedly be operated from my phone, but I've never bothered to connect them and I can't really see the point.

Until technology can take the laundry from the basket upstairs, separate it, put it into the machine on the right cycle, then take it out and hang it to dry afterwards, then it really isn't that much use to me, unfortunately. Pressing a couple of buttons is the easy bit.

I do worry that the increasing tendency to make everything smart and connected may simply be increasing our collective vulnerability to cyber attacks. But I don't know enough about this to know whether I might be worrying about nothing.

I use the Bosch dishwasher ones but only because not all the programmes are on the dishwasher, if they were all on the dishwasher I wouldn't bother

It's a pain isn't it, my app does work but I don't use quick start or the other stuff, just the extra programmes and have put the one I most use on the favourites button. There is quick start but then thought what's the point as I generally fill the machine, put in tablet, press start, getting the phone to do it on the app would be an extra thing to do as I'm at the dishwasher anyway.

Absolutely not. Just more features to learn and to go wrong. I couldn’t find a washing machine in budget without smart connection so do have that but have never bothered with it. I can hear when it plays its little tune when it’s done. I don’t want all these appliances in my phone and in my head.

With time of use electricity tariffs smart appliances must be very handy. My appliances only have manual timers on them so I have to remember to set them to operate during the cheap periods

The only thing I control via my phone is the heating and I love it! Means if we have been out and suspect the house is chilly I can check the temp and whack the heating on if need be and we then come home to a warm cosy house.

Yes turning on the hot water when I’ve been away but want a bath when I get home.

washing machine have put it on when away with work on the second day so I can dry it when I get home.

door bell is handy to see what’s been delivered who is at the door

lights so they’re in when I leave and then not
locking up in the dark. Is welcoming to see some lights on when I get home in the dark. And knowing they haven’t been on all day.

My thermostat does that without me looking

Interesting thread. We're having a new kitchen and switching the appliances and much of what I'm looking at has smart features which I'm not sure how much benefit they bring so it's good to hear how others use theirs.

I love tech, we have smart plugs and lights with lots of routines. We're moving to a hive type thermostat as part of the kitchen works which will make it easier to control efficiently.

Nope. Don’t use any of it. Every time we used to have those they broke and cost loads to fix. We’ve gone back to basics in our renovation. If something breaks I want to be able to fix it myself

No

No. I bought a new washing machine and dryer a few years ago, and it came with smart features. I tried to set it up, but I couldn't figure it out. But then they are in the utility room and I'm only next door in the lounge, so I can't really see the benefit.

I'd rather get off my arse and burn a few calories to turn it off.

The only bit I use is a "quiet now" function on the dishwasher, which TBF I do quite like. I have an open plan house so being able to stop it wooshing if it gets noisy, while I'm watching TV for example, is very handy.

Yes and no

We've recently renovated and my techy DH installed a home assist system throughout. It means we can check the temp in certain rooms, turn it up/down, turn lights on/off from other rooms, appliances on/off. Its very handy if we are away and we can pre-set lights/curtains/radio to come on/open to give the impression we are at home. I use it to turn my electric blanket on before I go upstairs and for Christmas lights- amongst other things.

For actual appliances, we have miele and I do sometimes use the feature to turn it on later. The only reason being that we have solar panels and ideally I turn appliances on when we have full batteries. If I'm at home, then I just manually turn it on after loading it. Its handy to be able to turn off the bloody beeping though if I'm on a work call and can't get to the machine. Our eufy is always turned on remotely once the room is cleared and the dog is out of the way.

This is our experience too. Back to basics here.