Smart home gadgets

[TheBakeOffCakeMissingRaspberry]

I am thinking about upping the tech in my house and am curious as to which Smart home gadgets people are using and what they are using them for? I think I'd like something that turns on lights and maybe speakers too. But what else can they do?

Hive or remote heating control is good. To make sure the house is warm before you get back.

Temperature sensors, smoke alarms and flood warning detectors. Water leaks in housing can be devastating.

Cameras are useful if you are away, want to check on pets or check deliveries have occured. They can also be very reassuring to just check the place over in case you are worried you left something switched on or a tap running.

Smart plugs can be useful. My friend has one attached to an iron so he can always check he switched it off before leaving the house.

Lights I can't be bothered with, rather just have the switches.

I loathe the systems that turn the lights on and off, especially those based on motion sensors. they never work how you expect and instead turn the lights on too bright in the middle of the night etc.

Hive or similar are pretty good.

but I'm a Luddite on many of these things - I've seen too many friends install fancy tech and then finds it just breaks a few years later. My old fashioned house just works as it has done for decades.

I love smart plugs for my lamps.

Ring doorbell or similar is very useful

Definitely Hive.

I have smart plugs for my living room lamps, I have 8 so it would be very annoying the turn them on and off.
Then I have a Google Home that commands the Smart plugs, so I just need to say "Living room on" et voilà

I can turn them on and off from anywhere around the world and can put them on a timer when I'm away.

I have two cameras with motion sensor, it's mostly for my dog but it's also quite reassuring.

First time I hear about flood warning detector, I want some now.

in my bedroom I have a Google Home to play music, white noise, to tell me how's the weather when I wake up. I also have a sunrise alarm, nothing really smart but it's such a great experience.
And I've trained my dog to give me a back massage first thing in the morning.

I've ditched most of my "smart" tech as it wasn't really, and my network struggled with having so many smart plugs.

One of the last ones being actively used is a smart plug that turns off my computer monitor at 10:30 every night (but saves minimal amount of power).

One smart plug DID show an old PVR using a ridiculous amount of energy so that did save me (one time - but ongoing - after I ditched it).

The smart plugs are handy for turning on/off devices to take advantage of night rates - such as dehumidifiers.