5 ways to upgrade your home in 2019 *

Thinking about ways to modernise your home in time for the summer? Why not look at our list of 5 ways to upgrade your home in 2019, helping you to achieve tomorrow’s home today?

Smart TV

Perhaps the coolest addition to any home is a new, state-of-the-art television, if you can justify the price over some other necessities. Is your current television set stuttering and lagging behind when simply trying to navigate menus or put on a film? New smart TVs not only feature built-in apps such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, but their updated internal parts will make them a lot faster than sets from even a couple of years ago. It might sound like a simple update, but it will save a lot of frustration when you’ve gathered your friends around for a film night.

Top-Tip: If you want to get the best picture and performance from your television, make sure that your internet connection is up to scratch.

Assistant

With the usage of smart speakers increasing in homes by over 98% in 2018, it is safe to say that the Amazon ‘Alexa’ Echo and the Google Home are becoming ‘household’ names at this point. An impressive piece of kit that responds accurately to your voice and becomes more receptive over time as it gets used to your tone, smart speakers with assistants built-in are more than just stocking-fillers.

Did you know? Most people are familiar with the smart speaker technology at this point and use it to set alarms and play music, but there are a bunch of added functionalities that the devices offer. Not only can users connect the devices to other pieces of tech in their home (including security devices, energy meters and even lighting), but the apps allow you to customise commands if you want your home to perform in a certain way.

Smart Meter

Smart meters are relatively standard in the home nowadays, and so they aren’t perhaps as glamorous a choice as a brand-new TV or voice-controlled device, but they are still a really useful piece of kit. Not only do they help you to better understand your energy payments, with a convenient LCD display provided by your supplier that goes up incrementally throughout the day, but they can save you money by providing more accurate energy readings, stopping you from getting overcharged. Additionally, it is even said that it can help to provide better energy tariffs in the future, as suppliers will have a better understanding of usage patterns. This might be wishful thinking, however, as 2018 has been deemed as the worst year ever for energy bill price rises.

If you want to go even further with your energy monitoring, smart heating systems allow you to control your heating system from your phone, meaning you can turn it off remotely from work if you forgot to turn the heating off before you left, or turn the heat on in preparation for your arrival home on a cold winter evening.

Home security

Modernising your home’s security is perhaps the most practical and ‘smart’ investment that you can make of the options listed here. From motion-activated spotlights to video doorbells and CCTV cameras that can be accessed from a smartphone app, 21st century takes on this known equipment make it a lot more intuitive and easy to use, making you feel more comfortable when in-and-away from your house.

Many property investment companies such as RW Invest are installing these technologies, increasing both the security in their properties and, in turn, demand from potential buyers.

Virtual Reality

Not only is virtual reality used again by investment companies as a way of showing potential investors what an unfinished property will look like upon completion, but it can be an excellent method of escapism.

Sick of today’s current weather, or what the inside of your room looks like? Why not visit the Bahamas in your VR headset? With the ‘beacon’ technology that scans your home’s physical space, your desired area can be completely transformed into whatever you see fit. To test this reclusive modern method to its limit, one gentleman spent an entire week in VR, and the results were as expected: dizziness and disorientation.

All jokes aside, remember to use any virtual reality units you might have sparingly and take plenty of rest in-between sessions.

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