When most people think about smart homes, they envision huge mansions that rotate 360 degrees and clean themselves from top to bottom. While there may be houses like that in the world, you don’t have to go to extremes to have a smart home. In fact, there are some simple gadgets you can install on your own to make your place feel more intelligent and animated. Here are some solutions you can use to tech-i-fy your home.

Clap Lights
Clap lights were a big deal back in the 90’s, but they have lost their popularity over the years. Most people got tired of giving their walls a round of applause just to be able to see throughout the day, but that shouldn’t take away from the greatness of this technology. With a clap light system in your home, you won’t have to worry about those pesky light switches anymore. You just have to worry about loud noises that may cause an unexpected blackout. 😉

Harmony One Remotes
Harmony One remote controls are designed to eliminate the need for a million remotes in the house. You can program one of these to command multiple devices, so you don’t have to worry about using the right remote for the right action. Harmony remotes can be very expensive, but the basic ones are about $100. For that price, you can have the luxury of controlling your TV, DVD player, cable box, surround sound, security system, and more from one simple remote.

Electronic Locks
Again, electronic are no wave of the future, but they are investments that most people don’t think about making. You could add a keypad to your front door to avoid the panic attack that comes with losing your keys. Of course, there is the chance that you will forget the code to your door. If you make it something easy to remember though, that won’t be a problem. Worse comes to worse, you can use the manual key to do what it was designed for.

There are tons of little tools on the market that you can use to make your home smarter. If you have the money for a fully automated house, go for it. Otherwise, you can use the suggestions above to tweak the system without draining your bank account. With their assistance, you will feel like a bona fide tech head in no time at all.

About the Author: This article was written by Matilda, a mom and business owner who loves to do things around the house. She recommends KeylessBox: Keyless locks for other homeowners just like her.