25 Jun Home Automation: A Wish List for Corporate Housing Rentals

Owning home automation gadgets or controlling home functions with an app may sound too frivolous like some children’s toys out there. But it may just save you or your corporate apartment in many ways. For instance, if you’re renting a corporate apartment for a few months, how would you know you or your stuff is safe? It’d be great if the corporate housing provider carries them. If not, wouldn’t it be great to have your own home security setup, either in your rental or your actual home—the one you left for your temporary one? This way you can easily check your mobile device if your caretaker is throwing parties without you knowing about it.

Home automation technology does more than just provide you streaming videos of your place these days. They also serve as reminders for you as it connects with mobile devices and communicates with you with push notifications.

If you’re a corporate housing provider, it may even more important to consider these days, just to make sure your guest doesn’t trash your place or leave the stove on. Recent news about misbehaving guests should be enough to frighten you or housing providers, whether you’re renting or renting out while you were away.

These home gadgets or technology will surely be in many homes or apartments someday, whether it’s your home, hotel or corporate housing. It’s probably a good idea for these newcomers to test their gadgets in corporate apartments now.

Here are five of the most interesting home automation tools we found out there. Some are mobile enough to bring with you if you’re constantly on the move and you’re switching corporate housing or apartments in different cities most of the time.

1. Canary. This home security device streams HD video and when strategically placed in an apartment, it can show you what’s happening all around your apartment and sends push notifications to your mobile device. It’s portable enough for you to bring anywhere, because it’s the size of a regular thermos. Beyond streaming, it also checks air quality and temperature.

2. Keen Home. It’s about time we get to control our home temperature system. It would be even better if corporate housing providers can offer Keen’s Smart Vent, a smart device that can be fixed to air vent to create a balance home temperature system. Can you bring it with you? Probably not, but corporate housing providers may want to consider it.

3. SmartThings. You need the SmartThings hub and sensor kits to allow you to automate your home using your mobile device. Once you’ve set it up, it’s like having a TV remote control, except you control your lights or doors and your other gadgets using your mobile device. Yes, it works like other home automation gadgets, so we’ll see who hits critical mass faster than the rest.

4. Hggins. This is almost identical to SmartThings, but what makes it different is how it builds a story around reminders or push notifications regarding our home appliances. It’s fairly new, but it’s good to know it’s out there to give us more choice. The more the merrier.

5. Wink. Quirky’s home automation tool is out in many hardware stores, making it the most visible and mainstream of all the home automation gadgets and technology out there. Like SmartThings and Higgns, it allows you to control your lights and other appliances at home using its app and technology.

Still, you have to wonder why nobody has invented the Hoverboard from the movie, “Back to the Future 2.” Having that skateboard-on-air ride should be the ultimate cool automation, as it should be able to let you zip past your fridge fast enough that you don’t miss Stephen Curry’s quick release. (DC)