5 Best Smart Home Devices for Condo Living in 2019

Smart home devices aren’t just for traditional single-family homes. If you live in an apartment or condo, you, too, can enjoy the benefits of smart home gadgets, whether you rent or own. The devices and systems you’ll need may be slightly different if you share walls with your neighbors, and if you rent your home, you may want to stick to devices that don’t require permanent renovations.

Fortunately, there are plenty of smart home devices on the market that is perfectly suitable for condo, townhouse, and apartment dwellers. From security devices to entertainment, here are some of the best smart home devices for condo living this year.

1) Smart Speakers

Smart speaker devices, like the Amazon Echo Spot, are perfect for condo living. The small, second-generation device fits anywhere in your home. It allows you to listen to music or audiobooks, look up lyrics, keep up with news reports and weather forecasts, put together shopping lists, and do all the other things that you can do with a smart home device.

Of course, the Echo Spot isn’t the only option; there are plenty of other options available, such as Alexa and Google Home. These devices let you control all or most of your other smart home devices, and they don’t require any complicated installation.

2) Smart Plugs

Got a lot of dumb appliances sitting around that you’d like to smarten up? Smart plugs could be the answer. Turn all of your devices into smart home devices with a few smart plugs.

Smart plugs like the iDevices Switch allow you to control and monitor electronics, lamps, and anything else you can plug in without the need for a central hub. You can use your Android or Apple device to schedule turning electronics on and off or monitor energy usage from an appliance.

If you have an Alexa, the iDevices Switch works with that, too. Just as with the smart home devices discussed above, installation is a snap – plug the Smart Switch into a wall.

3) Smart Lights

Smart lights are an easy way to change the atmosphere of your space without investing a lot of sweat equity in the process. The Phillips Hue smart light starter kit lets you choose from more than 16 million colors using Siri to change the color of your lighting whenever you ask.

You can warm up the feel of a room with warm, yellow light, or cool things down with blue light. Are you hosting an ugly sweater Christmas party? Switch to festive red and green. You can even use the color adjustment to change the shade of your walls and put off painting a little longer.

Smart lights are one of the most useful smart home devices for homeowners of every stripe, because they’re easy to install and fulfill so many functions. You can use an app to build light schedules that deter burglars while you’re out of town, ease you awake in the morning with sunny brilliance, and help you fall asleep at night with a soothing, dim ambience.

4) Water Leak Detectors

If you live in a condo or apartment with downstairs neighbors, a water leak can be even more of a disaster than if you live in a house, because multiple households can experience property damage as a result.

A device such as the Honeywell Lyric Wi-Fi Water Leak and Freeze Detector can let you know if something devastating is happening with your plumbing or appliances before the water starts pouring through your floor and onto your downstairs neighbor. It’s easy to install, doesn’t require a particular hub, and can detect leaks within a 150-foot radius.

5) Indoor Security Cameras

One of the benefits of living in an apartment or condo is increased security, especially if you have a doorman or a code for entry. Indoor security cameras can extend that security beyond your front door, allowing you to monitor and record the goings-on in your home from afar via an app.

Even if you’re not particularly concerned about break-ins, an indoor security camera or pet cam can help you keep tabs on the fur babies while you’re at work or out of town – you’ll know whether or not the pet sitter came by, that’s for sure.

Many cameras include speakers that allow you to communicate with your pets and burglars, for extra fun. We recommend the Logitech Circle 2, an indoor/outdoor camera that can be mounted directly to an outlet, for maximum ease of installation and a wire-free experience.

Condo living can be better with the right smart home devices. These gadgets can make your home more comfortable, more secure, and just plain more fun. Don’t take our word for it – try some of them yourself!