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If you are going to have a truly energy-efficient home in the twenty-first century then you are going to at least have to consider making it a "smart home". A smart home uses advanced technology to monitor and reduce energy use in the home. Although there are some people who are intentionally creating smart homes today the majority of Americans aren't making this investment yet. Nevertheless, even the average American is starting to implement some smart energy-saving technology and eventually that's going to take over the whole house and become a way of life. In other words, little by little, smart homes are sneaking up on the average homeowner. Barriers to Complete Smart Houses Today There are a few big reasons that people aren't transforming their house into full smart homes today: Cost. Right now the technology necessary to get all of your appliances communicating with one another for energy conservation is cost-prohibitive for most people. "Retrofitting a house with the latest smart meters, smart monitors and energy-efficient "green" technologies can cost £10,000 or more." It won't always be this way. As the technology becomes more popular and easier to produce it will become more affordable for everyone. New homes are a small part of the market. Retrofitting an old place to make a modern home is more expensive than creating a smart house from scratch so the majority of the modern homes today are brand new construction homes. However these make up only a small percentage of the house sales market. Confusing technology. In order for the average homeowner to adopt smart technology it needs to be super simple, user-friendly and intuitive to use. Right now some of the smart home technology is more advanced and people are intimidated by it. As we get more and more used to using it this problem will go away and smart homes will become the norm. Signs Smart Homes Are Sneaking Up On Us Despite the barriers to widespread modern home adoption there are some very clear indications that this smart homes technology is sneaking up on us today. Some of the signs: Modern apps. There are numerous phone apps for monitoring and controlling energy waste in the home and the more we use these the more likely it is we will want to have full modern homes. Smart meters. There are many energy companies that now offer smart meters for energy use monitoring. This is one component of a modern home. Kids get it. Children are being taught in school about energy waste, energy-saving tips and their natural ability to adopt new technologies is helping to bring technology into all homes.
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