[AD] Switching To Smart Campaign With Hive

The highway of technology is moving at an incredible speed. It feels like we are riding a rollercoaster of innovation, as everyday life is transformed using the ever-improving smart technology, which of course is making our lives easier and saves us money and energy.

One of the areas smart technology has impacted most is the home. For some of us this can be very intimidating and difficult. We are so used to turning the lights on in a normal, traditional way and leaving our home in darkness while we are out at night. In addition, we’re accustomed to waiting until we get home before we turn the heating on. So, for us to see the benefits of smart technology in the home can be a difficult process and consequently your home to a smart home can be a confusing concept.

Starting the journey towards a smart home can be bewildering if you are completely new to smart products. However, creating a smart home needn’t be difficult; Hive have a range of products that make it easier than ever before. 

As the days are now getting shorter and colder, most families will start seeing the bills creep up because the heating and lights are on for much longer than normal. I have therefore teamed up with Hive to highlight what really matters to all families: saving money and energy by using smart devices. Here are a few tips and benefits of switching your home to a smart home.

What is smart home device?

A smart home device is a gadget that you can control from an app or with your voice. The list is endless when it comes to smart devices which include lights, locks, sensors, plugs, security cameras and doorbells to name a few.

What are the best home devices to start with?

When starting to use smart devices in your home it’s a good idea to find something that is simple to can save you money, as well as make life easier. That’s why a Hive smart light is a good place to start.

Another very useful smart device to start with are Hive Active Plugs. They’re perfect for turning appliances on or off from the app on your phone.

Starting out with simple changes can help save you time, money and ultimately make life easier and you can build up the number of smart gadgets in your home. It’s about deciding what suits your home best.

With everybody working from home nowadays British Gas did a survey and discovered that there was a 38% increase in energy usage. This usually happens around 1pm as this is when households were preparing meals while still working from home. The appliances that used the most energy were cooling or heating systems, lighting systems and washing machines.

Hive have sent me some of their smart devices to try out in my home and start our journey to make our home a smarter home. Which I’m hoping will save us money and energy. 

1. Hive Hub RRP £80.00

The Hive Hub is the brain behind your smart devices. It’s where you connect all your Hive products and then control them on the Hive app via your smartphone, laptop or tablet. It was very simple to setup. All I had to do was plug it into our broadband router and start adding my Hive devices.

2. Hive Light RRP £29.00

Hive lights are 80% more energy efficient than traditional bulbs. This will make them cheaper to run. This Hive light is controlled via the app and is dimmable. You can also schedule them to turn on and off at different times, which is particularly useful if you are on holiday, as it will look like somebody is home. If you walk out of the house in the evening and you forget to leave a light on, it’s not a problem as you can turn it on from anywhere by simply using the Hive app on your phone.

3. Hive Active Plug RRP £39.00

This is definitely one of my favourites. I struggle to function until I have had my first cup of tea of the day and the kettle always seems to take ages to boil first thing in the morning. With the Hive Active Plug, I can start boiling the kettle from bed and by the time I get to the kitchen it’s boiled and ready for me to make my cup of tea. You can also use it to check if you have turned off plugs before bedtime. All of this is possible via the Hive app on your smartphone.

4. Hive Light (colour changing) RRP £44.00

When I mentioned to my eight-year-old twin girls that we will be having a light bulb that changes colour, they instantly said “Dad can we have that in our bedroom?” I just didn’t have the heart to say no!

So, it was put in the girls’ bedroom and now they are having discos and parties in their bedroom! You can also have a soft colour to suit their moods. They absolutely love it, although there always seems to be a party going on in their bedroom! The Hive colour changing bulb is all controlled via the Hive app, and it has 16 different colours to choose from.

Connecting the Hive devices to the Hub and onto the app for use was very quick and simple. They connected in seconds which is very impressive. Switching to a smart home will definitely save us money and energy and put me in more control of turning off lights that are not being used. All Hive devices are compatible with the voice activated Alexa, Google assistant and the Apple Home kit. You can even get all your Hive devices to talk to each other once they are connected to the app.

Hive is currently offering 30% off its best-selling products during the Black Friday promotion (16 Nov-30 Nov).

The advances of technology especially in the home is moving at a great pace and I will be personally adding more Hive devices to our home so we can save money and energy which in turn will reduce our household bills.

This post is in conjunction with Hive. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

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