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Smart Home Hubs: What High-End Tenants Want for 2022

If you’re a landlord in New York City, you want to attract discerning tenants. This allows you to charge premium rents, and you know high-end renters are more likely to take good care of their units. One of the best ways you can bring in top tenants is by automating home systems for convenience, security, and energy efficiency. Here’s a look at smart home hubs that help you make your property more appealing to renters.

What Do Smart Home Hubs Do?

Ease of automation

Smart home hubs let you control automated devices around the house or apartment with the touch of a button, your cell phone, or even just your voice. They’re like mission control for any number of home features, such as:

• Thermostats and heaters
• Door locks
• Security systems
• Lights
• Window treatments
• Garage doors
• Music and entertainment
• Smoke detectors

Usually, you can press commands on a touch screen to activate these various elements, and typically they can be programmed and controlled remotely via your mobile device. If you want to see who is at your front door while you’re at work, you can operate your doorbell camera from afar using a related app. When you walk in the door at night, you can push one button to turn on your lights and stereo, lower your blinds, and raise the heat or turn up the AC.

You’re probably familiar with smart home hubs available from big name tech companies. Many interact with virtual assistant technology (controllers with voice service), like Amazon Alexa or Google Nest. These assistants are so omnipresent that a new HBO Max film, Kimi, is actually named for a fictional model, and use of the controller is integral to the plot and the film’s thrilling climax.

Most smart home hubs don’t just rely on wifi to function. They use other communication protocols, including ZigBee, Z-wave, or Philips Hue. This is handy if you have devices that don’t use wifi in their operation.

What Features Should You Look for in a Smart Home Hub?

Compatibility with a voice controller

Most folks these days want a hub that partners with a voice controller. Not only does this make everything more convenient (think turning on the lights with your hands full), but it offers more security too. For example, if a tenant walks into a dark apartment, they don’t have to cross the room to turn on the lights.

Uses multiple communication protocols

You’re likely to have items in the home that operate on different types of communication protocols. The more flexible the hub is in this regard, the easier it is to connect home elements to it. It’s best if it can use wifi too, although you don’t won’t want a model that has to be plugged into a router.

Manual override

Voice commands and touchscreens are terrific, but there are likely to be times you want to operate things by hand. In this case, having manual override is ideal, so you can still turn on your lights with a toggle switch or turn off your television set with an old-fashioned remote.

Superior sound system

Some home hubs are hubs and voice controllers rolled into one unit. They’re like speakers that can play music and news. If you’re going to use a hub as a sound source, look for one that has good acoustics.

Attractive appearance

Home hubs are usually centrally located in the apartment for convenience. Therefore, they need to look nice mounted on a wall or sitting on a bookshelf. Ideally, you want a hub that’s not too large or obtrusive. Users say they like having a clock visible too.

Has its own app

To control a home hub remotely, it must have its own app that users install on a phone or tablet. Look for hubs that have a proprietary app, and read the app reviews. Some work better than others.

Facilitates complex interactions between devices

The best home hubs allow for sophisticated connections between various home features. For instance, a tenant might want the living room lights to come on when they enter their door password to unlock the door with a smart lock. Or they may want window treatments to be activated when the thermostat registers a certain temperature. The more granular the commands can be, the better in these situations.

Short learning curve

While you may want your smart home hub to execute a lot of fancy commands, you don’t want the hub to be so complicated that it’s impossible to use. No one wants a user’s manual that’s as thick as a novel. Look for smart home hubs that are easy to learn with intuitive programming built in. Think about tenants who may want kids or seniors who aren’t very tech-savvy to use your hub.

If you’re thinking about adding smart home hubs to your units, you’re already ahead of the competition. Soon, these will be mainstream, but you can be on the cutting edge of technology and high-end amenities today.

For help wiring apartments, adding smart thermostats that can communicate with steam radiators, or incorporating other smart elements, Bolt Electric is here to help. Call us at 212-434-0098 or get in touch online to schedule a consultation and turn your rental property into the most desirable one in the neighborhood.