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A Day in the Life of a Smart Home: How Smart Technology Improves Life for NYC Condos and Co-Ops

A smart home is not sentient. Rather, it is an amalgamation of various devices and tools that integrate into a singular network to offer residents more control and dominion over their environment.

Smart devices comprise a broad category. You can incorporate anything from security systems and thermostats to washers and dryers.

As a property owner, the thing that should matter most to you is the marketability and attractiveness of smart updates and amenities. Tenants love properties at the forefront of tech developments, especially when those developments can make life easier. Discover how to integrate smart devices into your buildings to garner more attention and rental interest.

A Day in the Life of a Smart Home

The Tenant Experience

Depending on the specific installations in your property, smart technology can have a dramatic effect on a tenant’s life. The technology should flow seamlessly into their lives, eventually fading into the background.

The effects of the technology are present as the tenant wakes up. Blinds open on a preset schedule. The thermostat increases the temperature. A whole apartment stereo system plays. The local weather forecast announcements play through a hub, and the built-in coffee maker brews a fresh pot.

When the tenant leaves, the heat decreases, and the music and coffee maker shut down. The tenant’s robot vacuum launches into its program, and the smart washer starts a cycle.

Before the tenant arrives home, the temperature increases. When they arrive, the smart lock unlocks, and the lights turn on automatically. The oven preheats to a set temperature. Finally, as the tenant turns in for the night, the temperature decreases, blinds close, locks lock, the dishwasher starts, and the alarm activates.

Prospective tenants will be clambering to apply to such a sophisticated pretty. The convenience alone increases the value of the space.

The Smart Home Evolution

A Time and Cost-Saving Endeavor

People have always pursued convenience — the ability to live with little effort or difficulty. Much technology has evolved around the principle of easy living.

The internet grew from a desire to make information accessible to everyone. Social media evolved to improve human connections and interactions. Now, smart devices hope to make life simpler and more cost-effective by placing home control into the palm of your hand.

Smart devices allow tenants and homeowners to customize utility performance and efficiency, safety and security, lighting, and even outlet electrical flow. When people understand how to use such tech to their advantage, they can reduce monthly expenses and live more comfortably.

Beyond individual control, a smart home creates an opportunity for connectivity, especially in an apartment building and community. Smart apartments bridge a gap between amenities, automation systems, and community management. The goals of smart technology are to save time and money and to connect people to essential systems and community management.

The Smart Apartment Home

What Makes an Apartment Smart?

When people think of smart technology, they likely think of smart thermostats, lights, and locks, all of which are excellent examples on an individualized scale. However, a smart apartment is more than its individual components; it is a combination of three characteristics, and such devices are only part of the first trait.

Smart amenities include things like smart lights, thermostats, and locks, as well as integrated services. The services you choose for your building may include home cleaning or package delivery.

Beyond amenities, a building should allow for connectivity. Wire the property to connect building systems, devices, residents, and management. Connectivity is possible in both new construction and older pre-war structures. Talk to a professional to learn more about retrofitting your property and creating a smart home experience.

Community management is the final trait of a smart apartment. A landlord should make tenant happiness part of their job description. The happier your tenants, the longer they are likely to keep their lease. Part of community management is incorporating services that help tenants save time, money, and hassles.

In short, a smart apartment is about promoting convenience through installed devices and integrated services within a connected community. To help achieve this, Bolt Electric can assess your property to suggest system upgrades and solutions.

The Smart Apartment Movement

Is the Upgrade Worth the Investment?

Millennials are the generation to watch as a property owner. The generation is driving the “sharing economy” — a term that references the lack of interest in ownership and preference for services.

As a building owner, you want to cater to people entering their prime earning years. By offering access to services and on-demand amenities, you highlight an acceptance of the millennial lifestyle and personality. Some property owners even reserve specific parking or pickup spaces for Uber and Lyft, embracing the generation’s preference for ride-sharing over car ownership, especially in a bustling city like NYC.

Smart home upgrades may seem like a significant expense to building owners, but consider the potential benefits. First, integrated technologies and features demand higher rents while increasing Net Operating Income for owners. Second, smart properties are more energy efficient, saving manufacturing and commercial real estate sectors more than $50 billion.

How Do You Upgrade Your Current Properties?

Buying and installing smart thermostats is not enough to call your complex smart. A genuine smart apartment building focuses on infrastructure, not just gadgets.

The first step to creating your smart property is installing an IoT network and integrating automated systems, such as HVAC. From there, install and focus on cybersecurity and data privacy. Finally, choose a single platform that ties everything together. Once you have the foundation for your property, you can focus on the gadgets.

Bolt Electric and the Smart Home Evolution

Inspecting and Upgrading Your Electrical System for Smart Device Demands

A smart home or apartment is a selling feature in today’s sharing economy. The upgraded property promises convenience and cost savings to future tenants and property owners. Still, many NYC properties are not ready for or compatible with the demands of smart technology. Contact Bolt Electric at 212-734-5000 to schedule a property inspection and discuss retrofitting or necessary system upgrades for your smart property.