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How to Set Up an Awesome Smart Kitchen

Smart home gadgets have become much more prevalent in the last couple of years and moved from being limited to lounge rooms and doors. Today, if you want to let tech tools do more work for you and have a little fun while you’re at it, consider setting up a smart kitchen.

Work Out Your Goals and Budget

Firstly, sit down and work out what your goals are for your kitchen. Get clear on how much smart tech you really want and will use and whether any devices can wait until later. You might want to go all out and build a cutting-edge, fully-integrated cooking and living zone that has all the mod cons, or start small and grow over time.

Much of this decision will come down to your budget. Determine a total figure you feel comfortable spending on your kitchen upgrades, and then work back from there to see what you can afford. Having a budget will help you avoid getting carried away and buying more than you should when in the shops and excited by all you see!

Start with a Decent Hub

Next, make sure you have a decent home automation hub to use in your kitchen, which everything can link to. If you already have one for other areas of your property, you’ll be ready to go and can use this device to connect machines in your kitchen, too.

If not, it’s time to buy a hub. This product will blend devices from numerous manufacturers and get them all working together from one controllable platform. Samsung’s SmartThings, Google’s Nest Hub, and Amazon’s Alexa Echo Show are three of the most popular, but there are many options on the market worth exploring. Always consider your smart home security needs when making a purchase, though.

Buy a Smart Fridge

The main product for a smart kitchen is an internet-connected, latest-model refrigerator. These appliances can today do a whole lot more than keep your food and drinks cold. Many have built-in voice assistants that can order food from delivery platforms, play music while you cook, and set up a personalized home screen with custom notes and pictures.

One of the best features of a smart fridge, though, is the ability to check the contents of your fridge no matter your current location. Smart fridges usually have built-in cameras so you can view the inside of the machine. At the shops, check what you have on hand at home, so you don’t miss picking up a necessary item.

These smart machines can scan products as you use them, too, creating a shopping list for you over the week. They can also look up recipes based on your current inventory, and set expiration dates for goods and alert you when food is about to go out of date. Smart fridges can house individual profiles for different people, too. This feature is handy when you share with flatmates, for example.

Let a Smart Coffee Machine Wake You Up Right

Another vital kitchen appliance for many people is the coffee machine. If you can’t seem to start your day without a strong brew, you’re sure to love smart coffee makers. They’ll have your coffee ready to go at the exact time you preselect, so you can stumble from bed to the kitchen and reach for your morning joe. Alternatively, use them for hot water for your tea or hot chocolate. Some machines offer scheduling features, updates, and other functionality, too.

Install Smart Lighting

Smart lighting is handy in any room of the home, but particularly the kitchen, where you spend time prepping food and reading recipes. Use smart lighting to simplify things. Rather than have a big bank of light switches controlling bulbs in different kitchen spaces, install a streamlined lighting keypad that controls all the lights in one.

Also, create activity-based pre-set lighting levels. For instance, program the lights under your kitchen cabinets to 50 percent luminosity and the ones over the island fixture to 70 percent. You can also add a romantic setting to lower lights to a more intimate 25 percent capacity.

How to Set Up an Awesome Smart Kitchen

Consider putting in motion-activated smart strips along or close to the floors in your kitchen, too, to make it easy to find your way around if you need a glass of water in the middle of the night. These are just a few of the smart appliances you can use in your kitchen these days.

Check out other options such as connected faucets, dishwashers, ovens, microwaves, and scales. Once you have your smart products installed, take steps to secure them from prying eyes, too. Use quality security software, and change the default usernames and logins on gadgets. Plus, keep software updated at all times.

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