Top Smart Home Trends for 2019

Still haven’t installed your first smart home product? You could soon be the last home on the block. Nearly 30 million smart home products will be sold in 2019, according to the Consumer Technology Association. That’s a 23 percent increase from last year, signaling a real tipping point for the industry.

HomeAdvisor sent a team to the recent Consumer Electronics Show to check out the latest innovations. Here are five ways technology will impact the American home in 2019.

CAMERAS WILL SEE MORE THAN EVER

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are making for seriously smart cameras. One of the best examples at the Consumer Electronics Show was an app called Smoke Detective, which turns camera-enabled devices like smart phones and baby monitors into smoke detectors. The app uses AI-enhanced algorithms to detect smoke even faster than conventional smoke detectors. Given the fact that alarms fail to sound in nearly half of all house fires, this app could help save countless lives and prevent billions of dollars in property damage.

Other AI-enhanced camera technologies of note include “smart imagining,” which allows cameras to recognize specific individuals, and “food recognition,” which enables ovens to set cooking times and temperatures for specific dishes.

FEWER PACKAGES WILL GO MISSING

Thirty percent of Americans have experienced package theft, according to an industry report. Video doorbells help catch so-called porch pirates in the act. But a new partnership between Amazon and Chamberlain Group, a manufacturer of automatic garage door openers, offers a more foolproof solution: in-garage delivery, known as Key for Garage. Amazon already offers in-home delivery, but many homeowners aren’t comfortable with delivery persons entering their home. With Key for Garage, you install a device to your garage door opener that allows the delivery person access to your garage and notifies you along the way.

KITCHENS WILL GO VERY HIGH-TECH

The kitchen has always been the heart of the home. And it’s poised to become the brains as smart home technology takes over. For example, GE’s new Kitchen Hub is an over-the-range vent hood with a 27-inch smart touch screen that serves as the home’s central control center. It allows users to search the Internet, create shopping lists, and access thousands of recipes. It also has live video chat functionality and an overhead cooktop-facing camera that can check dishes as they cook. And with it, you can control other connected devices in the home, like your thermostat, lights, and door lock.

HOMEOWNERS WILL BREATHE MORE EASILY

Indoor air quality is one of the next big targets of smart home tech. Aura Air, an all-in-one air purification system, starts by monitoring the air in your home for things like smoke, allergens, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It then uses a five-stage purification process to remove those toxins. Its on-board voice assistant also alerts you to serious issues, such as carbon monoxide, and gives instructions on what to do if they are detected.

SMART LIGHTING WILL BE AS EASY AS SCREWING IN A LIGHTBULB

It’s easier than ever to install smart lighting, and homeowners can now set different modes in the home (cleaning, entertaining, sleep, etc.) by voice. GE Lighting’s latest line of smart bulbs, C by GE, eliminates the need for an extra hub and operates via Google Assistant. Simply screw in a bulb and wait for it to appear in the Google Home app. From there, you can use your voice to control the lights. C by GE smart switches bring the same seamless experience to existing bulbs in the home.