Celebrate Smart: 5 ways to upgrade your home tech for the holidays

(BPT) - This holiday, people around the world are getting ready for a season that looks dramatically different from past years. As millions decide to stay home, the desire to make the most out of the holiday festivities is driving people to find more creative, convenient, and memorable ways to enjoy the season and eliminate unnecessary stress.

Whether you’re relaxing at home or celebrating with family, a smart home can help take care of daily tasks around the house, giving you more time to enjoy the things that matter most. Not only can smart home products enhance the holiday ambiance, but they can also simplify daily tasks and help you keep your home and family safe. These affordable devices provide the perfect blend of good cheer and peace of mind that are exactly the combination in high demand this year.

Here are five ways smart home devices can take the stress out of the season and help you enjoy a safe, relaxing holiday.

1. Automate holiday lights with smart plugs

Using an automatic timer for holiday lights is nothing new, but smart plugs take convenience to the next level. They’re easy to setup and, unlike fussy old-school timers, give you greater control. With smart plugs, you can simply use your smartphone to turn on holiday lights right from the couch, without kneeling behind a tree to plug in a power cord or stepping out in the cold to turn on lights or inflatable decorations in your yard.

2. Upgrade to a Smart Christmas tree

If finding, transporting, and composting a live tree is too much hassle this year, consider upgrading to an artificial tree with smart lights built in. A smart Christmas tree comes with lights pre-installed and, using your smartphone or Amazon Alexa, you can easily select the lighting color, turn lights on or off, or schedule the lights to turn on at a certain time each night. Many smart Christmas trees even let you change lighting modes with a simple voice command like “set Christmas tree to blue,” or “set Christmas tree to sparkle” to create a flawless festive mood.

3. Keep track of comings and goings with smart security cameras

For the holidays and beyond, one of the best investments you can make is a smart home security camera. As online shopping for everything from holiday presents to daily household essentials continues to increase, having a smart home security camera can alert you when your purchases arrive and help keep them safe.

Popular smart home security cameras like Blink Outdoor are wireless, weather-resistant, and offer up to two years of battery life, making them easy and convenient to install anywhere around your home. For indoor settings, Blink Indoor security cameras can help you check in on your home day or night with motion alerts and infrared night vision.

The full range of features are detailed at www.amazon.com/blink, but their cameras also provide two-way audio and live video, so you can check in on your family, accept deliveries, and greet visitors remotely. Not only does this help encourage social distancing, it also means you stay cozy with fewer trips to the front door.

4. Protect against winter hazards with smart alarms

Upgrading to smart alarms is another top strategy for staying safe during the winter. You might not associate fires with winter, but house fires are actually more prevalent with the increased use of fireplaces and heaters. Smart smoke alarms alert you to problems even when you’re not at home, ensuring you get help as soon as possible.

Winter also means keeping your home sealed up tight. While this saves energy and keeps you warm, it also increases the risk of carbon monoxide build-up. Smart CO detectors give you up-to-the-moment information about the air quality in your home, allowing you to breathe easy.

5. Sink into a holiday soundscape with smart speakers

Finally, smart speakers are the best choice for immersing yourself in the sounds of the holidays. People are missing the cheerful carols and soaring classical music that normally fills the air when you’re out and about this time of year. Capture that feeling with smart speakers. Use them to sync your music throughout your home, and transform it into a winter wonderland in no time.

While this winter will certainly be different, smart home devices can help encourage holiday cheer while keeping everyone safe and sound. From security cameras to dazzling lights, there’s a smart solution out there that can make your holidays even brighter.