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– We're hitting the road, driving cross country in an RV and leaving our smart
home 2,000 miles away. Will all my new smart devices
make it more convenient or create more work while we're gone? Find out on Home Smart Home. I'm Jamie and I'm a video
producer at Asurion. Over the last year, I've gotten married and
bought my first house. Now it's time to make that
home sweet home smart. I'll do it with a little
help from my friends and our Asurion experts. This is Home Smart Home. (upbeat music) Hey, welcome back to what
will be our final episode of our first season of Home Smart Home. I've traveled across the country to visit family for the holidays which gives me the ultimate chance to see my smart devices in action, and try out some of my mom's
cool Christmas sweaters. Here's a quick refresher
on everything I've set up over the last several months. 2 Google Minis, a Nest
Hub Max, a Nest Hub, a Nest Hello video doorbell,
Schlage Encode smart locks, the Arlo Essential Spotlight camera.

What else? The Phillips Hue smart lights, motion sensor and sync
box, a TP-Link smart plug, the new Google Nest thermostat,
a Samsung The Frame smart TV and a partridge in a pear tree. Our cat Bella had to stay behind so I'm using my smart devices
to make sure she and our home stay safe and comfortable
while we're away. I've asked my friend Brett to
stop by and check on Bella.

Let's see my smart home at work. – All right, I'm here at
Jamie's house to feed Bella. Let's go ring the doorbell
and talk to Jamie. (upbeat music) (doorbell rings) – Hey Brett, thanks for stopping by. – Hey Jamie, no problem. Do you want me to go ahead
and use the access code you gave me earlier? – No, I'll actually unlock it for you. Give me one second. All right, I'm gonna pop
over here to the Schlage app and from here I will
unlock the front door. – Okay, sounds like it worked here. I'm gonna head on in. – Yeah, go for it. All the cameras have two way talk so if you need to chat with me again just talk to one of them. – Sounds good. – All right, the lights just came on.

That's cool. Hey Bella, what's up. – Hey over here, Brett. If you wanna give a Bella treat there's some in the laundry room. – Awesome, sounds good. (Bella meowing) You're getting a treat. Looks like you got plenty
of food in your feeder and your water's looking good. Time for a treat. All right, Jamie. Looks like your food
and water are all good and Bella just had her
treat, so I'm gonna take off. – All right, sounds good, Brett.

Thanks so much. – Bye Bella. (indistinct) – Hey, that's the wrong door. Keep walking. – Sorry, I thought that
was the front door. (laughs) – Thanks Brett, see you later. – See you again, bye Bella. – I was able to lock and unlock the door from the app on my phone. But I also created unique access codes for a few friends and neighbors if they need to get into the house. The Schlage app will
send me a notification and keeps a log whenever
anyone uses their code. Most of the smart devices
are working great, but the battery in the
Arlo Essential camera died right after we left. It's supposed to last
six months on one charge but I'm not getting anywhere
near that with mine. Oh, well, I'll just need to
charge it when we get back home. As far as our other devices the Google Home app uses
my phone's location, recognizes that we're away and adjust to the Eco preset
on our nest thermostat, saving us energy and money.

Since the cat's still home, I adjusted the eco preset to
be more comfortable for her but still a little more
conservative than it would be if we were home. To ward off any potential intruders, I created routines with
my Phillips Hue lights and smart plug to turn them on and off at different times in different rooms. I even scheduled the TV
in the SmartThings app to turn on in the evening to make it really look
like someone's home. It's been a fun journey starting with a clean
slate and the new house to now having a fully
operational smart home. Here are my three biggest takeaways. First convenience. From voice commands to routines, all of these little features
add up to make life easier. Almost everything can be
controlled from my phone which allows me access anywhere. Second security. I'm much less anxious knowing
I can check on the house and the cat at any time. I can see if the doors are locked, have a live feed of the security cameras and even trigger an alarm
in the backyard camera.

And last but not least savings. Our smart home helps us
save energy and money. I'm able to control lights
and the thermostat with an app or schedule based on time or location. We're already seeing the
benefits on our monthly bills. When I started building my smart home I was kind of intimidated by setting some of these devices up, but now that I'm on the other side of it, it really wasn't that hard. There were only a few times
I needed to ask for help. I knew I wanted smart
devices for simple tasks like playing music or
controlling the lights. But now that I have locks,
cameras, and motion sensors I really appreciate the added benefit they give my daily life. Thank you for joining me
on my smart home journey. Be sure to subscribe,
to see what comes next for home smart home, and catch up on other videos
on our YouTube channel.