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8 Smart Home Tech Upgrades for the Bedroom

By on August 4, 2020

If you are looking to bring a little technology into the bedroom to smarten up your home, we’ve collected a list of eight items (as well as some cheaper alternatives) that will upgrade your lifestyle. This includes upgrades both for when you are sleeping and when you are simply chilling out in the bedroom after a long day.

Philips Wake-Up Light

wake-up

The Philips Wake-Up Light is a replacement for a standard alarm clock, specifically designed to use light therapy to improve sleep and overall energy levels. The sunrise simulation wakes you up slowly with simulated natural light (identical to sunlight) as well as a choice of three nature sounds.

On the flip side of the day, the dimming sunset mode will gradually decrease light at the end of the day with more than twenty different brightness settings. This type of light is really ideal for any bedroom that doesn’t get lots of natural light. It also includes standard slamar clock functions as well as a FM radio. The light generally retails for $120, but can be found on sale $90 to $100 often. 

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Bargain Option: If you have an existing lamp already check out the Flux Wi-Fi Smart Bulb. For less than $40, it connects to Alexa and provides an identical sunrise wake-up lighting situation, sans the nature sounds.

Smart Ceiling Fan

haiku-light

In addition to a remote control as well as a mobile app for changing your fan speed / preferences, the Haiku smart ceiling fan comes with Alexa support for controlling the fan by using your voice.

Available in five different colors, the Haiku fan includes a LED light with 16 different brightness settings and has been tested to make sure each fan doesn’t wobble, rattle or click. The downside is the cost, roughly $600 to $750. It has fallen to the sub-$500 level, when on sale. 

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Bargain Option: If you already have a fan in place and don’t want to disturb it, check out the GE Z-Wave Plus Smart Fan Speed Control module. For less than $50, it also works with Alexa for voice control and allows you to choose from three different fan speeds.

Nightstand with Wireless Charging Pad & USB Ports

smart-table

Ideal for anyone that needs to charge their devices overnight, this nightstand includes a built-in pad for wireless charging as well as USB ports for charging additional devices. Simply place your Qi-compatible device on the charging pad and it will charge the device without the need for any additional cords.

Charging time may vary based on the device’s battery capacity, charge level, the age of the battery and the temperature in the surrounding area. It generally retails for $70 and drops to the $50 range when on sale.

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Bargain Option: If you don’t mind a cord, just pick up a Vogek 6-Port USB Charging Station. Usually on sale between $15 to $20, this devices charges up to six devices at the same time and uses smart ID to identify how much power to deliver to each item, basically the maximum allowed to charge it quickly.

Motion-Activated Bed Lighting

bed-light

Ideal for anyone that trips over everything on their way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, motion activated under-the-bed lighting is an ideal way to light up the floor without waking anyone else up. Using a simple motion sensor, you simply stick the LED lighting underneath the bed along the sides.

The shut off time for the lights can be set for 30 seconds up to ten minutes, easily enough time to go to and from the bathroom. The LEDs in the light strip offer up to 100,000 LED Lighting hours and will require an outlet plug. There are plenty of options on Amazon, most retailing for less than $20.

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First Alert 2-in-1 Smoke Detector & Carbon Monoxide Alarm

Connected to your smartphone using wireless Z wave tech, the First Alert ZCOMBO Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm will send an alert if your smoke or carbon monoxide alarms are sounding. It’s certified to work with Samsung Smart Things as well as the Ring Alarm security system. It has a 85 decibel horn as well as a photoelectric smoke sensor to reduce false alarms from actions like cooking.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to replace all your smoke alarms, you could pick up something like the Ring Alarm Smoke and CO Listener, which alerts home owners when their existing smoke alarms are going off. The ZCOMBO retails for about $50, but sales bring it down between $30 to $40 regularly. The Listener retails for $35 and sales bring it down to the $25 range on occasion.

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Frigidaire 10000 BTU Smart Window Air Conditioner

kenmore-smart-ac

If you live in an area that doesn’t include central air in homes due to milder temperatures, it’s almost a necessity to have a window unit so you can sleep comfortably during an infrequent heat wave in the summer. Available in BTU sizes from 8,000 to 12,000 (350 sq. ft. to 550 sq. ft.), this Frigidaire window unit can be controlled via wi-Fi 

The AC unit is ENERGY STAR certified and the smart app will help control the overall room temperature & save energy similar to a smart thermostat. The base unit retails for about $330 with sales bringing the price frequently to the $300 level.

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Withings Sleep Tracking Pad

Tracking data like deep sleep time, heart rate, and snoring, the Withing sleep tracking pad slips over your existing mattress and tracks your sleep over the night. It integrates with Alexa and offers a daily sleep tracking score with tips on how to improve your nightly slumber. It generally retails for about $100.

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Bargain Option: If you are mainly interested in the data tracking, check out the Sevenhugs hugOne Sleep Tracking System + 2 Sleep Sensors for $60. If offers a similar set of data, but not as complete as the Withings pad.

Echo Show 5

Providing access to Alexa for voice control, the Echo Show also includes a video screen, perhaps ideal for a nightstand. You can place video calls to Echo-compatible devices as well as watch video content while in bed, like YouTube videos and Amazon video content. Of course, it can also double as an alarm clock for your nightstand, showing the current time on the display. The device retails for about $90, but sales bring it down to about $50.

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Bargain Option: If you have an existing speaker system in your bedroom, just plug up an Echo Dot to it. While you don’t get the fancy screen on the Show, you will have all the Alexa access you need for voice controls of your smart devices.

About Mike Flacy

Editor-in-Chief for The CheckOut. During my free time, I love to write about pop culture, home theater, digital photography, social media, mobile technology and cool gadgets!

4 Comments

  1. Mike Flacy

    August 26, 2020 at 6:46 am

    No, Defunc didn’t take them over. That’s a company that makes headphones / earbuds. The Leeo app stopped working during Q4 2019. 😉

    Reply

  2. Father Time

    August 25, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    Article says “ By Mike Flacy on August 4, 2020” … really? Leeo has been defunc since last year. Talk about dusting off old articles and not proof reading them.

    Reply

  3. Ruby

    October 10, 2017 at 1:02 am

    very useful

    Reply

  4. Doug Dingle

    September 19, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    Some of this stuff is WAY overpriced for what you get.

    It’s not inexpensive to be tragically hip. People like Nest depend on that hipness – $300 for a wi-fi thermostat? Seriously? $300?

    Reply

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