It’s hard to believe that ‘The Smart Home Blog‘ is now one year old. What started as a small idea, simply a place to document our own smart home journeys has grown into a dedicated resource for smart home technology enthusiasts.
When we launched the site, our goal was simple: to write honest, useful content about smart home technology without the hype. We wanted to explore what works, what integrates well, and what genuinely improves everyday life.
Our first post was a study: Do smart plugs save money?
Smart homes can be incredibly powerful, but they can also be confusing, fragmented, and full of marketing noise. The smart home blog became our way of cutting through that to what works and what doesn’t.
Contents
A Year of Experimental Learning
Over the last year, we’ve covered a wide range of smart home topics, largely driven by what we’re using in our own homes. Device reviews have been a big part of the smart home blog journey.
From robot vacuums like the SwitchBot S20 to smart locks such as the Aqara U200, we’ve spent time digging into how these products perform in real-world setups and across different platforms.
Smart Home Blog Favourites: Energy Monitoring
Eve Energy [Ad]
Tapo P110M [Ad]
Tapo P304M Plug Smart Plug [Ad]
The Smart Home Blog focus has always been on value, reliability, and how well devices play with others especially within larger ecosystems like Home Assistant and Apple Home.
Another major theme has been Home Assistant. It’s no secret that we’re big believers in local control, privacy, and flexibility.
Articles like Home Assistant: The Smarter Thermostat Solution allowed us to share practical ways people can take back control of heating, automations, and energy usage. Writing the Smart Home Blog guides also helped refine our own setups, which has been one of the most rewarding aspects of running the smart home blog.
Smart Home Blog Favourites: Sensors
Aqara Door and Window P2 [Ad]
Aqara Flood Sensor [Ad]
Eve Door and Window [Ad]
Aqara Smoke Detector [Ad]
Aqara Climate Sensor W100 [Ad]
Sensereo Smoke Alarm [Ad]
The Importance of Home Assistant
If there’s one topic that defined the year, it’s integration. Throughout the year, we covered several important developments in this area, particularly around the Works with Home Assistant programme.
Seeing brands like Nuki and Shelly officially support Home Assistant were significant milestones. These weren’t just product announcements, they were signs of a wider industry shift toward open standards and better long-term support. We made it a priority to explain not only what was announced, but why it matters for everyday users building reliable smart homes.
Another Smart Home Blog highlight was Eve Home joining the Works with Home Assistant programme, especially with Matter-enabled devices that offer real-time energy and usage data locally. This more unified approach gives real optimism about the future of smart homes.
Innovation and Industry Trends
Beyond reviews and integrations, we’ve also enjoyed covering broader industry news and innovation. From new presence sensors like Aqara’s FP2 or Aqara FP300 series to smart heating solutions such as the Eve Thermo gaining Matter support. These stories showcased just how rapidly smart home technology is evolving.
The Smart Home Blog tracking events like CES allowed us to step back and look at the bigger picture where smart homes are heading, how AI is being integrated, and how companies are shifting toward more human-centric designs See our Smart Home News section.
One of the most surprising and rewarding parts of this year has been the response from readers. Knowing that people are finding the articles helpful whether they’re choosing a new device, troubleshooting, makes running the site worthwhile.
Follow Us
We would love if you could follow our social accounts (Instagram X Facebook Bluesky). You can also follow us via our RSS Feed or join the (no spam) mailing list, see the bottom of this article.
This blog has also helped us slow down and think more critically about technology. Not everything new is better. Not every feature adds value.
- Home Assistant: The Smarter Thermostat Solution
- Wittboy Weather Station: Your Ultimate Smart Weather Guide
- Getting Started with the Home Assistant Energy Dashboard
The Smart Home Blog: Year Two
As The Smart Home Blog enters its second year, we’re more motivated than ever. There’s so much more to explore Matter’s evolution, energy management, AI-driven automation, and smarter, more sustainable homes. Year Two will (hopefully) see a deeper dive into our Smart Health section.
Thank you to everyone who has read, shared, and supported the blog over the past year. Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or just discovered the site recently, we’re grateful you’re part of this journey.
Here’s to another year of learning, experimenting, and building smarter homes, one post at a time.
Links
Our Favourite Smart Home Devices
Getting Started with Apple Home
Getting Started with Home Assistant Green
Discover more from The Smart Home Blog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.