Smart ovens? Here are the latest trends in smart home technology

Let’s face it: Your whole home is getting smarter and smarter.

Every day seems to bring new innovations in technology to your home that can save you time and effort and make life easier. Here are some of the latest new ideas in the marketplace:

No-touch kitchen faucets

Imagine not having to touch the kitchen faucet when you need to wash your hands after chopping up chicken for a stir-fry. You simply wave your hand and the water comes on instantly.

It’s an innovation that can help keep your kitchen cleaner and more sanitary. With most models, if you need to use a handle, it’s still there, or you can turn off the automatic function completely.

Do they always work smoothly? Sometimes there are glitches. Our Rosie-Certified plumbers tell us that they operate fairly well, but like all new high-tech glitzy products, they can have some problems. It’s best to buy a good brand-name with a good warranty.

Touchless toilets

This sounds like another great, germ-free idea, doesn’t it? A toilet that you don’t have to touch to flush.

But Consumer Reports has tested some models and gotten mixed results.

One was the Kohler Cimarron Touchless that lets you flush by waving a hand over the tank. But the flush was “so-so.” The Delta Brevard model did even worse.

Toilets like these just don’t compare to regular flushes done with a handle, the magazine said. But perhaps in the near future, manufacturers will get this equipment to work more efficiently.

Wi-Fi-connected refrigerator

For a few years now, various manufacturers have been trying to market the concept of the “smart” refrigerator.

Here are the latest ideas: GE is offering a new kitchen app for your phone so that you can receive alerts from your refrigerator when the temperature is too high or too low, the water filter needs replacing and the fridge door is left open.

You’ll also be alerted when there’s not enough ice coming out of the icemaker. You can adjust the temperature and turn that icemaker back on.

Samsung has a four-door model with built-in Wi-Fi and an LCD touchscreen. Some users will be able to mirror their phones straight onto the screen and make calls right from the refrigerator.

Smart ovens

Your oven can talk to you, too. According to Kitchen & Bath Design News, an industry publication, GE Monogram has ovens that can allow you to set the temperature of the oven while you are away from home.

Why would you want to do that? Well, if you’re at the grocery store and decide to buy a chicken, you can use the app on your phone to turn on the oven and preheat it. Then you’re ready to pop that chicken in the oven when you get home.

Your oven can even text you when it senses that the roast is done. Hopefully, you’re close to home when this happens.

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