Garry

A smart sprinkler controller is a Wi-Fi enabled irrigation timer that replaces your old analog sprinkler clock. It connects to your existing sprinkler valves, joins your home Wi-Fi, and runs watering schedules through a phone app that automatically skips cycles when rain, wind, or freezing temperatures hit. After three months of side-by-side testing across eight … Read more

I remember staring at my summer water bill last year, watching the number climb past $400, and wondering if there had to be a better way. My old sprinkler timer ran the same schedule every day, regardless of whether it rained the night before or the heat index hit 105 degrees. That wasteful approach is … Read more

If you only have three minutes to read this guide, start here. After testing seven connected smoke and carbon monoxide alarms side by side in our homes, the Google Nest Protect (Wired, 2nd Gen) earns our top slot for the best smart smoke detector thanks to its split-spectrum sensor, voice location alerts, and a 4.6-star … Read more

Water damage is the second-leading cause of property loss in the US, and 1 in 67 insured homes files a water or freeze claim every year. I learned that the hard way when a $12 supply line under my kitchen sink ruptured while we were on vacation and the dog-sitter didn’t notice for two days. … Read more

Last winter, our team tested 15 of the best smart water leak sensors across a 2,400 square-foot home, a detached garage, and a vacation property over six weeks. We dripped water on every probe, checked signal strength through walls, and timed how fast alerts hit our phones. One sensor caught a slow leak under our … Read more

Water damage is one of the most expensive things that can happen to a house. According to insurance industry data, the average water damage claim runs over 10,000 dollars, and water accounts for nearly a quarter of all homeowners insurance losses. A single burst supply line behind a washing machine can dump hundreds of gallons … Read more

Home Assistant Green is the best home automation hub for most people in because it runs entirely on local processing, supports thousands of devices through Matter, Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Thread, and keeps your data inside the home without a mandatory subscription. For shoppers who want simpler setup, the Aeotec Smart Home Hub delivers the widest … Read more

A smart home control panel is a wall-mounted or tabletop touchscreen device that puts every light, lock, thermostat, camera, and routine in one place, often with Alexa, Google Assistant, or HomeKit built in. After spending six weeks living with ten of the most popular models across our homes and offices, we have a clear picture … Read more

I spent the last three months testing eight video intercom systems in real homes, apartments, and small offices to find the ones worth your money. My team looked at image quality, ease of installation, mobile app reliability, and how each system handled the daily grind of delivery drivers, dog walkers, and surprise guests. Below, I … Read more

I still remember my grandparents’ house with the wall-mounted intercom in the kitchen. My grandmother would press a button and my grandfather’s voice would crackle through from the garage. That was a wired whole-home system, and the truth is, those systems are basically extinct now. After three months of testing ten wireless intercom systems across … Read more