Voice-Controlled Appliances for a Smarter Home

by Rachel Lyon, Editorial Director for Direct from the Designers™

The trend toward smarter homes has people thinking differently about how they shop for finishing products. Perhaps you’ve considered automated lights, a smart thermostat, or hands-free faucets? Innovations like these allow you to control your home better and promote a healthier interior. You’ll find the same benefits with smart appliances, believe it or not! Here’s what smart, and especially voice-controlled, appliances can do for you and your household.

Communicate Remotely

Busy families keep busy schedules, and it can be hard to make time to cook at-home meals. Especially after a long day, nobody wants to think about starting dinner. That’s why smart appliances are catching on—they’re connected to the internet, so you can give them instructions through Wi-Fi when you’re out of the house. The oven can preheat during your commute, and you can check to see if the dishwasher has run or if you left a burner on. When you have the power to keep your kitchen at hand through an app—on your smartphone, tablet, or even your smartwatch—you’ll be better able to optimize your time and the meals you make with it.

And the same goes for laundry. You can set loads to wash and dry whenever you want; you don’t have to wait until the end of the day when you’re already tired to start, or let loads you started in the morning sit damp or dry—getting musty or wrinkly—until you get home. The washer and dryer can even send notifications when they’re done, and you can assign them to go to specific family members. How would you like to have your appliances ding a kid’s phone to tell them to change a load or start folding when they get home from school? It’s a great way to tackle chores efficiently!

Hands-Free Convenience

When you’re already at home, you can kick the convenience and efficiency factors up a notch. You don’t need an app in hand—you can talk to your appliances through a virtual assistant, like Amazon Alexa or Google Home. If you’re already on the smart home bandwagon, you’ll be happy to know that multiple areas of the building industry are making integration a priority. From the front door lock, to the lights in every room, to climate control, and finally to the appliances you use every day, you can enjoy doing more from wherever you happen to be.

Imagine giving the stove instructions while simultaneously preparing a meal—changing temperatures and setting timers without touching anything means you don’t have to pause what you’re doing. Whether you’re in the zone chopping produce or wrist-deep in raw meat, voice-controlled appliances allow you to focus on your task and limit the number of things you have to touch, which helps keep germs from spreading. And it goes beyond the kitchen, of course—you can keep in touch with what’s going on in there while doing other chores or hanging out with the family.

More Efficient Multitasking

Our lives are chock-full of responsibilities, and consolidating chores creates more free time. That’s something all of us could use! That’s why it’s so nice to be able to run appliances when you’re out of the house, enjoying family time in the living room, or even from or before you get out of bed. Having the option lets you optimize your schedule to do more things you want to do by spending less on what you need to. And by interacting with your voice, you can even cut down on screen time—it’s one less way to get sucked into your devices!

If these appliances seem too newfangled and elaborate for your liking, don’t worry—traditional models still exist and even smart appliances retain the functionalities you’re used to. They also update through the Wi-Fi connection, so you don’t have to worry about them going obsolete more quickly, like so many high-tech things do. Many people, of all ages, find reasons to use and love the innovative capabilities that smart appliances offer today.

Looking for easily integrated smart appliances that give you greater power within and beyond your home? Whirlpool®, KitchenAid®, and JennAir® offer a variety of options—check them out whether you’re shopping on the more affordable or luxurious side. You’ll find all sorts of electric ranges, wall ovens, cooktops, dishwashers, refrigerators, and laundry appliances that do way more than you’re used to, so get ready to be more resourceful with your time and feel confident that everything at home’s in good order. Of course, these smart appliances are available in a number of attractive designs and finishes, so you’ll love their aesthetics, too!