If you're looking for something with more elegance and sophistication, however, you should replace the switches in your walls. Besides, the most common drawback of relying on smart bulbs with conventional switches is that someone inevitably turns the switch off. Your expensive smart bulb is now a dumb bulb that can't be controlled with voice commands or be included in any lighting automations you've set up. Don't worry, it's an easy DIY project. Be aware, however, that most–but certainly not all–smart controls depend on the presence of a neutral wire in the box.

Installing a smart plug is the easiest and least expensive way to get a feel for how the technology can improve your life. Plug one into your wall, plug in a lamp or a small appliance into the smart plug, connect it to your home network with the manufacturer's mobile app, and you'll be ready to experience all the advantages hands-free control can bring. There's no special wiring required. You'll be able to operate your smart plug remotely with your smartphone, set up a lighting schedule, or program it to turn lights on and off in a random pattern when you're away from home. If your plug is compatible with a smart speaker--and every one worth buying will be--you can also control it with voice commands: Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri, depending on the device.

Outdoor smart plugs are increasingly common, but Lutron thinks it has an easy way to stand out: make a plug that can endure the worst nature has to offer. It's introducing a Caseta Outdoor Smart Plug that's IP65-rated, or tough enough to survive heavy rain, snow and dust. You can turn on your patio lights at sunset (or other devices) even when the weather is brutal enough to keep you indoors. The plug can also survive temperature extremes between -4F and 140F, and it's billed as "sunproof." The plug will also work with just about any smart home ecosystem.

Lutron makes one of our favorite motorized shades, but the company also offers motorized blinds. Window blinds are considered "hard" window coverings because they consist of slats--wooden, in this case--that drop down from the top of the window (or that slide left or right, in the case of vertical blinds). The motor mounted in the headrail of the Serena blinds tilts the 2-inch slats for privacy and light control. The accumulated weight of the slats, however, makes them too heavy for the motor to lift--even though Lutron fabricates the slats from a soft, fine-grained timber called North American basswood. If you want to fully expose the window, you will need to lift the blinds by hand and pull them back down to close.

The primary appeal of motorized top-down/bottom-up shades is their ability to open and close in two directions: They can open by dropping the top of the shade down from the window's head to the sill, and by lifting the bottom of the shade up from the sill to the head. But Hunter Douglas couldn't justify the lofty price tag of its Duette with PowerView Automation shades unless they were also the most luxurious and innovative shades we've reviewed to date. Top-down/bottom-up shades are a fantastic option because they enhance privacy without completely blocking light from entering the room. If your window faces a busy street, you can lower the shade down from the top to admit light without exposing your room to a view from the street. Or you can drop the top of the shade down in the early morning, so the room is bathed in morning sunlight without impeding your ability to move about the room freely--anyone looking toward your window will only be able to as much of you as you wish to expose. And since these are motorized smart shades, you can create automated schedules to reposition the shades as many times each day and night that you'd care to program, including at sunrise and sunset.

Motorized window treatments that can open and close on command, on a schedule, or even based on room occupancy are the ultimate finishing touch for any smart home. Like smart lighting, smart window treatments offer a host of benefits in terms of convenience, security, and energy conservation. There's a safety angle, too: There are no pull cords that pose a strangulation risk to children and pets. But the wow factor they deliver also renders them a luxury item--even deploying them one room at a time can cost thousands of dollars if each room has a lot of windows. Shades are a soft window covering, typically made of fabric.

What if you could wake up every morning and open the blinds before you crawl out from underneath the covers? Motorized shades are nothing new to the world of home design. But the light-blocking treatments have undergone a convenient--and smart--update in recent years. Like regular window treatments, smart blinds offer privacy, allow you to control the amount of outdoor light coming into your home, and may provide some relief to your energy bill by blocking out heat from the sun. And, just like typical window coverings, smart blinds come in a variety of styles, fabrics, and designs.

Smart ceiling fans--models with wireless remote controls and digital-assistant compatibility--are a relatively new thing. But you can still control a legacy fan if you replace your in-wall switch with something like Lutron's Caséta Fan Control. It's not an inexpensive option, especially if you don't already have a Caséta bridge connected to your router, but it is a very good one. The Caséta bridge isn't required if you have no intention of integrating this fan controller into your broader smart home system, but most TechHive readers will. Lutron's Clear Connect Wireless technology is at the heart of the Caséta product line, and it's a robust competitor to the broader Z-Wave and ZigBee ecosystems.

If flexibility is what you're looking for in a smart plug, Lutron's Caseta Wireless Smart Lighting Lamp Dimmer kit is worth serious consideration. Whether you simply want to add a dimmer to an existing outlet or wish to integrate the system with a more complex smart home setup, Lutron has you covered. Lutron's kit is unique in that it includes a variety of components that don't all necessarily have to be used. In the box you'll find two plug-in dimmer boxes, each with controls built into the face. Four buttons--on, off, dim, and brighten--fill the face of the switch.

Too lazy to get out of bed to turn the lights on or off? Have I got a light switch for you! At its simplest, Lutron's Caséta Dimmer is a four-button in-wall light switch with both on/off and dimmer controls built in. But the real fun comes in the form of a wireless remote control that offers the same functions and which you can put just about anywhere. Whether that means dimming the bedroom lights from under the covers or controlling an exterior light from the other side of the house, the Caséta remote is versatile and, throughout my testing, never missed a beat.