Smart home technology is no longer a luxury reserved for the rich or tech-savvy, and the tech industry has responded with ever more sophisticated solutions. While a lot of people associate this automation with gadgets like Google’s Nest, Amazon’s Echo or Apple’s HomeKit the term is more expansive than that, and covers an array of options for your home. This covers everything from remote-controlled lighting and heating to CCTV, home security systems, doorbells, and smart locks. Some allow you to keep track of children pet, elderly relatives and other pets to monitor electricity or water use; and more.

The most important aspect of any smart home system is integration. This is why the top products on the market are those that work with other systems and devices to make your home smarter. A smart light bulb, for example is able to communicate with the central hub to set your lights to run on a timer or turn them off when leaving the house. A video doorbell can warn you of any visitors and trigger your alarm system to call the police or how to choose home security system fire department. And, once you’ve mastered IFTTT (If This Then That) and Stringify, you can utilize services such as Stringify to automate your devices in more intricate ways.

Of course, bringing in new smart devices into the home has certain issues. CNET works hard to understand company policies, address privacy concerns and make inquiries directly to companies.