Top 8 Family-Friendly Tech Ideas You'll Love

When I’m assembling the technology tools for HGTV Smart Home, I think about family first and what technology will make their lives fun, easy and safe. Our home in Scottsdale is filled with amazing family-friendly tech ideas— here are a few of my favorites.

By: Carley Knobloch

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Photo By: Pashkovskiy Roman

Garage Bicycle Lift

Anything that can get clutter off the garage floor is a lifesaver when it comes to family stuff, like bikes, canoes and even ride-in trucks. This app-operated bicycle lift lets you take full advantage of vertical space in the house by bringing the bikes up and out of the way.

Pool Safety Alarms

Installing a pool safety alarm complete with sensors will put everyone in the family at ease, while still allowing kids to have fun in their own home. If a pet or child accidentally falls into the water, a sensor goes off in the home, letting parents know immediately.

Door and Window Sensors

Sensors have so many different capabilities, including chiming when someone leaves the house, letting you know if a child accidentally wanders into the backyard, and even alerting you of an intruder in your home.

Smart Lighting

No matter how many times you tell them, kids always forget to turn off the lights when they leave a room. But with the smart lighting in this home, wasting electricity will be one less problem for parents to worry about. Motion sensors in some rooms turn off the lights when people leave, and one tap on the home’s tablet will turn off every light in the house when you’re ready to leave.

Smart Locks

These smart locks let family members enter the home in a number of ways, all key-free. Homeowners with the app installed will have the doors automatically open for them when they approach, those without phones can use the keypads, and guests can be assigned keycodes or temporary access.

Tankless Hot Water Heater

Families go through a lot of water, especially in the morning. A hard-working tankless hot water heater heats the water as it passes through, not while it’s waiting to be used in a tank, so it can heat a lot of water quickly, which means good news for the last family member to shower.

Digital Canvases

Digital canvases are like grown up digital picture frames, and will allow new home owners to instantly customize their home decor. Professional framing can be expensive, but thanks to these digital frames, new photos don’t have to mean new frames every time. Family photos can be displayed in a slideshow format, and new ones can instantly be uploaded from a smartphone.

Pet Monitoring

The family can keep an eye on pets left at home with this adorable cube, which allows you to watch your pet, and even interact with it using a playful laser.