Transforming your home with smart technology is easier than you think.

As we continue to find new ways to use technology to make our lives easier, it's only a matter of time before many of these same time-saving innovations find their way into the home.

Enter "Smart Home".

Voice-activated microwaves and robotic vacuum cleaners have become commonplace in many homes today, and making your home run more efficient has never been easier. You don't need to complete new electrical work or tear down any walls to transform your current residence into the smart home of your dreams. Many of the most popular upgrades can be installed and used on the same day. Let's take a look at five of the easiest ways to bring your home into the 21st century through smart home design.

Smart speaker

Smart speakers are probably the most popular smart home device on the market right now. If you don't already have the ubiquitous help of Alexa, Siri, or Google, you probably know someone who does. While most smart speakers can connect to a virtual assistant after a brief setup, Amazon's Echo product line, Google Home, and Apple HomePod all have out-of-the-box voice prompt help when connected to a Wi-Fi signal.

You can use these speakers to help organize your shopping list, check the weather for the upcoming weekend, or play your favorite Bach movement when the boss comes over for dinner. For those with limited mobility, the hands-free functionality of a smart speaker could be a welcome addition to their lives. In addition, most smart speakers can also work with your other smart devices to create a seamlessly connected control network for your home. When you're ready to dim the movie lights, simply ask Alexa. And tell her to pop popcorn while you make it.

Intelligent detector

Smart detectors are a great way to give your home more peace of mind. Nest Protect is a smoke and carbon monoxide detector that tests its battery and sensors more than 400 times a day. Not only that, it also tests its speakers and speakers once a month. Gone are the days of worrying about whether you need more 9V batteries. With a smart detector, you'll know.

Once set up, the smart detector can alert you and your family by sending an alert to your phone if something goes wrong, even if you're not at home. This is especially important today, as a fire can engulf a room in less than five minutes.

If you're not ready to buy a $100 smart detector for every room in your home, you can use Ring's smoke detector listening device to make your existing detector "smart." When it hears the detector in your home go off, it immediately sends an alert to your phone.

Smart doorbell

Speaking of detection, a smart video doorbell gives you an accurate picture of what's happening outside your front door at any time, enhancing home security. When the device detects movement or someone using the doorbell, it immediately sends an alert to your smartphone. Some devices even save video footage of interactions outside the house so you can review it later.

In addition to video capabilities, many smart doorbells come with speakers that allow you to hear and respond to the voices of people waiting outside the front door. This is especially convenient for working families who are away from home for long periods of time. No matter where you are, using your phone to tell the delivery person to leave the package at the door makes it easy to control your castle. For those who don't have a traditional wired doorbell, a battery-powered option is also available.

Intelligent lighting

Smart lights have become one of the most popular smart home gadgets, thanks in large part to their ease of setting up and using. While some smart products tend to fall into a niche category for new homes and tech-savvy homeowners, smart lights are useful for almost everyone.

One of the main attractions of smart lighting is the personalized control that can be achieved with just a few bulbs. The most popular option on the market is Philips' Hue LED bulbs, which can be controlled from an app on your smartphone, no matter where you are. You can also program most smart lights to turn on before you get home and turn off at bedtime. If your lights are integrated with smart speakers, you can even control them with simple voice commands - which becomes especially useful when hands are busy or on the go. Perhaps most importantly, they are available in a variety of functional styles and attractive colors, some of which are dimmable.

Smart thermostat

Smart thermostats have become a mainstay in many homes today, as they can both save money on electricity bills and warn homeowners of potential energy emergencies or concerns.

In terms of energy savings, the folks at Nest, one of the most popular makers of smart thermostats, estimate that its users can save between $131 and $145 per year. Nest's main competitor, Ecobee, says its customers can save up to 23 percent on heating and cooling costs each year. No matter which brand you choose, a smart thermostat is practically guaranteed to help you regulate your energy consumption more efficiently.

Not only do they help save energy, but smart thermostats can also learn from your behavior and patterns. Both Nest and ecobee adapt themselves to your daily usage patterns to create heating and cooling schedules that allow you to get the most out of them. For those smart thermostats that are connected to the Internet, you can use local weather information to save even more costs from the HVAC system.