If you’ve ever wondered whether smart homes will ever become the norm for the average Joe, Ikea’s smart home sensors are here to prove that anything is possible. The Swedish company is known for helping its customers build dream homes at budget prices and their newly introduced smart home sensors’ price range is indicative of their desire to truly take care of every detail within your home. Ikea’s new smart home sensor line includes three new devices—Parasoll, Vallhron, and Badring. While the names are a bit of a mouthful, the prices should set you at ease with each device priced at less than $10, making it a genuine option for those who want to stay better connected with their homes even while away.
The Badring water leakage sensor and the Parasoll door and window sensor. Image credit – Ikea
Giving customers enough time to plan ahead for the purchase, the devices are only scheduled to launch next year. Ikea’s new smart home sensors Parasoll and Vallhorn have the launch date set for January 2024, while the Badring device will only be released in April 2024. That’s quite a long wait if you ask us, and leaves room for competitors to fill in the waiting time, however, it will likely be a challenge for anyone to match Ikea’s predicted prices.
Diving Into Ikea’s Smart Home Sensors
Ikea’s new smart home sensors are the company’s latest addition to your home space, doing one step better than furniture and equipment and offering technological connectivity as well this time. It marks the company turning its eyes towards the smart home technology market that has been slowly picking up steam, with the three devices designed to ensure customers can be at ease, even while away from their homes.
Home safety is a major concern for homeowners globally and the Parasoll door and window sensor is designed to pair with your device so you can ensure your house remains undisturbed while you’re away. The sleek sensor can be set up to send you a notification when the doors and windows that the device is mounted on are opened or closed, alerting you to any suspicious activity inside your home space. Ikea’s smart home sensor is far from the first device on the market to provide this service, but at the price range that the company is offering, security can become a much more accessible experience for everyone.
The Vallhorn wireless motion sensor is Ikea’s next smart home safety tool that can light up when motion is detected around it. Designed for both indoor and outdoor use according to the company, customers will be able to personalize features such as the color and intensity of their motion detector. The company already has a $14.99 Tradfri motion sensor available but the device is more suited for indoor use with lesser connectivity than the upcoming model.
The third product in Ikea’s smart home sensors range is the Barding water leakage sensor. Different from the other two safety devices, this sensor is designed to detect water leaks and alert you to the issue immediately. While not as distressing as receiving an alert from the other two devices, it can be a good way to keep track of your home and eliminate a problem before it turns into something serious.
The Smart Home Ecosystem
If you’re wary of hidden costs while using the device, then you might have to consider the costs of upgrading from the Trådfri Gateway to the $69 Dirigera hub that provides a centralized connecting point for all your Ikea smart home sensors and devices. That doesn’t appear to be a compulsory investment though, and the Smart Home App might just be enough for you to use these standalone devices without investing in the whole ecosystem of services.
The company has been teasing Matter support for a year now but according to The Verge, and their conversation with Ikea digital product area manager Jonas Soderqvist, the company has decided to delay this functionality for the time being. Matter refers to a smart home interoperability standard that can allow devices to connect locally with each other without having to connect to a cloud connection. This should allow products from various brands to still be compatible with each other, but the technology for it is not as widespread as yet.
Overall, this appears to be a good time for Ikea’s smart home sensors to step into the scene as the smart home market appears to be flourishing currently. According to Statista, the market could see annual growth rates of 11.43 percent which could lead to a projected market volume of $232 billion by 2028. The platform also estimates that the number of active households in the Smart Home market could reach 785.2 million users by 2028. Despite the availability of smart tech, the adoption numbers still appear quite low, indicating a great potential for growth for any business that is able to draw new customers into investing in smart home devices, Ikea’s new smart home sensors being a prime choice right now,
Ikea’s existing smart devices are already quite versatile and the latest smart home sensors price range makes it a very easy choice for those planning to add to their collection of home technology. With other smart home devices like its air quality sensors, LED lights, table integrated air purifiers, light dimmers, etc. the company is well on its way to providing a product for every smart home need. Although there’s quite a delay in Ikea’s latest smart home sensors launch, this time next year, the company could be performing exceedingly well in the smart home tech industry.