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Best Smart Home Gifts for Your Parents in 2020

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Smart home upgrades make the perfect gift for your parents this year. Whether it is a birthday gift or anniversary present, this can be a great gift that your parents love.

If your parents are anything like mine, they’ve seen smart home gadgets at your house and maybe even dipped their toes into it with a smart bulb and a smart speaker, but there are way more options and many of them are perfect for your parents.

All of these smart home upgrades are easy to install and setup, so your parents can handle most on their own if you need to ship direct, or you can set it up in a few minutes when you visit next.

  1. Hue Lights
  2. Lutron Caseta Smart Light Switch
  3. Smart Plugs
  4. MyQ Smart Garage Hub
  5. EcoBee or Nest Smart Thermostat
  6. Smart Lock
  7. Video Doorbell
  8. Wireless Cameras
  9. Echo Show 5
  10. Google Mini
  11. Smart Watch
  12. Verizon Hum+ Gen 2

While my parents and in-laws were skeptical at first, both are now very interested in select smart home features that can help them with small tasks around the house or remove friction from daily activities.

I don’t recommend buying everything on this list and doing a full upgrade at once, but if you start with something easy and meaningful or add to what they’ve already started this can be a great list to add to what they have.

As for smart speakers and assistants, you should stick with the same brand they have, or make sure the devices you buy will work with their assistant if they prefer to use Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa. Many devices work with all or several of these, but just be aware.

Hue Lights

Hue lights are a great smart home gift for your parents.

Hue lights are a great smart home gift for your parents.

Philips Hue lights are an easy smart home upgrade that make a ton of sense as a gift for parents. The White Ambience Starter Kit is on sale for $99.99 right now with four bulbs and a bridge. This kit lets your parents replace four bulbs and then control them with their phone, tabler or voice using Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa. Since you are replacing bulbs, it is as easy as screwing in a new lightbulb and adding to your hub.

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Another cool option is a Hue Bluetooth bulb that starts as low as $14.99 and allows them to control lights by Bluetooth from their phone. These are affordable and can also connect to a hub if they decide they want more lights later.

Buy the White Ambience Starter Kit at Amazon, Best Buy or Hue.

Buy the Hue Bluetooth Bulbs at Amazon, Best Buy or Hue.

Lutron Caséta Smart Light Switch

Smart light switches are a perfect smart home gift.

Smart light switches are a perfect smart home gift.

Another great option is the Lutron Caséta smart light switches. This is a hit for parents because you get the benefit of voice control or phone control and scheduling while still being able to use a physical switch when that makes the most sense.

Simply turn off the power, remove the old switch and put the Lutron switch in then connect it to the hub and you’re good to go. This even allows you to put a switch somewhere handy using one of the Lutron Pico remotes. With this option, you replace one switch, instead of multiple bulbs.

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Lutron also offers dimmer plugs that work with lamps if you need an option that can handle lamps instead of overhead lights.

Buy the Lutron Caséta Wireless Smart Lighting Dimmer Starter Kit at Amazon and Best Buy.

Smart Plugs

Smart plugs can turn almost anything into a smart device.

Smart plugs can turn almost anything into a smart device.

Another awesome smart home gift for parents are smart plugs. You can use these to control appliances, lamps, heaters and more.

Our parents love using them for lamps, and I love using them with space heaters. I just bought one for my wife to use with her straightener, so we know if it is off and can turn it off from anywhere.

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We recommend the Amazon Smart Plug for $24.99, Kasa Smart Plugs Two Pack for $19.99 or the Wemo Mini for $25.99 if you want HomeKit connectivity.

MyQ Smart Garage Hub

Make the garage door smart for under $20.

Make the garage door smart for under $20.

Did you know that you can make almost any garage door into a smart garage door with the MyQ Smart Garage Hub. This is easy to install and it pairs up like a new remote to the garage door opener.

Once set up, your parents can open the garage door with their phone or simply check the status while they are away. It’s helpful to let someone into the garage when you are traveling or for opening the door before heading outside in the winter.

Buy the MyQ Smart Garage Hub at Amazon or Best Buy as low as $19.99.

EcoBee or Nest

A smart thermostat is one smart home gift my parents love.

A smart thermostat is one smart home gift my parents love.

Another big upgrade is a smart thermostat. This replaces the thermostat on their wall, and then your parents can use their voice or phone to control the temperature. It can also follow a schedule and sense when someone is home.

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We recommend the Nest Learning Thermostat for $249.99 at Amazon or Best Buy or the Ecobee4 Smart Thermostat with Alexa Built-in for $189.99 at Amazon or Best Buy.

Smart Lock

A smart lock is a great gift for your in laws.

A smart lock is a great gift for your in laws.

another great smart home gift is a smart lock with a keypad. It’s a simple upgrade and it allows parents to unlock the door with their phone when they walk up with a phone and they can share access to you so that you can help if they ever get locked out.

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There are a ton of great options including Schlage and Kwikset, but the Yale Assure Lock SL caught our eye with the easy unlock when you approach.

Buy the Yale Assure at Best Buy or Amazon and check out Schlage and Kwikset smart locks.

Video Doorbell

A video doorbell can give peace of mind to older parents.

A video doorbell can give peace of mind to older parents.

Letting your parents know who is at the door, or look out on the front yard while they are gone is a great smart home upgrade. You can add a video doorbell very easily to most homes with or without an existing doorbell.

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The Ring Video Doorbell is one of the most popular models and it works with Alexa so that you can see your front door on your Echo Show device.

Another excellent option is the Arlo Video Doorbell, which is a new option, but it is one that can show more of the front door with a square image like you see on Instagram so you can see faces and the packages that are on your step.

Buy the Ring Doorbell at Amazon or Best Buy for $199.

Buy the Arlo Video Doorbell at Best Buy for $149.

Wireless Cameras

Another great option is to add wireless cameras to the mix, allowing your parents, and possibly you, to see what is happening outside. Ring offers a variety of options including the Floodlight camera that replaces an existing floodlight easily and Stick Up Cameras that you can plug into power at an outside outlet.

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Arlo also offers an amazing selection of wireless security cameras that are battery powered so that you can install them almost anywhere you want. The mounting hardware is simple and the cameras connect to a base station. Arlo’s cameras can use AI to identify what the camera detects including packages, people, animals, and vehicles.

If they have a doorbell, or if you are buying them one, it’s a good idea to get the other cameras from the same company so that the recordings and alerts are all in the same app.

Check out Ring Camera Deals at Amazon and Best Buy.

Check out Arlo Deals at Amazon and Best Buy.

Echo Show 5

Give an Echo Show 5 to control the smart home and so you can video chat with your parents.

Give an Echo Show 5 to control the smart home and so you can video chat with your parents.

The Amazon Echo Show 5 is an affordable way to bring a personal assistant into their home and with a screen, it is often easier for many people to use. This is a really handy way to introduce someone to Alexa, if they are interested in a digital personal assistant. You can use Alexa to control lights, heat and much more. Here’s a look at what Alexa can do.

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Google Home Mini

The Google Home Mini is a great option and perfect if your parents use Android.

The Google Home Mini is a great option and perfect if your parents use Android.

The Google Home Mini is another really nice option if your parents use Android and are already familiar with using the Google Assistant on their phone. These are very affordable for the holidays so you can set up a few different rooms at $25 a pop. These can control the smart home and to set reminders on their phone as well as many other tasks.

Buy the Google Home Mini for $24.99 at Best Buy.

Smart Watch

An Apple Watch lets your parents control smart home devices and it includes fall detection.

An Apple Watch lets your parents control smart home devices and it includes fall detection.

Instead of buying a HomePod, it’s better to give an Apple Watch 5 or Apple Watch 4. With this option, your parents always have Siri on their wrist so that they can control lights and other smart home gadgets. The Apple Watch 4 and Apple Watch 5 both support Fall Detection, which is why we recommend this for parents. Once set up, if it detects a fall it can automatically call for help.

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Find Apple Watch Deals at Amazon, Best Buy and Apple.

Verizon Hum+ Gen 2 or Humx Gen 2

Add some smarts to the car with the Verizon HUm+ Gen 2.

Add some smarts to the car with the Verizon Hum+ Gen 2.

The Verizon Hum+ Gen 2 allows you to bring some of that smart home control into the car, and to help upgrade their in-car experience with roadside assistance, car diagnostics and connecting to mechanics. The Hum+ gen 2 can also notify someone by text if the car is going over a set speed or outside of a boundary. Using Google Home at the house, they can check in on car info.

With the Verizon Humx Gen 2 you can add a WiFi hotspot to their car and they get Google Assistant in the car.

Buy the Verizon Hum+ Gen 2 for $29.99 with a contract or $99.99 at Verizon

Last update on 2024-03-12. This post may contain affiliate links. Click here to read our disclosure policy for more details. Images via Amazon API

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