Smart Kitchens: The rise of technology in kitchen design.
As our modern lives become busier than ever, our kitchens are getting smarter. These days, kitchen design is not just about colors, textures, materials and style, it is also about efficiency, convenience and making life easier.
From a refrigerator that syncs with your smartphone to a coffee machine that will have your morning cup of coffee ready and waiting for you in the morning, our reliance on technology has resulted in some very exciting product developments and the kitchen is steadily becoming the most high-tech room in the house.
When planning your new kitchen design, you may want to keep in mind how a typical day in the life of you and your family goes; what could make your days run more smoothly, save you time and stop you from pulling your hair out? We bet there’s a gadget out there that will be the answer to your prayers and can be incorporated into your kitchen design.
Refrigerators
Not just somewhere to keep food cold anymore, smart refrigerators are becoming increasingly popular with busy families. They feature a touchscreen interface that connects to the internet and can be used to create grocery lists that sync to your smartphone in real-time, set expiration date reminders or look up recipes and your refrigerator will read you the steps while you cook! Other features include temperature customization for individual drawers and compartments, interior cameras so you can see what’s inside without opening the door and syncing with your smartphone to set up notifications to let you know when you’re running low on milk, or if the water filter needs to be changed.
Dishwashers
If you love your dishwasher already, (because who actually likes doing the dishes?!) you’ll love smart dishwashers even more. While they are now not only more efficient at cleaning and more flexible, they now also feature the ability to sync with your smartphone so you can turn them on from wherever you are and lock or unlock the dishwasher door which is particularly useful if you have small children. If detergent or rinse aid is low, you can set the dishwasher to automatically order more for delivery. It is also possible to download bespoke cleaning cycles for special items plus sensors determine the size of the load and the level of grime on your dirty dishes to ensure that you are only using the amount of water and energy required, saving you money and reducing your carbon footprint.
Microwaves, Ovens & Stovetops
Remember when we thought that an oven that self-cleans was the cutting edge of technology? While ovens do still self-clean, (but now with grime-resistant coatings which make for even more effective self-cleaning cycles) they now also perform many more useful functions. They are compatible with voice control systems, and can be controlled via WiFi or your smartphone; you can start preheating the oven before you even get home, or turn it off if you forgot to do so before you left the house. Many smart ovens feature two or more spaces that allow you to cook separate foods at different temperatures at the same time, and they can also connect to recipe apps and preheat, cook and even turn themselves off in line with the recipe’s instructions! Smart cooktops have features such as multiple types of burners that allow you to cook in different ways such as power burners to boil water or sear foods, and simmer burners which simply keep food warm while not using too much energy plus indicator lights to show which areas are still hot.
According to cnet.com, GE Appliances, a Haier company, is showcasing the future of kitchen and home efficiency at CES 2019 with its Kitchen Hub, a first-of-its-kind, over-the-range interactive smart kitchen and ventilation system. GE Appliances will commercially launch the much-anticipated new SmartHome solution in May 2019. As the leader in connected appliances, the GE Appliances Kitchen Hub will be the center-piece of the company’s 2019 CES presence, with multiple interactive stations to allow show attendees to experience its time-saving, life-enhancing features.
Introduced as a prototype during CES 2018, this first-of-its-kind, over-the-
Image created by Kitestring.
range smart hood serves as a single control center for the home. With thousands of proven recipes served up right in front of you where you cook, the Kitchen Hub connects home chefs to a wealth of expertise. And because it’s built on the GE Appliances U+ Connect platform, the Kitchen Hub also brings together other smart home capabilities in a single, connected device: dinner playlists; streaming movies; live video chat and social networking; Google Assistant; favorite apps; control of other smart home devices like temperature and lighting; access and control of smart home apps; and more. cnet.com
The microwave has become so much more than just something used to heat up leftovers! They now boast a range of features including internet connectivity and voice control compatible with systems such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant. You can set it up so you can start cooking cycles from anywhere using your smartphone, and it will even track your routine and suggest customized settings. Smart microwaves can also scan barcodes on packaged foods to download the cooking instructions, monitor moisture levels to prevent food from drying out, and for the germa-phobes among us, they now have anti-microbial coatings to prevent the growth of bacteria and make cleaning easier.
These features go far beyond the kitchen, giving users a single, universal cooking and smart home portal that saves them time and allows them to focus on the things that matter most to them.”
Are you interested in learning more about how the team at Allied Kitchen and Bath can help you design your smart kitchen? Give us a call or swing by the showroom, we’d love to have a chat about your needs.
