If you were granted three wishes, at least one of those wishes might be to make your life easier, even in some small way. While updating some features of your home isn’t necessarily as simple as getting magic wishes delivered, you can certainly make your daily life easier by installing some more smart devices in your home. Here are five different ways that upgrading to smart home features can simplify your life on a daily basis.

1. Smart Locks

A smart lock means that you can stop worrying about forgetting to bring your key with you. You’ve probably been in that unpleasant situation before. Maybe you drove halfway to work and realized that you didn’t have your house keys, or perhaps you’ve stepped outside to watch a parade go by and then realized that you didn’t bring the keys with you. A smart lock provides you with keyless entry for your locked doors. You can use a code on a keypad, entry with your smartphone, or both. Smart locks are much more difficult for potential burglars to break into with a spare key you keep under the mat or a set of lock picks they have. You may also want to consider using smart locks on rooms of your home that are closed to renters if you rent out space.

2. Security Cameras

Opting for smart security cameras can help you to keep an eye on your home even when you are away. For example, you could install security cameras around the home that provide you with notifications on your phone if any activity is spotted. When you’re away on vacation, you can also check in to make sure your teenagers are still coming home by their curfews. Security cameras are also great to have by your front door if you frequently have packages delivered. If anything should happen to or around your home, your security camera footage will be useful in helping to get a better view of what happened.

3. Automatic Lighting

A particularly helpful component of home automation is the ability to turn on lights remotely. When you’re away on a trip, you might want to turn the lights on as the evening rolls in. Also, in the event that you are coming home late at night, you can put the lights on before entering so that you aren’t walking into a dark house alone. With automatic lighting, it will be much harder for potential burglars to tell if someone is home or not.

4. Temperature Control

You can control the temperature of your house when you are away with a smart thermostat and app on your phone. Perhaps you’re at work one day and notice that the temperatures are rising. You don’t want the pets to feel uncomfortable, so you turn down the temperature. Maybe when you’re on your way home from a day out, you want to raise the heat before you arrive at home, and you could do the same with smart temperature control. Not only does this simplify your life, but it can also help you to save money on unnecessary heating or cooling costs.

5. Alarm Monitoring

Setting up an alarm system in your house can allow you to feel a greater sense of security, particularly when you are away on vacation. You could opt for an alarm system that sounds an alarm in your home, sends an alert to your phone, or automatically contacts 911. Should the alarm go off when you are not home, you will get an immediate notification on your phone that something is wrong. No more will you have to worry about your house being safe while you are traveling out of town.

A smart home can make your life easier in a variety of ways. Additionally, smart home devices often also serve to improve your home security and make you feel safer whenever you are away.