carbon fi lter, which Levoit says will remove 99.97 percent of
indoor allergens and other pollutants. This model can purify
the air in a room of up to 322 square feet, which makes it ide-
al for the living room where my dogs like to hang out, but it is
also quiet enough to run in a bedroom.
To work properly, a smart accessory needs a reliable Wi-Fi
connection and a working app. Unlike the apps from a lot of
smart air purifi er manufacturers out there, Levoit’s VeSync app
does what it’s supposed to; you can set schedules and tim-
ers, adjust the fan speed, get real-time reports on air quality,
and reminders to change the fi lter. And the LV-PUR131S didn’t
experience any of the Wi-Fi connectivity issues prevalent with
a lot of other smart fi lters. So, while it’s not HomeKit com-
patible, it’s still a great option for maintaining good indoor air
quality once the cold weather sets in and you close up your
house.
- Philips Hue
PAR38 Bulb Out-
door Flood Light
($29.99)
In the winter,
when the sun sets
by 5 p.m., I turn the
porch light on be-
fore I leave for work,
so I don’t have to
navigate the icy path
between my driveway
and my door in the dark
at the end of the day. Philips
offers a better solution with its
smart weatherproof fl ood light
bulb, which I can schedule to turn on at sun-
set. The Philips Hue light bulbs require a Hue Bridge ($59.99)
in order to be compatible with HomeKit. Instead of buying
your bulbs and Bridge hub separately, you can save money by
purchasing a Hue Starter Kit ($69.99), which comes with a
Hue Bridge and two smart bulbs. I personally fi nd smart bulbs
to be the most useful smart accessory I have in my house,
allowing me to come home to a well-lit house and save mon-
ey by not leaving lights on all day. If you are a smart home
beginner, smart lights are the perfect place to start. - Eve Degree
($69.95)
I was not initially
interested in the
Eve Degree con-
nected weather
station, because
I thought it was
just an unneces-
sarily high-tech
version of an
outdoor weather
thermometer, and
I’ve already got
a weather app on
my iPhone. What
makes the Degree
so cool and so useful is that it monitors the weather outside
YOUR house. If you care about gardening, understanding the
microclimate that is your yard or greenhouse is a huge ben-
efi t. In my case, since I don’t care about gardening at all, the
fact that I can automate what my other smart accessories do
based on weather information from the Eve Degree is huge.
For example, if it’s cloudy on a winter day, my smart lights can
turn on earlier in the day to combat the gloom. If it drops be-
low a certain temperature overnight, a space heater plugged
in to a smart outlet in the chilly bathroom could turn on auto-
matically a half hour before I’m scheduled to get up.GOOD LUCK!
If we’re lucky, this coming winter will be milder than the
last. But even if it’s not, I’ve made a good start at getting
ready to ride it out in a warm, safe, and well-lit home. How do
you plan to get your smart home ready for the winter? Email
[email protected] and let me know! ѶKEEP YOUR INDOOR AIR HEALTHY
According to the US Environmental Protection
Agency, the air quality inside your house can be two to
fi ve times worse than the air quality outside—even if
you live in a large, industrialized city. Indoor air pollut-
ants and allergens can cause headaches, sore throats,
and aggravate asthma and other serious health
conditions. This is a cause for even more concern
during the winter when we seal our houses up tight
and spend most of our time indoors. In an article on the
Harvard Medical School website, Dr. Nicholas BuSaba
recommends opening your windows for short amounts
of time to let in fresh air, using a vacuum with a HEPA
fi lter to remove pet dander and dust, regularly changing
your furnace fi lter, and using an air purifi er.Sarah Kingsbury is the senior web editor of iPhoneLife.com. She goes almost nowhere
without her iPhone and is a contributor to the site’s Tip of the Day column. She has
over a decade of experience writing and editing for online and print publications.