Pennsylvanians Not That Excited About Smart Home Tech

While many Americans enjoy the convenience of smart home technology, Pennsylvania is among the states with the fewest smart homes, according to a study by Secure Data Recovery.

With only 17.3% of Pennsylvanians using smart home tech, the state ranks No. 8 for the states with the fewest smart homes, putting it in the bottom 10 for smart home technology usage overall by state.

Many homes in other states have gotten significantly smarter in the past several years, however, Pennsylvania homes also haven’t seen much technological growth. With only 12.3% smart home growth between 2015 and 2021, Pennsylvania had the 13th least amount of growth among all states.

Although smart home technology can add value to homes, many homeowners are still getting used to new devices or are hesitant to integrate them into their daily lives. According to the study, one in six Americans believes that smart home devices have inadvertently complicated daily tasks and one in three Americans admit that while such technology can be fun, it doesn’t necessarily add substantive value to life.

Another drawback to smart home tech is that it isn’t always as smart as you want it to be. Sometimes, it brings about added complications or technological issues. The survey found that Americans’ most annoying types of smart home tech included security (22%), entertainment (18%), lighting (18%) and cleaning (18%). The most annoying traits of smart home tech were devices’ dependency on internet connection (49%), the need for too many apps on one phone (15%) and battery life (14%).

However, while Pennsylvanians may be slower to integrate smart home tech, other states are welcoming and embracing it with more enthusiasm. With 28.2% of its population using it, Connecticut is the leading state for the smartest homes. Arizona is the top state for smart home growth, with a 22.9% increase from 2015 to 2021.

Nationwide, entertainment is the most popular type of smart home technology in American homes at 72%, followed by security (56%), lighting (49%), climate control (39%), cleaning (30%), energy management (25%), kitchen appliances (15%), home fragrance (7%) and outdoor uses (6%).