5 Smart Home Innovations for Incredibly Forgetful People

Technology is always working to make our lives better. Decades after the refrigerator saved us from grocery shopping every day, smart home technology is saving forgetful types (like myself) from the consequences of their own brain farts. Did you forget to turn the oven off? Forget to turn down the thermostat for your cocktail party? There’s an app for that.

1. A thermostat that you can set from anywhere — or that resets itself.
The Nest thermostat is a ‘learning thermostat’ that will learn your family’s habits and slowly adjust itself to them over time, saving you a ton of money by not having to run the air condition or the heater when nobody’s home. Additionally, the thermostat can be controlled from anywhere via your smartphone — so if you forgot to turn the heat down when you left for vacation, or forgot to turn on the air conditioner in advance of your dinner party, no problem.

2. A refrigerator that tells you when you need more groceries.
The Chillhub, a smart refrigerator developed by GE & Local Motor’s FirstBuild, has eight USB ports and Wifi connectivity. You can purchase an accessory for the fridge called the Milky Weigh, which will allow you to determine, from anywhere in the world, how much milk you have left.

Meanwhile, LG announced that it’s developing a smart fridge that will text you and tell you how much beer you have left. Yes, really.

3. An electronic buddy that always knows where your keys are.
Do you misplace your keys? Your wallet? Your hairbrush? You can fit out anything you lose often with a Tile, a little hangtag that can be located through an app on your phone.

4. A garage door that will alert you when it’s been left open.
The MyQ Garage is a nifty little device that will connect to your existing garage door opener, and allow you to open and close your garage door from your smartphone. The MyQ will also alert you when your garage door has been left open, or it it’s being opened and closed at an unexpected time.