The past year saw the Internet of Things making huge strides, and one of the biggest areas of progress has been in Smart Home automation solutions. Keeping homes safe and secure can now be as easy as tapping a few virtual buttons on a smartphone or tablet, allowing homeowners to see who’s in their home in real-time, remotely control the lights and temperature, and even grant door access to visitors, from anywhere in the world.

There are many different Smart Home gadgets and gizmos available, and consumers are often left bewildered by the sheer choice. Nevertheless, many people want to get in on the latest trends in tech, so for those who want to make their homes a little more “intelligent,” here is SiliconANGLE’s list of Top Ten Essential SmartHome Solutions:

10. Intelligent Glass

Glass is a great material to accentuate any building, but aside from being a display piece, it can also be used to improve homes or offices. Intelligent Glass makes the glass in any home or office “smarter.” Essentially a piece of souped-up adhesive film, Intelligent Glass turns clear to opaque with the press of a button. It can serve as a way to offer more privacy or provide information.

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9. numi

numi is a highly advanced toilet that’s motion activated, with functions controlled by a touchscreen remote. Users can customize it to stream their favorite music whilst handling their business via touchscreen remote, and program it so it knows the preferred specifications (position, water pressure and temperature) of an integrated bidet for different users. The numi even heats up the floor AND the toilet seat, so cold feet or a cold tuckus are of no concern on those chilly winter mornings.

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8. HiCan

HiCan, otherwise known as the High Fidelity Canopy, might just be the ultimate dream bed. Aside from providing a comfortable place to catch 40 winks, HiCan has dozens of nifty features. Some favorites include the automated blinds to enclose sleepers in pitch-black darkness, allowing for peaceful sleep anytime of the day, as well as the state-of-the-art sound system, reading lights, a built-in PC, full multimedia components for entertainment systems and game consoles, and a connected projector that casts HD movies and images on the home theater screen that slides down on the foot of the bed. The bed is also equipped with a complete home automation system too, so everything is easily controlled and compatible with other appliances.

The only drawback is that once someone becomes accustomed to sleeping in the HiCan, waking up in the morning is going to be even harder than it is already!

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7. airfy

One of the essentials of having a connected home is having a reliable WiFi network. Though there are many home WiFi devices, few look as good as airfy. It offers WiFi 802.11N or 802.11AC for a secure connection, making it safe to use for homes and even businesses. It has 50 LEDs that light up when a call or message is received, with further modifications available through IFTTT recipes.

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6.  DoorBot

See who’s knocking at the door without being at home thanks to the DoorBot. This WiFi-enabled video doorbell allows residents see and talk to visitors via smartphone. It’s built to withstand the worst that the elements can throw at it – including extreme humidity, rain, sleet, snow, ice, and searing heat, and the internal battery lasts for up to a year without needing to be recharged or replaced. It’s a great way to communicate with unexpected visitors when no one is home, or alternatively direct unwelcome visitors to go away without ever leaving the sofa.

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5. Smart door locks

Two smart locks received a huge amount of attention over the last year. For now, both are still in pre-order stage, but they look extremely promising. The Kevo and August smart locks revolutionize home security by doing away with the need for physical keys. Both smart locks use Bluetooth to make a connection with the user’s smartphone, allowing for locking or unlocking doors remotely, and even sending e-keys to family members or chosen guests to grant temporary access.

The only real difference between the two is that with Kevo, users need to touch the lock with a finger, hand, elbow, or nose to ‘wake it up’ so it can make a connection. With August, the connection is made as soon as the user approaches the lock. The upside of Kevo is that a physical key can still be used in the event the user’s phone or key fob is left inside the house. With August, another device is needed to access the web and get a code to open the door.

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4. Revolv Smart Home Solution

There are so many Internet-connected smart home solutions available now that one of the biggest problems is dealing with all of the apps that are needed to control each device. Revolv aims to eliminate this “app fatigue” by unifying premium, off-the-shelf smart home automation devices such as Sonos’ HiFi wireless speakers, Philips Hue’s wireless lighting, Yale’s automated locks, Insteon‘s home control devices, Belkin’s WeMo and other popular automated thermostats.

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3. SmartThings

SmartThings offers a complete solution to help users get started turning their home into something smarter. A good place to start is with the aptly named Starter Kit at $199, which includes a SmartThings Hub that acts as the brain for the newly-intelligent home. Also included is the SmartSense Multi which detects movements, vibrations, orientation, and the temperature of the home; SmartSense Presence, which allows users to keep track of easily lost items or pets; and SmartSense Motion, which detects movements and gives alerts.

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2. Nest + Sunrun

Not so long ago, Google’s latest acquisition, Nest Labs, partnered with Sunrun to offer a money-saving, solar power-maximizing solution. Those who purchase a Sunrun package will be given a free Nest Learning Thermostat, which retails for $249.  Sunrun offers a way for homes to use solar energy without having to deal with costly installations and solar panels. This bundle ensures that homes will utilize energy most efficiently while producing their own power to cut down on energy bills.

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1. Zero Home

The ultimate smart home isn’t one that can be controlled remotely. While that is certainly a factor, wouldn’t it be nice to live in a home where skyrocketing electric bills aren’t a concern? The Zero Home is a collaboration between Garbett Homes and Vivint. The latter provides smart home automation solutions, while the former builds homes that come complete with solar panels, energy management systems and even charging ports for electric vehicles.

Zero Homes do not provide remote monitoring and control of the home’s appliances, lights, heating and so on, but they’re able to produce greater energy than most households can consume.