Skip to main content

Smart home devices make dealing with your New Year’s Day hangover easier

smart home devices to help ease a hangover version 1483254050 cures dont work
Image used with permission by copyright holder
It’s New Year’s Day, the universal day of hangovers. Whether they overindulged on the champagne or mixed it up with beer, wine, and liquor, lots of people are feeling less than perky this morning. There are many ways to prevent the pounding headache and nausea, but now it’s too late for sipping responsibly and other such tactics. Even if you’re feeling awful, there might be a couple ways to ease the effects of last night’s partying.

The last couple of years have seen an explosion of smart home devices designed to make life easier. Although some of them are still in the design stage, we can’t help but picture a future where our robot assistant will bring us a couple aspirin and some Sprite (apparently a decent remedy, according to science). Until then, here are a few ways to ease your hangover that you might find around your smart home.

Kohler Purefresh Toilet Seat ($70+)

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Kohler’s odor-neutralizing toilet seat isn’t exactly smart, but it is battery-operated. It has a replaceable carbon filter to help cover up the stench after you turned your bathroom into a vomitorium. It also has a glowing LED, so you don’t need to flip on the overhead light, which may very well exacerbate how you’re feeling.

August Smart Lock ($200+)

The August Smart Lock August

Perhaps you have an extra-kind friend — or a trusted pizza-delivery person — who’s bringing you some greasy food. But to let them in, you’d have to get up. A smart lock lets you grant a temporary code to someone who has the app or, in some cases, remotely unlock the door. That way, hangover brunch in bed can come via delivery.

Lutron Serena Shades ($400+)

Lutron Serena motorized shades Image used with permission by copyright holder

A very pricey addition to any smart home, smart shades can open and close on command — with you barely lifting a finger. Lutron’s Serena shades, for example, are HomeKit-enabled, so you can ask Siri to shut the blinds, for Pete’s sake, and return to your fortress of darkness.

Smarter FridgeCam (TBD)

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Still in the pre-order phase, the FridgeCam makes any refrigerator a little smarter. Forgot whether you stocked up on PediaLyte? The camera takes a photo of your appliance’s contents whenever the door opens. Necessary? No, but neither was that last tequila shot you did last night.

Amazon’s Alexa ($50+)

Image used with permission by copyright holder

When it comes to smart-home control, Amazon’s Alexa has the Google Home beat at the moment. If no one’s coming to bring you food, you can ask Alexa to turn on your smart GE oven, giving you a precious extra few minutes to lie horizontal before you have to pop in your pizza rolls. Alexa also works with a bunch of smart light bulbs, so you can ask her to dim them to 10 percent, or whatever level your bloodshot eyes can handle.

Behmor Connected Coffee Maker ($249)

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Coffee doesn’t cure a hangover, but it can help you transition from the walking dead to a more fully functioning member of society. If you planned ahead the night before and added grounds and water to your machine, then you could use Behmor’s app to get some coffee brewing from bed. Of course, if you really planned ahead, you could get the same results if you set up any preloaded coffee on your nightstand.

Nuheat Programmable Thermostat ($196+)

Image used with permission by copyright holder

This thermostat is made just for electric floor heaters, so it’s going to cost a lot more than $200 to get it working. But still. Just imagine being able to heat your floors from your smartphone, instead of lying on chilly tile, swearing off all future New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Editors' Recommendations

Jenny McGrath
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jenny McGrath is a senior writer at Digital Trends covering the intersection of tech and the arts and the environment. Before…
Kohler reveals luxurious smart home products that turn your bathroom into a spa
The Kohler Anthem+ on a white table.

Kohler showed off a bevy of new products at CES 2024, including a luxurious lineup of new smart home gadgets, all of which are designed to transform your bathroom into a "personal sanctuary." Along with updates to the Numi 2.0 smart toilet and high-end Stillness Bath, Kohler showed off a new fan, sink, and bidet, as well as smart valves and more.

The Anthem+ Digital Control was one of the most intriguing items at the Kohler booth, as can power nearly all aspects of your bathroom from a single control panel. Via its touch display, it allows you to control water, light, sound, and steam. All told, it can connect to 12 water outlets to power a variety of sprayers, showerheads, and body sprays.

Read more
Samsung goes all-in with AI, reveals several new smart home appliances at CES 2024
The Samsung Bespoke AI Fridge from CES 2024.

Samsung unleashed a flurry of announcements at CES 2024, including several upcoming smart home appliances powered by AI. The lineup features an induction cooktop, washer and dryer combo, slide-in range, and refrigerator, all of which use new A.I. features to streamline your daily chores.

The Samsung Bespoke 4-Door Flex Refrigerator was among the first reveals, debuting ahead of CES 2024. Featuring the premium AI Family Hub+ and AI Vision Inside, the futuristic fridge can scan and identify 33 different types of food items and send you alerts before they expire.

Read more
How to save money with your smart home this winter
The Google Nest Learning Thermostat in stainless steel.

Keeping your home warm and cozy during the winter is a challenge. Homes equipped with a fireplace benefit from a frugal heating option -- though there's no doubt they can be messy and time-consuming to clean. You can also ramp up your furnace, but that's a quick way to spend a fortune on your heating bill.

Instead, consider using smart home gadgets to save money and keep your house at a nice temperature until spring rolls around. If you need some help getting started, here are a few smart home gadgets that can help you make it through the cold, dark winter.
Invest in smart blinds

Read more