The holidays is the perfect time to make your home just a little smarter -- and there's never been more smart home products for you to choose from. Pick and choose your favourite gadgets to assemble an affordable intelligent abode on your own terms, or opt for an entire smart home system that does all the work for you. Here are our favourite smart home systems and individual gadgets.

Chamberlain MyQ Garage Smart Garage Door Opener Searching or reaching for that elusive garage door opener remote while trying to navigate a dark suburban street, toppled garbage cans or your kids' toys – or your kids – often proves awkward and dangerous. Chamberlain's garage door opener lets you tap your device's screen to open or close your garage from anywhere. Soon, the company also plans to add geofencing capabilities so it can sense when you're near your driveway to automatically open and when your car is safely ensconced inside, close your existing garage door. MyQ can control nearly every garage door opener from all the major brands manufactured after 1993.

Wink Hub supplies nearly every smart home wireless connection standard over which the dozens of Wink smart home devices operate. But unlike other hub-based smart home ecosystems, many Home Depot/Wink devices (those with a blue labels on their retail packaging) don't require the hub, such as the Aros air conditioner. Best of all, if you buy two Wink-compatible gadgets at Home Depot before Labour Day, the Hub is just 99 cents.

Best Smart Home LockA mere touch of your finger unlocks or locks this otherwise normal-looking front door bolt lock. You can assign virtual keys permanently or temporarily, monitor ins and outs remotely and receive activity alerts via the Kevo app. Kevo's quotidian aesthetics are actually part of its security function – unlike other, perhaps admittedly smarter, locks, nefarious folks will have no clue to Kevo's intelligence. And in case of a technical snafu, Kevo can be opened with a reliable regular key. Kevo also is due to be incorporated into both the Home Depot/Wink and Staples Connect ecosystems.

By Hanan

A Technological House