{"id":909427,"date":"2026-05-31T03:12:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T08:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/31\/smart-home-tech-for-renters-from-locks-to-lighting-9-great-upgrades-that-will-improve-your-life-without-annoying-your-landlord\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T03:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T08:12:22","slug":"smart-home-tech-for-renters-from-locks-to-lighting-9-great-upgrades-that-will-improve-your-life-without-annoying-your-landlord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/31\/smart-home-tech-for-renters-from-locks-to-lighting-9-great-upgrades-that-will-improve-your-life-without-annoying-your-landlord\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart home tech for renters \u2014 from locks to lighting, 9 great upgrades that will improve your life without annoying your landlord"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-widget-type=\"contentparsed\" id=\"content\">\n<section>\n<div>\n<figure>\n<picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\"  ><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A collection of smart home devices on a dark blue background with light rays and starbusts, and a badge in the top right corner reading &#039;The Little Life&#039;\"   data-new-v2-image=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/h9iiBNi3ysWLW7MWtkaXuX.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/h9iiBNi3ysWLW7MWtkaXuX.jpg\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" fetchpriority=\"high\" data-component-name=\"Image\">\n<\/picture><figcaption> <span>(Image credit: Nanoleaf, Govee, Switchbot, Aqara, and Meaco, edited by Gemini)<\/span><br \/>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<div id=\"elk-6acceb4b-4c82-4041-877c-2786366a4a7f\">\n<p>The Little Life<\/p>\n<p>Got a small home? Perhaps an apartment, or a tiny house? Our Little Life series will help you find the best compact tech that&#8217;ll help you make the most of your space.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"elk-43c220ed-832d-49e4-ae17-934d4c2838d2\">If you rent, you need to be careful not to make any permanent changes to your landlord&#8217;s property, but that doesn&#8217;t mean you have to miss out on smart home tech, though, because there&#8217;s now a great selection of devices that require no drilling or screws, and that you can simply pick up and take with you when you move.<\/p>\n<p>For example, there are <strong>smart locks<\/strong> that fit over your existing door handles and rotate the lock mechanism using an app, PIN, or fingerprint. They can be installed in minutes, and won&#8217;t annoy your landlord. Want smart blinds? There are devices that attach to the pole or track, allowing you to open and close them remotely, on a schedule, or when a sensor is triggered. Easy peasy.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-43c220ed-832d-49e4-ae17-934d4c2838d2-2\">There are also <strong>mini robot vacuums<\/strong> specifically designed for small homes, which can fit into tighter spaces and have much smaller docks than average, and <strong>solar smart lights<\/strong> that you can use without any power cables.<\/p>\n<p>Read on for a list of the best smart home devices for renters, which I&#8217;ve picked as an apartment-dweller myself. Some devices are only available in certain regions, so you&#8217;ll only see those that are sold where you are.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"section-smart-tech-for-renters\"><span>Smart tech for renters<\/span><\/h3>\n<hr id=\"elk-85e6626e-6455-4e1a-ae64-3592bb64cad1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJsWTJoeVlXUmhjaTVqYjIwb0FBUAE?hl=en-GB&#038;gl=GB&#038;ceid=GB%3Aen\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-15d05c09-19b9-4ad0-b31a-cf07d1554a71\" data-url=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJsWTJoeVlXUmhjaTVqYjIwb0FBUAE?hl=en-GB&#038;gl=GB&#038;ceid=GB%3Aen\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"><\/p>\n<figure data-bordeaux-image-check>\n<div>\n<p> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\"  ><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Google logo on a black background next to text reading &#039;Click to follow TechRadar&#039;\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78.jpg\">\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-8b6d85ef-8930-4d31-aa26-7a6ace966708\"><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJsWTJoeVlXUmhjaTVqYjIwb0FBUAE?hl=en-GB&#038;gl=GB&#038;ceid=GB%3Aen\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJsWTJoeVlXUmhjaTVqYjIwb0FBUAE?hl=en-GB&#038;gl=GB&#038;ceid=GB%3Aen\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\"><em><strong>Follow TechRadar on Google News<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and<em> <\/em><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=techradar.com\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=techradar.com\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\"><em><strong>add us as a preferred source<\/strong><\/em><\/a><em> to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr id=\"elk-31b4c6a6-5e31-41b7-9f7a-719092345eba\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-kp67JW4ZK5vhsGhw7a4UhN\">\n<section>\n<p>Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" id=\"slice-container-authorBio-kp67JW4ZK5vhsGhw7a4UhN\">\n<p>Cat is TechRadar&#8217;s Homes Editor, covering smart home tech, kitchen appliances, vacuums, haircare and more. She&#8217;s been a tech journalist for 15 years, having worked on print magazines including PC Plus and PC Format, and is a<a href=\"https:\/\/sca.coffee\/\"> Speciality Coffee Association<\/a> (SCA) certified barista. Whether you want to invest in some smart lights, find your ideal hair styler, or pick the espresso machine of your dreams, she&#8217;s the right person to help.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/home\/smart-home\/smart-home-tech-for-renters-from-locks-to-lighting-9-great-upgrades-that-will-improve-your-life-without-annoying-your-landlord\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Thomas Lanz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Image credit: Nanoleaf, Govee, Switchbot, Aqara, and Meaco, edited by Gemini) The Little Life Got a small home? Perhaps an apartment, or a tiny house? Our Little Life series will help you find the best compact tech that&#8217;ll help you make the most of your space. If you rent, you need to be careful not<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":909428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27393,3094,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-909427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-renters","category-smart","category-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=909427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/909428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=909427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=909427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=909427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}