October 5, 2021iRobot
SmartSecurity Systems| Our top and recommended automated homesecurity systemideas:
28. Monitor and be alerted to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide or the presence of smoke or fire, even when you aren’t home.
29. Get alerts when someone is at yourfront door, whether you’re home or not.
30. One big anxiety inducer is forgetting whether or not you locked the door before leaving for vacation. Automateddoor locksmake it easy to lock or unlock your doors, whether you’re in the driveway or thousands of miles away.
31. See when your kids arrive home from school and unlock the door for them. Or trigger it to open automatically when they arrive.
32. Set up a vacation mode to activate motion detectors outside your home, garage, windows, and doors, to receive alerts of intrusion while you’re away.
33. Instead of just monitoring for burglary, you can actually use a security system to monitor things like air quality, temperature, and humidity.
34. Set up alerts for specific doors or even cabinets, to know each and every time your special snack drawer was opened.
35. Use geofencing to automatically set alarms, lock doors, turn on motion sensors and security cameras, as soon as you leave the house for the day and disarm it as soon as you come home.
36. Use geofencing to automatically open your garage when you come home and turn on lights – almost like your home is welcoming you back.
37. See who’s at the door from any room in the house, because you can program your phone or even your TV to display the video from the doorbell, security camera, or door lock.
Homesecurity systemsreally took hold of the market back in the 1980s, with things like motion-sensing lights and an automaticgarage door opener.
But real home security automation –a system you could control remotely from any device, is a relatively new concept (rising along with other automated technologies around 2014, with theAmazonEcho).
Now, there are solutions for everything. Automateddoor locks,window sensors,smart doorbellswith video, night vision cameras, and more.
What Should I Automate In My House?
It’s truly up to you whether or not you need or want a connected home, and what technology you’d like to add.
For peace of mind, you could focus only on automating security through controlleddoor locks, motion detectors, and avideo doorbell.
If you have a pet (or multiple pets) that shed a lot, especially in spring and summer when allergens become a huge problem, then maybe an automated air purifier and a Roomba® robot vacuum is enough for you.
Automated home technology isn’t necessary, but it can make life much easier and cut the time you spend on mundane tasks like closing the blinds and turning off all of the lights before bed each night. (It adds up!).
Home Automation Ideas: Room-By-Room
While a lot of thesmart homeideas above resonate with room-by-room optimizations, there are many more ways to turn a regular room into a luxurious space – or to simply add convenience.
Home automation isn’t limited to your interior either. Your entire property can respond tovoice commandsif you choose.
Backyard |Smarthomeautomationideasfor your backyard:
38. Automate your greenhouse with proper temperature control, humidity, and irrigation.
39. Automatically water your garden at the right time of day for each plant, or coordinate your irrigation system with the weather.
40. Mow your lawn while you’re at work.
41. Set timers on all of your outdoor lights – from Christmas trees to romantic twinkle lights. Or set them to trigger on when you enter the yard.
42. Automate your awning to adjust to the sun’s position in the sky.
43. Coordinate lights and music for an outdoor party, birthday, wedding, or family night.
Creating a practical home includes your yard as well. And it can be just as fun, time-saving, and convenient as automating the rest of your home.
Basem*nt |Besthome automation ideasfor your basem*nt:
44. Never deal with frozen or burst pipes again. Water and temperature sensors can alert you to the threat so you can heat the area, wrap the pipes, or perform other preventative measures.
45. Prevent floods, or automatically start pumps in the event of a flood, water leak, or burst pipe.
46. Automatically shut off your water valve if the sensors detect a leak.
47. Get alerts for standing water or overly humid or damp areas.
Your basem*nt is probably the last place you thought of automating, but it’s the biggest location for energy loss in your home.
It’s also where any flooding would likely occur, where your pipes are most likely to freeze, and where your home’s foundation can weaken from too much moisture, or even grow toxic mold. (Basem*nts are notoriously like stuffy caves unless refinished).
Bathroom | Some of the easiest home automation possibilities for your bathroom:
48. Automate your bathroom fan to turn on as soon as your shower does, or as soon as it detects a certain amount of heat or humidity.
49. Set your shower to turn on when you’re ready, and to automatically reach the temperature and flow you prefer.
50. Turn on your in-floor heating system when you’re ready for a bath or shower, or set it to specific times in the day according to your routine.
51. Keep your mirror from fogging, or change the lighting while doing your makeup to see what you look like in outdoor or indoor lighting.
52. Need a spa day? Turn on your bath, start the jets and bubbles, and add a scent or relaxing color – all from a mobile app!
The bathroom is where we go to unwind, prepare for the day or for bed, and do our necessary business. But there’s a lot of room for luxury improvements and time-saving conveniences.
Bedroom | Best ideas for bedroom automation:
We’ve previously mentioned a few automation ideas for the bedroom, such as temperature control and lighting, but there are lots of unique options for your coziest space.
53. Set your alarm to wake you up with your playlist or Spotify, or even with lighting that mimics a sunrise.
54. Set your blinds and curtains to open when your alarm goes off in the morning.
55. Coordinate nightlights or under-bed lighting to activate with motion, so you can find your way through your room at night without waking your partner.
56. Have your Alexa tell you the weather when you wake up.
57. Adjust your bed settings for reading, sleep, napping. And for guest rooms, you can automatically adjust the bed to their preferences.
58. Automatically activate lights in your closet as soon as the door opens.
59. Create entire wake-up or good night routines that rope in everything from your blinds and lights to your alarms.
Kitchen |Besthome automation ideasfor your kitchen:
60. Get alerts when someone left the kitchen door open or is rummaging through the fridge when they aren’t supposed to.
61. Hands covered in raw meat juice? Just ask your faucet to turn on for you so you can wash up without touching anything.
62. Ask your faucet to send out a certain amount of water (i.e. “Alexa, fill my cup with 3 oz of water), so you never have to worry about measuring water for recipes again.
63. Have your oven warm up with a simple voice command while you’re preparing ingredients.
64. Set up alarms and timers so you don’t forget any items on the stove.
65. When connected to apps likeYummly, your appliances will automatically heat up to the correct temperature, cook for the right amount of time with the right settings, and stop automatically when the meal is cooked.
The kitchen is one of those areas we’ve longed for the most automation. It is probably the area of the house with the most potential for it.
In the future, you can expect things like countertops that weigh your vegetables or give you recipe options based on what’s on the counter.
Living Room |Home automation ideasfor your living room:
66. Have Chipolo find your remote when it’s lost. It’ll ping until you find it.
67. Ask your remote to turn on your favorite show, or play something for the kids.
68. Coordinate lights with your TV, to heighten the experience of any movie or show you watch.
69. Have your TV pause automatically when the doorbell rings, so you don’t miss a beat as you check your phone to check your doorbell app.
70. Set a timer or schedule for when you’re supposed to go to bed, and have your TV turn off and lights come on to make sure you don’t stay up too late.
Nursery |Besthome automation ideasfor your nursery:
71. Create a nighttime scene in your kid’s bedroom, dimming the lighting, turning on cool colors, starting a noise machine and your video monitor.
72. Set up motion detectors for the lights with dimmers or night colors. (So you don’t wake the baby fully when you go in to nurse them.)
73. Use night-vision baby monitors to keep tabs on your little one during naptimes or throughout the night, controlling the angle if they get out of view. Some even tell you the temperature and air quality in their room. Some also notify you of sounds or odors coming from the room.
74. Get alerts if your baby’s heart rate falls too low or if they stop breathing.
75. Start and stop sound machines to soothe your baby during nap times or prepare them to wake up in the morning.
76. UseAlexaorGoogle Hometo set daily reminders or routines, reminding kids to do their homework, brush their teeth, or clean their room.
77. UseAlexaorGoogle Hometo sing or read to your child if they’re having a hard time sleeping. (It’s always nice to do this yourself, but if you’re not home due to a work trip or are out on a date night, this is a good way to keep their routine.)
When you’re a new parent, there’s a lot to worry about. Having automation there to handle things like turning on the lights when your hands are full, or keeping a watchful eye on your child while they sleep, can makelife easierand more reassuring.
