Home Automation Ideas

Whether you're beginner or a seasoned pro, when it comes to home automation, it's easy to become overwhelmed with the sheer amount of smart home products out there in the market.

You may be confused as to how these products work and how to incorporate them into your home. No need to fret though! Nowadays, with how common home automation is, anyone can utilise these products! You don't need to be a tech whiz to make it happen. With that being said, if you wish to automate some of your everyday mundane tasks, here are some home automation ideas to get you started.

Task: Turning on/off the lights (Smart Lighting)

Photo Credit: Tech Advisor

Why stick to your regular outdated lighting set up when you can trade up to one that has countless advantages? Smart lighting has numerous benefits, from turning on when you enter a room, to acting as a form of security.

No more aimlessly wandering in the dark for the light switch, lights that immediately illuminate when you enter a room is undoubtedly a much matter way to live. Besides that, smart lights also come with sensors that turn off the lights when you leave the room, perfect for those guilty of constantly forgetting to switch off the lights.

Security wise, with smart lights, you're able to set timings of the lights to go off at certain timings, giving the illusion that someone is at home even if they aren't. This leads to heightened security since it wards off prospective intruders, a useful feature if you're on vacation or if no one's home.

The real selling point is that almost all smart lights use LED bulbs which not only last 25 times longer than their traditional counterparts, but also uses 10% of the energy for the same amount of brightness. Switching to smart lights can really slash your electricity bills.

Task: Adjusting the thermostat (Smart Thermostat)

Photo Credit: Denver Shade Company

If adjusting your thermostat every time you leave the house or reach home happens to be a hassle for you, then getting a smart thermostat may not be a bad idea. They can remotely control the temperature of your home, learn your behaviours and even give you energy consumption reports. Smart thermostats can be connected and controlled from your smartphone or via a web-app, from these interfaces you can see how much energy you're consuming. That way you can tweak your habits towards being more energy efficient and save on your bills in the process.

A smart thermostat learning from you may seem like an odd and creepy concept, but it simply means that the thermostat remembers your input and starts adjusting to fulfil your needs. For example, you turn your thermostat up when it gets chilly outside; next time, the device will remember your input and adjust accordingly to the weather.

Smart thermostats even disable the heat or air conditional while you're gone and reactivate it in the nick of time to ensure that's warm and toasty when you get home. It even shows you how much time it requires to get the room to your desired temperature! Gone are the days you had to turn your thermostat all the way up before running errands to make it nice and warm for your arrival when you get home.

Task: Keeping an eye on your home (Smart Security Camera)

Photo Credit: Unifore

Even with security and safety systems like burglar or fire alarms, it's hard to know the actual events happening in your home unless you're actually there. An investment in a smart security camera can really provide you with the peace of mind you crave and deserve. Smart cameras can provide you with a 24/7 live stream of your home which can be viewed anytime, anywhere! Since these devices usually sync with applications that can be downloaded and viewed by numerous devices.

Some Smart cameras even incorporate facial recognition technology which can be utilised for many purposes. It'll alert you when family members are home and even when a stranger is trying to break in. Alarms are included as well! If the camera hears an alarm going off, be it smoke or security alarms, it'll start recording the footage and alert you. If you're interested in knowing the ins and outs of your home activities or are keen to up the security of your home, a smart security camera is for you.

Task: Cooking (Smart Kitchen)

Photo Credit: The Ambient

For those home cooks out there, this situation may be familiar to you. You leave your dish to cook and set a timer for it. You go off to do other activities (watching a drama, playing with your kids, work). When the timer goes off you have to pull yourself away from what you're engrossed in and switch off the stove. Bet you wished you had a device that was synced to an app that could remotely turn off the stove for you. Well that device exists! There are numerous smart cooking devices out there, from smart pressure cookers to range digital thermometers that can help detect when your food is done and switch off automatically. Make the most out of your time by incorporating some smart cooking devices.

Task: Granting access to your home (Smart lock)

A smart lock is a great buy if the thought of keyless entry excites you. No more fumbling around for keys while handling groceries or misbehaving children. Smart locks come with numerous modes of access; bluetooth keys, access PINs and even RFID cards/tags.

No doubt even the most responsible of us will lose a key every once in a while, or forget to lock the door behind us. Forgetful ones can breathe a sigh of relief, since these common problems are a thing of the past with smart locks. Before, every lost key meant a troublesome visit to your locksmith, a tiring ordeal indeed. Now, you no longer have to fret over lost keys! Most smart locks come with an auto-relock function as well, so you no longer have to worry about forgetting to lock your doors.

Ever had to let someone in but no one's at home? Certain smart locks even allow for creation of temporary PINs, giving guests timed access to your home! Extremely convenient since you can let your guests into your home even if you're not around.

Lastly, this wonderous device can provide you with increased peace of mind since it allows you to view access logs, notifying you of those that entered your home. If you're keen on the keyless life and want a smart lock with all these benefits, check out igloohome's line of smart locks.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency of igloohome. Assumptions made in the article is not reflective of the position of any igloohome entity. If we have incorrectly used any media items belonging to anyone without the right accreditation, simply write to us at info@igloohome.co to request a takedown. Removals will be done within 24hrs of acknowledgement.