One of the most popular areas of consumer electronics these days is home automation. From lights to door locks to thermostats, there's many ways to automate your home. Is it something you might be interested in? Read on to find out!
Note: as you're reading this, keep in mind that most automation systems these days are highly modular, so it's very easy to start out with a single lamp and then expand as much or as little as you like.
My personal history with automation revolves entirely around lights. My goal has always been to have an even and appealing level of light around an entire room, and be able to accomplish that with the touch of a button. In my home the simple tap of a button or command of my voice will set over 15 different lamps and sets of lights to specific dim levels to create exactly the atmosphere I want. I've been using automation technologies for almost 20 years now, and they've come a long way in that time. Now I can control so many other things in my house (but lighting is still my main goal).
Today, I have lights, a door lock, a thermostat, garage door openers, temperature and motion sensors, and remote controls all tied together into one system.
- When I get home, my house knows it, unlocks the front door and turns on the light in the foyer. When I leave, the door locks when I'm gone.
- At night when I go to bed, I press one button that turns off all the lights in the house. Did I remember to turn off that light in the basement? No need to go down to check!
- In our laundry room, a motion sensor detects our presence and turns on the light automatically, then turns it off again when it doesn't detect us for a minute. No more fiddling with a light when our hands are carrying baskets of dirty clothes.
- We even have a cat feeder on the system that dispenses food every three hours.
Is any of this necessary? Not at all. But it's an incredible convenience. The one part of if that I would argue is extremely valuable is the ability to have our outside lights turn on at sunset and off at sunrise. It's a good way to make the house look occupied, and because our street has no streetlamps, it helps keep the street from being pitch black at night. The rest of the system - I'll admit - is mostly for fun. ...But it is a lot of fun!
I've built my system around Apple's HomeKit, which I think is the best combination of ease of use and capabilities. But I'm always happy to speak with you about what might work in your home.