Unless one is unaware of some of the latest trends of home decor, the revolutionary term home automation should look familiar to you. Just imagine, seeing lights that turn off automatically or alarms that trigger the a notification when someone arrives home?
Imagine that after a long day at work, when you return home, the garage door opens automatically, the lights are on automatically, the floor is clean, or the pet food has been dispensed and all without the need for your presence.
Ideas to automate home with some unique gadgets are not something incredibly new. But they have been constantly nd continually expanding the technology. These automatic devices allow, turning on the air conditioning before arriving home, opening doors for the guests even if you are away from the home.
I often wondered, what are some of the more obscure or different devices I could automate throughout my home.
After doing a bit of research, I was able to compile a list of some cool smart devices you can automate in your home. From controlling your home heating system to smart controlled curtains and integrating your morning cup of joe, below are our top 15 items to integrate into your smart home automation.
1. Home Center
This is the brain of all devices. FIBARO Home Center is a powerful hub. It helps in analyzing the information related to the other devices integrated into your home. It controls the operation of the rest devices and is responsible for their security as well.
Its network is Z Wave, which is a great option for your smart homes. Why? Because it is a unique network for devices, so they don’t depend on Wi-Fi. Also, it has a wide range of supported devices from different manufacturers. Your commands are transmitted as quickly as possible and your activations are instantaneous. You won’t have to worry about delays!
2. Nest Thermostat
This is a smart thermostat that supports self-learning. When you integrate it into your home, it becomes the basis of the home heating system. It runs over Wi-Fi, so you can control it even when you’re not at home.
You can start to use the device by activating its switch on/off option. You can also set a timer to operate your boiler automatically. There is a function called a marker, that you can use to control the temperature of the device.
3. Single – Double Switch
The perfect allies for controlling the lights of your home. These switches allow you to turn off or turn on lights, electronic devices or cut off the power of the plugs. They also provide accurate information on the energy consumption of all products connected to a switch, such as A lamp, blender, microwave or any connected device.
Its installation is internal, it is placed inside the wall, therefore, it is not visible and doesn’t affect the design of the space.
4. Motion sensor
A sensor capable of detecting any movement. Its sensitivity goes beyond; it also detects lighting, temperature and has an accelerometer, which helps us to identify the speed of movement.
What can you do with a Motion Sensor?
It catches your movements, temperature or lighting and commands accordingly. For example, the sensor detects when you wake up and sends a command to lift the blinds in the room, adjust the temperature and turn on the coffee maker.
5. Roller Shutter
Nothing is more comfortable than the opening or raising blinds from the comfort of a smartphone. FIBARO Roller Shutter makes it possible. This smart controller works with roller blinds (motorized), Venetian blinds and gates.
You can choose the precise positioning of the blinds. For example, you have a Motion Sensor in the window and just when it detects powerful outdoor lighting, send a command to the Roller Shutter to close the windows at 150 ° to let only the necessary light in.
6. Goji
It is a smart, digital lock that is at the same time, advanced and smart. It runs using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. This unique device is capable enough to capture and send pictures of the visitors to the door. This helps you with temporary access for the visitors, even if you are not home at that point in time.
You can also make use of it to capture the lock’s activity. To lock or unlock the door, you need to use the electronic control. There’s also a manual operative option that works well in case of power cuts.
7. Swipe
Slide your hand down to lower the blinds, up to lower the intensity of the light and to the right to turn on your Smart TV. Swipe is a sensor that activates scenes from hand movements.
Besides having a unique design, it can be used as a painting or a photograph on the wall. This way if you want to activate an unknown security scene you can do it. Before leaving your home, you pass your hand through a box (Swipe) and all the doors will close, the sensors will be activated and the alarm will turn on.
8. Keyfob
A small control for the whole home. FIBARO KeyFob allows you to control any smart device and execute any work including controlling lighting, temperature, doors, windows or electronic devices.
How does it work?
Each button of the KeyFob reacts to 1 or 2 clicks; in total it has 6 buttons and a total of 24 possibilities (actions or scenes).
9. Blastbot
Infrared signal emitter. MAKERS LAB Blastbot makes it possible to control any device that receives an infrared signal, such as A television, air conditioning, electric gate, motorized blinds, and more. It is compatible with FIBARO and voice assistants such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Siri.
Blastbot will be in charge of turning on the television, air conditioning and lowering the blinds with a single command.
10. Security camera
In the market, there is a great variety of cameras. One we could recommend is the D Link Security Camera that has a 120 ° lens, night vision, and motion, and sound detection.
You can view everything directly from your cell phone with the D Link app, completely free or you can also integrate it into your system.
For example, If most of your smart devices are FIBARO, connect the camera to the system and from the Home Center app you can access the visibility of the camera.
Keep in mind that with any other camera except D Link, only camera monitoring is possible, there are no notifications about movement or sound detection or the possibility of zooming.
11. Siren
The main element of an alert system. Of all the alarms there are, Siren Gen 5 from Aeotec is an excellent option. Why? Because it works with Z Wave. It is extremely fast to receive commands and alert you to intruders or dangerous threats, such as fires and floods.
It works perfectly with devices from the same network and SmartThings products. Its has quite a powerful volume intensity of 105 dB,
12. Canary
Canary is an all in one security system for those who are in need to monitor their homes when they are out. It will always help you to protect your home from any unwanted instances. The Canary has a unique level of intelligence and it can learn some of your habits.
For example, it can be linked to know when you are away and begin surveilling your home. If a motion is detected it can notify you, as well as begin recording.
It is essentially an HD camera. But we have to give it props for a quick and easy install and the no hubs required feature. It is weatherproof as well and can be mounted outside. It has a microphone and speaker, but unfortunately for a 2-way function, you would need a subscription.
13. Real living
A smart home is not smart without a digital lock. Real Living by Yale, has two models, with handle and without the handle. Both have a touch screen keyboard and the option to add unique codes for 25 users.
Its status, openings, and closures can be monitored through a tablet or computer. It is compatible with Z Wave and Zigbee network devices, apart from that, its installation is extremely simple and its battery is very durable, it can last 24 months without changing batteries.
14. Revolv
When multiple home automation devices are being used, opening the correct application for each device may look hazardous. Revolv can help you with this!
If you want to get started with Revolv, you can put it in the central location of the home. Then you need to connect it with the home Wi-Fi network. It will scan for other devices that you are using for home automation. In case, it can’t locate it automatically, you can connect them manually.
15. Homey
With Homey, you can get control of every device that is connected via Homey app. Along with ZigBee and Bluetooth 4.0, Homey supports 8 different radio modules. When Homey is with you, you have the real power. You can get done tasks like turning on the lights, picking out the movie you want to watch and rolling up/down the blinds. All you need to do is to send over the instruction.
Hope this post helps! With the blessing of technology, household work can be a little easier and a lot more fun. If you’re trying to decide which devices you should get or which hub or what the heck is a protocol. You can start by checking out our “choosing smart devices, hubs, and protocol for my home automation”. Have some fun and go get started.
