28 Great Ideas for your Smart Home and Some Inspiration

If you’ve been searching for home automation ideas, you came to the right place.

Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer ready to install smart home technology, or a tech wizard looking to incorporate the latest devices into your daily routine – we’ve got you covered. These unique ideas in home automation are great for taking the work out of owning a home.

Smart Light ideas

1. Receive notice of important emails from designated people. Use IFTTT to automate your Hue or LIFX lights to flash when the message hits your Gmail inbox. If you’re new to IFTTT, then our handy reference guide will open your eyes to the many home automation ideas it makes possible.

2. Set a timer on Alexa and have your lights flash when the timer reaches 0. Perfect for when you have food in the oven downstairs and need an alert upstairs.

 

3. Blink the lights when your Uber arrives. Use IFTTT to connect your Philips Hue bulbs to Uber. When your ride pulls up, the lights lights will flash and you will know it’s time to head outside.

5. Schedule your holiday lights. If you’re a fan of indoor smart plugs like Vivitar or TP link. Perfect for making your holiday lights smart, This is one of the home automation projects I’ll be trying out this holiday season.

6. Sync your light strips with the TV. Using a Harmony Hub, you can easily sync your light strips and TV. When you tell Alexa to turn on the TV, it can also turn on the lights behind the TV or dim your light strips for a movie theatre feel.

7. Make your lights look like you’re home. On vacation but don’t want the whole neighborhood to know? This uses your integrated smart lights to re-create normal-looking patterns of activity. This is much more convincing than simply leaving on your porch lights the whole time, which is an immediate giveaway that you’re out of town.

8. Blink the lights when someone rings your Ring. Use an IFTTT applet to automatically blink your Hue lights when someone rings your doorbell. This same concept can be applied for Arlo outdoor cameras, which can trigger your lights to blink when there is motion.

9. Get alerts when your smoke detector detects smoke. This is great for short stay rentals as you can detect if someone is smoking in your home. Check out the Philio Smoke Detector

Thermostat ideas

 Security ideas

14. Never worry about leaving your garage door open again thanks to the control offered by Smart Garage Door Controller Aeotec. It will alert you if it’s left open. This is great for bedtime or anytime if you have a forgetful teenager.

15. Monitor your home security cameras using Echo Show. Amazon’s Alexa with a small screen shows you video footage from your Arlo, Amazon, or Wyze security cameras on a voice command. This is ideal for checking on the camera in your baby’s room, or peeking at the front door when someone comes by. You can also do this on the Fire HD tablet in show mode.

16. Install a full security system without paying monthly fees. HikVision has full security system features, including motion detection and NVR recording system. It also integrates fully with Vera and Fibaro. 

17. Have your#security camera switch to armed mode when you leave home using the geofence function on your Z-wave Controller

18. Automatically lock your front door. When you rush in the door after work, do you ever forget to lock the door behind you if your hands too full? The Yale Assure can automatically secure the door behind you to a locked position. Think of it like hotel room security for your front door. Once you’re in, the door is locked behind you without any extra effort or thought.

19. Keep track of when the kids are in and out of the house using motion sensors and Google Sheets via IFTTT technology. Again, this is a great idea for keeping tabs on your teenagers.

20. Automatically pan your camera around the room. Turn on motion tracking on the Hik Vision Camera to keep an eye on the whole room. It will follow motion so that your security footage always has the subject in frame, even if they are walking across the room.

21. Get alerted when your pet runs away. If Fido is a flight-risk, attach an Arrival sensor (a SmartThings device) to his collar and know whether or not your dog (or cat) has wandered away. You’ll receive a text alert when the sensor leaves the premises or returns.

22. Use a sensor on your assets. You can use multi-sensors inside your pride and joy that's parked in your garage to give you notifications if it detects movement. Tigger Alarms, Flash Lights, Close gates ect.

Outdoor ideas

23. Find out when the mail is delivered. Avoid an unnecessary trip out to the mailbox using a multipurpose sensor. The multipurpose sensor is a magnet that comes in two pieces. By installing one piece on the door and the other on the mailbox itself, you can be alerted immediately when the door is opened and your mail is delivered.

24. Water your lawn and garden according to current weather conditions, plant types, and more. Everyone loves a nice green lawn and plants that thrive, but you may not have the time to water your garden. You definitely don’t want to see sprinklers doing their thing during a rainstorm. Install a smart sprinkler controller to automate when and how your landscape gets watered.

25. Soak your Roof if a bush fire is happening. Here’s one of the more creative home automation ideas: You can use the Z-wave water valve to turn on sprinklers on your roof to protect it during bush fire season.

Convenience ideas

26. Automatically turn on a  device when you unlock your door. Z-wave smart locks connect with your Z-wave automation hub, you can easily set any device to turn on the moment that your door is unlocked. Automatically turn on the lights, coffeemaker, fan, Bose speaker, and more just by unlocking the door and walking inside.

27. Set your electric kettle to start boiling water for morning or afternoon tea using a smart outlet and the app on your smartphone while you go about other activities.

28. Receive an alert when your washer or dryer finishes a cycle. There are two ways to make this home automation idea happen: 1) own a smart washer or dryer that is compatible with IFTTT, or 2) use an Aeotec sensor or multipurpose sensor to detect when the unit stops vibrating. As you probably guessed, the second option is much cheaper.

Overall

There is no shortage of home automation ideas – the key is picking a system to control your devices and finding the accessories that will help you accomplish your smart home goals. After you’ve closed on the house of your dreams (or even if you’ve lived there for years), start dreaming big about what you can do to automate your home’s activities and make life simpler, safer, and more fun.

Which of these home automation project ideas are you most excited to try in your new home? Share it with us in the comments below.