Smart Home Ideas
Posted on November 10, 2021 (Last modified on November 27, 2021 )
6 minutes • 1068 words • Other languages: Deutsch
From time to time I am asked what can be automated in a smarthome. The reason is that many people I talk to see no advantage in networking devices and are rather pessimistic about the whole thing. When I start to list examples, I am always told that this has nothing to do with “smart”… I then answer that “smart” here refers less to the components in the smart home, but much more to the person who has previously thought about the quite complex sets of rules and regulations in order to achieve various goals such as energy savings, safety or increased comfort.
I collected a few things here that should serve as a source of ideas.
- the light switch of a room does not only switch one lamp, but the complete lighting in the whole room
- long pressed or double-tapping of the light switch does not only switch the light, but also the electrical devices in the room (TV, gaming console, radio, …)
- when the doorbell rings, the lights in the living room flash
- the path between the garden gate and front door is automatically illuminated when the garden gate or front door opens - of course only if it is dark enough
- an “everything off”-switch turns all lights in the house off
- a switch at the front door switches the smarthome to “absent” state to switch off the lights and unnecessary consumers
- the switch can also be a bolt contact switch on the strike plate or a smart door lock
- when leaving the house, an acoustic signal sounds to indicate windows that are still open
- front and back doors are locked when leaving the house
- the christmas lights in the garden switch on automatically at sunset and off again at sunrise
- the bedside lamp shines just bright enough for comfortable reading
- at night the lamp provides just enough light to find the way to the toilet or fridge without being dazzled or disturbing other family members
- the light switches off automatically every morning when the children go to school
- smart lamps compensate for sinking daylight in the room by increasing the lighting level (e.g. at sunset or during heavy cloud cover)
- Household appliances such as washing machine, dryer or dishwasher automatically report that they are finished
- the shutters go down at sunset, up at sunrise
- if a window is open and it starts raining, the roller shutter is lowered to prevent from raining in
- when the doorbell rings, the TV program is interrupted, a picture of the outdoor camera appears
- even when the phone rings, the TV program is muted and an info box with the name of the caller pops up
- the vacuum robot should do its work when nobody is at home
- when entering a room, the favourite music or radio station is played
- if you leave the TV during the commercial break for going to the restroom, the sound of the current TV program is also played there to be ready in time
- the child’s instrument is used as an audio source that can be played over the entire ceiling speakers in your home
- a “party” scene creates an ambience with lighting of the most important decorative elements and an individual playlist
- a “movie night” scene rolls down the shutters, dims the lighting to 50%, extends the screen, starts beamer and sound system
- when the film starts, the lighting is dimmed gently to 0
- the children’s TV is limited in volume, program selection and usage times
- the children are reminded to go to bed by push notifications on the iPad and asked to turn off the TV - the lights in the room flash as a warning before the TVs turn off automatically 10 minutes later
- notification when the front door is open for more than five minutes
- the security system is disabled temporarily when the cat flap is used and a cat is detected
- the lighting (also shower) flashes three times, when opening an outside door
- presence simulation, which makes the house appear occupied
- temporary “guest key” to open guests the house and inform about their arrival
- a timer closes the garage door if it remains open for more than 10 minutes and the motion sensor does not detect any motion in the garage
- driveway motion sensor - when motion is detected, the cameras return to the home position and start recording, the outdoor lighting is switched on
- the outer doors lock three minutes after closing the garage door when you go to work
- when opening the back door to the garage, the interior lighting of the garage is switched on if the natural lighting is below 50%
- a sensor in the mailbox notifies the smarthome when mail is delivered, “You have mail” is played throughout the house via the audio system, a push notification is given and a lamp at the entrance signals the level
- notification of a problematic event, such as a pipe leak in the boiler room, smoke detector alert
- a notification reminds to put out the correct dustbin
- when the children come home from school there is a notification
- if the liquor cabinet is opened there is a notification
- there is also a notification when movement is detected in a particular room (e.g. your home office or the wine cellar)
- the shift times are maintained in the calendar, which are automatically used by the alarm clock to adjust the alarm time accordingly
- in addition, the alarm clock not only wakes you up with music, but also raises the shutters or opens the curtains for an appropriate period of time
- but if it is dark outside, the sunrise is simulated with RGB lamps
- notification when it is time to take medication
- reminder messages for maintenance work (HVAC filter, central vacuum annual filter, blade change on mowing robot, …)
- a keypad on the wall allows starting music streaming or your favourite TV channel in the kitchen when you arrive home
- blinds and curtains open and close according to the position of the sun and occupancy of the house
- the heating switches off automatically when everyone goes to work in the morning
- the energy management system continuously monitors the current energy production of the solar modules
- the energy consumption of the entire house is measured circuit by circuit
- the lawn irrigation reacts to weather conditions
- the mowing robot pauses at weekends, on public holidays or in bad weather