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Life-Changing Home Automation Ideas

LenaH July 30, 2021

Do you know anyone who actually enjoys cleaning their home thoroughly? And we’re not talking about happily looking over the spotless kitchen and neat living room after they’ve been cleaned, but the actual cleaning process. We’ve come up with so many cool gadgets and machines to help ease this task, and people have been relying on smart technology to keep their homes clean for quite some time now. Luckily for everyone, smart home devices are becoming more common and affordable each season. We’ve taken it upon ourselves to pinpoint some that will change your life for the better. 

A smart thermostat

Installing a smart thermostat is how your smart home automation journey should start. First things first – you want your home to be cool in the summer and warm in the winter without your electricity bill going through the roof. You might be happy with how the HVAC system cools and heats your home, but what if you can actually make it better? A smart thermostat will improve it because there are certain models that will learn both your heating and cooling preferences and automatically adjust the temperature. What is more, some models will even memorize your habits and work around your schedule to keep the temperature in your home exactly how you like it while saving you money (HVAC won’t work unless you’re home, for example). 

Detectors for smoke and carbon monoxide

It pretty much goes without saying these days that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are a must-have in every home. They are so important that there are many insurance companies that require homeowners to have them. The best thing about these alarms is that there are models which will immediately send a push notification on your smartphone when the time comes for you to replace the batteries. This means that there aren’t any boring and aggravating beeps that make you wish you can rip the alarm off the ceiling. In addition to this, many models can also alert not just your smartphone about the potential danger but also the local fire department in case they detect high levels of carbon monoxide or smoke. 

Game-changing lights

LED lights for homes are becoming increasingly popular for several reasons:  they don’t use as much energy, they don’t waste heat, and best of all, they last far, far longer than their counterparts – incandescent and CFL light bulbs. When we think about just how affordable they’ve become over the past decade, it’s no wonder people choose to exclusively use LED lights in their homes. What makes it all better is the fact that you can connect and program the lights in your home, making it perfectly effortless to set up a lighting schedule for your family. This means that you can set the lights to dim when it’s close to bedtime for your kids or make them brighter while you’re having your meals. It’s up to you to choose when, where, and how to light any room in your home. Setting a schedule means that any unused lights will be turned off, thus saving you money and energy even further. 

Motorized blinds and curtains

While these might seem like a luxury to some, motorized blinds and electric curtains are game-changers in any household that are going to make your life easier. They are, quite understandably, quickly gaining in popularity. Once you start using them, you’ll ask yourself how you could have gone so long without them. Installing modern remote control blinds means that you will be able to open and close them without having to get up from your bed, the couch, or your work desk. Not just that, but you will even be able to program them to open and close automatically at chosen times without having to do any work at all. Imagine sleeping through the morning without having to draw the curtains to keep the heat out in your room or the children’s room, or having the perfect amount of natural light in your study without having to interrupt that important call. 

Connect your speakers to different devices

While these will not save you money in the long run, they will save you plenty of time and make your life much easier down the road. If you’re bored of the sound glitching any time you try to stream music or play a movie, connecting your speakers to multimedia devices will save you. This all starts with you syncing up your game systems, TV, and stereo with your speakers. If you have kids, you naturally want them to go to bed on time and not stay up too late. This can easily be done by creating and setting up a schedule that will automatically turn off these devices at certain times at night which will ensure that the kids don’t stay up too late. 

Get a smart speaker for your kitchen

It seems that in a great number of households, kitchens are natural gathering places that somehow draw everyone together. This is what makes it the perfect place for a smart speaker, a handy little device that allows you to operate and control other smart devices in your home using nothing but your voice. If you discover that you’re running out of milk or sugar while you’re in the middle of preparing a meal, simply exclaim a command for your speaker to add the said items to your shopping list. Besides this handy command, smart speakers can play music, check the weather for you, make phone calls, set timers, and answer your questions too. There are many different models of smart speakers available on the market, and you might need to do a bit of research before you pick the one that will suit you best. 

Take home security seriously

This is one of the first home automation upgrades that people choose for their homes because they take their safety very seriously. This means that, in addition to having smart technology that will make your life easier, you will keep your home protected and your family and possessions safe. The main idea behind these smart systems is that you will get an alert immediately when something goes amiss in your home without you being there. Motions sensors are working all the time, but you can also add location-specific triggers to let the system know when you’re home and when you’re away. When you’re not in, and movement inside your home will trigger your alarm. A lot of systems also rely on geofencing – not only will you be able to get notifications when you’re away, but being close to home can automatically open your garage or your back door. 

Home automation devices for pets

Who says that only you can enjoy the benefits of home automation? If you have pets, you naturally want them to be happy, safe, and comfy too, and you can pick some handy devices designed just for them. For example, you can easily connect a food dispenser to make sure they always get fed exactly on time and exactly the right amount. This is perfect for pets who should watch their weight and owners who feel anxious because they often get stuck in traffic. Also, if you have a pet door, you can set up a specific schedule that will lock and unlock them at certain times, which will help keep unwanted critters away. No more raccoons or stray dogs taking advantage of your pet door and entering your home in the middle of the night looking for food – once your pet is safely inside, the pet door gets locked. It stays that way until the following morning (or any other time you choose). 

Next-level lawn watering

We all know the struggle of keeping our lawns watered and healthy in the scorching heat, which is why automated lawn watering is a thing. Not only is it too exhausting to do it during the warmest months, but having to move the sprinkles every fifteen minutes or so is frustrating and boring. Watering the yard can easily be automated so you can relax and enjoy some free time on your porch or in your cool living room instead of wrestling with a water hose. Suppose you have a vast property and spacious yard – in that case, we recommend you look into smart irrigation systems. Still, if your yard is on a smaller side, a simple battery-operated timer will do the trick too. The best thing is that such systems can be used over several summers, so you don’t have to re-install them every year. 

Before you rush out and buy every single thing we placed on this list, it’s a good idea to take a moment and come up with a plan. You don’t have to buy everything in bulk just so you can sit back and never lift a finger in your home again. Instead, start slowly, buy a piece for every room in the house or a couple of pieces to make the most tedious tasks more manageable. By gradually expanding your collection of innovative technology, you will be saving time and energy, and in the long run, money too.

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