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You have probably heard the term “smart home”.  So what is a smart home?

Although almost everyone I talk to has a different definition of a smart home, I’m going to tackle this loaded question.

In this article you’ll learn:

• My definition of a smart home

• The minimum smart home set up

• An ideal smart home set up

What is a Smart Home?

My definition of a smart home may be different from others, but I believe:

 A smart home is a group of connected devices (including a smart speaker) working together to simplify your life.

Boom!  That’s my definition.

Maybe this is a broad definition, but I believe you should create a smart home based on what you want.

This definition means your smart home could simply include a few Amazon Alexa speakers.  I realize many trolls would say this isn’t a smart home, but I disagree.

Remember the point of a smart home is to make your life simpler.  If you try to create a smart home and it becomes frustrating because nothing works, then it’s no longer a smart home.  

It’s just a time-consuming, frustrating, expensive project.

However, a smart home may mean that you have several smart home devices that are connected together.  Your devices may be programmed to respond to your voice, motion sensors, or time.  

This is the beauty of home automation — you decide how bold you want to create your smart home!

Minimum Smart Home Set Up

Again, I believe you can set up a smart home with just a few Amazon Alexa devices (my preference) or Google Assistants.

If you purchase just two Alexa devices, here are a few of the possibilities:

• Turn your devices into a PA system

• Use your devices as an intercom system

• Turn your devices into “guard mode” when you’re away

• Create commands to have Alexa respond to you

• Stream music on devices or groups

• Set reminders

• Connect your calendar and have Alexa remind you of appointments

• Make phone calls

• Utilize skills to create a morning or nighttime routines

This set up may be simple, but adding a few Alexa devices to your home is powerful!

Advanced Smart Home

If you want more out of a smart home than just Alexa devices, your options are endless.  

Let’s take a look at some additional devices you can purchase to take your smart home to the next level.

Routines

Prior to purchasing additional devices, I suggest you learn how to program routines on your Alexa app.

A routine is an if/then statement.  So if this happens: motion detected, voice response, time, etc — then this happens: music plays, lights turn on, or temperature increases.

The incredible thing about routines is you can program different devices to work with each other.  So you could have Wyze lights work with Ring motion sensors.  

Once you understand routines, your smart home becomes a brilliant home.

 Smart Lights/Switches

Smart lights and switches are usually the next step to upgrading your smart home.  

Smart lighting is a great feature.  Once you set up your lights you can use your voice to turn on or off the lights.  You can create groups to control lights in different parts of the house like your bedroom, kitchen, or family room.

You can also create routines to have your lights turn on or off at certain times.  Or you can create a routine so your lights dim when you say, “Alexa, it’s movie night.”  

Favorite Routine: Having the lights come on in my office when I say, “Alexa, good morning.”

Motion Sensors

Motion sensors are another great addition to your smart home.

These sensors can be used to:

• Turn off lights if there is no motion in a room

• Turn on lights when there is motion

• Let you know if a door is open or closed in your house

• Alert you if a child is up in the middle of the night

• Let you know if you shut your garage door

• Play pranks on your spouse

 Favorite Routine: Using the Wyze motion detectors to let me know if the garage door is up or down.

 Alarm System/Doorbell

After we purchased Alexa, we started adding Ring Doorbells and Alarm system to our house.

The doorbell and flood lights are connected to our Alexa devices.  When the doorbell rings, Alexa notifies us that someone is at the front the door and then shows a live feed of the front door.  

Our ring alarm is also connected to Alexa, so we feel pretty safe when we’re away or sleeping!

Favorite Routine: At night, if someone were to approach our porch then a light in our front room would automatically turn on and Alexa in my bedroom would notify me.  

Thermostat

A smart thermostat is probably the one thing that will save you money over time.  

The nice thing about a smart thermostat is you can automatically have the temperature adjust automatically depending on the time.  

You can also have the temperature increase or decrease by creating a routine that monitors the GPS on your phone.  For example, if you leave the house then you can create a routine that increases or decreases the temperature.  You could also create an additional routine that changes the temperature depending on how close you are to your home.

Favorite Routine: The ability to adjust the temperature so it’s perfect when I get home.

Other Devices

The devices above are your main smart home devices, but there are many more.  Here are just a few of the other smart home devices available:

• TV

• Scales

• Sleep pads

• Flood detectors

• Smart home panels

• Cameras

No matter how you decide to create your smart home, the purpose is to help simplify your life.  So have fun with it and don’t let your smart home become point of stress.  

If you’re looking to start your smart home journey or expand your smart home, make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter and subscribe to our podcast.