My TOP 3 Smart Home Automations! (Super Easy Setup!)

These are my 3 favorite smart home automations that I have used every day for years. They are super easy to setup, but so very useful!

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SUBMIT YOUR AUTOMATIONS!
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I'll want to showcase YOUR unique HomeKit automations in a future video. Here's how to submit yours:

1. video footage of your automation(16:9 horizontal).
2. Provide a detailed explanation or your automation and accessories used.

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SOCIAL
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🎥 RECOMMENDED
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▶ HomeKit 101 Playlist: Getting Started

▶ Ultimate Smart Home Tour

▶ Lutron Serena Roller Shades

▶ I made ALL my blinds SMART!!

▶ Use Lutron Pico Remotes in HomeKit! (Homebridge Required)

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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Chapters
1:13 Sponsor - Trend Micro
2:14 Keep It Simple
2:41 Useful Automation Triggers
3:23 Time of Day Automations
4:36 Location Automations
6:30 Alarm (Personal) Automations
8:27 Submit YOUR Automations!

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#HomeAutomation #SmartHome #AppleHome #trendmicro #premiumsecuritysuite #cybersecurity #antivirus

[ShaneCreates]

I want to showcase YOUR unique automations in a future video! Here's how to submit yours (please only HomeKit automations):

1. video footage/link of your automation in action (16:9 horizontal video).
2. Provide a detailed explanation or your automation and accessories used.


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[cnyphotovideo]

Automations are incredibly useful for someone like me who is disabled, and uses a wheelchair. The one automation I have through HomeKit is lights coming on when I arrive home after sunset. Makes it feel much safer to arrive after dark. I also have through the Lutron app my Patio lights go on 50% from midnight till about five in the morning. And my driveway lights are on 50% just about that. Same schedule. Lighting is a great way to bump up the feeling of home security for everyone.

[rsaylor]

I haven't made the switch yet from Echo to Home Pod, But one automation I love is through Home Assistant. I have a Sense Power monitor and anytime the Stove is on for more than 45 minutes I get an announcement on all my Echo's that the stove is on. I also have announcements for when the dishwasher turns off and the dryer turns off. Another automation that you pointed out was the lights on at sunset. I really like that one and have been using it since I started getting serious about having a smart home. Since around October I've only been adding HomeKit compatible devices.

[brianmiller]

Shane, great tips! I use ones very much like those in my house too. One other one I have set up is for my Roomba and Braava. I run them overnight and found they worked better with light, but had to keep lights on all night for them. I connected them to my Homebridge and now have an automation that turns on certain lights when they start their job and then turns them off when they finish. No more leaving lights on all night.

[generationgeek]

My main ones are very similar (a morning one where my switchbot turns on my espresso machine to preheat it, lights turn on at night, bathroom nightlight on after bedtime, etc.) but I switched from the away/home lights to motion sensing and/or the door unlocking because a lot of the times when I ‘leave’ I’m just running out to get mail or similar and don’t need anything to change. My fave right now requires HomeBridge (but might not if Govee updates their products) - it’s a trigger for when I turn on my Roku to turn on the TV’s ambient lighting. I recently got some NFC tags and am going to see how I can incorporate them into my setup, and try and see if I can get the Broadlink box to control my RF blinds!

[no-budhee]

I recently set one up for our thermostat. With hybrid work schedules, my wife and I might go into the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays but not all the time so I don’t want to set a schedule to be away those days on our ecobee. I made an automation to turn the thermostat in away mode during those days when the last person leaves around the time we normally leave for the office. The trick is to make a schedule during office hours on the tstat and set it to the normal at home temperature, but have it start just before the automation time. That allows the TStat to return to normal automatically in the next at home schedule, which we have set tor 5pm. Also, in case we get home early, I have a secondary automation to resume normal schedule on the TStat.

[IskandarM_]

Caught your incoming message in one of your screen recordings 😂
Time to start using Focus Mode. Very very useful for me. I have a Personal Focus where everything is silenced except for messages from 3 of my favorite people. Useful when one or more chat groups start to get noisy. I use Sleep and Driving Focus as well with different configurations.

[UnusualAttitudes]

Thanks for another great video, Shane; I’m actually changing my early morning automaton form a static one to a personal automaton based on my alarm, as you suggested.

I’ve been really frustrated with the unreliability of automatons since iOS 16 launched- my outdoor smart LED lights come on with different colors, regardless of how I have them programmed, etc. I was waiting on ‘the new architecture Home they pulled it, as you know better than anyone.

[mattsnyder]

I’ve found the best kind of automations to be “pairing” different accessories together.

For example, my entry or mud room lights turn on every time the garage door or front door unlock.

Or when I open a window, I want the HVAC to turn off.

There are TONS of these little things where you’re always doing something at the same time as another thing. I’ve found them to be by far the most “natural” automations. Doesn’t feel like your house is controlling itself. You just all the sudden never have to take your boots off in a dark room.

[gregg]

I use two of the three you featured:

I have automations that turn off a light at sunrise. I often wake up before sunrise, turn on a light and then it gets left on. So now I have an automation that kicks it off if I forget. So handy.

I also use a time automation to turn air purifier on or off each day.

Then I use location automations to turn off that air purifier (and Christmas lights as well), if everyone has left the house. And turn back on when someone comes home. It works really well!! I love it.

[saugustineosabi]

I also have outdoor lights set to come on automatically at sunset and go out at sunrise. In addition my Yale assure lock automatically opens whenever I return home and above all notifies me if front door is not closed. Let’s hope our Schlage encode plus will have a door ajar sensor one day . Thanks for sharing

[aajhiggs]

At 3am every day, I have HomeKit reset the volume on my Sonos speakers to a low value so they don’t blast whoever uses them first thing in the morning. So much value in one tiny simple change! I also have a energy saving “clean up” that runs at the same time, it turns off any lights in the laundry and bathrooms that have been left on accidentally during the day as those lower traffic rooms just seem to experience the problem more than others.

[stephenl]

Shane, awesome as usual! I am trying to find a way to easily toggle an automation on or off. I have an automation that sends me a critical-level text through the Contoller app if a vehicle is on my driveway during the night. (I bought the Controller app after watching one of your videos, and love it) I don't always want that on for various reasons.Right now I have my automation check the power status of a dummy plug to determine if it should run. I realized that if I could easily toggle the automation on or off I would not need the dummy plug logic. I created 2 widgets from a Contoller app workflow to turn the automation on and off, but would prefer something inside the Homekit app. Have you tackled that one yet? Stephen.

[Polkster]

Love the video. Looking forward to your video showcasing other people automations and what they have devised.

I'm not too sure about leaving lights on all night as that adds to light pollution at night. I use motion sensors and if motion is detected at night, the outdoor lights come on for a predetermined amount of time and then turn off. I also have outdoor cameras to record any motion events at night. Love seeing all of the wildlife that visit my yard at night.

I use a personal automation when my alarm is turned off. It turns off white noise on my HPM, sets ceiling fan speed down to 25%, turns on the ceiling lights to 35% (so I'm not blinded), and gives me a run down of my day including today's weather and what is on my personal and work calendars. If I have an event on my work calendar, it tells who it is and how long it will take to drive to their house.


I have contact sensors on my closet doors and my attic ladder door. When the door is opened, I have a scene that turns on the closet ceiling light/attic lights. When the door is closed, the lights turn off. I am using Lutron Caseta light switches and Aqara Contact sensors.

I have motion sensors on my front porch, by garage door, in my Laundry room, Shop Storage room, Guest Bathroom, and Master Bathroom. At night, if motion is detected outside, the appropriate lights are turned on for 10 minutes and then they turn back off. Inside, if motion is detected during the day, lights turn on in my interior rooms for 10 minutes.

At Sunset, if people are home, I have lights turn on in Living room to a certain level and then later during the evening I have them dim down until we go to bed. Then when I plug in my iPhone to charge (if it is at a certain time at night), I run my goodnight scene which turns off all of my lights except for my night lights.

In the morning when my wife gets up and turns off her alarm, the outside lights by the garage and exterior door turn on. After sunrise, these lights get turned off. This way she can see to get to her car to go to work.

These are just a few of the automations we have that we use each day.

[jamiemorphy]

Two Favorites, one I just set up, used and Aquara Door sensor to turn on a closet light when the door is opened. It triggers a smart led light strip so that it comes on when open, and off when closed as the light often got left on and went un-noticed until main lights were shut off at night. Also, the led Lightstrip allows lighting lower in the closet which makes finding shoes in that closet easier. Second favorite is outside lights coming on via location (within 200 feet of house) when arriving home if no outside lights are already on at time.

[willmitchell]

Another great video - thanks !
I have our outside lights to automatically come on when we come home based on anytime between sunrise and sunset then go off after 5 minutes.
Additionally, we have a nightlight in the hall that changes to 100% brightness from the separate motion sensor, then returns to nightlight 5% mode after no motion sensed.
All work perfectly. 🙂

[christopherretford]

Another great video Shane. I think the you hit the nail on the head when you say “keep the automations simple”. The main problem I find with having a family is making sure automations are intuitive enough for everyone. Therefore right now I have sensors in every room that turn the lights on and off with presence. I am working on a small project to turn the shades when someone walks down the drive based on my Eufy camera because Mail men etc walk passed my window to deliver Mail, peer inside and start talking through the window which is annoying when I’m on the phone

[chrisjamesbehan]

Love the snoozing alarm - to set the morning scene. Hadn't thought of that! I use Flics in two ways:

1. Inside the front door
- 1-click = Hallway light on/off (using IF statement)
- 2-click = Welcome Home scene (using IF statements for time of day)
- hold-click = Leave Home scene

2. By the bed
- 1-click = Nightlight on/off (using IF statement - also turns off ceiling lights)
- 2-click = Morning scene (using IF statements for time of day)
- hold-click = Goodnight scene


I've tried to design the buttons to perform as expected by someone like my Mum, so 1-click is always on/off for one particular light fixture. Smart is great, Mum-proof is best!

[ahgflyguy]

I have an automation that will tell me when any of a few critical sensors go non-responsive. These sensors monitor my garage door and some leak sensors. It takes a bit to set these up, but it’s very useful to know that if I haven’t gotten the notification that a critical sensor is offline, then it is online.

[HughD]

Good video, Shane. I also have light-related automations based on the sunset/sunrise times, but also use the light sensor in the Eve motion detector that I placed in my sunroom. I've found that sunrise/sunset automations aren't so good when it's overcast outside as it is darker than it would be if the sky was clear. I watched the darkness and the light sensor level on my Eve and found that when it drops below 200 lux, just go ahead and execute an automation/scene (evening lights scene) to turn on my porch and driveway lights and also turn on a few interior lights.