Smart Home Automation Ideas

Smart home automation ideas can be challenging with so many options out there from Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Homekit, Smartthings, Wink, and more. I'll run you though some of the best smart home ideas and rules that I've discovered, which can help save you time, money, and energy.

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Audio file(s) provided by Epidemic Sound

[stevec.]

I know this is an older video and you've probably been told this a million times already, but I strongly recommend that you look at something like Home Assistant rather than relying on Smart Things or IFTTT and the like. Put the control of your devices in your hands, rather than relying on cloud services. Remember, the cloud is just someone elses' computer.

[stevecohen]

Matt, I want to let you know that I really enjoyed this video that you made, but I wanted to bring up another VERY import (at least I think so) angle or use to all of these smart home devices.
The ability to help a disabled or special needs person live and lead a more normal or independent life.
I have a 14-year-old son who is confined to a wheelchair due to Cerebral Palsy, before I started introducing these smart devices into our house it was very difficult for him to do things for himself and he was count on my wife and myself to do basic things for him like turn on or off a light in a room, watch TV, change the input to the TV to play a video game and many other things.
Since adding devices like Alexa, Harmony remote, Phillips Hue Lights and others he has become a lot more self-reliant and can take live a "normal/independent" life.
The next thing I am working on for him is automated or voice controlled blinds so he can rotate the verticle blinds in his room to let in more light or less depending on the time of day and the cloud conditions.
I think that this angle or use of these smart devices is very over-looked and most people use them for convenience or budget saving as you stated in the video.
This may make a good or insightful video for other people with special needs.

[alliejr]

Love the video, but please _STOP_ saying "Alexa" out loud!!! :-)

[dad]

Love your videos!
Just discovered your channel while researching Tesla model 3.
You keep things simple, get to the point and are technically on-point.
Thank you for the effort and keep it up!

[refusoagaino]

Auto light switches are a passion of mine too. I only use the light and motion detecting switches, which have to be placed properly. Some areas won't work and a lot of experimenting is needed, but when you get one right it's wonderful. Lights only when needed, you never touch a switch and have both arms and hands for other things.

[davidahart]

Thanks for the video, I'm physically challenged, I recently got the amazon Echo dot 3 and have been adding smart plugs and smart switches to help make it safer around the house.

[carprincess]

Thanks for taking the time to make this video. You've probably saved a lot of people time and money.

[tbhinteractieve]

I have a running home assistant setup. Pretty great, and very stable! The up side is that I don't have to use cloud options, everything is at home

[VincentGonz]

Smart homes definitely save money. My wife loves having scents in the house but running them 24 hours waste money. We now attach them to a smart plug to only turn on when we're in the house. We have saved TONS of cash! Simple change saved us hundreds over the years.

[baronzemo]

Great video. Smart home product reviews are fun but it's nice to see content like this describing actual use cases and rules for making the products add to your life rather than being just a cool gadget.

[ShaneCreates]

Great video. I'm still fairly new to building my smart home but I'm slowly adding to it, and making videos as I do also. My goal is to have everything work with homekit. I like your points on keeping it simple and having fun!

[deimoslyric]

How did you set up the light to go off when the washer or dryer are done? I can't tell you how many times I have had to rewash the same load of laundry more than once, so this actually would be incredibly helpful for me

[ModernDayTech]

computer: RED ALERT !! lol


Great video dude. The new Smartthings GPS tracker I just reviewed can trigger your automation's based on your Tesla location if you put one in it. You can even hardwire it in so you don't have to charge up the battery every few days. Right now though you can only setup two geofences to trigger actions but I can see things improving. Great job on the video lots of great advice that I've been following myself for years.

[gcbeegle]

This should be a must watch video for anyone purchasing Smart Home tech. I believe that you provide strategic advice.

Just bought a house and wanted to go hog wild but I believe after watching this, I can adopt a better strategy. I love the add on based off what you would like to do.

Thank you!

[jackarentphotography]

Maybe a research idea that would be cool is to see if it’s possible to have a Phillips bulb pulse if someone is calling you on the echo show, especially for the hearing impaired. Just thought I would throw that idea out there. Great production.

[cureious]

I LOVE your delivery of information - you make it fun to listen to a whole new language (for me tech stuff is a foreign language). Also, your information is simple and easy to comprehend. Thanks for doing these videos!

[JonathanRootD]

Apple called, they want that walled garden back...

[rugzgoodman]

you really been real helpful on my road to making my house smart

[Halbmond]

I have Hue lights in every room (I’ve replaced LIFX long ago and just replaced my Osram Lightify lights with more Hue), and three ways of controlling them: main control are Hue dimmers in three of my rooms, additional controls are Alexa and Siri. I didn’t go with integrated light switches because there are very few available in Germany, they are much more expensive, and I have no idea which of them would even be compatible. A Hue dimmer is €20, can be installed *anywhere*, and really works perfectly – including scenes and dimming functionality! I also have Hue motion sensors in the bathroom and hallway. Hue is amazing!

[wzk]

I’d like a full how to and break down of as much as possible of each eco system