Home automation makes your life easier in so many ways and the possibilities are simply endless. Whether you want lights to come on when you walk in the door or your house to be warm when you arrive after work, you can have these things and so much more. Home automation is only limited by your imagination. Here are some great ideas that you can incorporate into your home.

Home Security

• * Imagine you are sitting down watching a TV program and the doorbell rings. You can have an image from your surveillance camera appear on your TV (after pausing the show you are watching). If it is dark outside (nighttime), lights can automatically be turned on when the doorbell rings.

• * Have the lights programmed in your home to flash three times when one of your exterior doors open. This is great for when you are in the shower too.

• * Create a built-in alert to be notified if the front door is left open for more than five minutes or if your front gate is open for more than ten minutes.

• * Access your security video feed from any location, remotely, using your smartphone. This way, you can check out your home while you are on vacation whether that is an hour away or across the world.

• * Program surveillance cameras to stream security video to certain screens when you instruct them to.

• * Set up automated lighting that makes your home appear occupied when you are not at home or away for an extended period.

• * When you are away from your home but want to give someone access to it, you can create a temporary access code that they can input into the home’s smart locks which will notify you of their arrival.

• * Set up security cameras to send you a text when they detect motion around your home.

• * If your home has a security breach, you can program your smart system to turn on every light inside of the home, lock the front door and, open all the shades and display the views from all surveillance cameras on the TVs in the home.

Video and Home Theater

• * Press a single button to have your TV lower from a motorized cabinet in the ceiling. The stereo speakers tilt down, and the surround sound system activates with the lights dimming and the shades closing at the same time.

• * Program your lights to turn up by 30% when you press pause on your TV remote.

• * Have the exterior doors to your home automatically lock when you start to watch a movie.

• * When you press play on your remote the lights in the home dim over the next ten seconds.

• * Have a volume present on a child’s TV that cannot be made louder.

• * Remote finder function – set a function where when you tap a light switch three times the remote starts to beep so that you can find it.

• * Have your TV automatically turn on to your favourite channel when you arrive home from work.

• * Program children’s devices to turn off their screens at a certain time. Have the program flash the bedroom lights as a warning 10 minutes prior to turning off all screens.

Lighting

• * As soon as the garage door opens the outdoor lights that lead to your front door and inside of your home turn on so that you can find your way inside.

• * The press of a single button turns on all the lights in that room instead of a single light.

• * When your doorbell rings, the lights flash in the garage.

• * When motion is sensed at night the lights turn on to 15% so that you can see where you are walking – i.e., to the bathroom without being blinded.

• * Have an “all-off” button that turns off all the light for your entire home.

• * Motion sensors turn off all the lights in a room when no motion is sensed in that room for a period.

• * Lights are automatically turned off every morning when everyone leaves the house for school and work.

• * Bedside lamps are set at a level at bedtime so that one can read and then they shut off automatically with a quick touch.

• * Automatic landscape lighting turns on at sunset and off at sunrise.

Music

• * Tap a button on a keypad to activate a music zone. Each family member can have an assigned colour for their favourite playlist or music settings.

• * Double tap the volume button to turn off the music in an audio zone.

• * Have the music turn on automatically when you turn on the shower light.

• * Have music streaming to each room in your home and have a keypad in place in every room.

• * Install a touchscreen behind a wall mount that is waterproof in your show that you can use to control the music.

• * Have “his” and “her” music settings. These can be programmed to correspond with certain zones at certain times of the day.

Entertainment

• * Create ambiance at the touch of a button with lower lighting and a customized playlist that begins once the music is started.

• * Add microphones around the house audio system so that you can broadcast a presentation throughout your house.

• * If you run out of ice, you can have your iPad communicate with your freezer so that it will speed up ice production.

Alerts and Notifications

• * Receive a text alert if your garage door is left open.

• * Receive a text notification when your kids are home from school.

• * Get a notification if someone opens the liquor cabinet.

• * Receive a text notification when you need to take your medication.

• * Get reminders when it is time to take out the trash or recycling.

• * Receive a notification on your smartphone if motion is detected in a certain room like your home office.

The possibilities of automation are endless when it comes to your home. You can have any type of automation added from the simplest to the most luxurious. You are only limited by your imagination because if you can think of it, there is a way to automate it. Older homes can be automated, but it is much easier to customize a new home as it is being constructed.