Smart home automationisthe ultimate life hack, in my humble opinion.
In a lot of cases,the smart home tech you need above all is a sensor.
In some cases, like the Nest thermostat, they only measure temperature.
But consider using them as triggers for more passive things, like bathroom lights.
Add a vibration sensor to a backyard fence to test whether a pet is trying to break out.
see to it your pet ate their food by attaching one to the underside of the food bowl.
Place one in a space with items you don’t want kids to get into.
Use cases:If someone passes into the hallway, turn on a light.
If someone moves past a door, send an alert.
If a pet enters a space, play a sound.
If someone enters the garage after 8pm, send an alarm.
Check for rodents in a basement or garage.
Imagine sitting and reading a book in your living room, or just sitting quietly at a table.
Turn on wifi when people are present in a business, but turn it off when they’re not.
Most air quality sensors also measure temperature and humidity.
Use cases:These are mostly popular in short-term rentals to alert owners to loud visitors.
They can also alert to crying children.
Since these usually come in the form of smoke detectors, they occasionally also monitor carbon monoxide.
(And they’re certainly easier to turn off.)
Use cases:You’ll use these as smoke detectors.
As such, these sensors can give a fairly accurate measurement of CO2.
Otherwise, send alerts or make calls.
Use it facing a window to sense when your curtains should open or close.
Usually they have the capability to shut down the line if such a leak is detected.
An email to the plumber asking for an appointment could be automated, for example.
There are also entire circuit boxes that do this.
If they detect any weird usage, they alert you.
This data is interpreted to tell the user how moist the soil actually is.
This can also be true inside for a smart indoor watering system.
That time is affected by wind acceleration, and the comparison between the two helps determine wind direction.
Use cases:As with all other weather sensors, the agricultural uses are the most obvious.
Even at home, high wind can mean an alert is sent to lower outdoor umbrellas, for example.
Many of us already have these on our car windshields.
Use cases:Buttons can do absolutely anything, and that’s really the beauty of them.
Use them as a blank slate for any set of actions you want.
Buttons can also be stuck to the wall to imitate a wall switch.
A sleep tracking mat will track snoring, heart rate, and weight to alert to sleep cycle changes.
In broader use, monitoring babies or sick or frail adults are ideal use cases.
Consider that a baby that wakes up can trigger a bottle heater elsewhere in the house, for example.
You’ll see these in implementations like smart shelves.
Use cases:The reasonAmazon invented these smart shelveswas to make reordering smoother.
Use one for drinks, and it’ll automatically reorder them when enough weight is removed.
Consider activating your alarms and all security cameras when they’re triggered.
