21 Amazing Automation Ideas to Supercharge Your Home

Home automation doesn’t have to feel daunting. Here's 21 ideas to make life at little easier at home.

Smart Lighting Ideas

1. Turn off lights automatically each morning when kids leave for school.
2. Motion sensors in critical areas can signal the automation system to switch off lights when a room has been vacant for some time.
3. If the natural light in the room is less than 50%, lights adjust to 50%. If natural light is less than 40%, lights increase to 60%, and so on. This helps for when the shades are drawn, or on a cloudy day in the middle of summer.

Smart Audio Ideas

1. Create a “Music” scene, which sets the lights at 30% and volume at your preferred level – perfect for late-night focus while working on a project.
2. Install a touch screen behind a waterproof wall mount in your shower to control music streaming in the shower.
3. Program your own “His and Her” audio settings. With a Control4 System, you can time each to correspond with the time of day, designated keypad buttons, or audio zones.

Home Theater Automation Ideas

1. Automatically lock your home’s front and rear doors when a movie begins.
2. When you press pause, bring the lights up by 30%.
3. A “Good Night” scene, which provides a push notification on your kids’ iPad to turn off their TVs. The lights in each bedroom flash as a warning, and 10 minutes later, the TVs switch off automatically.

Smart Security Ideas

1. If there’s a security breach, program every light in the house to illuminate to 100%. Simultaneously, the front door automatically locks, the motorized shades open, and every TV displays views from all surveillance cameras.
2. Automate your bedroom touch screen to see who’s at the door when the bell rings from your front door or gate intercom.
3. Watching TV when someone rings the doorbell? Have an image from the surveillance camera appear on any TV that happens to be on, pausing the TV show or movie for 15 seconds.

Climate Control Ideas

1. “Wakeup” scene that opens the curtains, gradually raises lighting over five minutes and sets the temperature to your preferred level.
2. Program shades and drapes to open and close automatically based on the position of the sun and home occupancy.
3. An “Exercise” scene that lowers the temperature for a workout, even turning a TV to a favorite station or starting a customized music playlist.



Energy-Saving Automation Ideas

1. Set sprinklers and lawn systems to respond automatically to weather conditions (so you’re not watering the lawn on rainy days).
2. Implement an energy management system that continually monitors the current energy production of your home’s solar panels.
3. Measure your entire home’s energy consumption, circuit by circuit, automatically with your home automation system.



Voice Control Ideas

1. “Hey Google, good morning” brings lights up gradually, starts a mellow playlist, turns on kitchen lights. Now you’re ready to start the day!
2. “Alexa, turn on party time” drops disco ball from the ceiling, starts up LED color changing lights, turns your favorite party playlist up at max volume.
3. Queue the movie, even when the remote is lost in the couch cushions. A voice command can start up the Blu-ray player, dim the lights to 30%, draw the shades, and set the perfect ambiance for enjoying movies!

Select content sourced from Control4.com

Conclusion

There you have it! There's 21 of our favorite home automation ideas to inspire you. This list is only cracking the surface of what's possible with home automation. If you are looking to build a new construction home or thinking of starting a home renovation project, don't hesitate to reach out to us at Evolved Habitat. From design, to installation and through to education, we are ready to help you with all your smart home automation and home security needs.

And now it's your turn! What are you favorite home automation tips and tricks? Let us know in the comments section below.