Smart speakers have done a fantastic job of introducing consumers to the smart home concept. But so many smart speaker owners never get beyond the ability to play music or turn lights on and off with their voices. Those things are nice – and perhaps even a little fun as well – but the real power of home automation lies in creating routines.
If you stop and think about it, it is in the name. Home automation is about automating things to make a home more comfortable, more efficient, and more secure. But where is the automation if routines aren’t being used?
Routines by Any Other Name
So what is a home automation routine? It is a set of instructions designed to accomplish something under a certain set of circumstances. Yahoo! tech recently published a post explaining three Google Home automations that “transformed” author Conor Cawley’s sleep.
One of his routines turns on a certain set of lights in his home at the same time every evening. The routine also dims them later on. A second routine automatically adjusts the thermostat while a third reminds him at 10 P.M. that it is time to start thinking about bed.
All three routines are pretty easy to set up in the Google ecosystem. Having experience with both the Amazon and Home Assistant ecosystems, I can say that establishing routines with them is pretty easy as well.
Just know that not every ecosystem uses the term ‘routine’. Some refer to ‘automations’, ‘scripts’, etc. They all do essentially the same thing regardless of the chosen term.
The Possibilities Are Endless
The amazing thing about creating routines is that the possibilities are nearly endless. Anything in your home that runs on electricity can be automated to one degree or another – even if it is a simple on-off routine that turns on the power at a given time and turns it off again later.
Routine complexity grows with the capabilities of each device in your system. Systems with more features tend to be subject to more advanced programming.
I will give you a simple example from my own system. I have a smart plug installed out in my shed. I plugged it into a wall outlet then plugged a power strip into it. I now have my electric lawn mower, edge trimmer, and blower plugged into the power strip.
I never know what day I am going to mow the lawn, so I haven’t programmed a specific day or time for charging. But I did program my system so that I could tell it to “charge the mower”. Once the system recognizes my command, it turns on the smart plug. The plug automatically shuts off after four hours, and the system sends a notification to my phone telling me the mower is fully charged.
Automating Lights Is a Favorite
Among my friends who have home automation systems, automating lights is a favorite task. I have even done it in my own home. We smart home users can program lights to turn on and off at any time of the night or day.
We can create routines that switch the same lights on and off consistently. But we can also create routines that switch lights on and off at different times to simulate someone moving through the house. It is perfect for making a house look occupied when it’s not.
It is also worth noting that routines aren’t set in stone. They can be overridden at any time and from virtually anywhere. Take my lighting routine. If I arrive home early and my lights aren’t scheduled to be on quite yet, I can change that by speaking to my phone as I am driving up the street.
Geolocation Is Another Great Feature
Geolocation is another great feature smart home automation can take advantage of. I can tie my smart home system into the geolocation features on my phone. I can then build a geofence around my home and then create routines based on the location of my phone.
Vivint offers a garage door controller that can be linked to geolocation. That way, if you leave for work and forget to close the garage door behind you, the system will automatically do it once your phone leaves the geofence area.
Geolocation can be tied to any device in a smart home. It can be tied to lighting, a thermostat, smart locks, and so forth. In fact, it’s entirely possible to create a routine to turn off all the lights, lock the doors, adjust the temperature, and put down the shades as you drive away to work first thing in the morning.
Remind Yourself of Anything
When it comes to home automation routines, sometimes the simplest ones are the best ones. I created a routine to remind me to take my vitamins and supplements every morning. Being that I have a chronic health issue, this is something I cannot afford to forget. But I discovered I was forgetting more often than I cared to. But thanks to home automation, forgetting is a thing of the past.
Every morning at the exact same time, my smart speaker emits a pleasant chime. It is followed by a voice reminding me to take my vitamins and supplements. I have not missed a day since setting up that routine.
I could see where this sort of thing would be helpful to seniors who need to take medications every day. It would also be helpful to remind them of medical appointments, family visits, or anything else they might forget. The thing is that reminders are extremely easy to set up with a smart speaker. No technical knowledge is required.
Automation Is Where It’s At
The real power of home automation is found in creating routines. The clue is in the title. Automation is where it’s at, so learn how to do it if you have smart home devices you’re still using like their dumb counterparts. Learn how to create routines and they will change how you live.