I\’m going to do something a bit different in this blog I\’ll be covering products that consumers can easily purchase to help automate and control their home from anywhere you have a cellular or WiFi connection. Here\’s the equipment list that I\’ve used so far and hope to grow to some other products soon. There won\’t be any marketing material in here just good use cases on how I\’ve been using this new technology in my house.
Equipment List:
Wink Hub | http://amzn.to/1PsISJE
Nest Thermostat | http://amzn.to/1QipUZn
Z-Wave Wall Dimmer | http://amzn.to/1SAOZ52
Chamberlain MYQ Garage Door Opener | http://amzn.to/1nDukAG
Chamberlain MYQ Garage Door Extra Sensor | http://amzn.to/1KuB0Gd
Ring Wi-Fi Video Doorbell | http://amzn.to/1PsIzOP
Philips Hue Porch Light | http://amzn.to/1LaLiB1
Philips Hue LED Light Strip Starter Pack | http://amzn.to/1PY8bGG
Nest Thermostat
I often find myself traveling and don\’t want to waste money on heating and cooling but also don\’t want to mess with the schedule on my thermostat. This is a perfect use case for the Nest! Launch the app on your mobile phone and control your settings from anywhere. It will also learn your schedule like when you\’re away from home and adjust the temperature for energy savings. There\’s other great reasons to look into the Nest thermostat which you can find on their website.
Chamberlain MYQ Garage Door Opener/Sensor
There are cheaper options online but when you have two garage doors that puts you at two units to purchase. At that rate I could purchase the more expensive Chamberlain unit and they have a secondary sensor you can pair with their opener. This is a great use case and cost savings for people with more than two garage doors! I can view the status of my garage door being opened/closed, how long it\’s been open/closed, and also have the ability to open/close the garage doors from my phone.
Ring Wi-Fi Video Doorbell
This doorbell is pretty cool and their marketing term is \”Always Home\” and I really feel like it when I can view my almost-daily UPS visits. For $30/year they have a cloud recording option where you can playback and retrieve your videos for various reasons.
Wink Hub
This is a really cool device that is purpose built to tie in all of these automation devices into a central control point. The downfall of all these great devices is an app for each individual one on your phone and I then have to remember exactly where to go to control a certain piece of my house. With the Wink it\’s tied all together so I can control my garage door and my Nest thermostat all from the same app. There are other great things built into the Wink app called \”Robots\” where you can set triggers for \”If-this-do-that\” type scenario. Good example: I have a Philips Hue light on my front porch and when my Ring Video Doorbell detects motion or someone presses the button the front porch light automatically turns on. This is great for night time viewing and just for safety!
Philips Hue LED Light Strip Starter Pack
The Hue LED Light Strip starter is a pretty cool setup with two strips about 7 feet in length and included Hue Bridge. The bridge is an important component as it\’s the communication point between the app on your phone and the lights. I installed these strips underneath my cabinets and it\’s pretty cool to set the mood or lighting based on time of day. I currently have a schedule where they automatically turn on/off at certain times throughout the evening and early morning.