So, you have basic automations set up and you're ready for the next level. We've compiled our Top 10 ideas for advanced automations and routines to help elevate your experience from smart home, to smart life. Hint: you'll never forget your umbrella again!
- The IFTTT (If This, Then That) tool was always going to be our No. 1 recommendation. It gives you ultimate freedom to automatically trigger actions around your smart home, based on life events. For example, by synchronising Lightwave and your calendar you can set office lights to brighten during meetings, or set the scene for a date night at home.
- Bad weather ruins everyone's fun. Set your lights to sync with your weather app and trigger a change if it is forecast to be wet. This visual clue means you'll never be caught leaving the house without an umbrella again.
- Geofencing is a way of setting up a virtual perimeter for a real world location. Using location data from your phone, your geofencing routine can trigger the garage door to open you as you arrive home. Or even start to warm the house up when you are 5 miles away
- Entertaining in the garden? Transition seamlessly from day, to evening, to night with a range of different events. Start with the garden fountain on as your guests arrive. Use dawn and dusk triggers to brighten the garden lights whilst the sun sets. When inviting guests inside, have your living room ready; warmed to the right temperature, with mood lighting and music to wind down the evening. Leaving you free to focus on having fun with your guests.
- So, you have your morning routine down to a fine art with a sunrise lighting sequence and your wake-up song queued and ready to go. But, how easy is the rest of your day? Translating your daily actions into Lightwave routines means your household can effortlessly keep to schedule. Dim the lights when it's time for the school run, or no longer worry that you have left the iron/straighteners on by making sure that socket turns off when you leave the house. The trick is to think about the rest of your routine and how you can automate it, rather than picking individual events.
- These days our homes also need to double up as the gym. Make your workout that little bit more comfortable with some well timed automations: a ‘Pumping Iron’ or ‘Yoga Flow’ routine. Set your Lightwave home to turn the heating off when you start your workout, so you don't overheat. Lightwave will keep your towel rail warm, ready for your post work-out shower and have your choice of relaxing playlist queued to help you unwind.
- Every household has its own language and shorthand. So let’s get savvy and incorporate the benefits of your Lightwave smart home into the lingo. Replace shouting for dinnertime with a lighting change that you can trigger from your kitchen, or let the kids know you’re on your way home from work. You can also earn major brownie points with your teenager who likes to sleep in, letting them signal when they don’t want to be disturbed and when they’re up and about.
- A simple, but effective, automation for bedtime is to set your lights on a buffer. Allow a 2-minute gap between giving the lights-off command (be it a verbal or physical command). This way you can get into bed safely, quickly grab a glass of water, or finish that last page of your book before sleep. Easy, but incredibly useful.
- Stay connected to your phone, even when it’s charging in another room. Have your lights flash or change when you get a call or text, so you’ll never miss an important message or phone call again.
- Last but not least, find ways for your whole family to benefit from your smart home tech. Everyone will likely have some part of their day that could be made easier with some automations or routines, and you want everyone to feel the benefits. Play around with different settings and options together, so that it’s not just your smart home, but your family’s smart home.
For more information on setting up your smart home automations give the Lightwave support team a call at 0121 250 3625.
