Home Automation Basics

Have you heard about home automation and wondering what the deal with it is? Below we’re looking at a few aspects of home automation.

Home automation, as the term suggests, is basically equipping your home with smart devices that allow you to control certain features in your home. This is also called a smart house or a smart home, which gives you the ability to control lights, thermostats, some appliances, doors, security cameras and more.

It is important to note that all these smart devices usually connect through a communications channel (WiFi, Z-Wave, etc.) to a main hub in your home. With this, you can make adjustments or set conditions via an app like Alarm.com.

There are three main components of home automation

  • Automation (yes, literally)
  • Control
  • Security

Automation

This means using an app to automate conditions that you can set and make things simple

  • Turn on the lights at a particular time
  • Turn off the lights when the home is empty
  • Turn on the heating if the temperatures fall below a certain degree
  • Garage door openers can also be built into your automation system as well and controlled via the app.

The ability to do this comes with the smart devices that are available like a smart bulb or smart outlets, or if existing appliances like a heat pump or furnace can incorporate smart thermostats.

Automation helps with those mundane tasks or at least provides convenience. Since you can remotely perform tasks, the end-user experience is a great benefit where you can manage all of your home devices from one place. The only thing you would need to do is learn how to use the app which will connect you to all your devices throughout your home. This makes it easier to access the functionality you want in your home.

Home automation can be as simple as you want it.

Control

Control and automation are quite similar with the only difference being that you are in control of the device’s actions whenever you see fit. If you have a smart lock on your door and if a known person is at the door, you can let them in by unlocking the door through the app. Yes, with the right devices set up you can control your entire home from just an app.

 

Security

Home security is an added benefit when you invest in home automation equipment. Many consumers purchase devices like motion sensors, cameras, environmental sensors and others to make their homes safer and to add more security. You can set up your own parameters to turn on lights if someone is lurking around the house to make it seem like someone is there. Video doorbells have added voice features so you can talk to people and discourage those package thieves from stealing your stuff.

 

For more information about home automation or home security feel free to give us a call on 1-866-453-3388 or have a look at our solutions.

Sources:

https://stevessmarthomeguide.com/guide-home-automation/

https://www.safewise.com/blog/home-automation-guide-for-beginners/

Answer your door like never before

There are many circumstances in which you might wish to know who is at your door, like when you’re expecting the delivery of your latest online purchase, or a friend is arriving from out of town, but you can’t stay home all day to greet them. The great thing is, in the age of the smartphone, you now can do just that with the addition of a video doorbell to your front door. Video doorbells have been gaining in popularity over the last year as homeowners are catching on to their many benefits! They are affordable, connect to your existing doorbell setup, are easy to install, and work with your home’s WiFi system.

How it works

When a person approaches your front door, they push the button on the video doorbell, just as they would on any other doorbell. The chime rings on the inside of your home, as you would expect, but here’s the neat part: it also sends a notification to your smartphone in real time via a free, user-friendly app. You can both see AND speak to the person at the door, without the person at the door knowing whether you are inside the house or away on vacation.

Each member of the family can have the app installed on their smartphone, and each person will be alerted when someone is at the door. However, only one family member can actually answer the door at a time. Another great thing about these devices is the ability to integrate them into your home alarm app on your phone. Skybell, for example, will work with both the Alarm.com and Honeywell Total Connect apps.

Peace of mind & convenience

A video doorbell gives you access to your front door, wherever you are. From a security point of view, a video doorbell allows you to give the impression that you’re actually home, even when you’re not. On a lighter note, it also allows you to ask the delivery driver to leave your parcel on the back patio – imagine not having to ‘just miss’ your online deliveries! Plus, if you pair your doorbell with an automated door lock, you can not only answer your door, but let friends and relatives in when you’re not home.

What if they knock?

We recommend choosing a model with a built-in motion sensor, like Skybell. This means that even if the person on your doorstep doesn’t ring, your doorbell will still activate and let you know that they’re there.

The fine print

There are a couple of considerations you’ll want to be conscious of if you’d like to install a video doorbell. Depending on where your doorbell wire protrudes from the wall of your home some installations may be a bit easier than others. For example, many electricians choose to bring the doorbell wire out through the trim around the front door. This trim is typically no more than an inch wide and may be narrower than the doorbell unit itself. Another issue can potentially be a poor WiFi signal at the location of the front door. There are solutions for this, such as a wireless access point (which has the added benefit of improving your home’s WiFi signal). Finally, most video doorbell units are designed for a typical solenoid doorbell. Newer digital doorbells can have an issue with a video doorbell and require the installation of a digital doorbell adapter in order to work properly. In cases like those listed above, you may want to consider a professional installation of your unit.

For more information on how you might benefit from a video doorbell in your home, contact Wilsons Security at (902) 453-3388

Home Automation Made Simple

One of the common myths that seem to come up whenever we talk about home automation is a misconception that it’s going to be too complicated to use. In fact, it is quite simple! This blog post explains the ways you can make home automation work for you.

You can set up your home automation devices to be as interactive as you want. For example, you can choose to control everything from your smartphone, or have the devices operate autonomously, being controlled by your alarm system. So let me explain both methods using the automated door lock as an example.

Complete Manual Control

You can lock and unlock a door at will with a smartphone or computer. Perhaps a relative from out of town shows up at your home while you’re at work. You can unlock the door for them from your smartphone without having to leave your workplace.

Autonomous Control

Your door lock is controlled by your alarm system, and is triggered by an event. Perhaps the door locks each time the alarm system is armed for going away. You can also set it so when coming home, after you enter your code into the keypad located on the door lock, it not only unlocks the door, but also disarms the alarm system automatically. This is the “if this then that” principle, where you can set certain events to occur based on actions you take.

Another easy way devices can be controlled is through schedules. This is where you create a series of events that take place over the course of the day based on the times of the day and days of the week you’ve predefined. Once the schedule is activated it continues to run until it is deactivated. Keep reading to learn more about schedules.

Control by Event

Imagine you’ve left the basement door unlocked. Your alarm system can detect if the door is open or closed, but not if the door is left unlocked, however it can automatically trigger the automated door lock to lock the basement door whenever you leave the house, so you don’t have to worry about leaving doors unlocked. Or, have your main water shut off whenever water leakage is detected.

Control by Schedule

This is one of my favorite methods of automating a home. In this example your home runs on a schedule that is predefined and set by you with ease. There are two examples of schedules:

Work Schedule

This might be a schedule that runs Monday to Friday when you’re spending eight hours a day at work.

When arming the alarm system the following events may occur:

  • Alarm system arms for going away
  • Thermostat turns back to 18°
  • Side door and basement door of the house deadbolt
  • All basement lights turn off
  • Window shades open and close at different times during the day to allow the maximum amount of sunlight into the home thereby reducing heating costs

Vacation Schedule

This might be a schedule that you would put in place for those times that you are away for the weekend or maybe gone away on a full two-week vacation.

A vacation schedule may run something like this:

  • Patio lights come on at dusk
  • Outdoor lights turn on at dusk and then turned themselves off around midnight
  • Lights in rooms around the house turn on and turn off after dark to give the appearance that somebody is at home

As more automated devices show up on the market you are only limited by your imagination on how to get these devices to work together. If you would like more information on how you can automate your home please call our office at (902) 453-3388 and ask for me, Paul Ingram.