Welcome to the examples page. All these examples are real-world automations that we have running in our homes.
The Meeting Automation
Many of us work from home and with that comes family. I work in the basement and I’m often in Zoom meetings. To indicate to the rest of the household whether I can interrupted or not, I have the following automation running.
When the microphone on my Windows PC is on, I’m in a meeting. The following happens when any meeting starts (this will work for any meeting application as it is based on the systems microphone).
- An LED strip in the kitchen (one floor up) is changed to blue for visual indication (on-air you might say).
- My Mattermost application (a private chat service) sets my status to Do Not Disturb – further signaling the family and my wider audience of contacts, that I’m not available at the moment.
- If the stereo is playing (which it often is), it is automatically paused.
Motion Activated Lighting
These automations are the simple and we have several instances of this one. The rules vary but they are all fundamentally the same. When motion is detected, turn the light(s) on. When no motion has been detected, turn the light(s) off.
Any number of other conditions can be programmed to constrain the automation. Never touch a light switch again.
My bed has an LED strip around the base and when motion is detected the strip comes on very dim red and stays that way for a few minutes while I navigate to and from the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Nothing beats having your lights come on and off as you make your way through your home. Never forget to turn lights off. My hall lights are on a smart dimmer switch. When motion is detected and it’s after a certain time, they come on low.
Timed Lighting
These automations are super simple but very convenient. Program lights to turn on and off based on the time of day – you can even use your local sunset and sunrise times. You can easily change between full brightness between, for example, 6pm and 10pm and then after 10pm, drop to a dim night light mode.
If your lights (smart bulbs for LED lighting) support colors, you can have your night lights on dim and change to red to maintain your night vision.
I have one automation that turns the driveway lights and front porch light on at sunset and leaves them on until 9pm so late deliveries aren’t stumbling around in the dark.
Camera Integration
I have 4 outdoor security cameras around the home. When motion is detected in the driveway, the camera will inform the home automation system and any number of actions can be taken.
In my case, my sound system announces the detection and if I’m watching TV, a notification will appear. You can even have images captured from the camera displayed on your TV or tablet or phone.
The Call to Dinner
I’m often working in the workshop – which is more than a yell away. With the click of a button my sound system will announce whatever needs announcing and flash my work bench lights a few times.