10 Creative Home Automation Ideas

Here’s how I creatively use home automation to make life easier and more efficient!
How I set up everything in this video: smarthomesolver.com/reviews/1...
Links (affiliate):
Lutron shades: www.serenashades.com
Echo Flex: amzn.to/3iXkf1p
Echo Flex motion sensor: amzn.to/35IqsX3
Aeotec sensor (in bathroom): amzn.to/3xLJSGT
Echo Dot mount: amzn.to/3wFrwal
Dimmer Light switches in bathroom: amzn.to/3xCTtQ9
Ceiling vent switch in bathroom: amzn.to/2TMYqHc
NFC tags: amzn.to/3nfjYXu
Sengled RGB bulb Zigbee (hallway): amzn.to/3iTuXWW
Echo Dot 4th Gen: amzn.to/3cQZroq
Robot vacuum: amzn.to/3iSye8B
Homeseer sensor with notification light: amzn.to/3vGP8d9
IKEA smart button: www.ikea.com/us/en/p/tradfri-...
Ecobee Smart Thermostat: amzn.to/3qbK0wp
Amazon Fire Stick: amzn.to/3q9E47b
Broadlink RM4 Pro: amzn.to/35AGORF
Govee theater room lamp: amzn.to/3iQBJg6
SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss more smart home videos: kzbin.info...
0:00 Intro
0:22 Wake up shades
1:24 Bathroom motion lights
2:24 NFC tag playlist
2:51 Calendar busy light
3:34 Smart lights power outage fix
4:11 Play music everywhere
4:53 Empty the vacuum reminder
5:27 Thermostat visitor mode
5:53 Tablet theater control
6:44 Trail of lights follows me
8:36 Lots of meetings
DISCOVER MORE
Home Automation Ideas playlist: • Home Automation Ideas
Home Theater automations: • Home Theater TOUR in M...
MY SETUP & GEAR
See the list of everything I use in my smart home and other favorites:
www.amazon.com/shop/smarthome...
FOLLOW ME
Twitter: / smarthomesolver
Instagram: / smarthomesolver
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MUSIC
Terminant by Nihilore
The End by EVA
open.spotify.com/artist/6UIs5...
Disclaimer: Smart Home Solver was sent some products in this video for previous reviews. As always, our opinions are 100% our own and not influenced.

[@SmartHomeSolver]

Thanks for watching! Here’s the link to how I set up everything: smarthomesolver.com/reviews/10-creative-home-automation-ideas/ ALSO... shout out to the 1,600 of you who follow me on Instagram. They saw a sneak peek of the trail of lights automation a few days ago. Follow for more smart home content: instagram.com/smarthomesolver/

[@savasilviu3194]

Hello! I was wondering what automation could be done by using Alexa echo 4 integrated zigbee hub only? Could you make an entire system based on that? What are the limitations?

[@emilsecker7881]

Nice vid! LIFX bulbs have a power on state now in the app

[@ShubhamSharmaa]

Just like you, I too have setup my entire home with lutron smart switches. I am confused which fans go buy that would be compatible with the lutron smart fan switches. Can you help?

[@DemShotta]

Bravo! Jolly good show!

[@Cash8503]

Hey reed! I’m using home assistant on a virtual machine and my s/o has an android phone and I have iPhone. I can get it to send notifications to her phone but not to mine? Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

[@davidferguson7075]

I have humidity sensors in all the bathrooms and if the humidity is greater than 10 % above the humidity of the thermostat then the fan goes on and shuts off when equal to the thermostat. This ensures that the fan gets all the excess humidity out of the bathroom.

[@sabahalam6198]

what humidity sensors are you using? i cant find any smart humidity sensors

@@sabahalam6198 Aqara Temperature sensor has humidity in it.

[@davidferguson7075]

@@sabahalam6198 I am using the smart things units for the bathrooms with motion sensors also. If motion is detected for one minute then the fan goes on for five minutes. If the humidity is 10% greater then the HVAC control then the fan goes on for 45 minutes or until the humidity is back to the house humidity, whichever happens first. This is done in the SmartThings hub using routines found in discussion groups.

[@SantiagoLuz]

This is the type of automation that worth doing. I'd like to see more ideas like that, but most of the videos are about quite questionable ideas.

[@davidferguson7075]

@@SantiagoLuz Or out of reach for everyone. Actually our house is pretty much automated when we bought it (Leviton Omni Pro and all hard wired). It has been a blast programming it and making enhancements. The bathroom fans were the one area where no work was done and it is nearly impossible to replace. So keep what you have and enhance it. This channel has a lot of good ideas also.

[@nicholasdiorio1519]

MR ROBOT IS THE BEST SHOW EVER. and so is this channel.

[@itswillcurran]

To leave the light on in the shower, there is multi-sensors with motion and humidity. Measure how humid it is before the shower and during the shower. This worked well for me.

[@jesusisreal2604]

Pray this prayer to be saved dear God I know that I am a sinner I repent of my sins I accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior in Jesus Name I know Jesus died for my sins and rose from the deadAMEN

[@remco2769]

You could also use the IKEA motion sensor above your shower head, they are rated IPX4 so they can handle that

[@East-ur7zo]

or just use the light switch... maybe that is the "smartes" routine .. :-D

[@jjgend]

Pro tip for the bathroom. Use the humidity to switch on the fan. I also had the problem with the lights turning off when it gets damp (mainly when I was in bath and didn't move that much, but also in the shower). I solved this with 2 things. If humidity is above 75% the lights won't turn of and when humidity is rising (compare value from 60 seconds back) lights also won't turn off. Never had any problem again. When humidity gets below 75% there is an extra trigger to turn the lights off when no motion isn't detected anymore.

[@wernerhp]

I have a UPS on my HA and router to keep most thing working during power outages. When power is out, LIFX and other bulbs' state become unavailable in HA. I set up an automation to turn off lights when they go from the unavailable to the on state. This works pretty well and is very fast as the automation is triggered as soon as the bulb becomes available once power returns.

[@matejfoltyn]

Do you have an automation for each light, or have you solved it in one?

[@wernerhp]

@@matejfoltyn I have one automation. Added each light as a trigger an then call turn off all lights action. Can potentially improve this with templates.

[@WilliamNevius]

Always coming thru with the dope automation ideas 💡Really like the automation that starts when you take the phone off the changer. 👍🏽

[@SmartHomeSolver]

Thanks William!

[@boyafraidire]

I loved that too. Do you have that set to kick in at a certain time as later in the video you removed the phone from the charger to start a different automation?

[@charlesxavier1904]

Your family is too cute. This is a fantastic channel silly dad jokes couples with straight forward information.

[@gracesuarez3154]

The scene where you set up the incredibly smart connection between the calendar and the light, and then your cute little girl totally disregards it gave me a good laugh.

[@MaliMal11]

Automation gets to complicated when you live with people especially kids.

[@SmeekPeek]

Yes but you have to keep it super simple. All this would never work in a real home.

[@RubenKelevra]

You mean like: What happens if I press the button 200 times in one minute? 🤔 😁

[@quiaful]

*too

[@twony29]

Excellent work Reed! You always come through with terrific ideas. Keep up the good work! 👍

[@SmartHomeSolver]

Thanks Antoan! I really appreciate it!

[@TheSuitedEngineer]

Another great video! Another good way to check if someone is showering is by using a humidity sensor. That's what I currently use and it works great.

[@JorneDeSmedt]

Love the way the lights are a bit more dimmed at night. Definitely something I need, if I ever start with home automation. Or, well, when I start. It's only a matter of time.

[@TWatcher_]

I'm being for real when I say this. Every time you upload a video I just just a little excited!

[@mileshorton8105]

Lovely home - appreciated the indirect tour of it throughout the video! Awesome setup!

[@arjunsamuel]

Flipping amazing routines mate. Wow! I need this in my life.

[@darkplataform]

You got me with Mr. Robot one of the best shows ever made, you are absolutely right sir!

[@motivational7531]

I love that you are rewatching Mr Robot - they made an episode specifically about your smart home 🥲

[@ThisNameWasntTaken]

2:26 that looks like some mad scientists creation 😁

[@evtyler]

This guy is my hero…absolutely BRILLIANT!

[@ronderksen]

Always enjoy your videos and they always make me think of ways to implement things in my home! So thanks for all the inspiration 👍🏻

[@SmartHomeSolver]

That’s great to hear! Thanks Ron!

[@MarkRowsey]

My 9 year old son heard me laughing at the end of your video. He then said, "Do you love him?" And I said, "Well son, I enjoy his videos." Then he said, "So you're going to leave a comment right?" So, here I am . 🤣😂

[@SmartHomeSolver]

Haha that's awesome! Thanks Mark!

[@joseph_chambers]

This is awesome. Thanks for the ideas!

[@kraneotribe4315]

Your smart home Is amazing every single automation Is so convinient! Love It man!

[@androidtakeaway5446]

Love the video. I also use dimmed out light when I walk around the house late at night. I do prefer red at 1% brightness though. Red is even less disturbing. Now I need to get some of those morning routines incorporated into my house :) THanks

[@joeyghostx]

Already did the trail of lights trick with Echo Flex Motion Sensors. Works like a charm when you get the timer just right.

[@davidf72]

I am absolutely adding a bathroom fan condition to the existing light automation, that is an excellent idea

[@kakabekadigger2851]

Hi. I love your videos. I’ve always been a tech guy but now I’m into smart tech. So cool.

[@AdamsTechLife]

These are awesome automation ideas, awesome video! Btw, happy birthday!

[@kijngs2584]

Amazing video as always !

[@DRacer90]

I LOVE ALL the automations that you did in this video. Just exactly what I want/need. Can't wait to do some of it the same thing to our house. Keep those videos coming!!!!

[@SmartHomeSolver]

Thanks! Will do!

[@rashidbreedy]

This is just GREAT! I live in Costa Rica and I'm planning to do something like this. Thank you for all the info steps to do this...

[@kbhasi]

Thanks for the great ideas and inspiration! While I wouldn't be able to do some of what you did, your video did inspire me to come up with my own ideas that would work for me in the kind of home I live in! I may eventually show those in a video of my own if I get them all to work properly, to help inspire others.

[@JKStudios101]

These Home Automation Are So So So Useful. Well Done Reed. 😊👏🏾

[@SmartHomeSolver]

Thanks so much! I'm glad you like them!

[@JKStudios101]

@@SmartHomeSolver Your Welcome. I'll Definitely Try Them Out With My Smart Home In The Future

[@tpch3ckyourt3ch75]

Your smart home life is goals!

[@SeaWaves8]

this video convinced me that a smart home will not solve my problems but will give me new ones, I'll just turn lights on/off myself... that's easier

[@brakahiphop]

Calendar automation by far my favorite! :) thanks man

[@ronm6585]

Fantastic ideas Reed. Thank you. 👍🏻

[@SmartHomeSolver]

I appreciate it Ron!

[@robertoperez5742]

Seriously, I love your videos!

[@ajarivas72]

Me too

[@Buttface1981]

Alternative video title: Automation when you have a huge house and boatload of money. Seriously though, sweet video

[@derrianhollingsworth3879]

I absolutely love your smart home automation ideas videos!!!!

[@SmartHomeSolver]

Thanks Derrian! I'm going to be making more of them compared to what I've done in the past.

[@derrianhollingsworth3879]

@@SmartHomeSolver I can't wait! I'm still on Smartthings,and I know you switched to Home Assistant, but SharpTools helps me cover any gaps...

[@1kroolik2]

Must be making a marathon replacing all those used batteries :D

[@aleesjaved]

Very creative!

[@andreyv1]

Man, your outro clips are always awesome 😂

[@mikaelravnbonnet]

So many cool ideas :D though I thought Bruce W. Would be a Bruce Willis movie marathon XD

[@nidodson]

I used to have an insanely strict routine i lived by when i owned my own business, and it was based on automation and different alarms on an old phone. Woke up, exercise (30 minutes), breakfast, work, exercise (30 minutes), lunch, meetings, work, exercise (1 hour), dinner, work, sleep, repeat. I was in amazing shape, company did great, but I had no real social life. So decided to slow life down, appreciate life, and focus on happiness, and 9 years later trying to get back into a routine.

[@curtispazarjr4985]

Great review!!!!!

[@Blueman2018]

Happy Father’s Day. Reed’s house controlled by google says “ok get out today’s my day off son lol “. When you walk through your house and the lights follow your reminds me of the get smart TV show were , when don adams walk through his hall way and the gates in his hallway open and close for him lol.

[@rexhua4833]

All the ideas are great and last automation is really nice.

[@MrOnlymoin1]

awesome!!

[@altonf62]

Loved the Bruce W meeting at the end.

[@dank6342]

Anyone else think Bruce Willis and then get confused? lol

[@kijngs2584]

Love the last one

[@dorianrodriguez40]

I got a few good ideas from your video.Thanks

[@ChadLawson3]

I recently converted my office so now it is also my makerspace, studio, and Oculus Quest workout space. Now I can't use the same motion detector system during the day since sometimes I need "studio" mode and sometimes "office" mode at varying times of the day. Finding your "virtual" switch to set which automation gets triggered is going to be a game changer! I'll be trying it this weekend.

[@awesomefeldmanfamily]

Lol Indiana J. meeting, you're such a funny dad

[@thomastevis8655]

Sooo cool

[@SyedAsadullah762]

Pro as always.

[@penelope-oe2vr]

I have some great ideas for automating my home using NFC tags too. I also want to set up a tag for guests to connect to my wifi without disclosing my password to them.

[@botond2904]

i can already see the results of you working out keep up the good work

[@SmartHomeSolver]

Haha thanks! I have been pretty lazy before so hopefully this helps me to keep improving!

[@ronaldweiler3190]

I put a motion sensor/humidity sensor on the far wall inside the shower. This takes care of the shower light stuff! So, if there’s motion in the shower it prevents the bathroom main light from turning off (the shower has its own light). Cool stuff!

[@CrypticConsole]

this is great

[@pandraus]

Kid: you know what is even cooler? A light switch! Reed: :0

[@Stepho84]

The meeting light idea was exactly what I was looking for. Wonder if I can sync that with my Microsoft teams calendar!!

[@sudoDavid]

Lots of fun ideas! -`ღ´-

[@melvintan5117]

Cool video

[@Stilkdog]

I use a Multipurpose Sensor for my bathroom for motion as normal but it also has temp and humidity so when they reach set trigger points, it turns the exhaust fan on and off.

[@SmartHomeSolver]

That's awesome. I'm hoping to do that with the Aeotec sensor in there as well. I need to do some more tests before I add too many automations in our bathroom so my wife doesn't hate me if the smart home devices don't work as expected.

[@Stilkdog]

@@SmartHomeSolver I know exactly what you mean lol every change made my wife always gives me that what now look or how many more commands do I need to learn. Hope to automate the house more soon. I've got to get back into home assistance, I broke something a year ago and it just refuses to update so I've got to start over clean but I enjoyed the flexibility better, but I know I'll need time to site down and spend on it as last time I spent weeks doing things that are now a lot easier with latest iterations.

[@nathaninmontana9165]

@@Stilkdog I removed my entire smart home after we had a quick succession of power outages that factory reset all my wifi smart bulbs (old one's that only needed on/off 3x to reset). I took out my entire smart home since my wife non-stop complained about it. Sure enough, 2 days after removing the smart home tech she was complaining about not having it anymore. So I've been rebuilding my smart home for about a month now. At least this gave me an excuse to move on to zigbee based light bulbs instead of wifi bulbs... and at least the bulbs I chose take double the on/off cycles to factory reset, so it should be less likely to be reset from power outages.

[@Stilkdog]

@@nathaninmontana9165 Lol I hear you, I live in a state where say a tree branch lands on a line it trips the system and tries to reset 3 times so it resets all my devices that use the 3 times on/off reset the device, but what I found out was at least with my devices that use this system, if you leave them alone and let them flash for like 2-5 minutes they do, it will then just go back to normal and run off the previous saved settings as it seems to only put the devices back into pairing mode but doesn't actually factory wipe the data off from it. I noticed this when I also remove a device from my Smart Life app but didn't do the wipe option and resynced and the old name and settings where still on it. Again not sure if it's just the devices I have that do this or if that is how it operates. My system setup consists of Wifi/Bluetooth/Z-Wave devices. I've probably used almost every type of brand and device that anytime something happens I know how to fix it or if I can't get something to function a way I want to I can create some alternative work around for it. I think each thing has its ups and downs and I'm personally excited to see what Matter ends up being. I really hope that it helps solve a lot of the smart home problems and makes it much easier to just have everything communicate easier. Nothing is more annoying when I have to setup something one way because a certain type of device doesn't support it. Example, I have these cheap easy buttons that I click to turn a light on and off on my Smartthings hub, but sorry, Alexa or Google doesn't know how to import a button from Smartthings to function, so I have to create a virtual switch to then have a routine setup on how the button interacts with the Virtual Switch that Alexa/Google can then see the switch that I have to setup the said routine inside of Alexa/Google to do what I want. Anyways, I probably will start posting up some videos myself as I've always been off and on, on KZbin but maybe I can post some of my ideas out and learn more as I go along too.

[@robertknowles3677]

I am trying to get into automation. I have to say after watching this, it seems I or the family would have to kind of memorize what everything can actually do. For my wife and kids they would say it is just easier to hit the switch for the fan and the switch for the light when they are going to take a shower than worry about which one does what. Then have to go out to the closet to out a phone down to get to to detect to play on that speaker hangin out of a wall socket. My kid just takes her phone in the bathroom, right in the shower. I have to rethink all these new ideas and the expense of doing them and then the people that have to use them. ;-)

[@Still_Eternal]

Nice

[@uweschuttoff7411]

3:26 " Dark Side !!" How cute !

[@kraneotribe4315]

How do you even do all of this, this Is amazing ! 😲

[@irainkoolaidTTV]

wow i love your tile floors. we chose hardwood in our new build because they said it would be a delay on our closing date, but i def wanted tile so im jealous XD

[@cyberkyv]

HI, Thank you for sharing all your experience, your videos are incredible and have helped me to improve little by little my automations at home. Following your videos and reviewing some old ones, I note that you use some LEDs that make patterns like a kind of scrool or moving block, I have tried several Smart Led models but I cannot know if they are a particular model or is it a special pattern that you configure by hand from the led strip manufacturer's app.

[@JohnuCelestine]

02:10 For a moment I thought the wall plate has the display of what the switch is for. Then realized you edited it. Would be a cool idea to have it !

[@michaelcee2323]

I wish you could come set up my place.. Amazing job..

[@GAZMAN3510]

Hi love your smart home Automations could you tell me what app are you using on your fire tablet to automate your home theatre.

[@AMKP]

What I did with the shower is putting a door sensor on the shower door that turns off the lights automation and turn on. The fan automatically 😂 The lights following you automation is pretty neat

[@RightAndJust]

Hey Reed, what is that button that is in your kitchen drawer that you press to turn off the vacuum light? I've tried searching for a similar button and am coming up short...thanks in advance!

[@krazytater9942]

Excellent video

[@SmartHomeSolver]

Glad you liked it!

[@ChrisLaingDance]

Great video. Can you offer any suggestions as I have all my lights turn off at midnight on schedule, but occasionally I'm still up, so am trying to make Alexa ASK me before turning them off. Is this possible? I was thinking along the lines of Alexa asking if lights should turn off, and her action would be relative to my answer. Thanks for any advice.

[@fabiocannonz2]

Wow as usual pretty awesome thanks a lot greetings from Colombia sadly is really expensive here cause they taxes but i have implemented somo kind of Smart Home

[@marcoontingco5370]

that trail light is my dream 🤤

[@mikem12406]

Would love a video about the RM4 Pro. I bought one about a year ago but it seemed kind of clunky so I never really did too much with it. I have a Logitech harmony hub in my theater room but that thing is extremely hit or miss.

[@SimonStJohn]

You Like Mr Robot too....ok....I have subscribed (also love the automation tips too)!

[@lindseypick]

How do you use the calendar to control the lights? My work schedule is all over the place so it's kinda annoying setting schedules for my alarm lights

[@Still_Eternal]

I really liked that charger one

[@maxchilla732]

Amazon must really like you!

[@helm311]

In my bathroom if you're taking a shower usually the bathroom door will be shut. I put a contact sensor on the bathroom door. If the door is shut it then ignores the motion sensor rule to turn off the light. Once the doors is open if there's no motion for one minute the lights will turn off. That's how I solve that problem. I also put a small LED in my bedroom since there's three other people that use the single restroom in this house. If the restroom is occupied the LED will be on and I know that I have to wait before I get out of bed to go to the restroom. I accomplished that with a zigbee smart plug.

[@ajarivas72]

Very smart.

[@jester4761]

Great video. I'm totally take notes. I'm debating on moving so I'm keeping in mind the things I want to have, and what changes I could make to what I am currently using. From your experience in moving a few times with smart home ish, got any really bad facepalm moments? I so want a few of those govee theater room lamps! I'm glad there is a link for them now, but they still are not available. Any idea what they will run for when they drop?

[@SebVEVO]

Hi, does not your hub detect power outages? If yes, you could launch your routine/automation only when power goes off and back on right?

[@ihorkobylinskyi3332]

Don’t give up!)) You can put there humidity sensor, which can control you’re fan, and work only when some one have shower 👍🏾

[@DigitalAndInnovation]

What is the button you use just after showing the thermostat? I think I looked through all the links and also the article and couldn't find it

[@michaelmcelrath1163]

For my bathroom, I have the bathroom lights come on when there is motion (red and dim at night, of course). If I close the door, it turns on the shower light and vent as well. After the door has been opened and there is no motion, it turns off the vent and the lights. Since I use home assistant, I also have it adjust the volume of my bathroom Google higher while the door is closed, and it starts playing music, too.

[@Grind.Harder77]

Great video!!!! Curious which service do you use to do these commands

[@Yatzse74]

any suggestions on how to trigger a sight blocker with a button or nfc? I am looking to turn on my "Block & Focus" to stop myself from getting dragged into youtube or Facebook when I am in my office? any suggestion on room-based automation like this?

[@Chaybee12]

Hello, I don't see the door sensor listed in your affiliate links in the description. Please let me know which ones you use?

[@ejbc8457]

Hi Reed, great ideas and content as always. I have another ST automation challenge if you're still into that. I want to turn on my range hood (connected to a smart plug) when a temperature sensor pick up a 3 degrees change in the kitchen in a 5 minutes time frame. It's possible?

[@lucid010]

You could use a water leak sensor to know if someone is in the shower

[@ondrej1411]

Can you please make video about platforms where you can set-up smart home? It will help me a lot.

Really cool video! It definitely makes me jealous that I have to press a switch... Are power outages common in Arizona that you need to prepare for it happening in the middle of the night?

[@TheRaptorprod]

I love your vidéos! You always have good ideas :p I'm actually looking for a "sound detector", any idea? :) wifi, zigbee or even BT, im on jeedom