20 Home Automation Ideas Submitted by YOU!

[@ShaneCreates]

BIG THANKS to everyone that submitted an automaton! Which was your favorite?? Support today's sponsor, which helps support this channel! Shop Eve Smart Home Products: bit.ly/store-evehome Save 15% with code SHANE-15 at the Eve Store worldwide through October 6th, 2024. The code is valid for single items only and cannot be combined with other rebates. Multi-packs, sets, bundles and the Eve Blinds Collection are excluded.

[@jgfla2]

How can i join your discord?

[@briancrink]

@@jgfla2 the link is in every video description. Definitely worth joining the discord!

[@ShaneCreates]

@@jgfla2 Once you join as a KZbin channel member (join button or link in description) you can access the Member Discord server by linking your KZbin account to your Discord account: 1. Open Discord > User Settings > Connections > link KZbin account 2. Click the "Join Server" button

[@TechWithTony]

Fantastic !

[@manicmods]

The webcam light because it's on my list of things to mod! ✌

[@briancrink]

I’d love to see an automation episode series every few months. User automations is the source of inspiration that grows the smart home community 😊

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@lthomas63]

awesome Shane! You need to get more videos like this maybe once a month it’s a great source of inspiration I can’t tell you which one is my favorite because I think all of them were really useful to those making them! Thank you for making this video! 👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Larry!!

[@Pomme-Kit]

Thanks for featuring two of my automations, Shane. I hope it gives your viewers lots of ideas for new automations.

[@imraul3009]

Huge thanks to Shane for including my plant watering automation in this video. Ive learned so much from your channel and continue to come up with cool scenes and automations.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for the submission! 😃

[@EdgarsHomeTech]

Thank you for the opportunity, Shane, and great submissions, everyone! 👌

[@ThomasKanarek]

How did you set this up exactly. Is your automation written in home app? Eve? Third part app? I thought the eve smart plug doesn’t provide real time energy consumption status updates.

[@EdgarsHomeTech]

@@ThomasKanarek I’ll do my best to explain, since I had to use a lot of complicated steps for what should be a simple automation. (I can’t wait until Apple allows us to run home automations with Intercom!) 1. When the Eve plug is on, a virtual switch (Homebridge) runs and checks every 5 minutes. 2. When the virtual switch turns off, it checks both the 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧. I believe this ensures the automation gets triggered. I think having only the power consumption as a condition might be why the automations aren’t running. If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to ask-I’ll do my best to help. Like I said, the automation is super janky, but surprisingly, it works!

[@MrSebbySullivan]

Awesome automation. I’ve been looking for doing one of these myself. The only thing I didn’t get is: how Pushcut allows you to have verbal automations through the HomePod ? Thank you !

[@EdgarsHomeTech]

@@MrSebbySullivan Hi, with Pushcut I can run a shortcut, and the intercom feature is available like that. So pretty much, I'm using a separate iPhone to run that shortcut.

[@bradleys.cooper7665]

That Kat litter box automation was pretty clever. Great idea!

[@movingloz]

Omg that cat litter box in the tv cabinet was awesome. lol. Very lucky cats.

[@user-ln3hp7kz1y]

I love these videos because they get me thinking. Turns out there's an even easier way to do the lights on when webcam is on/off. If you install the Home Assistant mobile app on a Mac and have it running, you get an entity for webcam in use which you can trigger automations off of.

[@briancrink]

The kitty litter box automation is very clever. I might have to try that for my folks who have five cats 😅

[@HomeIsWhereTheSmartIs]

Huge thanks for featuring my delivery automation Shane! Excellent stuff as always 👌 After seeing the raccoon one I remembered I also have a really creative animal deterrent automation too, involving my car…

[@briancrink]

Great job Shane! awesome automations that solve everyday problems 🏡

[@JoshsSmartHome]

Really nice video Shane. I have several of these automations implemented, but some of these are new ideas which are getting me thinking. I wanted to submit one, but I didn’t have time when you asked for submissions.

[@michaelmoore9120]

I’ve taken the washer/dryer automations a step further. I have 2 x teen boys who are old enough to do their own washing when they come on weekends. The smart plugs track the energy usage of each device and start the automations in Home Assistant. Each appliance has an NFC tag which the boys use to let HA know they’re the “user”. When the washing or drying is finished they get a notification on their iPhone and Siri announcement on the central HomePod. They continue to get “nagging” notifications until the detectors on the appliance doors are triggered by them opening them. So far it’s worked pretty well! 😊

[@ShaneCreates]

Wow that’s awesome!

[@DanielGuzman83]

Man, i have so many automations in every room. I even have automations connected to my calendar and short cuts that turn on certain apple watch chargers as when I need certain watches. I have my level lock automated to sync with my thorbolt. I have a calendar automation that turns on my bmw climate control if I am at work. I have a bathroom fan automation that when I press a button, it turns off the camera in my bedroom, turns on the bathroom fan and light, then then I leave to work, the camera and light turns on. The bathroom fan turns off after an hour. So many, this video gave me more idea.

[@TheAdrianMc]

WHY DIDN'T I WATCH THIS SOONER?!?! That FP2 under the bed for lights is just what I needed to do that idea that I've had since we got our new bed!!! It has lights and just motion sensors that came with it but it turns on all the lights so it sometimes wakes me up because my wife wakes up super early!!! I'm heavy into Govee lights but I was going to use the Govee motion sensor on each side to automate it. Since they are now coming out with matter versions, I can use the fp2 to automate!! Thank you for this idea because the community is awesome and we should share things like this more often! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@Undrandi]

I also have motion controlled lights under the bed - but in my case I did a shortcut where the lights are yellow/red when the temperature outside is above freezing and the lightstrip turns blue if the temperature is below zero celcius (below freezing). Useful to know when one lives in Iceland!

[@DanZimmerli]

Great video as usual!

[@FamousCloud]

This was one of my favorite smart home videos keep ‘em coming

[@ggtirevite]

The one I am most interested in is the washer/dryer alerts. Problem is I only use Apple Home (no third party apps) and I don't have a HomePod but this might get me to buy one (or two ...)

[@JOSHUA051281]

I got my pods on facebook marketplace for half of regular the price, (if you budget is tide ) 😊

[@amac189]

I love that there are two washer/dryer automations in here! I'm glad I'm not the only one who forgets stuff in the machines. I also have an automated solution for this using Homebridge dummy switches and some basic coloured smart lights. I have the coloured smart bulbs in decorative light fixtures in the main rooms (living room, bedroom, etc). I have a few dummy switches set up to turn on for the duration of my most commonly used laundry cycles. When I start a load, I use my phone to turn on the appropriate-duration dummy switch. When the dummy switch turns off, the smart bulbs turn on with purple light, indicating the cycle is over. The smart bulbs aren't part of any other lighting setup or connected to any switches - they just function as alert lights. I have them grouped into one room (Alert Lights), so I can just say "Siri, turn off Alert Lights" to turn them all off when I've dealt with the laundry. They also turn on a different colour on garbage nights so I remember to take the bins out. This way, my alert lights are just there staring me in the face until I go and deal with the laundry.

[@Tabiii]

Absolutely enjoyed it

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching!

[@paulhyland3528]

Some great ideas, my favourite I've made so far is when i plug my phone into charge when in bed after a certain time. Home assistant will run an automation of tuning off lights around the house.

[@mdb34]

I have two young kids, so some of my greatest automations are based on them. For the first automation, one of my kids presses an Aqara mini switch in our living room to set a 30 minute timer on our Echo Dot. When the times up, the Alexa timer goes off so the kids know it's time to switch who's choosing the programming. The ceiling lights in the living room also flash when the timer goes off so the kids don't just ignore the Alexa alarm. My second automation helped to potty train my daughter. When she needs to potty at night, she normally comes to our bathroom, which is further than the kids bathroom...this has caused a few accidents. I set up 2 Third Reality night lights, one in her room and one in the kids bathroom. I also have a TP Kasa Link smart switch for the kid's main bathroom light. If the night light in my daughter's room senses motion past 10pm, the night light turns on as well as the kids bathroom light. She now walks towards the lit bathroom! When the bathroom night light senses motion, it turns on at 100% and turns the main bathroom light off. When the bathroom night light doesn't sense motion for a minute, it turns the bathroom and night light off. Same goes for the bedroom night light.

[@ShaneCreates]

These are great! Thanks for sharing!

[@alimfuzzy]

I know shovels who has a farm and they move the cows where they want them by turning on sprinklers in different sections. All the cows have rfid tracking so it can adjust and control where they roam.

[@hugoboss435]

The Aqara ceiling light when you’re almost home…I want to know HOW. Can you list the steps / automation or do a video?

[@richarda3764]

I created an automation to run some garage fans when I open the garage door. Blows out mosquitos and car exhaust. Fans turn off when the door closes. Works great here in Texas.

[@rethinkdaily9321]

So a lot of these people have multiple smart products from multiple different companies. Does this mean they have to have a smart bridge or hub for each of those companies projects in addition to an Alexa product that can sync to them all?

[@ShaneCreates]

It just depends on the device. Some devices require a manufacturer’s hub (think Philips hue for example) while others can connect directly to the smart home ecosystem (using WiFi, thread, etc). Either way, once devices are connected to your smart home ecosystem, you can automate them together regardless of the brand.

[@rethinkdaily9321]

@@ShaneCreates THANK YOU!

[@BradSemenick]

Tony's neighbours can't be thrilled about this

[@amac189]

A lot of my home automations are related to heating: I have a Homebridge Dummy Switch that turns up the baseboard heater in my bathroom for a set period of time before turning the temperature back down. This way I can have a toasty bathroom when I'm showering in the winter, but I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn the heat back down when I'm done.

[@dominikakratochvil860]

Oh yeah, sensor under bed with ligh-strips was my first automation. It lights up my frequent night walks to bathroom without bliding me with wall light 😉

[@MichaelKmochMK]

Amazing video and automations! Would love to see more these videos to get new ideas in our smarthomes. Where can I send showcases of my automations? 😁

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for the feedback! I just added instructions in the video description for submitting your automations! I'll go ahead and start collecting them, and if/when we get enough good ones to showcase, we'll make another video. Thanks!

[@danm4320]

I made a similar python script that monitors my Mac's logs. When it detects that the webcam is on, it instructs homebridge (via API) to turn on a TP-Link Kasa smart switch to illuminate an "on air" light so that my family can see I'm on camera. Then turns it off when webcam is off. Works quite well.

[@felipehjcosta]

Very interesting!

[@chrisperrywv]

Hey cool! I tried to do that same bed light setup with motion sensors with limited success. I’ll have to try it again once we move.

[@vahighland7475]

Would love more information on how to create as automation when the power consumption changes above or below a certain level. Do EVE Energy plugs support this in HomeKit or Homebridge?

[@BrandonDoyleMN]

I like this style of video, great job

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for the feedback Brandon!

[@felipehjcosta]

Great idea to have a FP2 below the bed in the bedroom!

[@hballp]

I guess you're the one with the webcam automation, right? Awesome! That was my very favorite one. 🙌🏼

[@felipehjcosta]

⁠@@hballp Thank you!

[@jhk88rph]

Very creative viewers!

[@BrandonP-o8s]

8:42 , is there a step by step tutorial on this somewhere? Voice notifications from Siri using intercom would be awesome!

[@EdgarsHomeTech]

Hi, I'm using the Pushcut app on a separate iPhone to broadcast the intercom. The Pushcut app is really powerful if you have a spare iPhone to run shortcuts. I believe Shane has a video on setting up the Pushcut app with examples. Check it out-it's awesome.

[@anthonycristiano]

Doesn't look like Edgar has a video for this on his channel :(

[@EdgarsHomeTech]

@@anthonycristiano Hi, I’ll be working on an individual video on how to set this up. Stay tuned!

[@MatthewHorwood-mhzawadi]

Hey, that some cool ideas. I have a simple school time announcement that gets my kids out the house. My 5 year old will tell me that the tv told him to get his shoes on

[@HomeIsWhereTheSmartIs]

@@MatthewHorwood-mhzawadi I have the same thing! A couple to hurry them along at breakfast, another when the car starts warming up and then a final “ok get out the door now” if we’re still home lol

[@carolinewhatley]

My favorite is definitely the raccoon one. I am CACKLING at work! Well done! But I have to know…do they still come to play?

[@MrCWoodhouse]

Should have a robotically controlled squirt gun (water cannon?)!

[@andrewmorris8531]

These are some of my favorite videos you do!!!!! I use quite a few that really work well for me: 1. My have twins that are 6 that sleep on the first floor while i'm on the second floor. I have an automation using 2 aqara door sensors and a nano leaf A19 bulb that if the master bedroom door is closed and its after 10pm and then if the kids room door opens, the nano leaf bulb turns on green to wake me up to make sure they are ok. It also turns on the nanoleaf bulbs in my living room red so the kids can see their way to the stairs and don't get hurt. 2. When my wife leaves the home using the phones proximity sensor, it turns off all lights in my home. When she comes home and her phone is picked up by wifi, all lights turn on and my HomePods play a selected song for her. I also use this for guests that have home access to my home. each known guest has their own music so we know who is over. Kids LOVE this one. (she never turns off lights on her own). 3. I work from home and use a time automation to let me know when its time for lunch as well as when my day should end by turning my nano leaf bulbs off in the office at 12pm and 5pm. 4. My kids go to bed with music playing on HomePod mini's and nano leaf bulbs as night lights. When the aqara sensor on my bedroom door closes after 11pm, it shuts down all lights in the house and turns off the music to the kids rooms.

[@ltuned]

Awesome video! how do you have the HomePod make an announcement alert from Washer/Dryer Siri Notifications?

[@ilovegodverymuch8791]

I really love this video so much and i am thinking to automate my fan in the workout room in the basement

[@Gamen4Bros]

Yes I love this so much. Please more! I want to be part of it too :P

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for the feedback! Check out the info in the description. I'm going to continue accepting submissions and if/when we have enough good ones to showcase, I'll make another video. Maybe it'll become a regular series!

[@willdwyer6782]

I use an outdoor bluetooth speaker that blast predator sounds along with flashing lights triggered by motion sensors in my garden that scare critters away from my vegetable garden. I don't have a problem with raccoons, but I would play a recording of coyotes instead of a siren if I had to scare them off. You're less likely to annoy the neighbors with wildlife sounds.

[@fgegner]

Can we get the how to’s for these automations please? The first one about washer/dryer notifications are what I’m interested in. Thanks.

[@ryanham8241]

What is the button used at 9:21??

[@JOSHUA051281]

I need to revisit my home automation setup, which has multiple devices collecting dust. I'll start with the EVE smart outlets. Yesterday, I relocated my Aqara PF2 from the bedroom to the kitchen to automate turning it on and off based on occupancy, as people in this house seem to think electricity is free😡. I'm obsessed with under-bed lights, but now I'm stuck in a bed-related existential crisis 🤔- do I put them under or behind, or do I just go all out and install them everywhere because, priorities?🤷🏻‍♂️😅

[@mikebedford4362]

They are fantastic thanks Shane. I have an Ever door sensor which works in HomeKit I.e says in the App open or closed BUT WONT send me notifications- any ideas what I can do? Fabulous channel!

[@MadMike78]

I like the sports one. Do you have information on how they set it up?

[@davidc-l9174]

I was gonna submit but kept forgetting to take video! I have something that seems simple but took some serious thinking to get it to work correctly. The problem: I live in the woods and don’t want outside lights on all the time. But also, I want the outside lights on until a certain time at night. And also, I wanted the lights to come at 100% around sunset and then dim down to 20% about 45 minutes after sunset, until they shut off at true But, when people were coming our going from our house at night, I wanted the lights to jump to 100% so people can easily see, and then return to their previous state after a set amount of time. Solution: created a series of automations in HomeKit using my Caséta dimmers and two Hue outdoor motions sensors. Maybe too much to type here, but suffice it to say that the automations vary the dimming of the lights dependent on time of day and if motion is detected, and then returns the lights to the state they were in prior to the motion, if no motion is detected after a period of time has elapsed. If motion is detected again before that time period elapses, the lights remain at 100% until motion is no longer detected and they assume their original state. I had to use integrated Shortcuts to get everything to work as expected. But, everything is in the Apple Home app and works flawlessly! And our guests thank us all the time for making it easier for them to enter/leave our house at night, since it’s SO dark in the woods with no light pollution or street lights.

[@tonyvalenti6614]

Riddle me this Batman! Desired: Stop for Lunch and watch a streaming video (ie Paramount+) in my car. Manual Process: 1-Turn on iPhone Hotspot. 2-WiFi Connect iPad to iPhone. 3-Bluetooth Connect iPad to Infotainment System. Goal: Automate process through Shortcuts or Automations Is this possible? If so, any tips?

[@3dFirefly]

I put a power monitor plug on my 3d printer and setup 3 color/white smartbulbs in rooms I am commonly in, when I start a print the smart bulbs turns on to a warm yellow/orange, when it finished and drops under a certain wattage, all the smart bulbs turns green letting me know its done and can start another.

[@250Rem]

I think my favorite animation was getting rid of raccoon and I think I’d be a good way to get rid of Roberts at the same time

[@DrippinWetDetail]

What app do you use to expose the power consumption from eve energy? I cannot find for the life of me! All I can see for trigger or conditions is on/off state. Someone help 😢

[@1csearle]

Would love to know how that game automation works. would love to automate that for our OHL games here

[@tharais]

What sprinkler controller is Tony using? I'm playing with two different, sprinkler automations right now. Both to designed to nail people and/or their pets, using my yard to do their business. For one location, I'm attempting to use an existing Arlo Pro 2 motion sensor to trigger existing, Rachio 3 controlled sprinkler valves. I'm using Homebridge to get this all into Homekit. Or I should say, attempting to. The Rachio plug ins bring the valves into HK, BUT those valves don't show up as available accessories in Homekit for automations. They do show up on the Home screen and can be manually operated there. For another location, I've gone with a Sonoff hub and sprinkler (hose) timer. I'm using a Ring camera pulled into HK via Homebridge for the trigger. This one does work. But I'm still working out the mechanics - settings for the impact sprinkler so it only hits trespassers in yard and not sidewalk passer bys - and the details for the automation trigger (I don't want it to go off when my wife walks across the lawn to retrieve mail . 😰 And tell Tony, he needs to use grub control on his lawn. Those racoons are after grubs in the sod base and will tear his turf up terribly in doing so. And Shane, it's great to see you've come through the storm. Figuratively and literally.

[@TechWithTony]

Hi. I used the eve aqua for my sprinkler control. FYI what Shane didn’t tell you or show you is I am a bit of a lawn freak and keep an impeccable lawn. Nice Stripes and Grubbex etc all that. There are no grubs. No signs of grass affected by grubs either. But the soil is very rich, and that means worms.

[@1csearle]

I wanted to submit one of my automation but HB crapped the bed for me, took me a while to get everything back to normal. Anyways one of my favourite automations is using the home controller app for sunset. I have lights in the living room turn on at sunset, in the summer when the sunset is later this I usually turn the automation off, thanks to controller app I have an automation set if sunset is before 2030 turn on living room lights otherwise stay off. I have it set for 2030 were usually in bed for 2030 of close to it.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for sharing! Stay on the lookout. We may do more video like this showcasing viewer automations if it is something everyone wants to see more of!

[@AlexManMe]

9:09 thank you. I only use homebri 9:09 dge this will be very fun.

[@phuctran2396]

Thanks Shane. I have problem with ecobee premium thermal start, No response after I just updated new Apple iOS 18 for my iPhone, 😢. Any tips. Many thanks. Tran.

[@RafaelSwit]

Shane, what are your solutions to power and/or internet outages? I find them causing issues with automations even after power comes back (like lights coming on and staying on). Even if it’s just internet that’s down, some devices refuse to work properly. It’s frustrating, but can also be embarrassing, if you happen to have guests.

[@briancrink]

Shane and several members in the discord recently experienced said issue. I experienced it two weeks ago. I’m sure that will be an entire video in the future, but that’s a rather costly venture 😄

[@jonEbird]

I need Felipe's automation script. I was going to do something similar to when I'm on camera too. Me puede ayudar, Felipé?

[@felipehjcosta]

Hey, yes.

[@Atum_Ra]

Does anyone know if a company make a device that you can plug in a USB device into (like the Webcam automation) and based on that devices status control automations? The smart home market needs this 😮

[@HomeIsWhereTheSmartIs]

@@Atum_Ra not sure about the status, that’s a great idea! But Sonoff do at least make one that’s basically a USB smart plug which allows you to toggle a USB device (and its data connection)

[@rcoletti1]

Any chance you can get and share Felipe’s script? I’ve been trying to do this myself.

[@felipehjcosta]

Hey, yes!

[@BrendanByrne-it9uz]

I don't have wattage monitoring exposed to HomeKit automations on my Aqara smart plug. I'd like to do the same thing for my washing machine but can't with Aqara, so I want to know, does KASA smart plugs expose wattage to Homekit automations ? In other words, something like, if wattage drops below 50 watts, then do something.

[@BryanEsler]

Energy through plugs isn't available via the Apple Home app. You'd have to use a third-party solution like Home Assistant to set that up, or Eve (if using an Eve plug, like I did with the charging station).

[@Pomme-Kit]

Perhaps you can use the fact that Aqara scenes can be exposed to Apple Home to create your automation ?

[@BryanEsler]

@@Pomme-Kit Forgot the fact that Aqara does actually have energy monitoring. So yeah, that would work too.

[@BryanEsler]

@@BrendanByrne-it9uz Got it. Might be able to look at Home Assistant then to set that up like I did. I'm not super familiar with Kasa's Apple Home or Matter plugs.

[@europlane77]

Man I have lot of cool automations. I missed sending in.

[@ShaneCreates]

I just added instructions in the video description for submitting your automations! I'll go ahead and start collecting them, and if/when we get enough good ones to showcase, we'll make another video. Thanks!

[@WFORacer]

Mine activate my Hue lights to strobe red if motion is detected during sleep time, music comes on. Rotates songs, Stacking Bodies or Beast from Sicario movie. I have a hidden wall fixture that opens with Alexa when I say the phrase “ need guns” 🤣🤣🤣 storage for edge weapons, expanding batons, and extra magazines 🤣🤣🤣

[@ahmedsahmadi]

Can we please get the tutorial on the webcam part. Please 🙏🏼

[@charlescrane9039]

I have GE smart washer and dryer

[@BootlegEL]

Cats see in the dark right?

[@TheCowboysdude]

Great video but if you don't share links or the automations themselves it's kinda pointless.. Or did I miss something? hahahhaha

[@pjdrives5261]

SO disappointed to see you have a tobacco addiction! Tobacco kills more people every year than all other drugs combined 😢

[@ShaneCreates]

Lol no addiction but I enjoy a good cigar and some bourbon every now and then!

[@unpleasentverity7627]

subbed

[@manicmods]

Hey I can best that cat door! I have an RGB indicator on mine to change from 🟢🟡🔴 over period of 3 days. I'll have to keep a lookout for when you open the door for these! Thanks!

[@CalebCalvin]

If only the flare had matter support 😭🥲

[@ShaneCreates]

Oh I know right!? Eve has been bringing Matter support to most of their existing products one by one... so I keep hoping the Eve Flare will be next!

[@TheAdrianMc]

WHY DIDN'T I WATCH THIS SOONER?!?! That FP2 under the bed for lights is just what I needed to do that idea that I've had since we got our new bed!!! It has lights and just motion sensors that came with it but it turns on all the lights so it sometimes wakes me up because my wife wakes up super early!!! I'm heavy into Govee lights but I was going to use the Govee motion sensor on each side to automate it. Since they are now coming out with matter versions, I can use the fp2 to automate!! Thank you for this idea because the community is awesome and we should share things like this more often! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾