Top 10 Smart Home Automation Ideas From Reddit

[@OverLord-yf3zh]

I have a favorite automation. I have an autistic child, so I have a voice cue on Alexa “It’s about that time” rings a bell, turns up the volume and says “1, 2, 3 red light!” Then turns all my living room bulbs to red. Alexa then says “In 10 minutes it’ll be time to go upstairs.” Then the lights will turn back to white, and I have it on an 8 minute wait. When the 8 minute wait is done it repeats the process to give him a 2 minute warning and reminds him to clean up his toys. The lights then turn and stay yellow. Then goes to a 2 minute wait. Once the two minute wait is up, it repeats, turns all the living room lights red and then turns all the lights on to his room. His room light will change green which gives him a visual cue to put on PJs. At that point all the lights downstairs turn off (except the ones leading upstairs). The lights leading to his room turn off after 10 minutes. There are other colors that indicate bath night or story time, and those have their own starting phrases but the same over all process. It took a little bit to get him on the routine but it has our bedtime fights down to near zero. And when he’s tired, he can (and will) initiate it himself.

[@RicksTechReviews]

@OverLord-yf3zh I love this! It’s great that the visual cues are so helpful for him. Thanks for sharing.

[@wilty5]

Does the Broadlink RM Pro 4 work with HA, Apple Home, or just Alexa?

[@JanChodorowski]

Hi Rick! What are those candles? :)

[@RicksTechReviews]

Hi, they’re remote control candles from Amazon

[@JanChodorowski]

@@RicksTechReviews Thanks!

[@TechWithTony]

How did you control the fireplace ? Smart plug inside the wall or ir?

[@RicksTechReviews]

@TechWithTony I use both, I have a smart plug that switches the socket on then a 5 second delay before the IR blaster switches the fire on

[@wilty5]

How do I find specific information about the setup of these automations on Reddit? Did they give detailed instructions?

[@gashead2]

Hi, thanks for the video, problem I have is how to set these ideas up in Alexa. Can you create a video showing step by step how to do it please? There are so many videos on similar subjects such as this one but as a novice, how do I do it? If you can demonstrate it , I for one would be very interested.

[@RicksTechReviews]

@gashead2 Hi, yes I can do a video on how to set up Alexa routines. I do think some of the these automations will require a bit more control like using the Aqara app with the Aqara contact sensors or using the smartthings hub or home assistant. But especially for the routines I have in my home I’m more than happy to make a video showing how to set them up.

[@gashead2]

@@RicksTechReviews thanks, I am buying various smart items such as the BroadLink pro and a zigbee gateway. Just not sure how all this works together, I imagine I am not the only one, thanks

[@RicksTechReviews]

@gashead2 no you’re definitely not, I’m still learning. The broardlink a great addition, which Zigbee gateway did you go for?

[@gashead2]

@@RicksTechReviews can’t remember but will let you know. I did think that Alexa has a zigbee built in but don’t know how to use it?

[@RicksTechReviews]

@@gashead2 certain Echo’s do have a built in Zigbee hub I have the Echo 4th gen with the built in Zigbee hub. There’s also one I the echo plus and the echo show 10.

[@gjheydon]

I have actually just implemented a variations of the doorbell flashing the lights. I have 2 doors into my house and a video doorbell on each. But for some reason I have no idea why companies insist on making the same chime for all the doors. So I have it set up so that the front door the lights will flash red and the back door will flash green. (A variation on the port and starboard light colours as I couldn't find one for bow and stern).

[@RicksTechReviews]

@gjheydon that’s a really cool idea. I’m thinking about switching to the lights because my dog goes crazy when he hears the doorbell.