How did you make your Smart Home an Intuitive Home?

dionmaas · June 19, 2018, 8:06pm

Hey all!

I am wondering what you all do to make your Smart Home seamless. I’ve got a bunch of sensors, a bunch of remotes and while it is all cool to have, it is not intuitive for others nor really making my life easier . How did you tackle this? Basically I am looking for ideas for automation I guess, just to make it automatic where possible

silvrr · June 19, 2018, 8:36pm

Take a look at things you do that are repetitive and happen frequently and automate them.

Whenever I open my the interior door to my garage I need a light on so I can see in the garage or find the button to open the exterior door. So I automated it.

github.com

SilvrrGIT/HomeAssistant/blob/master/automation/garage_light.yaml

#########################################################
#                                                       #
#         INTERIOR GARAGE DOOR OPEN LIGHT ON            #
#                                                       #
#########################################################

  - alias: "Interior Garage Door Open Light On"
    initial_state: true  
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: sensor.gehingepinsensor2
      to: 'Open'
    action:
      - service: light.turn_on
        entity_id: light.yeelight5
      - wait_template: "{{ is_state('sensor.gehingepinsensor2', 'Closed') }}"
      - service: light.turn_off
        entity_id: light.yeelight5

#########################################################

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The other main set of automations that i regularly use (and don’t notice) are climate based. When we leave during the week for work the A/C / heat turns off and then turns back on to pre-heat/cool for our arrival home. If anyone comes home during the day it kicks back on.

https://github.com/SilvrrGIT/HomeAssistant/blob/master/automation/nest.yaml

The main lights when we get home are in our living room. They turn on at sunset, or when we get home and turn off at midnight (because we likely forgot to turn them off)

github.com

SilvrrGIT/HomeAssistant/blob/master/automation/living_room_lamps.yaml

#########################################################
#                                                       #
#         TURN ON LIVING ROOM LAMPS AT SUNSET           #
#                                                       #
#########################################################

  - alias: 'Turn On Living Room Lamps'
    initial_state: true
    trigger:
      platform: sun
      event: sunset
    action:
      service: switch.turn_on
      entity_id: switch.basic1

#########################################################
#                                                       #
#         TURN ON LIVING ROOM LAMPS WHEN HOME           #
#                                                       #
#########################################################

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If you look at things you do regularly and automate them you shouldn’t even notice them happening, its just one less thing for you to do, this is truly home automation, not just home remote control. The tricky part is making sure you set the right conditions they are seamless and don’t interfere with daily life.