No silly gimmicks. This collection of home automation ideas will actually make your home more enjoyable for you and your guests.
I’ve personally implemented many of the ideas in this list.
These all came from our DIY Home Automation project. Pictured above is a 3D Floorplan of our home. It is made interactive with Home Assistant.
As I was building the cabin, I found many of the home automation ideas to be silly and gimmicky. Many solutions end up being clunky and hard to use. For example, changing light scenes with a smartphone app seems fun at first. Until friends come over and turn off the light switch. Or you get tired of pulling out your phone from your pocket and unlocking it when you have an armload of groceries.
After many years of experimentation, I compiled this list of home automation ideas from the things that actually made the home more convenient to use.
About these Home Automation Ideas
Each idea has a difficulty level:
Beginner home automation ideas: Use pre-built products (linked) and require little experience.
Intermediate home automation ideas: Include tutorials and link to source-code for existing software on an Arduino/Raspberry Pi.
Advanced home automation ideas: Bring your own creativity (knowledge of coding, electronics, etc. may be required).
I’ve tried to include links and tutorials wherever I can… but there’s a lot in this list! Leave a comment at the end if you’d like a deeper exploration into one of the topics.
I happen to use Home Assistant for all of my home automation ideas. It’s a popular open-source solution. It does not send your data to companies like Google and Apple. Some of the links below will reference Home Assistant in particular. All the ideas would translate to other home automation platforms.
Lights and Lighting
Beginner
Install smart lights (Philips Hue, Lutron, or similar).
Use smart switches (Philips or Lutron) so power is never cut to the bulbs.
Turn on/off lights at certain times of the day.
Turn on hallway lights for a period of time after motion is detected.
Create different light scenes, like party or relax.
Create a kiosk for controlling lights and scenes with Home Assistant (or similar).
Intermediate
Turn on/off lights based upon who’s home (see: Presence and Motion detection).
Add ambient lighting to a home theater (see: Movies and TV).
Make light fade in/out rather than switching on/off.
Build an Arduino light-up alert to indicate when something happens.
Advanced
Create “status lights” that change color to indicate when something important has happened, like when a guest arrives (see: Security and CCTV) or the garage door is left open.
Sound and Music
Beginner
Use Sonos to have speakers in each room playing the same music.
Create a kiosk for controlling sound/music with Home Assistant (or similar).
Use any speakers to create a DIY multi room sound system. Each speaker (receiver) in this home stereo system is perfectly synchronized with the others, and can wirelessly play music from anywhere.
From security to speed, there are many reasons to understand your home network connection. Learn networking basics, as well as build your own router to speed up the internet at home.
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Finally a list that is just an actual list. Thank you very much
Glad you found it useful!
Thanks… this list is great! Now I just need to learn how to code to be able to do them!
Yes, home automation is a way to make life easier for us, less stress and make life comfortable.