There are few places where automation makes more sense than at home, but what good is a smart home if it doesn't know when you're there? Setting your smart technologies to welcome you home is a great way to save time on everything from turning on the air conditioning to starting dinner.
There are a number of ways you can make your house welcome home, but I'll focus here on using IFTTT (if you're unfamiliar with the service, check out our ultimate guide to IFTTT The Ultimate Guide to IFTTT:Use the Web The Most Powerful Tool Like a Pro The Ultimate Guide to IFTTT:Use the Web's Most Powerful Tool Like a Pro If this is you, also known as IFTTT is a free web-based service for your apps and devices to work together. I'm not sure how to build your applet (follow this guide Read More) to trigger actions based on GPS locations you receive from your phone or car. Let's get started!
IFTTT offers a variety of ways to monitor your GPS location. Two of the most useful are Android Location and iOS Location, both of which use your phone's location to determine when you enter or leave an area. You can take advantage of this flexibility by triggering one action when you leave work, for example, and a different one when you get home.
Various car-based GPS systems are also available for use with IFTTT. Auto, Dash, and Zubie are the best for triggering smart home events. Both Auto and Dash support trigger actions when your ignition is on or off in a certain area, and Zubie has a “Vehicle Arrives Places” trigger that could allow you to trigger an action when it passes a certain place, in the middle of your journey. on the way home, for example.
You can also get a little creative with IFTTT and GPS. For example, you can trigger an action every time you sign in to Foursquare or Swarm Foursquare Relaunches as a Discovery Tool Based on Your Taste Foursquare Relaunches as a Discovery Tool Based on Your Taste Foursquare pioneered mobile check-in; a location-based status update that he told the world exactly where he was and why:is the move to a pure discovery tool a step forward? Read More You can set a specific action to be taken when you check in at work, for example, or at the grocery store on your way home.
Ok, now we have a good idea of how to trigger actions. But what kinds of things can you get your house to do when you get there? We'll start with the basics:you could, for example, prepare a recipe to convert your Philips Hue Light lights your home the smart way with Philips Hue light your home Smart Way with Philips Hue If you can afford the upfront cost, you won't find it on the market a smart lighting system that is better supported and easier to use. Read more about when you get home. When your car or phone detects that you're within a block of your house, it will turn on your lights so you don't have to. You could even schedule them to dim based on what time you arrive. You can even make it flash a certain color when a specific family member is almost home.!
In summer and winter, your house can be very hot or cold while you are away from work all day, but you don't want to leave the heat or air conditioning running and wasting energy. GPS and IFTTT can help! Simply set up a GPS trigger for when you get off work and have it activate your Ecobee or other smart thermostat. Looking to buy a smart thermostat? 5 nest alternatives looking to buy a smart thermostat? 5 Nest Alternatives When it comes to controlling the temperature in your home, the Nest Smart Thermostat is king, but there are plenty of options out there. Here are 5 to consider if you're looking to buy. Read More
What if you use a window air conditioner, or just a fan to keep the air moving? You can make it work with a switch from WeMo. Turn on your device and use the WeMo app to turn off the plug. Then when you leave work or get home, set a trigger to reconnect the plug, turn on the air conditioner or fan, and cool down your home. You can also use a WeMo switch to turn on your crockpot so dinner warms up before you arrive. Why for an expensive "smart" crock pot when a switch from WeMo will do?
Have you ever stood at the door with a load of groceries in both arms and been unable to open the front door? Sure, you can put one of the bags in, but a smart home should be able to help you carry the groceries! Setting up a small GPS wakeup area for your phone near your front door can be combined with any smart lock. Forget the keys:5 smart locks you can unlock with your phone. Forget the keys:5 smart locks you can unlock with your phone. Here are 5 different locks that you can unlock with your phone. Read More It might even close behind you when you move further away.
With the plethora of devices that are compatible with SmartThings, you can make your home do just about anything you want to welcome you. Turn on the fan, turn on some music, dim the lights, turn off an alarm, or any other action you can take with SmartThings-enabled devices. See the full list of SmartThings compatible devices to see what else it could do!
Do you want to start with something really simple? Why don't you open the garage door when you get home? Garageio turns your smartphone into your garage door and also connects with IFTTT. When you get to the driveway, you can open the garage door to open it. (You can also check your phone to see if you left the garage door open when you're at work, and close it if you did.)
As you can see, there are almost limitless possibilities that your house will welcome you when you return. But what about getting a real Welcome home? You can do that too. Use this IFTTT recipe to get a text message that says "Welcome home!" every time you come back, what could be more welcoming than that?
Smart home technology is becoming more mainstream, and things like smart plugs 6 Smart Plugs That Aren't Belkin WeMo 6 Smart Plugs That Aren't Belkin WeMo Read More Philips Hues That Are Really Worth It The Philips Hue system is leading the charge when it comes to smart lighting, but there are some worthwhile alternatives. We have chosen three that offer the same basic feature set and hackability. Read More to your daily routine. Read more . Get a couple of smart devices and play around – you might be surprised at how many useful things you can accomplish by combining GPS and your smart home!
Do you use any GPS-based triggers for your smart devices? What have you found most useful? Share your tips below!
