Smart Home Tech I ACTUALLY Use!

Can we just take a minute of Silence for those who are watching Tech Videos without buying anything

A dedicated home assistant setup is a game changer. Makes all of the standards talk to each other and allows so much customization

The best smart home feature in my house is to connect all halway lights to motion sensors and apply the following rule. "detect motion; after sunset; turn on light for 30 seconds" this has probably been one of the small things that really makes a big difference

I have a little over half the lights in my house on smart switches and it's really nice to run scenes like "coming home late" and "cooking dinner". But the best bang for your buck is definitely exterior lights and entryway lights. It's really nice to have those go on and off when it gets dark or light and/or when you come home. Also nice to be able to turn at least a few lights on and off when you are out of town so the house doesn't look vacant.

I picked up some WiFi plugs the other day. Being able to pair them up with Google assistant routines has been so handy for saving electric, and was damn effortless to set up

That whole thing of not touching your phone until you're actually out of bed sounds like a great plan. I'll usually check my phone and lay around for longer than I care to

For Hue lights, I strongly recommend the Lutron Aurora Dimmer smart switch. They just screw onto your existing switch, and are super easy to set up and use. Phillips also sells a module that you can wire into your existing switch to make it control your Hue bulbs

I have almost the same setup (Nest Thermostat, Nest Doorbell, 2x Nest Mini, Nest Hub, Hue in most rooms and 2x Chromecast) and I just wanted to add that the Google Home app also works great on iOS so no worries there :) The Nest Hub is a great device for the kitchen by the way. Yeah it's a glorified egg timer but it can handle multiple timers with labels so when cooking I can just say 'hey G, start 10 minute timer for X' and it works it's magic. Great for random food/cooking questions too and FINALLY they've added the date on the homescreen which is very handy for checking use bys etc.

We have the Nest smoke detectors and I’d highly recommend them. When there’s too much smoke from the food I’m making, it’s really easy to dismiss the alert from the app instead of having to touch the physical device to silence it. I also like that they’ll alert you if the battery is getting low, instead of chirping obnoxiously in the wee hours of the morning.

Marques is so wholesome. Still keeps it real and isn’t worried about always having an overkill setup. It’s the simple things that make the quality of life improvements.

Funny, I have the same setup except for lights I use Lutron switches with normal LEDs and wired Nest Camera. Orbi is pretty awesome!

Thanks for this! I just upgraded to the eero WiFi 6E Pro and I'm pulling 900Mbps as well, iPhone and iPad. Changes the home game, no buffers anywhere 🙂

You forgot one buddy, home assistant, which makes everything compatible with all ecosystems

Depending on how much research went into your solar panel purchase could be cool to get a video on that. Different options and why you went with the ones you bought! Pros and cons

I needed this so much. Just moved into a new apartment and trying to make it a smart home from the ground up. Thank you!

i have a google routine set up for my alarm in the morning. It will tell me weather, news, and calendar events for the day as soon as i dismiss my alarm. that way im not having to look any of that up while im getting ready in the morning. Eventually I will add in lights and certain appliances to it as well.

Motion detection helps a lot for automization. In the home or outsids. For now we use it outside the most. We have lights in the garden at the front door that light up. Super handy when coming in the dark, while its also helpful for security.

You should invest in the Lutron Caseta light switch system for the whole place. Basically turn all normal lights into smart lights. It's regarded as the most reliable smart switch system that works with Google, Alexa, and HomeKit. Worth the price in my opinion!

I have the battery nest doorbell too. It'll trickle charge off your doorbells previous wiring too. It'll keep you from having to charge it during all except for the coldest months. Once you get below 30° though, it won't charge and you'll have to charge indoors again. And I highly recommend Kasa too. They have power strips and outdoor weatherproof power strips too. I use them for our grow lights, Christmas Tree, and outdoor Christmas Lights and decorations. Have worked flawlessly so far. One recommendation is to use their app for timers and schedules. I used Google Routines at first, but sometimes communication breaks down after updates. Kasa firmware updates usually fix the issue, but the gap sometimes is not tolerable when it comes to grow lights that keep indoor plants alive, lol.

i work from home, none of this stuff really interests me at all. I don't mind switching lights on and off depending on where I am, or making coffee, or picking up my phone to access something. In the future when everything can be automated and done way better than we can do it, I'm sure I'll have some stuff done for me, like cleaning the floor, dishes, etc. Till then...