Smart homes, wise choices
Automation could be a two-edged sword: It can be so efficient you no longer have to think for yourself, but it can also help make your day far less stressful — and it might even save some lives
Steve Lee knows when his mother gets up in the morning, walks into the living room, opens the front door to get the paper and takes her medications in the kitchen. Nothing unusual about that except that he lives 70 minutes away from her.
Lee’s 80-something mother lives alone in a smart home.
“I put a small system in her house that enables me to keep an eye on her,” says Lee, director of technical services at Universal Devices in Encino, Calif. “If I don’t see any motion and she hasn’t opened the refrigerator by 8:30, then I know I need to check on her.”
Smart homes are becoming more common as people push the boundaries of digital technology to help them look after their health and security, control their carbon footprint and make living easier.
The Lauterette home in Virginia is a textbook example of how to live digitally.
“I have over 100 switches connected to appliances,” said Jeff Lauterette, director of technology at the National Petroleum Council, who lives with his wife, Cassie, and two children in a three-level, 6,000-square-foot house. They get phone alerts ranging from the playful (the boys are clowning around after bedtime) to the serious (an unknown car or person is on the driveway).
A few weeks ago, a vehicle suspected of being involved in a Leesburg hit-and-run accident ended up behind the Lauterette house, captured on the video camera installed in their backyard. “Our video helped the police catch him,” Lauterette says.
One key to an immersive digital lifestyle is an automation system that resides in your home. Universal Devices makes a black box that looks like a cable box, called the ISY (Intelligent System), available in Canada through Amazon and Aartech. It connects to a home network and power lines, and to a smartphone, tablet or computer.
Not all automation systems are black boxes. Some are built into security systems, some are built into a home during construction, some are in the cloud.
About a dozen apps on the market use the ISY, which works with controllable outlets, light switches, multibutton keypad switches, motion detectors, door contacts, ceiling fan controls and many other devices, Lee said.
You log into the ISY Web site on your computer and create programs to turn things on and off at certain times.
“It’s a simple process. You don’t have to be a programmer,” Lee says.
“The brilliance of the ISY system is the flexibility it offers. This isn’t just turning on and off lights,” Lauterette says.
You can program by the day, season or your vacation schedule. The ISY uses if-then statements to function. Meaning, if this happens, then do this. For example: ❚ If it is raining, then do not turn on the sprinklers. ❚ If it is Monday at 1 p.m., then open the garage door to let the gardener in. ❚ If it is 6:30 p.m., then turn on the air conditioner.
Lauterette says he programmed dozens of variables across the house to enhance efficiency, save energy and maximize safety.
In the kitchen, he uses the system for convenience. If he puts a chicken in the oven or on the grill, he inserts a meat thermometer, and when the temperature hits 225C, his phone beeps. For safety, the garbage disposal stops after five seconds.
In the garage, he uses the system to prevent waste. If the freezer door is left open, he receives a text alert when the temperature gets too high.
In the garden, he uses the ISY to save water. If the soil probe detects wet soil or the weather report predicts rain, the ISY will disable the sprinklers.
In the backyard pool, he uses the ISY to ensure clean water for the boys. He receives alerts on acidity, salt and chlorine content.
In the front yard last winter, he programmed the system to save electricity. When snow reached the garden lights, they automatically turned off.
A smartphone or tablet is a key accessory, which means commands can be accessed remotely via an app or by voice control.
“I’ve opened the garage door from Florida to let in a deliveryman,” says Cassie Lauterette, owner of Mid Atlantic Consulting, which assists with smart home set-ups.
“We watched him drive up. Then we opened the garage door, and he put the package inside,” her husband says.
Short-term programs can be written for a specific time period, such as a program to turn lights on at varying times to make it look like people are home when they are not.
The ISY also enables virtual on-off switches. You can put a keypad switch on the night table, turn on the bathroom lights before you get out of bed and turn them off when you get back in. You also can turn on the coffee pot when you wake up.
Even without a dedicated automation system, you can still have remote capabilities, because many companies make Smart appliances that have their own app.
Cassie Lauterette cooks a roast in a slow-cooker via phone. “I can put in vegetables, potatoes and frozen meat in the morning. If I want it to cook four hours I turn it on at two [o’clock] wherever I am, and when I walk in the door at six, it’s ready,” she says.
Chukwuma Ebi, a Nest Labs training representative, said that he pointed a Dropcam out the second-floor window of his home in Upper Marlboro, Md., to monitor his car. “I can see my car right now,” he says one morning at a Best Buy. The camera, connected to his phone via an app, is triggered by motion and sound. If there’s a disturbance, he receives a text alert.
The company’s Nest Protect product will send a text message, voice alert and colour display if it detects smoke or a carbon monoxide problem. “If a piece of toast burns, you can turn off the alarm from your phone,” Ebi says. “If there’s a carbon monoxide leak, the app will alert the thermostat, and the whole system will automatically shut down.”
Every day after school, Teresa Dolan’s two boys tap the deadbolt of their home in Northwest Washington and walk inside. Every week her cleaning team does the same. “We struggled with key inventory, and the idea of handing a key to a stranger left me concerned,” Dolan says. She installed the Kwikset Kevo, a Bluetooth-enabled deadbolt. “We all have smartphones,” she says. “We all downloaded the Kevo app.” She assigned privileges to the boys and others to whom she wants to provide with keyless entry.
Here are other smart phone devices that can make your home more efficient: ❚ Schlage Connect is a deadbolt that works with home automation and security systems. It has a touch screen onto which user codes are entered. “There are moments when you want to know if your door’s locked, for example when you get to the airport. You check via the phone app,” says Christopher DeSchamp, Schlage’s U.S. smart home evangelist and portfolio leader, “and if you forgot, you can lock it remotely.” ❚ The Ring Video Doorbell is a wide-angled 180-degree camera and motion detector that connects to your phone and WiFi network. It starts recording as soon as the bell rings or someone is on your property within the customized range of motion that you have programmed; it sends a phone alert, and wherever you are, you can see on the screen who is at the door.
“It’s a cool product,” says Jeff Lauterette, who recently installed it on his front door. “If you’re stuck in traffic, late getting home and your guest has arrived and is ringing the bell, you can say, ‘Don’t leave. Sit on the porch and wait. I’ll be right there.’ “❚ A white GPS-embedded Tile lets you find a misplaced item — such as your car keys. String it on a key chain. If the item goes missing, TheTileApp sends a Bluetooth signal and a picture of the tracking circle to your phone, displaying the item’s location. ❚ You can forget about having to catch radio or TV weather broadcasts if you have Netatmo, a miniature weather station you can put on the kitchen counter or bedroom dresser to receive ambient data, such as temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide. It will send an alert to tell you when to open the windows for fresh air. ❚ The next smart home gamechanger might be Apple’s recently released HomeKit. The device allows homeowners through Siri to use verbal commands to do such things as turn off, turn on, dim or brighten lights in a specific room; set the thermostat to a certain temperature; and turn on a printer.
Lauterette hopes all his devices will soon be part of HomeKit: “Then my phone will be the remote control for everything.”
We struggled with key inventory, and the idea of handing a key to
a stranger left me concerned