You know you can use home automation to control your lights, coffee pot, thermostat, or door locks remotely. Anything that uses Z-Wave technology can be controlled remotely using your smartphone – and that’s not just limited to light switches and door locks. Z-Wave technology is likely to expand quickly, and a little thinking outside of the box can make your home more efficient than ever. Here are a few things you may not have realized you could be doing with your home automation system.
Put Your Kids Go to Bed
Three-year-old keeps turning the lights in her room back on after bedtime? You don’t have to get off the couch to check. Use your smartphone to see if the lights are on, and turn them off – or even dim them gradually.
Open The Curtains
A Z-Wave enabled window treatment motor control can keep nosy neighbors at bay, make your kids wake up on time in the morning, or just totally freak out your house guests. Just make sure everyone’s fully dressed before you try playing poltergeist.
Make Your Thermostat Even More Efficient
f it has a switch or plugs into an outlet, you can control it – so put your space heaters and fans to work via your phone. Save even more money on your heating and cooling bills by controlling space heaters and fans with your home automation system. Small appliances like these give your home’s heating and cooling systems a huge break on top of your ability to control your thermostat remotely in the first place. Instead of fudging with the thermostat on your way home from work, use your fans or space heaters to make your kitchen, office, or bedroom more comfortable for your arrival. Obviously space heaters are a fire hazard, so place them carefully and monitor them when you’re away.
Water Your Plants
The FortrezZ WV-01 Wireless Z-Wave Water Valve uses Z-Wave technology to automate an irrigation system with electronic valves. While this would mean a slight overhaul on your sprinkler system (no more righty-tighty valves), being able to run your sprinklers remotely just might be worth it. The technology allows you to know whether valves are open and control them remotely, just like any other Z-Wave enabled appliance.
Make Sure You Closed the Garage
You knew you could control your door locks from your phone, but you can control the garage too – and throw away that ugly garage-door remote you can never seem to find anyway. Just use your phone to monitor and control the garage door with a tilt sensor.
Getting creative with your home automation system can be fun. Finding ways to make your home more energy-efficient is always a good idea, so have fun seeing how many ways you can control your home from your smartphone. Your kids will be totally freaked out, your dinner guests will be impressed, and you’ll feel like a superhero when you can turn off the sprinklers from work.
