We are visiting Jeroen, who bought an outdated eighties house five years ago together with his wife. After a long period of renovating they completely transformed the house into a modern smart home, controlled by Homey.
At arrival we instantly noticed that an ultimate Smart Home experience was awaiting us. When we rang the door bell we saw the light changing in the hallway. Which gave a really nice effect. With this Flow the guests will have a pleasant welcome. And the host will know exactly when someone is at the door.
About Jeroen
After a cup of coffee Jeroen start sharing his story about his hobby and knowledge about technology: he is always busy optimizing his home by adding new gadgets. As an experienced web developer he is able to build his own applications that work with Homey. If that is required to realize what he has in mind. Because of his background he already had quite some technological knowledge and an immediate interest in Homey. Therefore Jeroen has been a fanatic Homey user since the Kickstarter-campaign.
The bathroom
Jeroen gave us a tour around the house and told us all about how Homey is used within their home. We started in the bathroom which is located at the ground floor. We quickly got inspired by how he used a humidity sensor in combination with the humidity exhaust system in the bathroom. When someone takes a shower or takes a bath the sensor will be triggered and this will automatically turn on the exhaust system. Jeroen explained us that he didn't like how the system worked before. It would be activated as soon as somebody turned on the light. "Due to this change we can quietly brush our teeth and get ready for bed - the exhaust system will only be triggered when needed".
Motion sensors
On our way upstairs we noticed that wherever you go inside the house the lights are triggered by motion sensors. The lights will go out after 60 seconds when there is no more motion detected. This allows Jeroen's family to save energy and the lights won't be on when it isn't necessary. When we arrived on the upper floor Jeroen explained to us that the motion sensors and alarm system are actually one and the same. When everybody is in their bed the motion sensors will be activated as an alarm system. As soon as there is any motion detected Jeroen will receive a notification on his phone. To make sure he, his wife or children won't trigger the alarm system, he made sure that when the motion sensor in the hallway upstairs is triggered the alarm system will be deactivated for three minutes. After these three minutes and when there is no more motion detected the alarm system will automatically will be activated again.
The major renovation
Once we came downstairs Jeroen showed us pictures of their house before the major renovation. We couldn't believe that the house we saw on the pictures was actually the same as we were standing in at that moment. Since the beginning of the renovation Jeroen thought about how he would implement Homey. A major renovation, hard work and a well considered plan about how to implement home automation led to this result.
Controlling blinds through Homey
At the end of the renovation Jeroen and his wife could finally start thinking about how to decorate their home. They started thinking about what they want for their windows. Jeroen decided to complete the Smart Home experience and chose to install Somfy motorized blinds. This systems enables them to control the blinds from a distance through Homey. He created a Flow that will close the blinds after sunset and in the morning after sunrise the blinds will open again.
"I updated Homey to V2.0 in the evening, this took quite a while. We only then realized how accustomed we are to Homey. We had to search the whole house to find the remote control to be able to close the blinds for that one time."
Playroom for the children
Downstairs in a separate room there is a playroom for the children. In the playroom they use Google Chromecast. Jeroen can now easily put on their favorite song or video. In the playroom they also use a motion sensor in combination with a IKEA Tradfri lamp. The IKEA Tradfri lamps are used in almost every room in the house and are all connected to Homey.
We asked Jeroen about his favorite Smart Home solution of product. He answered: "All products that are connected to Homey are my favorite. There is no single product that is controlled separately. As soon as I have to control something manually more than three times I will create a Flow straight away. "
At the end of the tour we took a look at the garage and driveway. Jeroen showed us that he opens his garage door through a Fibaro Relay Switch. But even before you arrive at the garage door, the spotlights will automatically start to shine brighter when the motion sensor at the outside of the house is triggered. This Flow is pleasant for their guests, and gives a warm welcome in these dark, cold winter months.
We understand very well that you got inspired after reading about the Smart Home Jeroen created and you got excited about transforming your own house into a modern smart home as well. Discover Homey, take a look in our Talks With Homey Store and create a Smart Home experience in your own home!
