Smart home automation is helpful but also fun. Do you have a motion sensor or two lying around, and are you unsure what to do with them? Traditionally, these sensors positively impact a building’s power consumption and security, but there are other, creative uses that you should try. We’ve put together a quick guide to help you get started with motion sensor home automation.
Motion Sensor Automation Inspiration
Want to turn on your hallway lights automatically or get notified of any suspicious activity? With a motion sensor and a smart home system, you can always stay eco-friendly and keep your possessions safe and sound. Homey lets you see the current power consumption of your home or set up notifications with a Homey Flow in case someone breaks in.
Fortunately, these sensors allow you to do much more, especially when aiming for a creative application. Take a look at our tips below to make your daily routine easier and your home smarter.
Manage your presence & status
Your presence and awake status can be changed automatically by many triggers, such as your phone’s location, the actual sleep activity, or snoozing the morning alarm.
Movement at home also adds to the accuracy of your presence and awake status – install a motion sensor facing your side of the bedroom, and once you start moving around in the morning, your status will change from sleeping to awake.
Warm up the coffee machine
So you get out of the bed, head over to the kitchen, and the next thing you know – the espresso machine is already turned on and pre-warmed. Sounds nice? With Homey, you can achieve that level of comfort in 3 simple steps. The only thing left for you to do is press a button and get that sweet caffeine kick.
Start the day right
With a hot cup of coffee in your hand, you move on to the living room to have a moment for yourself in the morning. Once motion has been detected, a Homey Flow can turn on your Samsung Smart TV, Plex, or Chromecast at a pre-defined time to show you today’s weather forecast or start your favorite meditation app.
Clean up while there’s no-one around
As much as domestic appliances make our lives easier, they often end up being a nuisance with all their whirrs, clanks, and buzzes.
Combined with the sound pollution coming from the outside, the appliance noises are often overwhelming. If you want to ensure your household stays quiet and peaceful, tell the robotic vacuum or dishwasher it’s the right time to start cleaning only when there’s no one home.
Keep your house lit
Many of us have been spending more time indoors lately. Thanks to that, it’s become ever more apparent that our domestic surroundings need to be well-maintained and cozy to make our days run smoother.
With a simple Flow, you’ll keep the light level just right in the zones where you spend most of your time. Divide the luminance detected by a motion sensor by its maximum value and subtract the result from 1. Use the final amount as the brightness setting of your lights.
When there’s plenty of natural ambient light, the automation will dim your lamps and light strips, whereas low ambient light will increase of brightness of the artificial light.
Stay fit while working from home
Yes, there is such a thing as a house being too comfy. If your home office setup leads you to sit all day at your desk, your body suffers. Fortunately, you don’t need a wearable device to tell you to stand up and stretch. Your smart home will provide those cues for you once an hour.
Relax at the private spa
Is it time to kick back after a long day at work? Your smart home can help you with that. Turn your bathroom into a small private spa – take a hot bath with your favorite ambient playlist turning on automatically and a smart blind giving you a bit of privacy from the outside world.
Take out the trash on garbage day
It’s easy to forget about taking out the trash so it can be emptied on garbage day. The solution is to set an alarm reminding you it’s the evening before and you should take care of this chore.
Then, with a motion sensor behind the garbage cans and the following Flow, the warning will be active only if the sensor hasn’t detected any movement that day.
Catch the feline adventurer
You keep your cat well-fed, protect it from the elements, and care for it with all your heart and soul. But when it’s on a mission, it’ll go to great lengths to hide from you. If you need to catch the little rascal in the evening to make sure it spends the night at home, install motion sensors at its usual hiding spots to keep track of its movement.
Tell a scary story
Whatever the time or season, motion sensors come in handy when it comes to DIY holiday decorations. Set up automation with a smart speaker whenever you want to play Santa’s friendly ho-ho-ho or have your carved pumpkin tell scary stories.
Conclusion
Motion sensors make your home energy-efficient and secure, but home automation with them doesn’t have to stop there. These sensors can liven up your day, keep you healthy, and even entertain you.
Just like with the Flows above, it’s possible to have lots of fun even with simple smart devices and a little bit of time. Let us know how you yourself automate your home with Homey Bridge or Homey Pro in original ways, and we’ll feature the best Flows on our website!
