There are certain rooms or halls in your home that need simple, standalone automated switches. If these special switches replace the conventional ones currently installed, you won’t need to turn the controls off; they will do it for you. You may want this type of a switch to automate your bathroom lights and fans, or perhaps your basement, attic, and garage—these are the lights that we forget to turn off most often. For example, you will go into your basement or attic to get some items stored in big boxes. Of course, you will be leaving the room with your hands full, and there’s no way you can turn the lights off. You never know when you will remember that the lights were on. One way to rectify this and start saving energy at home is a simple automation. Make the light turn off by itself. Use timer switches.
Timer switches, as they are commonly called, can be used to automatically shut off you bathroom lights and exhaust fans when they reach the preset time limit. In the case of the INSTEON SwitchLinc Relay Countdown Timer, you can turn a light or fan on for fifteen minutes and be sure that it will automatically turn off after some time, even if you forget to turn it off yourself. If you tap the paddle top for the second time it will stay on for an hour, another tap will give you another hour, and so on up to 24 hours. You may use it as a standard switch if you hold the paddle for 2 seconds, and it will stay on until you turn it off. Another excellent feature for this switch is its ability to be controlled by any INSTEON-enabled controller if you have an INSTEON lighting network installed in your home.
Another popular choice for the above purpose is Leviton Countdown Timer Switch. It has all the capabilities of the above-mentioned switch only that it has four timer settings to choose from (5-10-15-30 minute adjustments). The functionality of this switch it not limited to lights; it can control small motors as well.
You may also want to add simple automation to your lighting in a hallway or a room whose lighting switch is hard to reach. The Leviton Wall Mounted Occupancy Sensor is a switch that can detect motion up to 20 feet away, and turns on a load up to 500 watts. This is also a timer switch, and has up to fifteen minutes before powering off. It also has a 150-degree field of view.
The above items are all simple ways to automate lightings and small appliances, but this item below is what really amuses me. I think nothing beats the simplicity of the Smarthome Screw in Motion Sensing Light Adapter when it comes to making your smart home smarter. With this gadget, you can make light bulbs turn on and off with the motion-sensing adapter itself. The Passive Infrared (PIR) motion sensor detects movement with a 360 degree field of vision up to five meters (16 feet). With this installed to your storage rooms, you can walk in and out with your hands full of carry-on items, and yet you can make the lights turn on and off whenever you enter and leave the room. Anybody who is able to replace a light bulb can install this gadget without any difficulty.
The best part of these simple systems is that you don’t need to have any system in place to begin using them – these can function perfectly as stand-alone features. As you go along and add modules to your home automation system, these units will begin interacting with the other components of your smart home.
Home automation need not be expensive and complicated. Simple automation features such as these can make many things easier in the home and help save energy as well. And don’t forget the fun in doing so!
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