Automate your garage with a smart home automation system

0VabbRP.jpg

Automating your garage with a smart home automation system essentially means using a smart door opener, motion sensors for lights and a security camera so you can monitor who comes and goes. Considering we tend to store some big ticket items in our garages, it makes sense to invest a little in protecting them. Here’s how.

Let’s assume you already have a motorized garage door and a smart home hub such as the Amazon Echo or Samsung SmartThings hub. You’re tired of driving to work and wondering if you remember to close the garage door or not and would like to be able to check everything is okay.

Automate your garage door

First up, let us automate your garage door. Products such as Garageio, Chamberlain MYQ and Skylink all offer the means to add automation to your existing door motor. I choose Garageio as it is the simplest to set up and works with both iOS and Android. It also plays nicely with Amazon Echo and can utilize IFTTT recipes for a little extra intelligence.

First you connect the control box to your door motor. It’s quite a straightforward procedure. Then you connect it to your home Wi-Fi network and download the smartphone app. Once paired, the app allows you to check the status of the door from anywhere through the app and close it if you leave it open. You can also remotely open it should you need to and record who comes and goes using the door.

Keeping things safe with smart home automation
Amazon Echo, Samsung SmartThings hub and most other smart hubs can all integrate other smart devices into the network. Adding a wireless IP camera can help you remotely monitor and record the goings on in your garage. Installing a motion sensor can send an alert if the door opens or automatically switch on the lights if triggered.

All are easily integrated into the system by installing the device in the garage, pairing with the app and your smart home hub and configuring it to do what you want it to do.

Taking garage automation further with IFTTT
Once you have all the ingredients for your automated garage, you can take it one step further if you have used an IFTTT compatible system. Using Garageio with Amazon Echo or Samsung SmartThings hub means you can use IFTTT recipes to add conditions to actions.

For example, you could set a recipe to automatically close the garage door as soon as your cellphone goes out of range or if it rains. You could automatically switch off the door motor after 11pm and have it activate just before you leave for work for extra security.

There are many ways to automate your garage with a smart home automation system. All it takes is a small investment in time and money and you could be enjoying the home of the future!

Automate the rest of your home with The absolute best smart home washing machines or Smart home gadgets that help your garden grow.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Status
Not open for further replies.