Lights, Camera, More Lights!
Imagine living in an apartment with multiple rooms and therefore multiple roommates. When you get home from work, all you want to know is whether or not you can sing at the top of your lungs (Doesn't everybody?), which you only feel comfortable doing if no one is home to disrupt, or if you should reserve the vocals for a more suitable occasion. Instead of knocking on doors, potentially waking the roommates you've worked hard to establish good relationships with, what if there was some indicator, maybe a light or multiple lights, that told you who was home and who was away? With a little ingenuity and the correct supplies, you could have such an invention - just like I now have!
The basic idea is this: each roommate has a light, which when off indicates that person is away and when on indicates that person is home. Each of the lights are plugged into a Wemo Switch, a smart home device that allows one to control anything that is plugged into it remotely via wifi. This may seem like overkill (perhaps the entire idea is) and you may think "Why bother with a remotely activated switch? Can't I just turn on and off a regular lamp instead of use these fancy switches?" You could, but then you couldn't automate it. You see, using IFTTT (If This, Then That) one may program each individual light to turn on when a particular individual (or, more precisely, when a particular individual's phone) enters an area, and turn off when that particular individual('s phone) exits that area.
It's a fairly simple setup, actually! The switches themselves can be a bit temperamental to connect to wifi initially because they have to be fairly close to the router in order to have a strong signal, but once they connect you can move them farther away and have no issues. I purposefully chose a plug that did not require a hub like some smart home appliances do, just because I have little intention of expanding to other smart home devices and I didn't want to pay for a hub. I acquired my lights from the Millenial staple, IKEA - but the great thing is, you can use anything that plugs into a standard wall plug. Some ideas I had include: colored lights, thrifted lamps, disco balls, kaleidoscopic lights, strand lights, and pendant lights. You could even use a fan with colorful streamers! The possibilities are endless.
Once you have the switches set up and the devices plugged into them, you have one more step for automation - connecting with IFTTT. Simply download the free app to each person's smartphone and add the following two applets:
The first time on each device you'll also need the free Wemo app, in order to sync Wemo and IFTTT, and that's probably the most problematic part. With the two Apple devices it worked without a problem, but with the one roommate's Android, which didn't have enough memory for both apps, we had issues. I ended up having to use his tablet, which is wifi enabled but doesn't have any kind of wireless plan. I don't imagine you'd have issues if your Android device had enough memory for both apps. But I digress.
What would you have turn on when you come home? Do you have a fun idea for a use of home automation technology? Tell me all about it over on our FB page!