What’s your smart home story?

With most people stuck at home for a while, this feels like a great time for sharing stories and inspiring others with your creativity! So because the term “smart home” means something different to everyone, we’d love you to tell us what smart home means to you.

Did you create an amazing scene? Which feature has the biggest impact on your life?

Here’s how to share your smart home story:

1) Choose your best smart home story

2) Make a video, an Instagram story, or just write it up

Send it in either via email to marketing@ezlo.com; or by posting it to Facebook or Instagram. Just be sure to use the hashtag #VeraSmartHomeStories and tag our account @veracontrol.

These are our favorite smart home stories so far

Hi! I have a lot of smart automation scenes, but the one I’m most proud of is probably this one: If someone is coming near Lights go on, one after our house without a registered smartphone, a virtual dog begins to bark loud inside the house through my Sonos. Lights go on, one after the other if it´s dark outside. A prerecorded voice starts to talk to the dog. Sounds of someone walking up the stairs come next. Any intruder is scared of! I get a notification on my phone and can look into the cameras. A light version of this scene is also activated at nighttime if we´re all asleep! So who wants to have a real dog, with fur all over the place, and demands food and exercise – when you can have a free, nonallergic virtual Vera dog? A.F.

My “Smarthome Story” goes like this: Back in 1987, I bought an X10 Starter Kit from Radio Shack™, composed of a 4-button controller, an in-wall light switch/dimmer, a lamp module, and an appliance module. I set them up around the house and connected our outside spotlights to the dimmer so we could easily turn them “On” and “Off” by pressing the “1” button. Life was good now. The problem was, the outside lights would often turn themselves “On” or “Off” without us doing anything. This was not only puzzling but very upsetting. Worse still, it was impossible for me to troubleshoot the problem since aside from that one glitch, our plug-and-play X10 system worked flawlessly! One day, while talking to the neighbors across the street, they recounted an odd story about their television being “possessed” — seems it was turning itself on every evening, sometimes even coming back on after they had gone to bed. I asked if they had ever heard of X10. They said yes, their son had recently installed such a device behind their living room television. I asked if it was set to House Code “A” (the default setting). They called the son out to inquire, and again, the answer was yes. Turns out HE was the mysterious force causing our exterior lights to toggle off and on! Our houses were simply on the same leg of the electrical transformer, thus allowing the X10 command signals to reach from one to the other. We all had a good laugh, but I swore never to leave an X10 device set to House Code “A” in the future. All these years later, my family still gets a chuckle out of telling that story. Today, I have over 100 modules, transmitters, receivers, and controllers in my collection.

T.G.

So, we had just left the house on our way to SFO for our 3-week European vacation. Packing for a big trip is always stressful and we were rushed out the door when our uber driver arrived early. We were just about to get on the freeway when my phone chirped, “Front door is ajar”, hmmm, that’s odd, let me pull up my video camera. My heart misses a beat as I see that we had left our front door wide open in the whirlwind of suitcases and carry-ons. we had plenty of time to still make our flight as I asked the Uber driver to return us home. Thank god I had programmed in our “door ajar” scene, it literally saved everything I own. The problem was resolved, I had just justified all of expenses for our smart home and allocated a new budget for more. If we didn’t have our Vera Plus we would have lost everything we owned and probably a ruined trip as well. Ezlo Our home was never so smart as on that day.

P.H.

There’s still time to tell us

what’s your smart home story?

We’ll choose our favorites and feature them online. Winners will get a prize from Vera.

What does a smart home mean to you?

You tell us.

Submit your story

Solar and Battery Powered Outdoor Lights: Go Wireless

Who would not want to have a bright yard when the evening’s darkness falls? From your roof to your walkways, you would like your house to shine as ever, with the help of varying landscape lighting hanging or wrapped in the patio or garden. It’s also important to use lights to assist family and friends as they explore your abode. Sensor lights can help guests who have mobility difficulties, and security lighting is compulsory in areas trespassers may enter. Solar and battery powered outdoor lights are helpful in making sure that all corners of the house are covered. There are a lot of benefits of going wireless for your lighting needs, and we at Vera highly suggest that you do so. Ridding yourself of all the wiring work and just opting for solar and battery operated outdoor lights have more advantages than just the added effort of connecting your lights to the nearest outlet. Let’s explore how else putting up solar and battery operated outdoor lights is a better option.

Save on Additional Costs

         As mentioned, installing a whole lot of wiring for solar and battery powered outdoor lights will take some effort. All these wires are also additional costs. Putting up solar and battery operated outdoor lights calls upon you to do additional spending. Imagine installing solar and battery powered outdoor lights at the farthest reach of your home. Getting more wiring does not seem like a practical solution. Instead, opt for solar and battery operated outdoor lights, such as lanterns that run on AA batteries or string lights with solar panel chargers. With the help of solar and battery powered outdoor lights, you can just go to the area you want to put lights on, place the lights, and that’s it. Not much effort is needed in using solar and battery powered outdoor lights.

         Speaking of additional costs, your electrical bill will be a lot lower thanks to solar and battery powered outdoor lights. Solar energy powered lighting can be charged in the day, and traditional batteries aren’t really that expensive if you think about it. There are additional workarounds for these if you really want to bask in the convenience of using solar and battery operated outdoor lights. There is dusk till dawn solar lights that automatically light up when loss of sunlight is detected, and immediately go to charge mode when the sun is out. There are also chargeable batteries that you can opt for so that you don’t keep on throwing batteries away.

         Another issue with solar and battery powered outdoor lights is the constant need to turn them on and off. One way you can turn your solar and battery operated outdoor lights is by making them hands-free, or using a timer. You can utilize Google Home or Alexa to hook up these solar and battery powered outdoor lights so that they will be activated and turned off at precise times of the day. Your solar and battery-operated outdoor lights may also have motion sensors that will automatically turn them on according to the sensitivity to the movement you will set them in, and turn off after a period of time. Other software that can be hooked to these solar and battery operated outdoor lights can also tell you if they are low on energy or broken, so you can be informed right away to give correct action. It looks like creators of these solar and battery operated outdoor lights have really thought out how to make them work for any home.

Know about IP Ratings Too

         Now that you’ve worked out how to make these solar and battery powered outdoor lights work for every area of your garden or yard, make sure to be mindful as well if your chosen lights are appropriate for display. Knowing the Ingress Protection (IP) rating of your solar and battery operated outdoor lights allows you to place the best fixtures to where the weather can affect them the worst. For example, your rooftop is subject to harsher heat and wetness. You might also think that placing your solar and battery powered outdoor lights within the covered patio is safe, but the air can be damp during rainy or snowy seasons. Solar and battery-operated outdoor lights with higher IP ratings can withstand weather conditions better and may be placed almost everywhere. But they might be a lot more expensive, too. If you just plan to use solar and battery operated outdoor lights within your covered porch or deck, plain solar and battery powered outdoor lights might do.

More Options

         Start looking for solar and battery powered outdoor lights with us. We at Vera have a magnificent selection of options for your solar and battery operated outdoor lights, and we hope you check out our collection right here. Feel free to take a look at our other offerings exploring home automation possibilities.

Outdoor Lamp Post Lights