How To Build Your DIY Smart Home

In today’s digital age, there are various methods of creating your own DIY smart home. Though building a smart home may sound daunting, by having the right products and gadgets such as your iPhone or Amazon Alexa, you can easily set up the house of your dreams. 

No longer will you have to worry about going room to room adjusting the window blinds or ensuring that you’ve locked all your doors--you can control all of this with your smartphone or even the sound of your voice. So how do you get started? Follow along with us as we provide the ultimate guide on building your DIY home automation below.

Selecting a Hub

Virtual voice-controlled assistants make it easy to control smart devices with the sound of your voice. By connecting these devices, you can take your home to the next level by building a hybrid smart home environment. Using voice-controlled gadgets will help you effortlessly get settled at home after a long day of work.  

Here are some renown gadgets that can connect with your smart home devices:

• Amazon Echo - This voice assistant device from Amazon connects to Alexa who will help you control your smart home devices.
• Google Home - Providing hands-free help from the Google Assistant, Google Home will provide a lending hand for your home devices and appliances.
• Wink Connected Home Hub - Compatible with over 400 smart home devices, Wink allows you to connect and control your home through your phone and voice by connecting with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. 
• Samsung SmartThings - Similar to the Wink above, the Samsung SmartThings enables you to control a wide range of home devices and connect your Amazon Alexa to have full control.  

4 Easy Ways to Get Started

There are many appliances and devices around your home that you can seamlessly automate with your voice or your phone. Take time to identify your smart home goals. Why do you want to add smart technology to your home? Are you looking to become more energy-efficient or do you want to automate tasks like turning on your lights or opening your blinds? What specific devices around your home are you looking to automate/have more control over?

As there are several key questions to consider, the following four automation products are some helpful ways to get started with building a DIY smart home and lifestyle for yourself and your loved ones. 

Window Blinds - tilt’s Blinds Automation Kit

The blinds automation kit by tilt easily transforms ordinary blinds into smart blinds. Compatible with any major brand and style of horizontal blinds, you can automate your blinds through several ways such as scheduling them to open and close at certain times during the day and connecting them with your Amazon Alexa and/or Google Assistant through the tilt bridge. You can also power these smart blinds with tilt’s mobile app that lets you control your home’s environment and privacy settings remotely. 

Lights - Philips Hue Starter Kit

These smart home light bulbs provide you with full control of your home’s lighting through your smartphone, tablet, Hue wireless dimmer switches and motion sensors, and your voice. The bulbs are connected to the Philips Hue Smart Hub (comes separately or with the starter kit) that allows you to have voice control over your lights. Whether you’re looking for a dim warm light to help you read and drift off to sleep or cool light to help you wake up in the early mornings, this light starter kit lets you customize the ambience of your home.

Locks - August Smart Lock

The August Smart Lock gives you full control over locking and unlocking your door, creating unique keys for each of your guests or family members, and keeping track of who comes and goes all from your smartphone. With these locks, you won’t have to fumble around your purse for your keys, and with their auto-lock/auto-unlock function, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your home is safe and secure. 

Thermostat - ecobee4 WiFi Smart Thermostat

Having a smart thermostat such as the ecobee4 Smarter Wi-Fi Thermostat will help you regulate the temperature in your home to keep you comfortable and your energy usage low. ecobee customers have saved up to 23 percent on their heating and cooling costs. This smart thermostat senses if people are home and the weather outside to determine how much energy to use. This is compatible with Amazon Alexa for voice control.

Whether you choose to integrate one or all devices into your home automation DIY, building a smart home can help you and your loved ones become more energy efficient and feel more secure knowing that your home is under your control. 

Learn More

With tilt's blind automation kit, you can turn ordinary blinds into automated blinds. You can seamlessly control your home’s temperature and security by installing this kit. Be sure to learn more by checking out our DIY smart home product today.