Home Assistant may be a smart home app, but that doesn’t mean you’re limited to using it in your home. There are many ways I use Home Assistant outside of my home, and these are some of my most useful automations.
Video doorbell images
Notifications that let you see who’s at the door
One of the great things about video doorbells It allows you to communicate with people on your doorstep even when you are not at home. If you have a delivery, for example, you can ask to keep your item in a safe place rather than throwing it on your front porch. You can have a two-way conversation with someone at your doorstep, wherever you are.
Sometimes you don’t want to talk to the person at the door; you just want to see who he is. I use Home Assistant to notify me when a person is detected by my video doorbell. The clever part is that notification snapshot is included from the doorbell.
That way, even if I’m away from home, I can see who’s at the door when I get a notification. Then I can decide if I need to talk to them through the doorbell.
- Resolution
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2K
- Power source
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Battery
Reolink’s battery-powered Wi-Fi video doorbell is a great way to know who’s outside. With a 2K resolution and a 150°x150° head-to-toe view, this video doorbell can be either battery- or cord-operated, depending on your current setup.
Triggers geofencing for specific locations
Turn off notifications at the theater or cinema
I have several notifications in Home Assistant set as critical signals. These notifications sound even when my phone is in Do Not Disturb or silent mode. They are used for important notifications such as medication reminders.
Notifications work even when I’m out of the house. But sometimes I don’t want the loud notification sound. If I’m at the movies or watching a show, it’s far from ideal.
I have set up some of the common places I visit such as the local theater and nearby cinemas. Zones in Home Assistant. When I enter these zones, critical alarms are automatically disabled until I exit the zone again. This means I don’t have to worry about my phone dying in the middle of a show.
Remote heating activation
Come back to a warm home
i have smart thermostat in my house which automatically turns off the heat when both my wife and I are away. The thermostat uses our phones to detect when we are away. Works well and it prevents us from heating an empty housesaves us money. But one downside is that the house can be very cold if the heat is off when we get home.
I can easily turn on the heat remotely using the Home Assistant, but it’s not very smart. Instead, I use Proximity integrationcan provide both distance from home and direction of travel. Armed with this information, I created an automation that automatically turned on the heating system when I was on my way home and within a certain distance of my home zone.
Now, when I come home, the house has already reached the ideal temperature. I still save money by not heating an empty house, but I never have to go back to a cold house.
Reminders are paused until I get home
I get notifications when I need them
A home assistant can’t just tell you when you go home; he can also say that he is coming. This can be useful because there are some automations that you only want to run when you’re home.
I I created my own medication reminders In Home Assistant, which sends me an alert every 30 minutes until I mark the medication as taken. It works perfectly when I’m at home, nagging me until I take my meds.
When I’m out, I won’t be able to get my medication until I get home. I don’t want reminders every 30 minutes when I can’t do anything about them.
Here are my notifications for my medication reminders actionable notifications with a list of options. Along with options to stop notifications for a certain period of time, there is also an option to remind me when I get home. This stops the notifications until I get home again, at which point it will start bugging me every 30 minutes until I acknowledge them.
I know where I parked the car
Never search the parking lot again
It’s honestly one of the most useful automations I have and can’t be beat at home. It’s only purpose is to use it when I’m out.
My memory is getting worse as I get older. I often found myself not remembering exactly where I had parked the car and wandering around aimlessly. Enter Robert De Niro Jackie Brown.
Home Assistant solved this problem. When my phone disconnects from my car’s Bluetooth, it triggers an automation that stores the GPS coordinates of my current location. When trying to find my car a Widget on iPhoneand a Google Map opens with the coordinates of my car added. I can then quickly locate my car without looking like an idiot.
Home Assistant isn’t just for your home
Automating your smart home is great, but it doesn’t have to be limited to your home. There are many ways to take a home assistant outside of your home, and it can be incredibly useful.
