Smart Home: Things we should not automate at home

Creating a smart home can be rewarding, personally and financially. But we need to keep a few things in mind before we try to make our home smart. I have listed out these things which I feel are not safe to automate in any smart home.

Start working on your smart home by documenting the goals. Are you trying to improve safety and security, save energy, or just make your life more convenient at home? The first rule of the smart home - Think smart before using home automation as a security system or automating things like fireplaces and windows.

Automated windows

Automated control of windows poses a little risk; however, the automated opening and closing of standard windows that can be accessed by children in a home can be risky. Don't automate the closing of a window that is within the reach of a child.

Security system' for home automation

Nowadays, it's pretty easy to put together a security system using your online sensors and your automation hub/processor. When a fire breaks out, an air quality sensor detects a high degree of particulate substance in the air and sends a notification to your smartphone.

An automation system can do this, but I think this is not an alternative to a real security system. Several things can go wrong with this type of system that could prevent it from waking up a family in the mid the night and letting them safely come out of a house on fire.

Overhead Garage Door Control

An OHD garage is normally the largest automatic device used in any home. As it showcases safety features built in to protect people from injury from a closing door, it's still risky to automate this. This is why wireless garage door openers are built with a limited range, usually only working when there is a line of sight to the garage door.

Please don't automate everything just for the sake of a smart home. Think about what needs to be automated and what makes the most sense to automate.