My Smart Home Project.

I decided that I would like to integrate smart home technology into my home so that I could have music playing throughout the house as well as control various electrical devices using voice command.
To do this I opted for the Amazon Echo, with the main unit in the living room and two additional Amazon Echo Dot's, one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom.

The next part of the project was to add a compatible lighting system, for this the perfect choice for me was Hive, so firstly I purchased a Hive Hub (The controller that connected to Amazon Alexa via the wireless network) Then added a light in the living room with 256 colour settings and a natural white light on the stairs and in the bedroom. All the lighting could be set from 5% to 100%.

The next addition was smart plugs for ambient lighting in the living room which turned off and on led strip lighting behind the TV and on a shelf at the back of the room.

With these in place I was able to set up 'scenes' where by simply saying 'Evening Lights On' would switch both the main living room light on and the 2 smart plugs controlling the LED strips, I also assigned the 2 downstairs Amazon echos as a group so that I could play music downstairs simply by saying 'Play my music downstairs'

After adding several other commands to group functions together, IE 'All Lights Off' which turned all lights and devices off in the house, the system was pretty much set up for now.
I did add a door sensor too, to the front door, and configured it so that my phone would receive a notification if the door was opened.

That is where I am up to now, I am planning on adding a smart switch to the kitchen as the light fittings are small and there are 5 of them, it is much more affordable to go down the route of one smart device, rather than purchasing 5 individual smart lights. And I do intend to add a camera into the mix at some point for monitoring outside, not sure whether to opt for a standalone camera or one with integrated into a doorbell (I think the latter as it is more useful.)
I also have several buttons on the fridge where I can automatically order things from Amazon such as cat food, washing tablets, air freshener refills etc.
I even have the function of calling each room via the Echo devices, it will ring my phone should I lose it, and even make calls via them.
As and when new devices come available and they are suitable, I will probably add them to my smart home set up.

Thanks for reading.

Image Credit Pixabay