A Smart Garage & A Smart Home
Brian backed SmartThings on Kickstarter to help control and monitor his garage for his business. But he and his family have found that the benefits of a smart home extend inside, too.
Brian: “I was one of the original Kickstarter backers of SmartThings. The real reason I wanted it was the ability to control and automate my garage doors.
I run a photography business, and that means I have a lot of employees coming and going and they need access to the trailers and equipment in our garage. I didn’t have a remote to open the door. But with SmartThings, whenever they call, I’m able to easily open up the garage door from wherever I am and then shut it after they leave. It gives me peace of mind knowing that things are safe and it’s made things a whole lot easier for my employees, too.
In addition, my wife, daughter and I like to go for walks around the neighborhood, but we somehow always forget to shut the garage door. With SmartThings, it’s pretty easy to just log into the app, close it, and keep going.
And since my wife and I both met in school at Iowa, we try to go back and visit frequently. Whenever we head back that way, we can easily drive away and then open up the app a few blocks later to close the garage door behind us with a simple push of a button.”
Amber: “SmartThings has been great inside our home, too. We keep a heated, fragrant candle in our living room on a table. The power cord is behind the TV and hard to reach, so we’ve plugged it in to a SmartPower Outlet and use SmartThings to easily turn it on and off.
We also use SmartThings in our laundry room. We’ve set up a SmartSense Motion sensor in the corner. Whenever it detects movement, it automatically turns on the overhead light. I, for one, find this extremely useful, because between all the clothes and our daughter, my hands seem to always be full!” – Brian and Amber
Want to control and automate your garage door? First, you’ll need a relay switch. We recommend the Evolve Relay Switch. Once you have that, here are a few instructional posts you might find helpful:
• [VIDEO] How to: Monitor, Control, and Automate Your Garage Door
• How to: Automate Your Garage Door
• How to: Wire an Evolve Relay Switch
We want to know how you’re using SmartThings! To have your story featured, drop us a line. Thanks!
This is a warning!!!!!!! Following is only one problem from an endless list of problems with ST.
Do not use ST for any automation where you cannot verify the results in person every time (clearly defeats the purpose of using ST). This system is outright dangerous. Saying this system is a joke is being generous.
For over a month, my wife and I kept finding our front door unlocked and garage door open in the morning. After blaming each other for several weeks, we have now verified that ST does indeed delay the automation that should occur upon arrival for hours until my family is already fast asleep.
It is absolutely irresponsible (even criminal) for SmartThings to claim that their system provides safely and security, when in fact, it places individuals and families at extreme risk. It’s just a matter of time before ST is sued for causing direct harm or contributing to personal loss and/or injury.
ST is clearly and fully aware of these problems based on endless postings on ST’s community forums and the company’s own half acknowledgments and apologies for the same.