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Tech For All The Family

1 December 2021 | Lightwave

The home is where the heart is. There are many ways that Smart Home technology can be woven into the fabric of family life. Why not sit down as a family and think about ways everybody can benefit from the integration of home automation. Here are some fun and easy to implement ideas to get you started!

Smart Ideas For Mum and Dad

The kitchen acts as the central hub (pardon the pun) of many homes. As the pace of modern life starts to move ever faster, it can be a challenge to get the whole family around the dinner table. Utilise the Lightwave system to automatically heat the kitchen to the perfect temperature ten minutes before you start to prepare meals. Get instant notifications on your smartphone when your smart oven is at the ideal temperature or your smart fridge is low on ice required for after-dinner drinks. Connect your Lightwave system to an Apple HomePod, Amazon Echo or Google Nest speaker. Aim to place your Smart Speaker in a convenient position, so you are hands-free while making dinner. Make a playlist of your favourite tunes to listen to as you chop vegetables, relax after work and enjoy being home after a busy day. The house is usually a hive of activity just before dinner. Let the whole family know that dinner is served via your smart speaker without lifting a finger. 

After enjoying a fabulous home-cooked meal with the family, why not retire to the bathroom to relax and unwind. The bathroom is the perfect sanctuary to get much needed time to yourself. Use Smart lighting to create the ideal mood lighting routine you want. Lightwave Smart Dimmers can be programmed to reduce and increase the brightness of the bathroom lights incrementally during the course of the bath. Use a Smart Thermostat in conjunction with the Lightwave App to get the perfect temperature for the bathroom. Set a command to heat the bathroom as you run a warm bath whilst at the same time use a Lightwave Smart Heating Switch to heat the towel rack to ensure toasty towels and PJs. Do you want some peace and quiet in the bath? Create a relaxing playlist to listen to and turn it off by using your smart speakers, or better yet, you could schedule the music to start in conjunction with your Lightwave Smart Dimmer to action your ambient bath lighting. Pre-set the automation by selecting the ‘DO’ function via the Link Plus App or your smart assistant. For example, Bathroom mood – (do) set switch to on, set brightness to 40% and the target temperature to 20 degrees. Just Relax!

Re-create the perfect gym session from the comfort of your home. As home gym equipment has become more accessible and the popularity of online exercises has increased exponentially, many homes include a mini gym and exercise studio. Whether you are focused on cardio or strength training, you can create the perfect playlist to match. Commend your Smart Speaker to select your favourite tunes and turn the volume up to the max! Set your Lightwave heating system to switch off at a set time before you start your workout so that you can train at a comfortable temperature. 

Smart Ideas for Teenagers

So your teenager is keen to impress their friends by inviting them to a movie night. Help them create a scary themed movie night by working on a unique lighting and sound routine together. Use the Lightwave Link Plus to create a ‘Magic Button’ to control all the smart elements of their bedroom seamlessly. With the touch of a button, they can wirelessly control any number of other Lightwave devices around the home. They could even use the smart speaker to request extra popcorn and cold drinks from the kitchen if they ask politely! 

As teenagers grow up, they start to focus on school exams and university preparation. You can use automations in the office to help create a comfortable environment to study. By utilising the Lightwave Smart Thermostat, you can programme the heating to come on 15 minutes before they get home from school to warm the office. Then set the heating to turn off 15 minutes before dinner, so they can leave school work behind and get ready for a fun family dinner. Using a Lightwave Smart Dimmer, you can programme the study lights to come on an elevated brightness during each study session. The lights can also be controlled using the Lightwave App or voice command, allowing for complete control and flexibility. 

Smart Ideas for Little Ones

If your little one is afraid of the dark, there is a solution at hand. Fit a Lightwave 

Magnetic Trigger onto their bedroom door. Then if the door opens during the night, it will trigger the hallway lights to be illuminated and send a notification to your phone to inform you they are out of bed. It is straightforward to set up within the Lightwave App using the ‘Automations’ function. Then set up the automation according to your child’s bedtime routine.  

It is tough to get little ones fixed to a regular morning and evening bedtime routine. Help them to establish a healthy sleeping pattern that affords everybody a restful night’s sleep. Start and end your day Good Morning and Good Night lighting settings. Set the bedroom lights to come on gradually in the morning and fade into cool light before bedtime to let the little ones know that it’s time to get ready to rest for the evening. 

Little ones regularly tend to get up in the night when they should be fast asleep. By utilising Lightwave Smart Sockets, you can prevent the potential danger of curious hands touching electronic devices or power sockets. The Smart Sockets can be directly programmed via the Lightwave App to ensure devices you don’t want them to have access to are switched off and locked. Formulate a command to automatically turn off all appliances five minutes after use to guarantee nothing dangerous is left switched on. You could also create an automatic timer so all devices are automatically switched off each evening before bedtime. You are safe in the knowledge that everything is off and secure as you go to sleep.

These are just a few creative and entertaining ways to use smart automation to benefit the whole family. Have fun! 

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