OutSmart Homes

Amazon just dropped prices on the Kasa TP-Link smart plugs so add it to your cart and get on with your smart home. We recommend Kasa smart plugs over a generic brand because they are reliable, dependable, well made and they work with IFTTT (ie. the programming language that anyone can learn to do). At this price, there is no excuse to on building your smart home. Start now and add a Kasa TP-Link smart plug to your shopping cart. Here are 10 ideas on what you can do with your Kasa TP-Link smart plugs: 1. Turn lamps on at sunset. 2. Brew coffee when you wake up. 3. Turn on fan when it's hot outside. 4. Turn on your tv when you get home. 5. Turn fan on when garage door opens. 6. Turn off lights when you go to bed. 7. Turn on the humidifier when humidity is low. 8. Turn on all the lights in the house with one button. 9. Turn on your Christmas tree when you get home. 10. Blink your lights when you get an email or text. The whole idea behind smart plugs is that you c...

When the sun goes down, darkness lurks all over your home. Why not light it up with a light connected to a smart home device like the Wemo Insight Smart Switch or a Philips Hue Light ? Having a light turned on automatically using a smart home security routine is cool but before you spend a cent, ask yourself if a simple night light would do the trick? One of the reasons why so many people have not jumped on the smart home bandwagon is cost. Smart home devices aren't cheap and most people are old school including myself. We would rather use our house key to open and lock our doors instead of keying in a code or using our smartphone. I think having a smart home is convenient, useful and I love writing this blog about everything you can do to add the smarts in your home but I'm budget-conscious like I know a lot of you are too. Back to the night light question, will a simple night light solve my problem or do I have to use a smart home device? I go to my favorite online...

People get nervous around cameras, especially when they walk into a home with surveillance cameras mounted everywhere. I know that because recently, my realtor asked me if it was okay to take down all the cameras before an open house. She explained that potential buyers may have a problem touring the house with cameras watching them and possibly, filming them without their permission. If privacy tops your concerns about putting smart home devices into your home then this blog is for you. With most good smart home cameras, there is a mode that works as though the lens cap was left on the camera lens. It is known as the 'privacy mode' and when turned on, it shuts down the live view and prevents the camera from capturing images. The camera remains on and is still connected to your network but the camera lens and microphone are both disabled. In this mode, the camera is dark and is unable to capture any images or video. As I've found, only some of the better smart home camer...

Setting up a smart home can be daunting but I am going to change your mind by taking you through a 8-step journey to teach you how to set up a smart home task with a few clicks on your smartphone. In just 8 steps, I am going to show you how easy it is to set up a smart home task that will show you how easy it is to create a smart home task to send yourself an email at sunset. I know that's not very exciting but if you had a KASA Smart WiFi Plug you can modify this task to turn on a light at sunset. Now that's exciting! Grab your smartphone and follow along. - Step 1 - Download the IFTTT app onto your phone. Here's the icon of the app: - Step 2 - Launch the IFTTT app and create an account. There is no charge to use IFTTT so go ahead and use your email address so you can save your smart home instructions.  - Step 3 - When you launch IFTTT, this screen appears.  Click on the 'Get more' button at the bottom of the screen. - Ste...

As I sit here in my kitchen nook, I realize a lot of you may also be sitting on the fence when it comes to putting smart home gadgets in your home. I don't blame you. In our household, I'm the one that is drawn into it whereas my significant other is not. She doesn't hate it and she likes the convenience of  turning on lights from another room but she isn't a smart home evangelist like me. I keep explaining to her that having a smart home is not all about security. A lot of people think that a smart home involves putting up a bunch of cameras around the house and having your home monitored while you're at work or on vacation. Others think that they can buy an Amazon Echo or a Google Home device and call it a smart home. Having a smart home these days is really a dream come true. I remember growing up and watching the Jetsons on tv? When it debut in 1962, we watched how George Jetson and his wife, Jane had lived in a home filled with gadgetry. They had a robot ...