5 Smart Home Features You'll Wonder How You Lived Without

Small Automations That Make Everyday Life at Home Easier

You carry the groceries in from the car and go hunting for a light switch in the dark. Later, the afternoon sun hits the television and washes out the picture. You get a playlist going while you fold laundry in the living room, but can barely hear it when you step away to put it away. They’re all minor annoyances, but they add up, especially if you’re already having a bad day. 

A well-designed smart home makes them disappear. Here are five features that make your daily life easier, with clear examples of how you could incorporate each into your lifestyle. 

A Smart Home That Welcomes You Back 

When you get back from a long day at work, your home is ready to greet you. An arrival scene saved to your Control system switches on the entry and hall lights and sets the thermostat to your ideal settings, all before you have time to find your keys. Struggling to find them? With a smart lock installed, the front door unlocks as part of the same scene. Have a relaxing playlist going in the foyer to help you start your evening relaxation. 

Take Control of Natural Light 

Motorised shades move throughout the day via Lutron’s Natural Light Optimization to track sunlight based on your home's location and the direction each window faces. Shades on the sunny side are lowered to reduce glare on the television, while windows in the shade stay open for the view. You benefit not only from less glare but also from less heat gain and less UV fading of floors and artwork. All without you lifting a finger. Our guide to motorised shades explains how they fit into a wider smart home environment. 

Light Adapts to Your Daily Needs 

 Ketra lighting shifts its colour temperature and brightness through the day to follow the sun. The shift is gradual, like true daylight, unlike other  colour-changing systems that jump between a few preset colour temperatures.

Start off the morning with cool and bright lighting Then in the evening, your tunable LED lights move to a warmer, dimmer setting to help you relax. You get that alert lighting for breakfast and a home visibly calming down by the end of the night. A single Ketra light spans from 1,400K, the warmth of candlelight, up to 10,000K, bright daylight.

Your Favourite Playlist Follows You Everywhere 

Start a playlist in the kitchen and send it to the living room and the patio with one tap on a keypad. Control4 can send music to any combination of rooms or the whole home, and it works natively with 12 streaming services and AirPlay 2, so everyone in the house can play what they like. We often pair this multi-room audio with invisible speakers set into the ceiling or wall. You get high-quality audio throughout the house without sacrificing your decor. 

One Button for Goodnight

Late in the evening, one button press at the bedside can switch off the downstairs lights, lock the doors, and lower the thermostat for sleep. Control4 scenes bundle several actions like this into a single command, with you deciding what settings make the most sense. 

Remove the last-minute walk around the house to check the garage and the back door. The same idea works as an Away scene when you head out for a weekend, so the house settles itself down while you load the car.

Bringing It Home

Each of these features is modest on its own. Together, they take away the switches, trips to the window, and evening lock-ups that fill a typical day. Our design-first approach, backed by CEDIA Designer certification, starts with how you live and builds the system around it. If one of these caught your eye, contact our team to start planning it for your home in Ottawa or Gatineau.