How To Automate Your Home For Stress

Keen to make your home more comfortable, convenient and hassle-free? You might want to consider automating your abode.

A smart home is one that can be operated from the palm of your hand (specifically, your phone or tablet) or even using your voice.

While setting up – and getting the hang of – a smart home might seem a little overwhelming, you’ll be glad to know that it's actually very easy to do.

A professional installation service like Optus’ O-Team can get your smart home up and running and provide expert guidance on how to use it.

Then, once you master your new devices, you’ll quickly find your home is more energy efficient, more secure, and easier to live in.

Here's your space-by-space guide to automating your home.

If you want to create the ultimate one-tap-wonder, a Smart Display - like the Google Nest Hub and the Amazon Echo Show - can help you do just that.

After all, Smart Display really is the centre of the smart home, and are your one-stop solution for unifying your connected gadgets and controlling them.

Make life super easy and control everything from the one place. Picture: Optus

The best part? This will connect your cameras, doorbells and other devices, so you can control everything in the one place - like from the couch in your living room.

Besides creating an at-home cinema experience, there's a lot you can do with smart lighting.

Create a relaxing mood when you get home from work by having your lights automatically soften when you arrive or have them brighten gradually when you get up in the morning.

When you’re away, you can have your lights operate as if you were home – which can make your property feel more secure.

Let's be honest: vacuuming isn't exactly the funnest thing you could be doing on a Sunday morning.

Instead, let a smart (or robot) vacuum do the hard work for you. Robot vacuums work on several surfaces and can be programmed to vacuum at certain times of day.

Some models, like the ECOVACS DEEBOT T9+, also come with a mopping function or have the ability to empty dust themselves.

Ditch your basic doorbell and lock and upgrade to a smart entry system.

Video doorbells connect to your phone, tablet or smart speaker so you get notifications when someone knocks and can communicate with whoever's at your door.

Smart locks let you program unique entry codes for each member of the family and keep track of who's coming and going, giving you increased security and peace of mind.

Each member of the household can have a unique code - perfect for seeing who's coming and going. Picture: Optus

You can also install smart security cameras that hook up to your mobile or tablet, letting you monitor your home's safety even when you’re away.

Save yourself the hassle of fishing for your garage door remote by installing a smart garage door.

Like other smart devices, they can be operated remotely using voice control (or your phone if you’re stationary) – so you can have the garage door open and ready for your arrival.

Alternatively, you can have it automatically open and close whenever you enter or leave a specified zone.

Make garden maintenance a whole lot easier by setting up an automated solution.

Sprinklers and lawn irrigation systems can be operated via your smart devices or set to respond to weather conditions.

So, if it's a rainy day, they’ll remain inactive. You can also buy a robot lawnmower to ensure your lawns are always looking schmick.

Smart ovens can be programmed remotely from your mobile, meaning you can preheat before you even get through the door. Some also have temperature probes to tell you when your roast is done.

Smart fridges have excellent climate control and, sometimes, scanning abilities to let you know when certain groceries are running low.

You can also purchase smart coffee machines that start operating at a designated time, so you can wake up to freshly brewed coffee.

Smart speakers – such as the Google Nest and Amazon Echo – are great assistants in the kitchen.

Use your voice to ask for step-by-step cooking instructions and measurement conversions, set cooking timers and alarms, or create a shopping list.

Or you can simply ask your smart speaker to play your favourite cooking playlist to get you in a cheffy mood.

Appliances like your microwave and smart speaker still use energy when they’re on standby, but turning each one off at the wall can be tedious.

This is why a smart plug – like the TP-Link Tapo P110 Mini Smart Plug with energy monitoring – can make all the difference to your electricity bills, and the time it takes to power off your appliances.

You can turn your appliances on and off, set timers and monitor your energy consumption – all from your smart phone.

The best temperature for a good night's sleep is about 18C, but instead of tinkering with a temperature gauge, you can use a smart thermostat to create the ideal sleeping environment.

Either program a particular temperature using your mobile phone or have it switch to a cool setting at a certain time each day.

Sleep well in your bedroom - or on the couch - by using your mobile to set a certain temperature. Picture: Getty

Then, when it's time to wake, you can preset a warmer temperature to incentivise you to get out of your cosy bed.

If you like sleeping with the blinds closed but hate waking to a pitch-black bedroom, smart blinds can solve your conundrum.

You can program them to open at a designated time each morning or even have them rise gradually, making your early morning wake-time less of a shock to the system.

Some smart blinds can be operated via your phone, or even through voice control using your smart speaker.

Fiddling around with your shower to find the right temperature each morning can become a real drag.

A smart shower system, on the other hand, lets you set the temperature and pressure from your phone, allowing you to enjoy the ideal shower each and every time.

Especially come winter, the thought of getting out of a hot shower or bath can be a grim one.

Luckily, products like smart flooring, which gauge outdoor temperatures and heat up accordingly, and smart towel racks, which preheat your towels for you at a set time each day, are easy solutions.