Creating a DIY Security System with Wink

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One of the main benefits of having a smart home is that you can use it to amplify your home’s security in new and meaningful ways. It doesn’t require expensive, professional installation or the monthly fees common to many third party security providers. With a few products and a baseline knowledge of the different features available in the Wink app, you can quickly and easily create your very own DIY security system. In this post, we’ll outline a few common security use cases, along with the products and setup instructions to get started.

1: AUTOMATE LIGHTS SO IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE IS HOME AFTER DARK

If you’re someone who regularly works late (or has a very active after work social life), it’s likely you’re pulling into the driveway or walking into the apartment after it gets dark. With Wink, it’s easy to create the illusion that someone is always home.

Within the Wink app you can create Schedules that prompt single (or multiple) lights to turn on and off at predetermined times. You can also sync a Schedule with Sunset, so that regardless of changing daylight hours throughout the year, Wink will always turn on a porchlight or living room lamp at dusk.

What you’ll need:

  • One smart light bulb (or multiple, depending on the size of your home)
  • One Wink HUB (if required to connect your light bulb with the Wink app) 

How to get started:

  • Check out our blog post on how to setup a Schedule for in-depth instructions here.

2: CONTROL WHO IS ENTERING AND LEAVING YOUR HOME

Our homes can be a zoo of activity with people constantly coming and going. While you can hand out keys to friends and family, a few smart products and the Wink app can make it much easier to not only see from afar who is at the front door, but when they’ve arrived and left. 

The Ring Video Doorbell and a smart Schlage lock (multiple models available) enables this. Within the Wink app, you can create a Robot that notifies you whenever Ring is triggered or when motion is detected (the sensitivity of the motion detector can be changed based on environmental factors near your front door). From there, you can see who is at the front door and if you have a Schlage lock installed, either unlock the door remotely to let the dog sitter, or ignore the pesky salesman and go back to your day.

What’s more, with a Schlage lock you can create separate user codes for the individuals you want to grant access to your home. Once the codes are established, Robots can be created to notify you when a particular user code is used. The activity feed of the Wink app will show you who and when someone comes or goes, so you can breathe easier. 

What you’ll need:

How to get started:

  • Create a Robot to send you an email and push notifications when Ring is triggered or detects motion. For step by step instructions on setting up a Robot, check out our blog post here. 
  • Create another Robot for when your Dog Sitter’s user code is entered. 

3: SURPRISE AND WARD OFF Possible INTRUDERS

In the unlikely and unfortunate instance that someone enters your home that you don’t want there, automating a few sensors and smart lights might just surprise them into running away. 

GoControl’s security suite comes with door and window sensors you can affix anywhere, and monitor their status accordingly through the Wink app. The motion sensor identifies movement up to 50 feet away, while the loud siren and flashing light warns intruders if the alarm is tripped.  

Say you’re going on vacation for a few weeks. Within the Wink app, you can set up a Robot that triggers your smart light bulbs to automatically illuminate if the motion sensor detects movement or the front door sensor is triggered. Take it the extra mile by having the siren go off as well. You’ll get alerts automatically on your phone so you can jump into action and investigate.

What you’ll need:

How to get started:

  • Create a Robot for when a door opens, turn on the lights and trigger the siren. 
  • Create one Shortcut that enables the Robot and one that Disables the Robot. You can find step by step instructions for using Robots and Shortcuts together here. 
  • Create a Widget for each Shortcut. Instructions for creating a widget can be found on the bottom of the Shortcut blog post here. 

3 Ways to Use a Smart Garage Door Opener

A little known fact: we started out in a humble garage in the middle of Manhattan and have affectionately called our subsequent homes “the garage,” regardless of their location.

Some news: today, GoControl joins our ever growing ecosystem of Wink-compatible garage door openers, including Chamberlain.

With both of these in mind, we thought some helpful pointers were long overdue on how your garage door opener can be an integral part of your smart home:

  • Connect them with outdoor lights: This can particularly useful if you have a detached garage. Set up a Robot in Wink that triggers the porch or patio lights to turn on as soon as the garage is opened and you’ll never trip down a dark walkway again.
  • Let a friend or family member in when you're not home: Here again the ability to control your devices remotely can come in very handy. Need to give a neighbor access so they can pick up or drop off a tool midday? No problem. Kid forget their house key but you know the door between the garage and the house is unlocked? Voilà.
  • Set up a Shortcut to make bedtime easier: If you have a garage, it’s a fair guess that your dwelling is on the larger side. Which means more lights to turn off, thermostats to adjust and doors to lock before you fall asleep (or questioning whether or not you completed everything while in bed). A great way to make the process easy is by setting up a Goodnight Shortcut in Wink so that you can shut down multiple products - including closing your garage door - in a pinch.

Back to School - How the Smart Home Removes Some of the Stress

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Between buying new school supplies, sorting out carpool logistics and coping with first-day jitters, back-to-school can be a stressful time to say the least!

While the lives of parents will soon become a lot more hectic, there are a number of ways to easily cut out some of the stress. And you won’t find them in the flashy activity tracker or newest ‘phablet,' but rather in your smart home. 

Here are a few ways how:

  • Your child forgot their keys at home: Let’s face it, we’ve all done it once. This is where smart door locks - like the Schlage Touchscreen Deadbolt - can really work their magic. You can give your child a unique code they can use in place of a key and receive an alert when that code is used. And if your child forgets their code, no matter. A quick tap within the Wink app can unlock the front door no matter where you are. 
  • You’re sick of returning to a tampered thermostat: Traditional thermostats with lots of buttons are an open invitation for children to make the temperature go haywire. Keep tabs on your home’s climate and schedule it to adjust right when school gets out with a smart thermostat like the Emerson Sensi. You can also get alerted if anyone tries to mess with it.
  • You want to make sure everyone got home safe: Smart cameras - like Nest Cam - are a great way to quickly see what’s going on at home. Set one up in your living room or kitchen and connect it with Wink for real time monitoring no matter where you are. It’s a great way to get peace of mind that the kids got home safe and the pets haven’t run off into the wild. 
  • Everyone is finally in bed, but is everything turned off?: Sure it’s dark in your bedroom, but what about the downstairs hallway? Was the TV turned off? Is the garage door still open? Create a ‘Good Night’ Shortcut in Wink to lock up the house and turn everything off with just one swipe.

A few simple steps with your smart home can go a long way in re-introducing some sanity to the start of the school year!

  

Wink + Pro.com: smart home installation made easy

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Some exciting news! Wink and Pro.com—the company simplifying home installation—are partnering to bring you an extra set of hands when setting up your smart home. 

We’re always looking for ways to make building your smart home as easy as possible. This partnership gives you the option to seamlessly utilize Pro.com’s expert professionals; they’ll install your Wink compatible devices to get them up and running in a snap. 

Here’s how it works:

  1. Shop Wink.com for hundreds of smart products from leading brands
  2. Tell Pro.com which products you would like professionally installed
  3. Schedule the installation and a job manager from Pro.com will contact you within the hour
  4. 100% satisfaction guaranteed - you pay only when the job is complete and you’re happy with the installation.

The service is available beginning today for residents in New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Seattle. Additional locations will be supported as the partnership rolls out nationally. Find out when it will be available in your area here.

Get started today by visiting wink.pro.com!

A QUICK Q&A WITH A LONG TIME WINK USER

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Kevin Hiser is a very busy guy. He has to balance launching technology startups and raising his two-year old son with wife Allison in Columbus, Ohio. A a longtime user of Wink, we recently caught up with him to learn more about how his smart home is making everyday life just a little bit easier:

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO MAKE YOUR HOME "SMART"?

We have a pretty sprawling single family home and wanted to be able to easily control lighting throughout the house and manage security.

WHEN DOES A SMART HOME COME IN HANDY?

Multiple times I’ve found myself deciding that I want to turn off my thermostat when it wasn’t scheduled to do so, from as far away as Dallas. It’s also great for when you want to turn multiple lights on/off or open the garage door remotely to let someone inside the house.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO GO WITH WINK OVER OTHER SMART HOME PLATFORMS?

I liked how easy Wink is to use. Our family has found the interface is nice easy to understand and visually brilliant. I appreciate the ability of the Wink HUB to manage devices that run on a variety of communication protocols (Zigbee, Z-Wave, WiFi, etc). As more smart devices become available, I won’t have to worry about whether or not they’ll connect with what I already have set up.

DO YOU CONNECT YOUR SMART PRODUCTS SO THEY WORK TOGETHER?

Yes! The Robots feature in Wink is great for this. For security purposes, I have one set up that automatically turns on the hall light outside my bedroom if someone triggers my GoControl motion sensor after midnight so I can see what's going on.

For "peace of mind" I have another Robot that turns on a lamp in my foyer if my wife and son are coming home after sunset. They never have to enter a dark house! I also use a Robot to help me keep the temperature of my home within a certain range and send me alerts on my phone when it’s nearing the minimum or maximum.

DOES YOUR FAMILY LIKE IT?

My two-year-old actually loves turning the lights on/off on my phone!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF HAVING A SMART HOME?

It takes the thinking out of doing everyday tasks in my life.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE CONSIDERING THE SMART HOME?

Start out by selecting a connected device that doesn’t require a ton of technical know-how in order to operate. Keep it simple and don’t lock yourself into a closed system.