4 Ways to Make Your Smart Home Part of Halloween

Hard to believe, but Halloween is just around the corner. Whether you plan to be out trick-or-treating with the kids in the neighborhood, dressing up yourself, or hunkering down at home to hand out candy, there are a bunch of ways you can make your smart home part of the night!

Here are a few examples:

Turn your smart light bulbs orange: With just a few Philips Hue bulbs, you can really amplify your home’s Halloween spirit. Try adjusting those closest to your front windows to really get the mood going. Even better, if you have a porch, swap out the bulbs outside. Check out how Wink user Robert Czeizinger from Delaware is doing just that:

Use a door sensor to up the spook factor: If you have a sensor installed on your front door, try this party trick. Set up a Robot in Wink that triggers all the smart bulbs in the front of your house to turn on when the front door is opened (adjust them to orange for maximum effect). Then, make sure the lights are all off when a trick-or-treater approaches, slowly open the door when they knock, and voila! 

See who's at the front door before you answer: If you’re on candy duty, a smart doorbell like Ring can help you distinguish between trick or treaters and the inevitable ding dong ditchers. They feature a camera so you can see who’s at the door right from your phone...and decide if you want to get off of the couch.

Keep an eye out for pesky tee-peers: Let’s face it, they exist, and we may or may not have all done it at one point in time. If you have a smart camera, simply move it to a front window facing the yard. From there, you can quickly see what’s happening from your phone wherever you are.

If you have creative ways that you’re integrating your smart home into Halloween, we want to hear about it! Let us know in the comments.

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.

5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Smart Lights

We’ve seen that many Wink users start out on their smart home journey by installing a few smart light bulbs. With that in mind, we wanted to share five things you can try to get even more out of your bulbs (and make your life easier along the way):

Turn them off when you’re not home:

We’ve all had that “did I turn off the lights?” moment after we’ve left the house. Smart lights eliminate the guesswork. You can quickly check their status within the Wink app and turn them on or off accordingly to save energy and money.

Automatically dim lights at night for better sleep:

We live in an age where bright lights, television, computers and phone screens keep us up late into the night. By scheduling your smart lights (check out OSRAM LIGHTIFY) to slowly dim at night, you can simulate the natural rhythm of the sun to help your body gradually adjust to sleeping. Just a few taps in the Wink app enables your lighting to move from a bright white during the day to a softer yellow at night.

Have your lighting match your mood:

With tunable bulbs, like those from Philips HUE, you can customize the color of your home's lighting to enhance your environment. A full spectrum of color ensures your light is in line with what you're doing at home, whether that's cool blue for morning coffee in the kitchen or a vibrant yellow while reading on the couch.

Save time by using widgets on your phone:

Turning your Wink-compatible lights on and off can be done even faster when you create a Shortcut - consider a Goodnight Shortcut that turns everything off when you’re ready for bed - and enable widgets on your phone. From there, simply swipe down the notification center on your iPhone, or go to the home screen on your Android phone.

Connect lights with your other smart products:

Smart homes can be most beneficial when all of your products are working together. If you have multiple devices, consider setting up a Robot so that one action automatically triggers a series of others. For example, you could have your bedroom lights turn on if smoke is detected to help you wake up and leave the house safely.

5 TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED ON YOUR NEW SMART HOME.

Ready to take the smart home for a spin but not sure where to start? Many have the misconception that the smart home is complicated, inaccessible, or unaffordable. But that’s not the case! Anyone with a smartphone and access to the Internet can have a comprehensive smart home for very little money and effort. While it still may seem a little daunting, we’re here to make the journey as streamlined and smooth as possible. If you’re just starting out, here are five helpful tips to consider:

1. Understand why you want to have a smart home

Is it to save money on energy? To manage home security when you’re away? To keep tabs on your family from afar? Taking the time to answer this question for yourself will go a long way in helping you select which products to purchase.

2. Don’t buy into a closed platform

Before diving in, check to make sure the platform you’re looking at works with a wide variety of products (locks, lights, garage door openers, etc.) from leading, trusted brands. This will enable you to more easily determine what works best for you and your lifestyle, while giving you far more opportunities to add to your smart home ecosystem over the years. Wink connects with hundreds of devices from scores of leading brands including Cree, Nest and Chamberlain.

3. Start small

People think you have to invest thousands of dollars and purchase tons of devices to have a comprehensive smart home. We strongly believe that you should start out with a few connected devices (or even just one), and add more over time. For example, a few smart light bulbs can be turned on from your phone for added security if you’re having a late night at work, or be programmed to turn off automatically when you’re ready for bed.

4. Select products from the brands you trust

You’d be surprised by the number of recognizable brands that are making smart home devices. From GE to Schlage to Philips, leaders in product categories are working together to make the smart home a reality. When building your own smart home, stick with the companies you know. It’s always best to have a trusted partner in crime in case you ever need to troubleshoot or ask questions!

5. Utilize triggers and automation

Most smart home platforms let you group multiple products together so they perform at once with a tap on your phone. Use it! Automation is one of the best perks of having a smart home. For example, if you’re going to bed, you could trigger your lights to go off, blinds to lower, and thermostat to adjust—all from your smartphone. How’s that for convenience?