I guess if all the stores think it is OK to put out holiday decoration IN AUGUST, then it’s OK for me to start talking about using smart home technology for the holidays but don’t worry, unlike the stores, I won’t be skipping over Halloween. Instead, I’m going to be focused only on Halloween, since it’s awesome and deserves its own blog. Check back later for Automated Homes – Thanksgiving Edition and Automated Homes – Christmas Edition.
If you get into Halloween, and live in a neighborhood where you get a lot of trick-or-treaters, you can definitely set up your smart home technology to spook and delight your visitors. Here are a few the best ideas:
- Use a video doorbell with a speaker to talk to those that ring your doorbell. Speak about things that you can see that are specific about them, to freak them out. Some smart doorbells offer you the ability to change your chime to something spooky, so look into that option also.
- If you are using smart controls for your garage door, you can set up someone in your family to monitor when people are walking by, so that they can trigger the garage door to open. Be sure there is something spooky inside to maximize the fright!
- Smart lights are for more than setting the perfect mood – they can also be used to set a spooky mood. There are really endless options with your lights. You can either cut them completely to surround your guests in darkness, or you can change the lights from a regular color to an ominous red or orange glow. Or, you can set all the lights to be that ominous red or orange all night long.
- Obviously, motion sensors are a big during Halloween, for good reason. Your motion sensor can be what turns your lights off, or changes their hue, if you are too busy with other spooks. You can also use the motions sensors to alert you when people are coming, so you know to get ready to jump out of a bush or pop out of a coffin. You could also have a strobe light or fog machine trigger when people walk by and set off the motion detector.
- Use a home assistant to stream spooky Halloween sounds, like ghosts and screams, or popular Halloween music.
If you don’t have a motion detector, you can station someone to watch your property through your security cameras, and they can trigger lights and fog from their phone using a smart outlet.
Of course, one of the best parts of your smart-Halloween extravaganza will be reviewing all the reactions that you caught on your video cameras. You can grab screenshots of the best reactions, and share the pictures with those families You could even create a video compilation of all of the best scares, and post it to Facebook and YouTube!
What is the best way that you have witnessed, or used, smart home technology for Halloween fun?
Photo by: aotaro
