Your smart home shouldn’t be hard to understand, but the reality is often a different story. You know that some lights turn on and off automatically, how to control the HVAC, and which switches should never be turned off at the wall.
Unfortunately, your guests haven’t a clue about the tangled web you have spun.
”Dumb mode” is a remote control
My house is pretty small, so we haven’t got the room for a Griswold-sized family Christmas or similar get-together. It’s usually one or two people at most, staying in the already-cluttered spare room, for a night or two at a time. I’m not expecting people to be staying for weeks without my presence, which simplifies things considerably.
As a result, “dumb mode” takes the form of a simple remote control. I’m currently using IKEA’s retired Rodret Zigbee wireless dimmer (since replaced with the cheaper Bilresa ($6) which uses Matter over Thread). This is an AAA-powered two-button remote control that talks to Home Assistant directly. I’m using four inputs, two single presses and two long presses, to do everything.
The primary function turns the lights on and off in the guest room, while the long presses turn the lights on and off in the main part of the house. There’s basically nothing else that guests would need that isn’t automated already. I do have a spare IKEA remote with two additional buttons on it (which would double the single and long press possibilities), but I feel like I’d just be needlessly complicating things.
- Connectivity
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Matter-over-Thread
- Color
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White
The IKEA BILRESA is a smart remote with two buttons that can control Matter devices or trigger automations. It’s powered by a AAA battery and comes with optional adhesive on the back for mounting to a wall or furniture.
Siri and Apple Home do everything else
I extend Home Assistant to Apple Home using the HomeKit Bridge integration. This lets you mirror your Home Assistant devices to Apple Home, controlling them as if they were native Apple Home accessories. There are two upsides to this, as far as guests are concerned.
Despite Apple’s voice assistant being arguably the worst on the market, Siri can usually be convinced to control any connected device. I’ve arranged everything by room, with the right labels, so saying things like “Hey Siri, kitchen lights” just works.
I’ve written Home Assistant scripts to turn on cool air or heating, then shared them with Apple Home so you can say “Hey Siri, cool the house,” and the HVAC will open all the vents and cool the house to 27ºC. Even the garage door is accessible with a simple request.
This is just about everything anyone would need to do, especially when you consider that I’m going to be there anyway. Home Assistant and Apple Home are incredibly reliable systems; I can count the total number of crashes I’ve endured on a single hand. Apple Home even allows me to control everything remotely, doing away with a remote Home Assistant setup.
This is the easiest way to access your Home Assistant smart home remotely, no subscription
Remote access and a simple interface, with no monthly fees or VPN setup.
For anyone a little more tech savvy or long-term visitors, Apple Home has a guest mode. I can add guests to my home, point them to an incredibly easy-to-use app, and even decide which accessories they have access to. I’ll just break out the spare iPhone for any non-Apple devices.
Apple Home feels tailor-made for this purpose; there’s no reason to give anyone access to Home Assistant even though it’s the brains of the operation.
Don’t mess up the basics
Ideally, your smart home should function like a “dumb” home at a base level. Light switches shouldn’t need to be taped into the “on” position, your smart doorbell should make a regular chime noise on top of sending you a notification, and you can even bind devices so that they work even if the server goes down.
Ultimately, this is how you make guests feel comfortable in your smart home. It’s a simple design principle that means your home functions in a predictable manner, with a few bells and whistles that make life a little easier.
If nothing, perhaps give your guests a quick explainer about which lights are on timers, how presence detection sensors work (assuming you have them), and what to say to your voice assistant of choice if need be. Setting up a few simple scenes that guests can quickly grasp is another solid plan.
Smart home remote controls aren’t just perfect for guests; they have all sorts of uses including task-specific controls and even wall switch replacements.