Top Smart Home Gadgets I Use EVERY DAY

Introduction

Are you looking to start or grow your smart home, but wondering what to do? I’m going to show you 13 smart home gadgets that I use every single day. These are devices that save me time, money, and help me become more productive.

Main Points

Chances are, you have a lot going on. By creating a smart home and automating tasks that previously were manual, you can focus your limited time on things that really matter.

• Spending time with your family, or friends.
• Doing your job.
• Enjoying your hobbies.

Let’s dive right into 13 smart home devices that I use every day to do just that.

1) Aquanta Water Heater Controller

Let’s kick it off with one of the more unique devices on this list — one that I’ve never seen anyone else talk about: the Aquanta Water Heater Controller.

It works for both electric and gas water heaters. I’m using it on a gas water heater.

Installation was super simple. You attach the hot temperature sensor to the Temperature Pressure & Relief Valve, and the cold temperature sensor to the cold water inlet. The sensors connect to Aquanta, which is a small, blue box that atop my water heater.

My gas water heater is power vented, and the power vent plugs into the Aquanta, which plugs into a wall outlet.

From the Aquanta app, you can:

• See how much hot water is available and the current water temperature
• Review your energy consumption by day, week, or month
• Boost the hot water tank for additional heat
• Set it to an away mode if you’re leaving the house and don’t need it running
• Choose from four different modes, including Aquanta Intelligence, Thermostat Control, Manual Timer, or Time of Use

I use this to monitor and lower our energy consumption, boost the heat if extra guests are visiting, or set it to away mode to save energy.

2) Smart Plugs with Energy Monitoring

Staying on the topic of saving energy, I also use several smart plugs with built-in energy monitoring. I’m using the TP-Link Kasa Mini, but you could use another brand — so long as it has energy monitoring.

But these little devices provide far more utility than knowing how much energy you’re using. I’ve got one plugged into my TV, and another plugged into my washing machine. This unlocks the ability to create smart home automations based on the state of these devices.

For example, I have a smart light in the basement that automatically turns on when motion is detected and it’s dark. However, I don’t want the light to turn on if we’re watching TV.

So, I use the smart plug with energy monitoring to create a condition that if the energy is above a certain threshold, that means the TV is currently turned on, so don’t run the light automation.

Likewise, I use it with the washing machine to determine when the laundry cycle has completed. Then, I get a push notification sent to my phone and an announcement on my Echo devices telling me the washing machine is done.

Watch my video on how to make your laundry machines smart.

3) Honeywell Home T5 WiFi Smart Thermostat

If you really want to save money on your energy bill, look to a smart thermostat. I’m using the Honeywell Home T5 WiFi, but almost any smart thermostat would do. This allows me to not only set the HVAC mode or temperature remotely, but also to create smart home automations tuned to our behavior.

If someone opens a window or door, the thermostat automatically pauses so we don’t waste money cooling or heating the house when the outside air is coming in. If nobody is home and the thermostat is on, I get a push notification asking if I’d like to turn it off. If it’s off when my wife or I head home from work, the thermostat automatically turns back on to the last saved state, so our home is comfortable when we get back.

Watch my video on smart home energy automations.

4) Everything Presence One Sensor

To create automations like I did for my thermostat, you need reliable presence detection. Presence detection is the lifeblood of my smart home. So many of my automations depend on knowing who — if anyone — is home, and where. To achieve this, I’m using the Everything Presence One Sensor.

This little device packs in temperature, humidity, brightness, motion, and mmWave sensors. The mmWave sensor is the key one, as that allows me to know reliably if someone is in a room or not. I’ve got four of these around my home, and cannot imagine my smart home without mmWave.

Watch my video on the Everything Presence One sensor.

5) Ring Alarm & Ring Contact Sensors

When we’re not home — or when we’re sleeping at night — we use Ring Alarm and Ring Contact Sensors for peace of mind. With Ring Alarm integrated into our smart home, I am able to create automations, like sending me a push notification if no one is home asking me if I’d like to arm the alarm, or sending me a push notification upon arrival back home asking if I’d like to disarm the alarm.

Ring Contact Sensors not only provide an element of security on doors and windows, but also open up new smart home automation use cases, like turning the porch lights on at night when we open the door, or pause the HVAC when a door or window is opened, as I mentioned earlier.

I like that the Ring Alarm has cellular data backup if the power goes out, and that we have 24/7 professional monitoring.

6) Ubiquiti UniFi G4 Doorbell

For additional security, I’m using Ubiquiti UniFi Protect cameras around my property. A particular favorite is the UniFi G4 Doorbell at my front door.

Not only is the image sharp and quick to load, I integrated it into my smart home to get push notifications when a person is detected at the front door or if the doorbell rings, including a real-time image snapshot.

I’m also able to tailor the audible doorbell sound to my liking, having it ring only during the hours when no one is likely to be sleeping.

7) Yale Assure 2 Z-Wave Smart Lock

On the front door itself, I have the Yale Assure 2 Z-Wave Smart Lock. I have a few smart locks around my home, but this is my favorite. The design is attractive, and because it uses Z-Wave, it’s super reliable. You can enter a pin code to enter the door, so no key needed.

But I use it in automations, like automatically locking the door if it’s been left unlocked for a certain time interval, or to auto-unlock the door when I return home.

Watch my video on the best smart locks.

8) ratgdo Garage Door WiFi Control Board

Moving to the largest door of the house, I’m using the ratgdo WiFi control board to make my garage door smart. It hooks up to my existing garage door opener, and allows me to manage my garage door seamlessly via my phone or automations. I even have a widget on my iPhone lock screen where I can open and close the garage door with a tap. Automations ensure that my garage door is never left open by accident.

Watch my video on making any garage door smart with ratgdo.

9) Philips Hue & Lutron Aurora

No smart home would be complete without smart lighting. I’ve tried tons of brands across smart bulbs and smart switches. My go-to is pairing a Philips Hue color changing smart bulb with a Lutron Aurora smart dimmer switch.

This allows me to adjust the room’s ambiance from cool lights during the day, to warm lights in the evening — or to colorful lights for an occasion — while still enjoying the convenience of a wall switch.

I connect them to my smart home where I have an automation that dynamically adjusts the brightness and color temperature of my lights depending on the sun’s position in the sky

This way, I don’t have to fiddle with an app to manually dim the lights or change to a warmer color in the evening — it just happens for me, and all my lights have a synchronized ambiance, which I love.

Watch my video on Philips Hue smart lighting.

10) Lutron Caseta Smart Dimmer Switch

There are a few use cases where having a smart switch is more practical, like controlling a bunch of secondary ceiling lights at once. For this, I’m using Lutron Caseta. Like Philips Hue, I chose Lutron Caseta for the unbeatable reliability — they always just work.

Watch my video on smart bulbs vs. smart switches.

11) Aqara Wireless Mini Switch

For controlling just about any smart light, or triggering an automation, I’m using the Aqara Wireless Mini Switch. It’s a tiny battery-operated button that you can place anywhere.

In one room, I use it to turn some TP-Link Kasa lights on and off. In another room, I use it to trigger a nighttime automation that turns off my kids bedroom lights, and turns on a white noise machine and a baby monitor. So simple. So useful.

12) Aeotec Multipurpose Sensor

For more creative smart home automations, I’m using the Aeotec SmartThings Multipurpose Sensor. This functions as a temperature, vibration, moving, and contact sensor. You can really get creative with this.

My favorite way to use it is a vibration sensor for my dryer. This way, I know when the dryer cycle completed, and get a push notification on my phone, similar to how I use the smart plug with energy monitoring on my washing machine.

Watch my video on how to make your laundry machines smart.

13) iRobot Roomba i7+

I suppose it wouldn’t be a smart home without a robot vacuum. I’m using the iRobot Roomba i7+. If you have kids and they eat food, then you know how disgusting they can be. The floor under our kitchen counter is a garbage dump after a snack or meal with the kids. Roomba stays busy tackling this nightmare.

Since the i7+ has smart mapping, I can tell Amazon’s voice assistant to have Roomba vacuum under the kitchen counter, and order and sanity is restored.

Final Thoughts

I’ve only scratched the surface of how I’m using smart home tech to save me time and money, and to create a more comfortable, and secure home.

Watch on YouTube

Featured Tech

Aquanta Water Heater Controller: https://amzn.to/4a5GTw4
TP-Link Kasa Smart Plug Mini with Energy Monitoring: https://amzn.to/3O0G9PX
Honeywell Home T5 WiFi Smart Thermostat: https://amzn.to/3Sz4XBf
Everything Presence One Sensor: http://tinyurl.com/39hdvfck
Ring Alarm 8-Piece Kit (2nd Gen): https://amzn.to/3vdEXm9
Ring Alarm Contact Sensor (2nd Gen): https://amzn.to/3SPUwsb
Ubiquiti UniFi G4 Doorbell: https://amzn.to/3TsWW1m
Yale Assure Lock 2 Smart Lock Z-Wave: https://amzn.to/4bHlL0B
ratgdo Garage Door WiFi Control Board: http://tinyurl.com/5553hxwz
Philips Hue Smart 60W A19 LED Bulb - White and Color Ambiance Color - 1 Pack: https://amzn.to/3vHIsBf
Philips Hue Smart 60W A19 LED Bulb - White Ambiance Warm-to-Cool White Light - 2 Pack: https://amzn.to/427c8nr
Philips Hue Smart 75W A19 LED Bulb - White and Color Ambiance Color-Changing Light - 2 Pack: https://amzn.to/3Sp2QQD
Philips Hue Smart 75W A19 LED Bulb - White Ambiance Warm-to-Cool White Light - 2 Pack: https://amzn.to/3vH5sAy
Philips Hue Smart 100W A21 LED Bulb - White and Color Ambiance Color - 1 Pack: https://amzn.to/3OaHwvH
Philips Hue Smart 100W A21 LED Bulb - White Ambiance Warm-to-Cool White Light - 1 Pack: https://amzn.to/3OdA4jv
Philips Hue Bridge - Best Way to Use Philips Hue Smart Bulbs: https://amzn.to/3wEHnL5
Lutron Caseta Smart Home Dimmer Switch: https://amzn.to/48EZ1LQ
Lutron Caseta Smart Dimmer Switch for ELV+ Bulbs: https://amzn.to/49WZLgn
Lutron Caseta Smart Lighting Dimmer Switch Starter Kit with Caseta Smart Hub and Pico Bracket: https://amzn.to/3P2yP76
Lutron Diva Smart Dimmer Switch Starter Kit for Caséta Smart Lighting, with Smart Hub, Pico Remote, and Pedestal: https://amzn.to/49B3yjM
Lutron Aurora Smart Bulb Dimmer Switch for Philips Hue Smart Bulbs - Mount Anywhere: https://amzn.to/3wBWDbL
Lutron Aurora Smart Bulb Dimmer Switch for Philips Hue Smart Bulbs - Mount on Switch: https://amzn.to/3uVqlIc
Aqara Wireless Mini Switch: https://amzn.to/3V7jJRt
Aeotec SmartThings Multipurpose Sensor: https://amzn.to/47BIIix
iRobot Roomba i7+: https://amzn.to/3Vb5ET3