Home Automation For Dummies

Home Automation For Dummies

by Dwight Spivey
Released February 2015
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781118949269

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Book description

The easy way to control your home appliances

Do you want to control common household appliances and amenities from your smartphone or tablet, wherever you happen to be? Home Automation For Dummies guides you through installing and setting up app-controlled devices in your home, such as heating and air conditioning, lighting, multimedia systems, game consoles, and security and monitoring devices—and even suggests popular products to consider.

The saturation of the mobile market with smart devices has led to an upsurge in domestic devices, such as thermostats, refrigerators, smoke detectors, security systems, among others, that can be controlled by those devices. Both Google and Apple offer fully-integrated solutions for connecting mobile devices to home theater and audio systems, and now Google has branched out into smart thermostats and smoke detectors. If you've caught the bug and want to get your feet wet in this cool new phenomenon, Home Automation For Dummies gives you plain-English, step-by-step instructions for tech-ifying your home without breaking a sweat.

  • Provides clear instructions on remotely controlling your home appliances

  • Shows you how to set preferences to automatically adjust lighting or temperature

  • Explores digital "life hacks" that explain how non-app-ready appliances can be controlled via smart phones using third-party go-betweens

  • Covers an emerging segment of the industry that was one of the primary focuses of this year's Consumer Electronic Show

    • If you're looking to find new ways to simplify and better control your home environment using app-driven devices, your phone, or tablet, Home Automation For Dummies makes it easier.

    Table of contents

      1. Cover
      2. Title Page
      3. Introduction
        1. About This Book
        2. Foolish Assumptions
        3. Icons Used in This Book
        4. Beyond the Book
        5. Where to Go from Here
      4. Part I: Introducing Home Automation
        1. Chapter 1: Home Automation 101
          1. Defining Home Automation
          2. Benefitting from Home Automation
          3. Understanding the Tech Involved in Home Automation
        2. Chapter 2: What You Need to Get Started
          1. Happiness Is a Wireless Network
          2. Having the Right Tools for the Job
        3. Chapter 3: Determining Your Home Automation Needs (and Wants)
          1. Considering Factors Before You Buy
          2. Deciding How Much You Want to Automate
      5. Part II: Automating Inside Your Home
        1. Chapter 4: Keeping Your Cool or Turning Up the Heat
          1. Controlling Your Thermostat from Afar
          2. Introducing the Big Players in the Thermostat Arena
        2. Chapter 5: Nice and Tidy Does It!
          1. Cleaning Up While You’re Away
          2. Introducing a Who’s Who of the Remote Cleaning World
        3. Chapter 6: I’m in the Mood for . . . Anything: Automated Lighting
          1. Lighting Your Life Automatically
          2. Illuminating the Kings of Automatic Lighting
        4. Chapter 7: Safe, Sound, and Hunkered Down
          1. Establishing Security in the Automatic Age
          2. Staking Out the Wardens of Home Security
        5. Chapter 8: Home, Home on the Automatic Range: The Automated Kitchen
          1. Cooking Without Being in the Kitchen, and Other Kitchen Awesomeness
          2. Checking Out the Top Home Automation Chefs
        6. Chapter 9: Monitoring Water Use and Detecting Leaks
          1. Watching Your Water Usage
          2. Assessing the Water Monitoring Mavens
        7. Chapter 10: Smart Home Entertainment
          1. Modernizing Home Entertainment
          2. Introducing the Smart Home Entertainment Gurus
      6. Part III: Automating Outside Your Home
        1. Chapter 11: Checking the Weather
          1. Keeping Tabs on the Weather
          2. Checking the Weather Automatically
        2. Chapter 12: Your Grandfather’s Dream, Your Reality: Automating Lawn Care
          1. Caring for Your Lawn Doesn’t Have to Break Your Back
          2. Getting to Know the Top Companies in Lawn Automation
          3. Watering Your Lawn Automatically
      7. Part IV: Taking Command of Your Home Automation Systems
        1. Chapter 13: Working with Mobile Devices and Computers
          1. Discovering Devices Commonly Used for Smart Home Automation
          2. Keeping Apps Up-to-Date
        2. Chapter 14: Controlling Your Home from One Platform
          1. Examining the Lack of Unity
          2. Choosing the Single-Platform Path
          3. Opting for Multi-Protocol Solutions
      8. Part V: The Part of Tens
        1. Chapter 15: Ten Easy Ways to Begin Automating Your Home
          1. Wink
          2. WeMo
        2. Chapter 16: Ten Great Websites for Home Automation
          1. Smarthome
          2. CNET
          3. CEA
          4. SmartThings
          5. Amazon
          6. Home Controls
          7. Z-Wave.com
          8. ZigBee Alliance
          9. Lowes
          10. Home Depot
        3. Chapter 17: Ten Other Options for Automating Your Life
          1. Cleaning Your Home’s Gutters
          2. Making a Robot Part of Your Family
          3. Feeding Pets While You’re Away
          4. Cleaning Up Kitty Litter
          5. Cleaning Your Pool the Robotic Way
          6. Waking Up to a Fresh Cup of Joe
          7. Starting Your Vehicle Remotely
          8. Flushing Your Troubles Away Automatically
          9. Pulling the Shades from Across the Room
          10. Controlling Your Home’s Humidity
      9. About the Author
      10. Cheat Sheet
      11. Advertisement Page
      12. Connect with Dummies
      13. End User License Agreement

    Product information

    • Title: Home Automation For Dummies
    • Author(s): Dwight Spivey
    • Release date: February 2015
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9781118949269