A smart home can make your life easier, more fun and especially smarter. iPhone provides an overview of five HomeKit setups for different moments and houses.
With a smart lamp or plug here and there your ‘house control’ is handy, but it can always be better. With these five HomeKit set-ups you will find a way to make your home as smart as possible for every moment and every living situation.
Five HomeKit setups situation
1.The home cinema setup (budget of approximately € 350)
Action squatters, bad comedies, nasty horror or Oscar winners: if you like nothing more than to devour movies, you can make your life a lot easier with a number of HomeKit devices in the house. During ideal movie night, you want to be able to stream movies and series, adjust the lights and of course have good sound. You need this.
With the Apple TV, you can easily stream movies and series with the remote control or via Siri. Moreover, you do not need special speakers with AirPlay 2, because you simply connect them to the Apple TV. So you do not have to invest in new speakers.
The Philips Hue lamps are ideal for building special scenes. For example, set special light scenes for thrillers or action films, so that you are always in a different setting.
With smart plugs, you complete the movie evening. Connect your popcorn machine, microwave or other equipment here to stop getting refreshments.
2. The security setup (budget of approximately € 580)
By securing your home with smart home products, you have more than ever control and you always know what is going on in and around your home. There is already a wide range of security equipment that supports HomeKit and can, therefore, be operated via your Mac, iPhone or iPad.
Lamps with a motion sensor are ideal for hanging outside so that unwanted visitors can be deterred. In addition, you can hang the Logitech Circle 2 both indoors and outdoors, and so watch everywhere what happens.
The LIFX lamp can be installed without a bridge and is ideal for setting a timer. For example, this will start as soon as it gets dark. Finally, you will never need a key again thanks to Danalock’s secure and smart lock.
3. The atmosphere setup (budget of approximately € 800)
A romantic or festive song, dimmed and cozy lights, and a pleasant temperature. HomeKit is very suitable if you want to make your home more atmospheric, and with a setup full of colorful lamps you can do that in every situation.
The Sonos One-speaker itself is not compatible with HomeKit, but by connecting it to the Logitech POP-button, you can still ensure that your music is as easy to operate as your lamps and thermostat.
4. The budget set (budget from about € 50)
HomeKit devices are generally quite expensive, and therefore not equally suitable for every wallet. Fortunately, furniture giant IKEA has also set up its own smart home product line. This TRADFRI collection is affordable.
With some smart solutions from IKEA, you can make your entire lighting smart at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, only the lamps of the TRADFRI line are currently compatible with HomeKit. Probably the smart plugs and motion sensors will receive an update for HomeKit in early 2019.
Until that time, the smart plug (a € 39.95) and movement sensor (a € 49.95) of the brand Eve also reasonably affordable. With the TRADFRI connection hub (a € 32.95) you connect the various IKEA lamps to HomeKit. This way you can experience the fun and convenience of a smart house that can be operated at the touch of a button.
5. The I-want-everything-setup (budget from about € 750)
If you dream of automating your entire home, you can already come a long way with HomeKit. The above setups provide the necessary inspiration for that, but there are plenty of other gadgets that put the dots on the I of your smart home.
If you really want everything, you can decide to also include a HomePod. The HomePod is not yet officially available in the Netherlands but has already appeared in Germany and France.
Importing a HomePod is easy. Because the smart speaker has not come true yet, Siri does not speak any Dutch. You will therefore still have to communicate in English with the speaker.