During the last few weeks we have been doing a series on how to make your analog home “smart”. We have covered things like controlling your Thermostat, controlling lights and appliances with WeMo, and using Hue to set the mood. There is one major piece missing from your smart home that we have not covered, security.
Imagine, you routinely have a child walk home from school. Normally parents rely on their children to call them and let them know they got home safely. How would you like to get a text message when your loved ones get home. The August Smart Lock can do just that and more.
If you combine the Smart Lock with the August Connect you get some additional features. With the Connect, it allows you to remotely control the lock. You can get reports about who enters the house and when and also create personalized codes for plumbers, cleaners, family members, or anyone else that may need access to your home.
Prerequisites:
The only prerequisite for this is a door that needs locking and a desire to make technology work for you.
Locking up your safety:
This particular How-To is a little different than normal. Much of the work that needs to be done is physically installing the Lock. In an effort to not recreate the work and give credit where credit is due, the install instructions straight from August can be found here.
Once the lock is installed, download the August Home app and click the setup button. It will have you create and login to your account then go though finding and setting up your custom lock features.
What features are your favorite about smart locks? what is your favorite smart home device so far? Anything else you would like to see? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.
