Going away for the holidays, is it time to get away for a couple of days or maybe a week?
If you are, then you might have had your car serviced or just the tires checked. How about your house? Any thought given to that whilst you are away? Any holiday period is more than likely the when you need your smart home to perform faultlessly.
Here is my Top 6 holiday season smart home checklist:
- Inside lighting automation – ensure your specific ‘automated’ lights are connected to your relevant App and you can control them whilst AWAY from your home WiFi network. I rank this as #1 as it is probably the easiest purchase and install to do before you go away.
- Alarm and sensors – cleans the sensors inside/outside your home, little spiders and cobwebs can set off PIR sensors. Any wireless sensors make sure the battery level is suitable for at least double the length of your holiday. Test the siren!, there is no point having an alarm if you can’t make people aware of a potential intrusion. Clear any issues with the alarm and if you can operate remotely, make sure you can arm/disarm and mute the siren if required whilst on holiday. Lock all your doors and windows as required to secure your property. #2 priority on the checklist.
- Security Cameras – clean the sensor and camera lens areas to remove spiderwebs/leaves/other debris. Check the connection to your recorder or cloud service. Engage through the App with each camera to make sure you can view, record or change status whilst away. Double check the battery life in any battery operated camera and replace with new batteries if you are in doubt they will support your holiday timeline. #3 priority on the checklist.
- Sensor lighting – if you have an external path or garden sensor lights now is the time to clean any sensor obstructions, check the bulbs work and the lights come on as expected. If this isn’t working as expected it may be too late to get it repaired. If it is a low voltage garden lighting system you may be able to repair it yourself if you have an understanding of electrics and lighting. #4 on the list and potentially more complex to resolve.
- Away Mode – if you have an advanced home automation solution with an away, or holiday, mode you should engage it when you lock up and leave. Be careful here to not make it look like you left in a hurry or have no activity at day time or night time, e.g. blinds/lighting. With 9 days to go it is possibly too late to have your systems integrator set up and away mode. Ranked #5 based on minimal change or checking – but remember to engage the ‘away’ mode if you have one.
- Neighbours – if you have good neighbours ask them if they can keep an eye and ear out for your property and agree a process if there is an issue.
If you only need to tend to a couple of items above you are pretty well prepared! Give yourself a pat on the back!
Validate and complete the remaining checklist items if you need to secure your home.
Have a safe and relaxing festive season!
Stay safe. Be Smart!
