My Smart Home for Seniors

Michael Miller is a popular and prolific writer of close to 200 non-fiction books, known for his ability to explain complex topics to everyday readers. He writes about a variety of topics, including technology, business, and music.

• 1  Making Your Life Easier with Smart Home Technology     3 What Is a Smart Home?     4 How Smart Home Technology Works     6 Smart Communications     6 Smart Operations     7 Smart Interactivity     8 What Can Your Smart Home Control?     9 Smart Lighting     9 Smart Heating and Cooling     11 Smart Home Security     12 Smart Appliances     13 Smart Home Entertainment     14 Smart Home Control     15 And More…     15 Why You Need to Turn Your Home into a Smart Home     16 Saving Time and Effort     16 Saving Money and Conserving Energy     17 Doing More     17 2  Understanding Smart Home Hubs and Controllers     21 Understanding Smart Home Technologies     21 X10     23 Insteon     24 Wi-Fi     25 Bluetooth     25 Z-Wave     25 ZigBee     26 Comparing Smart Home Systems     26 Insteon     27 SmartThings by Samsung     28 Wink     28 And More…     29 What Works with What?     30 Comparing Smart Home Controllers     34 Apple HomeKit     35 Amazon Echo and Alexa     36 Google Home     37 3  Automating Your Home Lighting     41 Considering Smart Lighting Systems     41 Insteon     41 LIFX     42 Philips Hue     42 Wink     43 Other Systems     43 Using the Philips Hue Personal Wireless Lighting System     44 Connect the Hue Bridge     44 Connect to the Hue Dimmer Switch     46 Control Your Lights with the Dimmer Switch     48 Connect to the Hue App     48 Create a Room     50 Add More Lights or Accessories     52 Turn Lights On or Off with the Hue Smartphone App     54 Dim Your Lights     55 Adjust a Light’s Color Temperature     55 Select a Scene     57 Create a New Scene     58 Create a New Home & Away Routine     61 Create a Wake Up Routine     65 Create a Go to Sleep Routine     66 4  Automating Heating and Cooling     71 Understanding Smart Thermostats     71 How Smart Thermostats Work     72 Should You Upgrade to a Smart Thermostat?     74 Evaluating Smart Thermostats     75 Carrier Cor Wi-Fi Thermostat     76 Ecobee     77 Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat     78 Honeywell Lyric Round Wi-Fi Thermostat     79 Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat     80 Nest Learning Thermostat     80 Using the Nest Learning Thermostat     83 Set Up and Configure Your Nest Thermostat     84 Control Your Thermostat     90 Set the Temperature     91 Program Your Nest     93 Learning Your Routine     94 Connecting Your Nest to Other Smart Devices     95 5  Automating Home Security     99 Adding a Smart Doorbell     100 How Smart Doorbells Work     100 August Doorbell Cam     101 Ring Video Doorbell     103 SkyBell HD Wi-Fi Video Doorbell     105 Installing a Smart Door Lock     106 How Smart Door Locks Work     107 August Smart Lock     108 Kwikset Kevo     111 Kwikset Premis     112 Schlage Connect     113 Schlage Sense     113 Yale Assure Lock with Bluetooth     114 Using Smart Security Cameras     115 How Smart Cameras Work     115 Arlo Q     117 Arlo Pro     118 Canary Flex     119 Nest Cam Indoor and Outdoor     120 Working with Smart Smoke and CO Detectors     122 Birdi     123 Halo+     124 Nest Protect     124 Assembling a Smart Home Security System     126 Samsung SmartThings     127 Wink     128 Canary     128 Piper     130 iSmartAlarm     131 SimpliSafe     132 6  Automating Your Kitchen and Laundry     135 Understanding Today’s Smart Appliances     136 Smart Operation     136 Smart Monitoring     137 Smart Energy Savings     137 Smart Maintenance     137 Smarter Food Storage with Smart Refrigerators     138 GE Connected Refrigerators     138 LG SmartThinQ Refrigerators     139 Samsung Family Hub Refrigerators     140 Smarter Cooking with Smart Ranges and Ovens     142 GE Wi-Fi Connected Ovens and Ranges     142 LG SmartThinQ Ranges     143 Samsung Wi-Fi Ranges     144 Smarter Dishwashing with Smart Dishwashers     145 Bosch Dishwasher with Home Connect     145 GE Wi-Fi Connected Dishwashers     145 Smarter Cleaning with Smart Washers and Dryers     146 GE Wi-Fi Connected Washers and Dryers     147 LG SmartThinQ Washers and Dryers     148 Whirlpool     148 7  Automating Home Entertainment     153 Watching Smart TV     153 What’s Inside a Smart TV     154 What a Smart TV Does     155 Using a Typical Smart TV156 Using a Smart Set-Top Box     158 Streaming Audio Throughout Your Home     159 Using the Amazon Echo as a Speaker     160 Using Google Home as a Speaker     161 Using the Harmony Hub     162 Getting to Know the Harmony Hub     162 What’s It Work With?     164 Setting Up the Harmony Hub     164 Using the Harmony Hub     165 8  Examining Other Smart Devices and Applications     169 Smart Devices for the Living Room     169 Smart Plugs     170 Smart Outlets     171 Smart Wall Switches     171 Smart Motion Detectors     172 Smart Window Coverings     173 Smart Vacuums     174 Smart Devices for the Bedroom     175 Smart Bedding and Accessories     175 Smart Devices for the Kitchen     176 Smart Coffee Makers     177 Smart Cooking Appliances     178 Smart Devices for the Garage     178 Smart Garage Door Openers     178 Smart Car Adapter     180 Smart Devices for Outdoors     181 Smart Irrigation Systems     181 Smart Lawn Mowers     181 9  Controlling Your Smart Home with Wink     185 Getting to Know Wink     185 Setting Things Up     187 Connect the Wink Hub     2     188 Add a New Device via Barcode Scanning     190 Manually Add a New Device     193 Using the Wink App     196 Turn a Device On or Off     196 View Information from a Sensor     197 Create a Shortcut     199 Activate a Shortcut     201 Automating Activities with Robots and Events     202 Create a Robot     202 Remove a Robot     206 Create an Event     206 10  Controlling Your Smart Home with Apple Home     213 Understanding Apple HomeKit     214 How HomeKit Works     214 What’s Compatible with HomeKit     215 Adding Devices and Rooms     216 Add a New Device     217 Add a New Room     219 Assign an Accessory Device to a Room     220 Create a Scene     222 Controlling Your Smart Devices     223 Control a Device or Scene     224 Controlling Devices and Scenes with Siri     225 Automating Multiple Devices     225 Create a Location Automation     227 Create a Time Automation     229 Create a Controlled Automation     231 11  Controlling Your Smart Home with Amazon Alexa     235 Understanding Alexa—and Echo     236 What Alexa Does and How Alexa Works     236 Using Alexa as a Smart Home Controller     236 Meet Amazon’s Echo Devices     237 Amazon Echo     237 Amazon Echo Dot     238 Amazon Echo Show     239 Which Echo Is Right for You?     239 Setting Up Your Echo Device     240 Set Up Your Device     241 Changing the Wake Word     246 Working with Alexa     249 Employ General Commands     250 Tell Alexa What to Do     251 Using the Alexa App     252 Tour the Alexa App     252 Link Accounts from Other Services     254 Working with Alexa’s Skills     257 Find a Skill     257 Add a Skill to Alexa     260 Using Alexa to Control Your Smart Devices     261 What’s Compatible?     261 Connect a Smart Device to Alexa     261 Working with Device Groups     264 Controlling a Smart Device with Alexa     266 12  Controlling Your Smart Home with Google Home     269 Understanding Google Home and the Google Assistant     270 Setting Up and Using Google Home     271 Set Up Your Device     272 Navigate and Configure the Google Home App     278 Working with the Google Assistant     282 Wake Words     283 Employ General Commands     283 Tell the Google Assistant What to Do     284 Using Google Home to Control Your Smart Devices     285 What Does Google Home Control?     285 Pair a Device with the Google Assistant     286 Use the Google Assistant to Control Your Smart Devices     289 13  Using Smart Technology for Independent Living     291 Making Daily Living Easier     292 Use a Voice-Controlled Personal Assistant     292 Install Smart Lighting Systems     293 Employ a Smart Doorbell     294 Install a Smart Door Lock     294 Consider a Smart Thermostat     295 Keeping You and Your Loved Ones Safer     297 Install a Smart Door Lock     297 Employ Smart Door and Window Sensors     298 Add Smart Cameras     298 Use a Personal GPS Tracker     299 Employ a Personal Safety Device     300 Embracing In-Home Care     303 14  Adding More Functionality with IFTTT     305 Understanding IFTTT     306 How Does IFTTT Work?     306 Why Would You Want to Use IFTTT?     307 What Does IFTTT Work With?     308 Using IFTTT Applets     308 Link a Device or Service to IFTTT     309 Find and Activate an Applet     311 Manage Your Applets     313 Creating Your Own Applets     313 Understanding the Parts of an Applet     313 Create a New Applet     314 15  Evaluating Privacy and Security Concerns     319 Privacy Concerns     320 What Do They Really Know About You?     320 How Much Privacy Do You Need?     322 Security Issues     323 Spyware and Botnets     323 Seizing Control     325 What Can You Do?     326 Making Your Smart Home Safer     327 Is It Safe Enough?     328 16  What’s Next? (ONLINE ONLY)Glossary     331Index     335 Find the bonus online chapter and other helpful information on this book’s website at http://informitcom/title/9780789759894