IFTTT is the duct tape of the internet
When it made its debut, IFTTT showed itself to be simple, intuitive, and helpful. The San Francisco-based company has done admirable work to enforce their slogan, “put the internet to work for you”; however, only recently did IFTTT’s most revolutionary breakthroughs occur.
Sure, autonomous battery life-saving is by no means a negligible use of the ground-breaking application—but what if you put IFTTT in charge of your smart home?
Automate your temperatures based on weather
Imagine the following scenario: you use IFTTT to link the weather service on your home-based tablet to your smart home’s Honeywell Evohome — an app that allows you to moderate the temperatures in your house, even on a room-to-room basis. Then, you set the ground rules: if the day drops below a certain temperature, turn the boiler on; if the temperature outside rises above a certain temperature, turn the a/c on. Since weather is such an inconsistent variable, it’s impractical to rely on a timed heater, so let your weather service do all the heavy lifting.
Bonus: for your inner nerd, geofence your Honeywell system so that the temperature changes based on where you are in the home.
Automatically optimize the lighting
Another great use of this service lies with LIFX — or Philips Hue — smart bulbs. Pick your poison, link the lights to an app with sun-up and sundown access (i.e., Yahoo Weather), and watch your energy bill plummet. Not only do you save money, you can enjoy the luxury of having an optimally-lit house at all hours of the day.
IFTTT can do so much more, like you can make your lights flash blue when you’re tagged on Facebook. The implications are huge in making your smart home even smarter!
Automate your sprinklers more intelligently
Using IFTTT with your sprinklers is also a huge energy-saver. Having your sprinklers on a timer is simple enough, but if your area is subject to a drought (or, conversely, heavy rainfall), you AND your yard will look dumb. With IFTTT and the Rachio Iro sprinkler system, or a WeMo attachment, you can be sure that your plants and lawn will get the water they need, when they need it.
The takeaway
These are just a few of the mind-blowing recipes IFTTT has at its disposal. Forget having a house-sitter, or calling your in-laws to check on the flower bed a few times a week; next time you go on vacation, you can monitor your energy output, water the garden, and have the house comfortable and fresh for your return.
Folks, this is just the beginning. IFTTT is leading the way toward complete remote control of your dwelling, from simple light manipulation to total climate control. Don’t miss the revolution—keep an eye on this service.
