Smart Home Automation with Leviton Plugs

DIY Garage Light and Fan Smart Home Automation

7/30/2018

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This post is sponsored by The Home Depot.

There's something magical in my garage! All I have to do is say "Alexa, garage on" and all the fans and lights just turn on! It's magic, I say, magical!

Really, its just smart home technology at its best! With only two different Leviton smart home products, we've been able to automate four fans, and 8 lights in the garage. These of course can be individually turned on, but Alexa gets the job done fast and the garage starts to cool off almost before we've closed the door.

Read on to see how we used them, and then think about what you might want to automate in your home.

Product:

Leviton Decora Smart Wi-Fi Plug-In Outlet, No Hub Required, Works with Alexa, Google Assistant and Nest (Home Depot)

Back side of Leviton smart home wifi plugs.

With these five plug-in outlets, we were able to automate four fans as well as the storage area light.

Set up takes only a few minutes. The device to be controlled is plugged into the smart outlet which is then plugged into the wall outlet. The smart outlet is added to the app and you're ready to go.

Leviton smart wifi plug in outlet compatibility chart.

Push the green light to manually operated the plug.

That green lights shows the outlet is working but you can also push it to manually turn on the device that is plugged into it. The app prompts you through the simple set up process.

Give you plug a name during the app set up.

Every outlet gets a name. We kept it simple and named it after the device we plugged into it. This one is our gray standing fan.

The app tells you when setup is complete.

There is no doubt when you've successfully added a device (smart outlet) to the app.

The fan is now automated with the Leviton smart outlet.

Now, if we only want this fan on, we can call out to Alexa and only this fan will turn on.

The Leviton plug in smart outlet remotely controls this out of the way light.

This is the only light that was not on a switch. We added a smart outlet to it so now it can be remotely turned on.

There is now a Leviton smart outlet in the ceiling.

We even added one to the ceiling!

One more fan on a Leviton smart home outlet.

And the last fan! If you're keeping count that's four fans--it's Florida, it's hot in the garage in the summer!

Here Steph has set up all the Leviton devices into an "activity" so that they can be controlled all at once. This information is also sharable so I can control them via my phone as well.

Complete look at the garage with the installed Leviton wifi outlets.

Everything is now synced so one simple command turns everything on so we're up and running in seconds.

I'm still amazed every time I say to Alexa, "garage on," and everything turns on immediately. This automation of the lights and fans has simplified the use of them.

When working in the hot garage, we want ALL the fans running at full blast. Automation gets them started immediately which means the garage is a much more comfortable space. I'm sure once we have a bit of cold weather we will be switching these out for heaters. (One can only dream of cooler weather!)

What do you want to automate in your home?

We acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with us to participate in the ProSpective 2018 Campaign. As a part of the Program, we are receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are our own words. Our post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.

FYI: We are not professionals, and we don’t claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first!

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