Author Archives: Ross LaVallee

For the past month, my dog Penny has been struggling with her health. She had an emergency surgery and after that, she’s struggling with incontinience. Overnights, she sometimes will come in our bedroom to whine, waking my hearing wife up to let her outside, or she will wake me up to take her out. ButContinue reading “Using smart home to help my dog in need”

Do you want to be able to know who is at your door without having to open your door, or even know who is at the door when you are not at home? The Ring Video Doorbell can notify you through your phone app on motions if someone walked in front of it, or rangContinue reading “Ring Video Doorbells”

Are you aware that laundry machines makes a beep sound when it completes its cycle, letting hearing people know it’s finished so they can go do laundry immediately. We cannot hear that, but we can use smart home things to help us. We can have lights flash for a number of things, but you canContinue reading “Be notified when your clothes are done being washed or dried!”

I love using my cast iron pan, and after cooking and cleaning, we have to dry and season our pan. While I have been good at making sure I turn the stove off and season it well, once or twice I have been doing other errands such as washing dishes or cleaning off the diningContinue reading “Flashing lights to make sure I do not overheat my cast iron pan!”

Could we automate your “dumb’ ceiling fan with light? We sure can, with Inovelli’s red series fan and light switch. You can turn them on manually by tapping the switch as normally, but you can also have it be automated. Have the fan come on automatically when the A/C turns on. Or have the lightsContinue reading “Inovelli Red Series Fan and Light Switch”

I’ve just played with the 4 in 1 sensor from Inovelli, and here’s my thoughts on it. It is capable of sensing four different things, motion, temperature, humidity and illumiance. Many sensors out there sense just 1, or 2, but this one can do 4! And you can use more than 1 at a time,Continue reading “Inovelli 4 in 1 Review”

I just got the inovelli 4 in 1 sensor, I’m going to set this up and give it a try to see how it performs, and then provide a review of it. It can sense: Motion Temperature Illumiance Humidity With motion and temperature, we already know what we can do with them in my previousContinue reading “I just got something new!”

One of the common misconceptions that I’ve recieved are that smart homes are just automating lights. But it is a lot more than just lights. Automate your power outlets Turn on fans, pool filter pump, appliances automatically Automate your thermostat Turn the thermostat automatically based on where you are If it got cooler outside quickerContinue reading “Smart Home aren’t just for automating lights”

Sometimes when we add new devices, the smart home hub such as SmartThings will not be able to find the device. One of the simpliest solutions is to bring a new device closer to the hub, right next to it and then add the device. This will help solve the connection issues, and once theyContinue reading “Troubleshooting: Adding new devices”