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Automated Blinds with Arduino

Do you spend a lot of time opening and closing your blinds each day? With this project from FreedomToCreate you can create your own automated blind controller which allows you to open or close your blinds based on a schedule, current temperature or outdoor light levels. You can even have the added flexibility of controlling your blinds from your smartphone. Although it sounds like a relatively minor “chore” it is amazing how much time you could save across an entire year if you didn’t have to worry about your blinds! You could very easily incorporate this into an existing smart home system so that you can control everything in one place. To get started on this handy project check out the instructable.   

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Want to learn more about awesome automation hacks like this? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Thinking about automating your own blinds? Have a project you would like us to feature in this blog? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.  

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SMS Controlled Heating

Do you ever find yourself arriving home from work to a cold house? With this project from kohleick you can send your heating system an SMS while you are driving home, and arrive to a toasty warm house. The controller runs off an Arduino Uno and custom shields which control timing, temperature measurement and telecommunications. Kohleick has designed the controller to fit unobtrusively into a picture frame. The controller has full functionality including six operating modes, temperature measurement and full SMS control. Additionally, the heating controller features a phone book which specifies which numbers can send commands to the heating system.FBJ3LLZHLSHE77C.LARGE

This is a great project to integrate into a home automation system and could potentially help you save big on energy bills. Although it is quite a complicated project, the instructions are well set out and explained. To get started check out the following link.  

Want to learn more about awesome automation hacks like this? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Thinking about making your own automatic brewing system? Have a project you would like us to feature in this blog? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.   

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Build Your Own Pressure Plate Switch

This is a very simple project which could be used for an infinite number of different purposes! You could use your pressure plate switch to add perfect timing into your haunted house, automatically trigger your doorbell when someone stands on your doormat, track the presence of mail or parcels, or even set up your alarm clock to only turn off when you get out of bed and step on the switch!

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The possibilities are really limited to your imagination. A project like this could make a really great input device for your home automation system. The best thing about this project is that all you need to get started is some wire, aluminium foil and cardboard! To get started making your own pressure plate check out the following instructable from Jason.   

Want to learn more about awesome automation hacks like this? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Thinking about making your own automatic pet feeder? Have a project you would like us to feature in this blog? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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Automated Gardening with Arduino

Want to start gardening but don’t trust yourself to regularly water your plants? With the “Garduino” from Luke Iseman, you can program your Arduino to help you out! This project allows you to automate watering, supplementary lighting, temperature warnings and more, using a number of sensors. All of the parts used in this project are readily available and the instruction guide is sure to help you create plenty of juicy vegetables in no time (and with very little effort on your behalf). More information can be found at the following link.

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If you are looking for a temperature sensor for your Arduino garden, SuperHouse Automation recommends the Freetronics temperature sensor module. The module is accurate to 0.5 ℃ and features a wide temperature range, mounting holes and comes with full code examples. To find out more check out the product page.

Want to learn more about awesome automation hacks like this? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Would your neglected veggie garden benefit from some automation? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.   

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Arduino Weather Station

Are you interested in weather patterns but frequently find yourself frustrated by the lack of precise data for your home? With this fantastic project written by SuperHouse presenter Jonathan Oxer you don’t need to rely on the national weather service anymore. The weather station receiver allows you to build your own personal weather station for your home or office. The weather station consists of an external sensor system that transmits data to a display unit over a 433MHz transmitter.

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From a home automation perspective, having your own weather station provides a valuable source of data which can be used for any number of purposes. You could automate your heating and air conditioning, or even monitor its effectiveness by making a comparison between internal and external temperatures. To get started creating your own weather station check out Practical Arduino.

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If you are looking for a 433MHz receiver, SuperHouse Automation recommends the Freetronics receiver shield. To find out more check out the following link.

Want to learn more about awesome automation hacks like this? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Have an idea for a project you would like us to feature? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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Arduino Utilities Monitor

Electricity, gas and water are typically some of the largest regular expenses in any household. Having the ability to monitor trends in utilities usage means that you can easily notice discrepancies and pick up gas or water leaks promptly, saving you unnecessarily high bills! Plotting the daily electricity usage allows you to find out which devices or activities are inefficient and optimise your home accordingly, saving your even more money! This project from Chris Nafis uses an ethernet connected Arduino to send the information it collects from utility meter data packet broadcasts, onto the internet.  To get started lowering your utilities bill check out the following link!

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An example of the results generated from this project:

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Although this project only mentions monitoring electricity usage, there is no reason why it couldn’t be adapted to water and gas. Having up to the minute information about your water, gas and electricity usage would offer enormous opportunities and would be a worthy addition to any smart home!

Want to learn more about awesome automation hacks like this? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Have an idea for a project you would like us to feature? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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Fingerprint Security with Arduino

Every wanted to add biometric security to your smart home? You are in the right place! Adding biometric security of this type to your house or apartment could provide convenient and secure keyless entry and will certainly create an interesting talking point when you have people over.  

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This project works using a fingerprint module that can store up to 1000 fingerprints and has a false detection rate of 0.001%, so you can sleep easy at night! Completing a project such as this is a great way to increase your Arduino skills and is sure to be a lot of fun. To get started check out the following video:

Want to learn more about awesome automation hacks like this? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start! Have an idea for a project you would like us to feature? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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Arduino Smart Letterbox

Never forget to collect the mail ever again with this useful Arduino mail notifier! Using 315MHz wireless radios, Riley Porter has created a system that lets you know whenever the mail arrives. With this system you never have to worry about soggy mail ever again, and can even keep track of the typical times that mail arrives in your letter box. The notifier uses a light sensor to detect when a letter has been received and then transmits a notification to the receiver over a 315MHz wireless signal. To get started on this project check out the following link.

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This project would be a great addition to your existing smart home, or would be a fantastic project to start with if you are looking to add 21st century smarts to your home.

The wireless functionality in this project is based on a 315MHz wireless connection. These types of connections are very common and have the potential to be used in many different projects. If you are planning on working on this project, or any other that requires wireless communications, SuperHouse Automation recommends the Freetronics 315MHz Receiver Shield. The shield has a large, gold plated prototyping area, three status LEDs and a built in reset button. For more information visit the 315MHz Receiver Shield page.

Subscribe to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube to learn more about creating internet of things devices!

Have an idea of another common household item that could benefit from being connected to the internet? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.