If you decorate your home for the holidays, you can make things a little more futuristic and a lot more interesting by adding some HomeKit enabled devices to the mix. That way, you can ask Siri to turn off your tree, power down your inflatable reindeer, and shut down the red and green yard lights. Going smart is easy; just use some of these plugs and lights that we have gathered to start to Holiday season off right.
Compact control
Wemo Mini
Staff Favorite
Belkin’s Wemo Mini features a slim profile that won’t block the other receptacle in your outlet, allowing two of them to be used at the same time. The Mini is UL safety certified, and it also includes a three-year warranty, which will keep your tree glowing safely for years to come.
For the outdoors
iHome iSP100 Wi-Fi Outdoor Smart Plug
The iHome iSP100 Outdoor Smart Plug brings the convenience of HomeKit to all your outside decorations. Controlling your outdoor display is just a tap or shout away, and you can even schedule when it turns on and off through automation, ensuring that they are not left on all night.
Keep tabs
Eve Energy
Eve Energy is smart, and it features an indicator light that doubles as a switch — you just press the little green button to turn on and off whatever you’ve got hooked up to it. It’ll also let you track power consumption, and the Eve app does an excellent job of visualizing that data over time, keeping you in the know about how much energy your lights are using.
Turn it on
Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance Bulb
If you’ve got Philips Hue lights in your home, consider picking up a few extra Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance bulbs. They’re bright, they’re able to change to loads of different colors, and they’re just doggone neat! You can set up a red and green theme when you watch your favorite holiday movies and a blue and white theme when you want to bring a little winter into your home.
Light the path
Philips Hue Calla Pathway Light
Candy cane pathway lights are a staple in outdoor displays, but why bother with having to put them in our out every season? The Hue Calla Pathway Light supports vivid colors as well as clean whites, keeping your sidewalk or driveway lit 24/7, 365 days a year with up to 650 lumens of brightness.
Flexible alternative
Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus
It’s a little (a lot) more expensive than regular ol’ Christmas and holiday lights, but the Philips Hue Lightstrip can make for a dazzling holiday display in your home. This light strip is six feet of multi-color LEDs in a bendable strip. You can wrap it around your furniture, string it behind your TV or home entertainment setup, fasten it to your baseboard, etc. It’s pretty nifty!
Winter wonders
Taking your holiday lighting to the next level with HomeKit can be as easy as screwing in a light bulb or plugging in an outlet. With HomeKit, you can summon the light show with Siri anytime, anywhere, and you can also schedule your display to turn on and off automatically at dawn and dusk.
We love the Wemo Mini for its compact design, which not only looks cleaner than other plugs, but two of them fit in one outlet, maximizing your space. There are also plugs available for the outdoors, including the iHome iSP100 Wi-Fi Outdoor Smart Plug which is a great weather-resistant option capable of powering your largest decorations.
Now that you have your gear picked out, its time to get them set up with HomeKit. Check out our guide to getting them up and running. Ready to take things even further? Add your accessories to scenes and automations and make it all come to life automatically.
Source of the article – iMore