I am considered somewhat of a smart home expert within my circle of friends, primarily because I am the only one who has taken the time to learn how to utilize automations. When I talk to a new smart home user, I always enjoy seeing and hearing enthusiasm from someone who has finally learned how to use a smart speaker or program a thermostat. I am immediately ready to start talking about scripts and scenes.
Smart home devices offer plenty of basic features that do not require any special knowledge to use. For example, plenty of multi-color LED light bulbs can be controlled with the mobile app. You swipe up to turn them on and tap an icon to change color. It is enough to make any new smart home enthusiast happy. But eventually, most people who stick with the smart home concept want more. That’s where scripts and scenes come into play.
Automation Is the Golden Ticket
Not every electronic device is a smart device. To qualify as smart, a device must offer certain features. Although automation isn’t one of them, it stands to reason that deploying a smart device without taking advantage of built-in automation capabilities is to not tap into its full potential. Here is another way to put it: automation is smart home tech’s golden ticket. If you’re not utilizing it, you are wasting a valuable resource.
Automation eliminates the need for you to control devices manually. It allows you to program devices, schedule them, and even have them react to certain conditions. A properly programmed device only requires manual intervention if it stops working or you want to change parameters.
Scripts and Scenes: The Difference
Scripts and scenes are the fuel that drive automation. They overlap in some ways, though they are completely different entities. Here is a brief explanation:
- Script – A script, also known as a routine in some ecosystems, is a set of instructions a home automation system will follow once triggered. You might have a script that turns off all the lights and locks the front door. You execute that script at bedtime.
- Scene – A scene is a collection of home automation devices defined by their current state. A lighting scene is a perfect example. You might program an evening scene that dims the lights in the kitchen while maintaining full illumination in the family room.
Both scripts and scenes can be triggered in a variety of ways. Lighting scenes are usually linked to specific times of the day or family activities – like watching movies, for example. Scripts tend to be triggered by voice commands, calendar dates or times, or actions taken by other devices.
Learning to Program Them
Programming scripts and scenes is not hard with most ecosystems. But it does require learning the ecosystem’s ins and outs. Take the Vivint ecosystem. Vivint’s mobile app and smart home hub both accommodate programming. Once you learn how the ecosystem operates, programming becomes fairly simple.
If you are working with the Google or Amazon ecosystems, programming is generally accomplished through either their respective mobile apps or smart speakers. Smart speaker programming is a bit more complicated because you have to learn how to speak to your device in the right way.
Needless to say, learning how to create scripts and scenes is worthwhile. Why? Because automation unleashes the true power of the smart home. Automation allows your home and its electronic devices to behave the way you want them to, without direct intervention from you. Program once and let the system do its thing. That’s what smart homes are supposed to be like.