---
title: 'This Smart Home Inspires Me! Full Tour'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=5SUCahWX1QE'
video_id: '5SUCahWX1QE'
date: 2026-08-06
duration_sec: 843
---

# This Smart Home Inspires Me! Full Tour

> Source: [This Smart Home Inspires Me! Full Tour](https://youtube.com/watch?v=5SUCahWX1QE)

## Summary

This video is a full tour of Jonathan's smart home, showcasing over 300 practical, family-friendly automations built on a budget. The tour highlights how smart home technology can enhance safety, convenience, and fun for a family, including specific automations for a child with a disability.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to Jonathan's Smart Home** [00:07] — Jonathan has built an incredible smart home with over 300 automations on an affordable budget, focusing on family-friendliness and practicality.
- **Reboot Reminder Automation** [00:20] — An automation sends a notification to Jonathan's wife to reboot her computer, preventing issues from long periods without rebooting.
- **AI Doorbell Camera** [01:04] — An inexpensive camera from Easy Viz uses a large language model to describe what's occurring outside, including person detection and vehicle descriptions.
- **Son's Room Dashboard** [02:02] — A simplistic dashboard allows Jonathan's son to control lights and call for help, designed for a child with a disability.
- **Roblox Time Limit** [02:16] — Automation disables Roblox at 6 AM and plays a gentle message, pulling up YouTube instead, to prevent early morning noise.
- **Front Door Safety** [03:11] — Contact sensors on the front door and guardian lock notify if the lock isn't closed, keeping the son safe inside.
- **Hallway Light Automation** [03:39] — Uses the motion sensor in the Ring keypad to turn on hallway lights only when it's cloudy or raining, saving energy.
- **Phone Integration with Tasker** [04:18] — Home Assistant sends webhooks to Tasker on Android to announce who's calling through speakers.
- **Meal Ordering Reminder** [04:46] — A calendar input reminds Jonathan to order meals for Chef's Plate, and if forgotten, automatically opens the app.
- **Aqara Devices Sponsor** [05:26] — Aqara sponsors the series; Jonathan uses Aqara temperature sensors, buttons, and FP2 sensors for various automations.
- **Bedroom FP2 Sensor** [06:23] — The FP2 sensor creates zones to turn on wardrobe lights when approached and automates ceiling lights based on presence.
- **Bedtime Security Check** [07:13] — A dashboard on Google display shows door/window status; arming is blocked if any are open, ensuring safety.
- **Weather-Based Outfit Advice** [07:50] — Voice assistant tells Jonathan what to wear based on date and weather, starting with a base layer.
- **Family Dashboard** [08:03] — A family-friendly dashboard organized by rooms, with buttons that light up if lights are left on, and party light controls.
- **Bathroom Party Lights** [08:43] — Long press on a button changes bathroom lights and plays Spotify playlist for a fun bath time.
- **Help Button in Bathroom** [09:12] — Single press on a button announces on all speakers that Chris needs help in the bathroom.
- **Jarvis and Friday Voice Assistants** [09:24] — Jonathan's AI is named Jarvis, his wife's is Friday, with distinct audible notifications to know who it's for.
- **Notification Lights** [09:52] — Lights behind TV, son's phone, and under island indicate who a notification is for, using color coding.
- **Hockey Game Automation** [10:34] — When NHL API switches from pre to live, TV automatically switches to the game, and lights flash when the team scores.
- **Popcorn Machine Automation** [11:30] — Smart outlet turns on popcorn machine, runs a timer, and turns off when done, making movie nights easier.
- **Chore Chart with Verification** [11:58] — Son clicks chores, parents confirm via notification, points accumulate, and a weekly surprise is randomly selected.
- **Smart Toothbrush** [12:52] — Smart toothbrush confirms brushing, ensuring the son keeps his teeth clean without manual confirmation.
- **Evolution of the Smart Home** [13:05] — Started with safety, evolved into a daily aspect that simplifies life, keeps the family in line, and is fun.

### Conclusion

Jonathan's smart home demonstrates that with creativity and affordable devices, you can build a system that enhances safety, convenience, and family fun, making daily life simpler and more enjoyable.

## Transcript

who's built an incredible smart home with over 300 automations. And not only that, but he did it on an affordable budget and it's very familyfriendly. family's life easier. And there's nothing gimmicky here. Just a lot of
super practical automations. You're going to want to see it. Starting off first with an automation that I for sure need in my own home. Hi, I'm Jonathan specifically for my wife because she never remembered to reboot her computer.
It caused endless issues with her. But now with this specific automation, notification on her phone. It'll either ask her to reboot or cancel. And because it's a it's a message, she can come up and ensure that nothing that is left
open needs to be saved to be kept safe. I love this automation because it resolves so many issues with a simple reboot. And Ally never reboots her issues, I of course ask her when the last time she rebooted was. It's usually
like 2 months ago. So, this would solve so many problems. All right, you got to check out this automation that uses the doorbell and this camera right up here. So, we're using this very inexpensive camera from Easy Viz to actually take a
doorbell, sends that information through a large language model, and then outputs exactly what's occurring outside. >> Person on porch, partially obscured, no weapons detected. >> And we're now starting to incorporate
extra imagery to tell us who is actually at our door. So, if it's my father, my who's standing there and give us that notification. A light blue sedan is >> It's surprising how accurate it is. And you know that light blue sedan that it
you know that light blue sedan that it picked up? That's my rental car. >> So, we're here in my son's room. Uh my son has a disability. The main reason to assist him. And my main concern was creating a very simplistic and easy
dashboard for him to utilize his lights in his room, but also contacting myself help. >> I like it. And this could be useful for any family member who needs help. Just tap a button on the dashboard. So to
help Jonathan's son stay safe, he has a phone for location tracking. But as you know with kids, they like to have fun on a phone. So Jonathan set up some check. In particular with my son, he loves Roblox. The only thing with Roblox
loud when playing it. And it's not always appreciative at 6:00 a.m. to be woken up by screaming because he's having fun. As a father of three, yes, tell me about it. So, of course, Jonathan automated the phone to gently
help his son stop playing. >> It is too early to be playing Roblox. >> It will automatically pull up YouTube and it will disable Roblox until 7:00 >> Good morning, Chris. It is time to get up. Please go downstairs and eat your
>> The one thing that we've added on his dashboard is a timer to ensure that he Once that's [music] all complete, it will tell him to go ahead and brush his tell him to get ready and get dressed for school or have some fun activities
on the weekend. So, another really cool automation for their son is here at the front door. So, as you can see, there's a Ring contact sensor that can let them know if the doors open or close, but there's also an Accara contact sensor on
the guardian lock. And that way, when their son comes home from school and this door opens and closes, if no one closes this guardian lock, then they get a notification to come do it. and that way the son doesn't accidentally run out
the front door and they can keep him safe in the house which is great peace wanted a way to be able to turn on our hallway lights easily without having to switches. So instead of buying a different device, we actually tapped
into the motion sensor that's been built into the Ring keypad to turn it on only when it's cloudy or raining because if it's sunny, we don't necessarily need the light. >> Wait, what? I didn't even know there was
a motion sensor in the Ring keypad until Jonathan told me. You learn something new every day. And Jonathan uses the same motion sensor to automate the light strips on his stairs. These look so nice and can help you see going up the stairs
without harsh overhead lighting. He also has his phone integrated nicely into his are we using Home Assistant, but we're using Tasker for Android quite heavily. So, I have it sending a web hook from Home Assistant into Tasker that will
speakers who's calling me at that moment. You are getting a call from >> That's pretty useful, especially if you don't have your phone around you. And this next automation is a perfect way to make sure dinner gets on the table.
>> So, what I did is within Home Assistant, I created just a basic calendar input that reminds me on that specific day when I need to order the meals. Jonathan, it is time to order the meals for Chef's Plate.
>> But not only that, if I'm lazy and forget to do it, it will automatically and always pulls up the specific app on my phone and I cannot ignore it. So that way, our meals get here and my wife is at ease. Okay, I think this automation
goes without saying. Definitely high spouse approval factor. [music] For real though, I'm a huge fan of this and anytime the Smartome can help me when I'm being lazy is a big time win. Oh, hey, look, an Accara device. To help
make these smart home tours possible, Aara is sponsoring this series, which I'm extremely grateful for because traveling is expensive. But what isn't expensive, is Aara devices, and Jonathan's using Aara devices all
temperature sensor right here in his son's room. And that way, when it gets too warm, it turns on the window AC unit to cool things down. There's also one of the car buttons right here to change the lights as well as an FP2 sensor in his
bedroom for some automations that we'll talk about in a second. And a car also provided some extra sensors as well. So, he's going to use another FP2 sensor in his office which we were just in. And that way he can know who's sitting at
what desk and automate turning off the computer if he has to get up quickly. So, so many cool things you can do with Accara devices and they are very inexpensive. I'll link all the Accara stuff down in the description.
Definitely check it out and thanks to Accara for supporting the channel. So, we're here in the bedroom and there's an Accara FP2 sensor right here. And there's quite a bit of automations that Jonathan set up with just this one
when your partner gets up in the middle of the night to try to get dressed to go what I've done is I've created separate zones all throughout my bedroom that at
any time when we walk up to our wardrobe and we stand [music] in this area and we turn on within so you can see what you're grabbing and you're [music] not >> I like that. And he also uses the FP2 to automate his ceiling lights.
>> I sit down and it knows I'm here and if I want to watch TV, I don't want my automatically turns it off and I can enjoy my show. Once it pauses, I stand back up and it turns on so I can leave and then it'll automatically turn off
when there's no uh person detected. When I walk into my bedroom at night, I want to see and ensure that all my doors and windows are closed prior to going to bed. So, it automatically comes up on my Google display as a dashboard within
Home Assistant. If I try to arm my system or lay down in bed, if any of these aspects are open, it will not let me arm the system until I rectify the >> I cannot arm the system since the front guardian door and back guardian door are
system again. >> I love how foolproof the system is. There's like no way to make a mistake. It just tells you what you need to do to fix it. So smart. Plus, while he's getting ready in the morning, Jonathan's
voice assistant will tell him what to wear based on the date and the weather. will be key to staying comfortable throughout the day. Start with a long sleeve shirt as your base layer. Moving down to the main area of the home,
Jonathan has built a family-friendly dashboard that's both useful and fun. >> We wanted to make it very simplistic and not hard to operate, especially because >> So, he organized his dashboard by rooms and click on the room you need to see
and then a separate view comes up for that area. Makes a lot of sense. And course. >> So, he'll specifically come in, click a button, set it to party lights with our whiz lights in our kitchen. He has a
of the night and it is the funniest thing to watch ever. >> I've seen people hate on RGB lights. Hey, when you have kids, RGB lights are the kitchen. >> In our bathroom, we have a button that
if my son long presses, it will automatically change those lights in our much and automatically start playing his Spotify playlist. So, it's a little fun party for him as he gets to relax and enjoy his bath time. Man, my kids would
love those party lights in the bathroom. And kids, if you're watching, don't get work when I get home. One of the cool things with the dashboard is if any of the lights are on in the room, the button for that room lights up. And so
they can quickly see if any lights were left on and then they can just quickly turn them off. And if Jonathan's son needs help in the bathroom, he can just single press that button and it will announce on all the speakers to go help
him in the bathroom. Laura and Jonathan. Chris needs help in >> That's so cool. And if you're wondering the inspiration for Jonathan's voice assistant, the answer is Tony Stark. >> And my AI is specifically Jarvis. And my
wife uses Friday. When we get audible notifications, we know exactly who it is determined to be for. >> Your heavy load wash has finished. Please change it to the dryer. >> Jonathan, you need to change the cat
litter. Please go and do so. But they take it a step further with the lights, >> like using the TV stand to identify if I'm on a phone call or in a meeting. Using the light that's directly behind me for my son, if his phone is dying or
chore, and having under the [music] island a notification area for my wife if she's on a call or a meeting. I think this is really smart and I could totally similar where me and Ally are using separate voice assistants or
notification lights and that way we can quickly see who the notification is for and it just makes life a little more simple since we know what to look for. >> How's it going?
>> Which explains why this next automation is very Canadian. So, my father is a huge hockey fan and every Friday or Saturday if they come over for a dinner it. But, as some of you know, putting the hockey game on early is not always
the greatest because you got to sit there and watch commercials or go specific automation that when the NHL API kicks over from pre to live, my TV will automatically switch from whatever input it's on, whether it's the Switch,
the chcast, over to the Fire TV and bring that specific channel on so we can those odd interruptions. >> And not only does the TV turn on right when the game starts, he also automated his living room during the game, too.
Your team scores and you get an amazing horn and your lights flashing for your specific team that you follow. >> Oh, and guess what else is automated? >> Oh, and guess what else is automated? The popcorn machine. Because why not?
the kernels. >> So instead of us trying to sit here and our smart home tells us when it needs to go in so it's movie ready every time. simple. Well, there's just a smart outlet that the popcorn machine is
plugged into and then when the automation runs, it starts up a timer ready and then when it's all done, it just turns off the smart outlet. Easy. >> The popcorn is done and I will turn off the machine. Enjoy.
>> So, Jonathan built a system for a son that I've been wanting to build for my kids for years. It's a chore chart that can keep track of the chores so that the kids can stay on top of all their daily tasks. So, as my son completes his basic
and he simply clicks on it. But, as we know, kids can be kids. And if you click on it, it may not actually be [music] done. So, once he does click on it, it will send me or my wife a notification [music] that we can either confirm or
>> Chris, you did not make your bed. If you want the point, please go and do so. >> And if we confirm it, his point system goes up. Every Sunday depending on how many points he has, I have scripts built within Home Assistant that it will
randomly pick a number based on how many points he has and that's his surprise. And our favorite is brushing his teeth that he can't just come and push a button to get a confirmation from us. His smart toothbrush actually tells us
so we know he keeps them nice and pearly >> Okay, toothbrush automations. Dad of the year right here. And all of Jonathan's automations make me want to build a very familyfriendly smart home like he did.
>> When we first started this journey, we were looking at purely safety and evolved into so [music] much more. It's turned into a day-to-day aspect for me, for my wife, for my son, and it truly does run our lives, but it makes
everything so much simpler. But not only that is it's fun and cool because I get to do all these fun little projects, but it's keeping us in line and ensuring that we can function at a higher level. So, it's been an amazing experience for
Thanks, Jonathan, for letting me come tour your smart home. You have some what you've been able to do for your son and your family. Reed. >> Yeah, and Jonathan is smoking some ribs
right now, so I'm hungry. I'm going to go chow down pretty soon. And thanks go chow down pretty soon. And thanks everyone for watching. [music]