11 Creative Ways To Use Smart Switches Around Your House

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Smart homes have become very popular in the current day and age, with this industry valued at $24 billion in 2024 and expected to cross $50 billion early in the 2030s. With a nifty mobile app or voice controls, you can easily manage anything and everything in your house ... provided that they have some degree of smart functionality. While a smart home ecosystem is easier to set up in a new house, things may get challenging if you already have everything you could possibly want in your home and need to replace a bunch of appliances with smart variants.

Instead of going through this expensive ordeal, one of the cheapest ways to turn your house into a smart home is to install smart switches in various places throughout your house. This way, even regular electrical fixtures and appliances can enjoy a degree of smart functionality that makes them far more convenient to use. The best part is that you can use these switches in creative ways and optimize your everyday routines with the wonders of modern technology. Suffice it to say, these are essential smart home gadgets you should be using if you're serious about getting into the smart home ecosystem.

Ceiling fans are a convenient, cost-effective way to beat the heat, and they'd be even more awesome if you could find a simple way to control this appliance from the comfort of your couch. After all, getting up to manually operate your fan and its speed can get a bit grating after a point. It's a minor level of discomfort, but there's nothing wrong with wanting to upgrade your home's convenience by letting you turn on the fan and adjust its speed when you're sitting down.

Instead of replacing your existing ceiling fan with a smart one, why not save around 20 to 40 percent in purchase costs and buy a special smart switch tailor-made to control your existing ceiling fan? Smart switches from brands like Kasa, MOES, and Leviton are among the cool new Amazon finds you can add to your smart home collection. These switches have multiple speed settings that make it easier than ever to use your ceiling fan. Some of them also come with light controls for a nifty 2-in-1 functionality that makes them even more useful for smart home enthusiasts.

The exhaust fan in your bathroom is very useful to eliminate any bad smells, but it needs to run for a while to maximize its effect. Most people tend to just leave their exhaust fans on after finishing up with their bathroom activities, but this has the unintended effect of wasting electricity if these fans are running long after they've cleaned up the air. Sure, you can manually operate this switch to use your exhaust fan as intended, but that isn't the most practical solution.

Instead of monitoring your exhaust fan manually, a smart switch with a timer can easily get this job done for you. It lets you set up an automation schedule that will turn the switch off after a set amount of time, bringing you one step closer to taking full advantage of your smart home setup. This way, you can keep your bathroom air clean and prevent any electricity wastage.

Technically speaking, using smart switches to operate your lights isn't the most creative use of this tech. In fact, it's often the first thing that people choose to do with their new tech, which is why smart lights are so popular. Where innovation comes into play is in the many ways you can program your smart switches to operate your lights on a schedule, regulating when and how these fixtures are used without having to move a muscle on your end.

Want to save electricity? Schedule your smart switches to turn off all your lights at night for a quick, money-saving smart home automation that does all the work for you. Not getting enough light in your bedroom? Your smart switches can turn on the lights in the morning to help you wake up. Need to make your date night more memorable than ever? Well, as long as you have the appropriate lights for the same, you can set up a schedule to turn on this mood lighting without having to leave your partner's side. The possibilities are endless, and you will easily stretch your creative boundaries to their very limits as you figure out the best ways to automate your lights with smart switches.

The age-old problem of having to manually close and open your garage doors — something that is especially grating when you're alone and need to take your car out — is something that many people are familiar with. Sure, you can ask a family member to close the door behind you when you're heading out, but why disturb your loved ones when you can just use a technologically-driven solution to make things infinitely easier for you? Electric garage door openers have been around for ages, and smart models are available now, but there is another solution to help you retrofit your current setup and simplify your life in the process.

With a smart switch, a simple tap on the relevant smartphone app will help your garage door open and close painlessly. This way, you won't have to carry a garage door remote around in your car or inconvenience the people around you. If you want to take things a step further, get a smart garage door opener from trusted brands like eKyro, CHAMBERLAIN, and Meross for even greater compatibility with your existing garage door setup. Chances are that you're not using this overlooked smart home accessory, even though you should be.

For some people, cooking is a therapeutic affair that helps them unwind as they meticulously craft dishes and bake delectable goods. For others, it can be a bit of a chore as they stand around and supervise the dishes they're making so that they don't get burned to a crisp the very moment they take their eyes away from the oven. If sweating it out in a hot kitchen doesn't sound like the best way to spend your time, then a few smart switches here and there can make this task far more manageable for you.

This smart functionality will help you preheat ovens well ahead of time to make your baking endeavors less time-consuming. Along with this, you can also start up your coffee maker from the comfort of your bed to get that warm cup of joe you need in the morning without having to manually start the machine. If you set up a camera in your kitchen, you can take things a step further and operate your electric stoves and other such appliances with a smart switch. This way, you can supervise whatever you're cooking from the comfort of your couch and instantly turn off your devices if things go south.

Power blinds are a great way to eliminate the hang-ups and inconveniences of regular window blinds, ensuring that pressing a switch is all it takes to open and close them without a fuss. As long as you carry out regular maintenance to keep the motors clean and working properly, you shouldn't face any problems with these gadgets. However, some people want to unlock an even greater degree of convenience, so much so that they won't even have to get up from their bed to open their window blinds.

Once again, a smart switch will take care of these issues for you. You won't have to leave the comfort of your bed to open or close your window blinds, and setting up optimal schedules means that you won't even have to use a smart home app or remote to operate these blinds. Ideally, what you'll need is a smart roller shutter switch for optimal control. Not only does this let you close and open these power blinds with ease and according to a schedule, if you like, but you can also choose the degree to which they should be open.

Thermostats that provide central heating or cooling in your apartment generally get the job done from the moment they're turned on, but standard models don't do much beyond reacting to ambient temperature changes. If you want to conserve power over the long haul, though, it can be in your best interest to turn off these thermostats from time to time. A smart switch will be very helpful here and let you operate your thermostat remotely — maybe you're going to be away from home unexpectedly and want to reduce the amount of time the furnace or air conditioner runs, or maybe you learn about an incoming deep freeze while you're away and want to bump up the temperature temporarily.

Some houses don't have thermostats and use standalone air conditioners and heaters to regulate temperature instead. Again, these should be turned off from time to time — after all, no one wants to rack up a massive electricity bill because they were too lazy to press a switch. Still, the prospect of stepping into a room that's too hot or too cold and then waiting for these appliances to get rolling can be quite unappealing. So, to make things more convenient, you can use smart switches to operate these devices. This way, you can turn them on before you even step into the room in question, eliminating the aforementioned discomfort and letting you enjoy a cool or toasty room from the get-go.

Unless you're trying to get used to cold showers for their health benefits, no one wants to step into their bathroom only to realize that the water heater wasn't on. Delaying your shower or bracing yourself for a cold water spray are both far from ideal outcomes, so do yourself a favor and hook up your water heater to a smart switch. If you know you're going to take a bath at a specific time, then scheduling your water heater to turn on a few minutes before your shower is very convenient.

Even if you tend to take showers at random times, all you need to do is turn on your water heater remotely the moment you decide to get up for your bathing routine. Most modern water heaters shouldn't take more than a few minutes for you to enjoy hot, soothing water from your taps and showers, anyway. And if the idea of switching your water heater off and on sounds strange to you because you're used to the big, old-school models that always have hot water at the ready, then you might want to consider the benefits of an on-demand unit, which include energy savings and an extended lifespan. For those types of water heaters, smart switches can make a big difference.

Nowadays, it has been disproven that charging your phones and any other modern battery-powered devices when they're at 100 percent harms the battery. Gone are the days when this led to a trickle charge that reduced battery capacity. Modern Li-ion batteries take this situation into account and prevent any harm from befalling the battery. Still, if you're worried about charging your phones overnight, you can plug in the charger to an outlet with a smart switch that is scheduled to turn off after an hour or two, giving you the peace of mind you need.

That being said, there's one scenario where using a smart switch to regulate battery charging can be useful to preserve this component's longevity. Unlike the other consumer electronics on the market, the technology powering EV batteries is in its relative infancy. Even now, the nature of the batteries powering these vehicles is undergoing several developments, but one opinion remains steadfast — you shouldn't charge your electric vehicle to 100 percent all the time. Usually, stopping at 80 percent is the way to go, but this may be hard to monitor if you plug in your EV for overnight charging and go to sleep. Once you have an idea of how long it takes for your electric vehicle to reach 80 percent of its battery capacity, you can schedule a smart switch to turn off after this time has elapsed to keep your EV at a healthy 80 percent and ensure battery longevity. Given that an electric vehicle's battery is its most expensive component, it's easy to see why a smart switch could be ideal for pragmatic EV owners.

Remember how we spoke about how setting up a camera in your kitchen can help you remotely monitor any dishes you're preparing? Well, this approach can be useful for time-consuming appliances outside of your kitchen, too. Let's say that you have a 3D printer set up at home and have initiated a task that will take a few hours to complete. If you set up a camera in the same room, you won't have to stick around to see whether your 3D printer is throwing any errors during the printing process. Instead, you can plug the device into a smart switch and turn it off remotely if things go south to save on valuable 3D printing materials that would otherwise be wasted. This approach is especially useful if you have a resin printer, since these materials are toxic and you should try to keep some distance during the printing process, anyway.

Another instance where this camera and smart switch combo can be very helpful is if you use a CNC router. These computer-controlled machines are useful for automating the tasks of cutting and shaping materials like wood, plastics, glass, and malleable metals. However, they also take hours to complete their tasks, and sticking around to supervise them manually can get boring after a point. Instead of subjecting yourself to this, you can use a camera for the purposes of remote supervision and a smart switch to turn off the CNC router remotely if it goes haywire midway through the cutting process.

It's no surprise that people want to breathe in clean air that's free of any pollutants. Unfortunately, this has also become a privilege in modern times, with air pollution being a pressing concern that becomes more and more severe with each passing year. If you live near a construction site or in a location known for its poor air quality, it's important to get an air purifier to help safeguard your family's lungs from dust and other pollutants. However, just like most other appliances, keeping your air purifier running all the time isn't recommended. Not only will this mandate you to change your air filters all the time, but you'll burn through a lot of electricity in the long run.

At the same time, you'd prefer entering a room where an air purifier has been working for a while, instead of having to turn it on and breathe in polluted air until the device works its magic. The simplest solution here is to plug your air purifier into a smart switch and turn it on remotely before you enter the room in question. It's a convenient way to save electricity and ensure clean, breathable air in one fell swoop.