HomeTechHacker: 5 Ways a Smart Home improves safety and security

By Marlon Buchanan

Smart homes are great for making your life easier and making your home feel futuristic. A lot of the features in my smart home are for convenience (e.g. voice control, automated holiday lights, and robot vacuum). 

The main reason I got into smart homes was for safety and security features. Here are five ways in which my smart home keeps my family safe and my belongings secure.

1. Automatic door locks

My front door and garage door deadbolts automatically lock on their own each night. Even if I fall asleep with the TV on or just forget to lock the doors, they will lock on their own. I have smart deadbolt locks that are integrated into my smart home,

Additionally, the smart door locks allow me to:

• Remotely lock and unlock the doors
• Give someone a temporary guest code to enter my home
• Know who opened the door and when (to know when my kids get home safely)

2. Safety and security lighting

Lighting in and around the house is an important part of creating a safe and secure home. I use motion detectors inside and outside the home to make sure lights turn on in dark spaces (like hallways and stairwells) automatically without having to find a light switch. 

You can walk all the way around the outside of my house at night and motion-activated lights will light a path for you. This is great for safety and it is a deterrent for thieves. 

I also use smart lighting to:

• Have my lights turn on and off automatically to simulate that someone is home when we take a vacation
• Turn my outdoor lights on at dusk and off at sunrise
• Turn an outside LED light red when the alarm goes off or when someone presses a panic button

3. Safety panic buttons strategically placed throughout the house

One of my favorite Home Assistant automations involves panic buttons that I’ve placed around the house. 

I have smart buttons that send a text to my wife and me when pressed. The text tells the location of the button that was pressed. The automation also turns on the panic light outside of the house.

4. Safety and security notifications

In addition to panic buttons, my smart home produces other safety and security-related notifications. 

I receive notifications when:

• The garage door is left open too long or opens when no one is home
• A door is left open too long
• The alarm is disarmed and no one is home
• One of the flood sensors goes off

5. Surveillance system

I deter thieves with video cameras outside the house. The cameras are fairly visible, and I have yard signs notifying visitors that the house is monitored 24/7. 

It’s not just a sign. I use ZoneMinder to record 24/7 and I keep recordings for a couple of weeks on my NAS. 

Although this is primarily a deterrent, police have used the video I recorded to track down a package thief.

I have a Google Nest video doorbell in addition to my ZoneMinder surveillance system. This doorbell allows me to see and talk to visitors without going to the door, even when I’m not home. If you are interested in a video doorbell you should check out my list of the top 5 video doorbells.

Marlon Buchanan

Final thoughts

As you can see, smart homes can improve the security of your home in real ways. How has your smart home made you safer and more secure? 

Let me know in the comments!

Marlon Buchanan is a best-selling author, IT Director, and founder of HomeTechHacker.com, a website with free resources to help you make the most of your home technology.

If you have questions or comments about this article you can contact Marlon through his website or X (Twitter).

See Marlon's previous articles here.