There’s no doubt that the number one reason for converting your dwelling into a smart home is convenience. That being said, there’s a heck of a lot of fun you can have with all those smart devices as well. For those of us that love Halloween, there’s no better time to turn a connected home into a thematic playland. Here are some of the best ideas for a Halloween smart home.
This is probably the first thing that comes to mind when brainstorming Halloween smart home ideas. However, there may be more to it than you think. Certainly, you can do the basics—set lights to turn on or off at a certain time, and if you have the right smart lights, choose the color as well. The real fun comes when you set things up for a proper scare.
Use motion sensors to have indoor or outdoor lights turn on and cast an eerie glow as people approach. Or perhaps even better, turn off. Phillips Hue lights are a favorite this time of year thanks to pre-programmed scary routines in the official Hue app and those of third-party developers. And the Hue Go portable smart lamp is perfect for sticking in pumpkins or tucking away in a spot no one would ever expect a sudden burst of eerie light. Remember, you don’t need to break the bank on an army of new smart lights; a batch of smart outlets can allow you to plan spooky lighting scares with conventional lighting as well.
A change in light can make your scare-victim nervous, but it’s often that eerie noise that’ll elicit a satisfying scream. So what do we do to redefine the term “scary smart?” How about synchronizing a smart speaker to your lights so that as your quarry walks into the room, the lights go off and a blood-curdling scream rings out? (Sorry Mom, you knew what you were getting into when you decided to visit our Halloween smart home on October 31.) If you’re just hoping to create a general air of Halloween scare, a simple “Hey Google, get spooky,” or “Alexa, play spooky sounds/music,” will give you just the right soundtrack.
With the exception of security devices, most of our smart devices tend to be indoors. Some of the most fun you can have on Halloween, though, is delighting trick or treaters. No problem; we just need to get a bit creative with those Halloween smart home ideas.
Just like the aforementioned pumpkins, you can light up your tombstones and skeletons with portable smart lights (you’ll want to disguise them and the fact they’re portable so as not to attract sticky-fingered passers-by). And what’s a graveyard without some fog? An affordable fog machine and an outdoor-safe smart outlet will help you create a perfectly timed terrifying experience for your visitors.
The experience doesn’t have to be over when they get to the door. If you’ve got a smart doorbell like Ring or Google’s Nest Hello, you can replace your soothing chime with something more fiendishly fitting for trick-or-treaters.
Your smart assistants are just dying to help make your Halloween an unforgettable one. They’ve got far more to offer than turning on lights and spooky sounds. Ask your Amazon Echo, Google Nest or other assistant to tell you a Halloween joke for a good helping of on-theme cheese. Find out where the closest costume store is for that last-minute Halloween party.
Alexa really shines here, because thanks to its host of addable Skills, everything from spooky stories to choose your own adventure games is just a voice command away.
You can also make trick-or-treating a zero-contact affair using your smart speaker’s intercom feature ( Just use the“Hey, Google - Broadcast” command with Google Nest or the Drop In feature with Alexa) to communicate with trick-or-treaters. Get alerted to trick-or-treaters’ arrival by your smart camera, then direct them to the candy (or make them earn it with an unexpected, “Boo!”)
Ting Internet’s fast fiber internet is perfect for powering your Halloween smart home. With plenty of bandwidth, there’s no such thing as too many devices, regardless of how many household members are streaming the best Halloween movies or pre-downloading spooky shows and music. The reliability of fiber also means you won’t have to worry about dropouts and service interruptions. Ready to upgrade and future-proof your internet? Choose your town and check your address to see if Ting Internet is available in your neighborhood!