One of the best universal remotes is handy for controlling everything in your home entertainment system, but what if you also want to control not just your smart home devices, but older, not-so-smart gadgets in your house?
That's the issue I had in my home: In addition to my TV, I also have a ceiling fan and fireplace that can be controlled with a remote — but I didn't want a bunch of remotes cluttering my coffee table.
The solution? An IR (infrared) blaster is a smart home device that sends out signals to control a variety of older home devices such as your TV or ceiling fan. If you have a bunch of remotes scattered around your home then you can use this device to copy the signal of each button's action and digitize your collection. Think of an IR blaster as a universal remote that also bridges these to your smart home.
You can operate all of your devices using just a smartphone app or voice commands. This makes the devices you already own visible to your smart so that you can incorporate them into automations and control them from anywhere. For example, if a temperature sensor detects a room's temperature is too high, you can automatically have this blaster send a signal to turn on your ceiling fan. Below you'll find five clever ways to use this gadget to streamline your home.
Automatically turn on an electric fireplace or space heater when it gets cold
Electric fireplaces and the best space heaters are a must during the cold winter months. If yours came with a remote you can simply point it at the IR blaster, press down its buttons to capture the commands, and add them to your IR blaster's app. While you can bust out your phone to control these appliances you can create a slick automation to turn them on automatically when your room gets too cold. Add a temperature sensor to your room (there's one built into the latest Echo Dot and Apple HomePod) and create an automation. Set the trigger that when the room gets too cold (say less than 65 degrees) the IR blaster will send out a "Power on" command to the fireplace. (In the summer months, this also works well with one of the best smart air conditioners.)
Wake up to TV every morning
You can wake up to the news, music videos, or your favorite TV channel automatically each morning. Just copy your TV remote's power button signal and work that into a scheduled automation for when you wake up. This could look as simple as "At 9 A.M. turn on TV using (TV power on)". Remember to keep your cable box or streaming app running while you sleep or your TV will open up to a blank menu or input instead.
Lower or raise remote blinds or projector screen
Do you have a remote-powered set of roller blinds or a projector screen? You can have these raise or lower at certain times, like when you get up in the morning to let the sun in. Or when it gets dark out you can have your home theater screen roll down so you can jump into a movie marathon.
Control your light bulbs and holiday string lights
If your light bulbs or string lights come with a remote then you can copy its functions into your IR blaster app. You can have your lights change colors at certain times of the day, automatically turn off when no activity has been detected in a room for a set period of time, or simply use voice commands to manually control their power without having to walk over to a switch.
Cool down your room with a fan and air conditioning
Much like with the fireplace in the winter, you can use a temperature sensor when a room gets too hot during the summer to turn on your cooling appliances. You can have your IR blaster kick on the fan to your preferred speed and pre-set your window or wall air conditioner's cooling settings to have it power on and effectively cool down the room without any input from your end.
These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg, as an IR blaster works across a wide range of electronics like old-school DVD players, home theater systems, and more. Just note that the IR blaster needs a clear line of sight to whatever it is you want to control, so depending on your home, you may need one in more than one room.
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