STACK #185 Mar 2020

LIFE TECH FEATURE

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you’re out of earshot of the alarm. Bear in mind, though, that you’ll need a HomePod or Apple TV hub in the house if you want to receive notifications when you’re away. Garden Smarts If you think your smart home options end inside the four walls of your house, think again. If you entertain outside then there are options to support that with smart lighting. Philips Hue are the big players in smart lighting and in the outdoors space the company has an extensive range of lighting possibilities. Philips sent across three products to trial in this range. First up is the Outdoor Pedestal Calla base unit, a 25cm aluminium tall bollard-style light. The Hue outdoor range is low voltage wired for better

lighting performance and the cord can be run overground – or for the adventurous, it can be buried for a more permanent fixture. It’s worth noting that you need the Philips Hue Bridge hub to link all the outdoor lights to the Wi-Fi; connecting the lights to the Hue app – both for IOS and Android – is ridiculously easy. Performance-wise, the Calla throws out excellent mood light both up and down and looks exceptionally good against a wall, a plant, or highlighting a pathway;

Finding the Leaks It’s a perennial issue when you go away: what if the dishwasher or

Eve Water Guard connects directly to the mains and the sensor

washing machine hoses leak? You don’t want to turn off the water and risk the seals drying out and cracking. Samsung SmartThings and Eve have the solution: smart water leak sensors. Yep, they’ve thought of everything.

here is a two-metre length of cord that’s laid in and around where you want to monitor for potential leaks. The sensor cord can be extended up to an impressive 150 metres. Once linked to the Home app, you’re set to go. If water is detected, the main unit will emit a siren, a notification will appear on your smartphone, and it’s even possible to set a scene so that your smart lighting flashes if

The SmartThings Water Leak Sensor is a relatively small battery-

operated unit that sits next to the dishwasher/ washing machine/shower/bath, etc, and once connected to your hub (it also works with ZigBee), you link to the app. If the temperature changes suddenly or water begins to pool under it, immediate notifications will be sent to your smartphone.

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MARCH 2020

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