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Insteon HomeKit to Light Up your Days for Days

HomeKit.

The name does sound familiar and that is intentional. But if you are like me, you must also be associating this term with something totally unrelated.

Insteon Homekit

Technically, HomeKit is an acronym which has been derived from two different words. The ‘Home-’ stands for ‘Home Automation’ and the ‘-Kit’ stands for ‘Software Development Kit’.

HomeKit is essentially a framework that lets smart accessories present all over your home talk to each other. Apple is the mastermind behind this innovative creation.

You just need to let Siri know how bright you need the lights in your room. Or when to wake you up in the morning, among other things. And let it figure out the messy details while you make the most of every single second.

Let us find out more about it in detail below.

Introduction – What is a HomeKit?

We have given you a basic idea of the term HomeKit in the previous section. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.

There are a lot of aspects to this concept that can benefit you and your home considerably. If you are the kind of person that keeps up with the changing times then you must be the owner of a smart home.

The HomeKit is made for people just like you who have stepped into the future with the home automation accessories. And you can network all of these devices together with the help of HomeKit.

What is a Homekit

This saves you a lot of time and efforts when it comes to managing everyday household functions. This Apple framework lets you as well the devices communicate with each other. This allows each task to be completed with optimum benefits.

Read on to know the main features of this revolutionary technology.

Ideal HomeKit Features

There are a hundred different ways in which the HomeKit can make your life better than it was before. Below we have mentioned the top three of them.

Centralized Voice Control

How good can life be if your wishes were someone’s command? With Siri, that becomes the literal reality.

You just sip your morning coffee in leisure and tell it what’s on your mind. You can do so in a couple of seconds and leave all the heavy lifting to it and the networked appliances.

Siri Voice Control

HomeKit has collaborated with a total of 50 popular home automation brands around the globe. This means that there is a very high probability that your present set of automation gizmos can easily integrate with this framework.
And you can embrace this new way of life more easily than you thought.

Streamlined Networking

Wouldn’t it be great if you can just say to your appliances, “Hey guys! Get so-and-so task done by the time I come back home. Figure it out together. And make me proud!”.

The HomeKit lets you do this exactly. You just need to tell Siri about the task and it will let the HomeKit figure it out keeping your preferences in mind.

This easy networking facility makes sure that all the smart equipment involved in the task are able to interact with each other in a productive manner. The end result of all these efforts is you coming home to an optimally organized home that listens to you loud and clear.

Easy Access

The HomeKit lets you forget all your access blues once and for all.

So you don’t have to walk all the way to the other end of the hallway to turn something on or off. Neither do you need to be actually present next to a smart appliance when the task in question is taking place.

You can control every aspect of your smart home just as easily from your iOS device via the Apple TV. And you can do that from outside your house, outside your city or even outside the planet (though we are not 100% sure about the last one!).

Now that you know all the ways you can benefit from the HomeKit, lets take a look at the best one in the market.

Insteon HomeKit Review

The best way to get on this HomeKit bandwagon is with the Insteon Starter HomeKit.

It is the second installment from this brand and it is meant specifically for the beginners. It will be perfect for you if you are new to this home automation trend. And also if you want to have a centralized system that depends on minimum inputs from your side.

Insteon Homekit Features

Take a closer look at this model by scrolling down.

Main Features

The Contents

The Insteon 2244-234 Starter Kit comes with the following contents:

  • 1 Insteon Hub
  • 1 Power Cable
  • 2 Insteon Dimmer Modules
  • 1 Quick Start Guide
  • 1 Ethernet Cable

These modules can easily be controlled with a variety of platforms including Apple, Windows, and Android. You will be controlling your smart appliances via the smart hub. Control and navigate this hub through your smartphone, tablet or PC.

This starter kit offers lighting control but you can extend its network to fit in other kinds of devices too. Just check whether the new addition will be compatible with the HomeKit. If yes then add away, my friend!

Main Functions

The starter kit comes with a total of two dimmer modules. So you can connect two plug-in lamps with them and make them function according to your requirements.

Make them slowly fade away as the morning glow fills your room. And let them give you a natural light aura at the night falls. You can also add a series of events and lighting scenes to your smart system.

Just pick the time and day of the week and your lighting preferences for the same. You can just pre-plan your lighting schedule for the entire week. This saves you a lot of time and efforts on a daily basis.

Expands Easily

If you think that this smart home investment is good for just lighting control purposes only then think again.

Functions of Insteon Homekit

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Sure, you get only the light management set with this kit. But, the story does not end there. You can extend this kit to control a number of aspects of your smart home and monitor all of them effortlessly.

You just need to check if the appliance you are adding to Insteon Starter HomeKit network is compatible with this system or not. If yes, then you are good to go. You can keep an eye on water leaks, CO levels, Wi-Fi cameras and garage doors with this helpful gadget upon extension.

Pros

Widespread Compatibility

With every new innovation, one previous breakthrough gets obsolete.

So it is natural to worry if the new gadget you are investing in will be able to stand the test of time. The updated technology of the Insteon Starter HomeKit gives you more than one reason to stay carefree in this department.

Its widespread compatibility with a number of premium smart appliances lets you use it as a connecting network for your entire home. You can add the best products available in the market and string them all in your smart home network, one by one.

Access Ease

The main aim of technology is to make life easier and simpler for you.

If your latest high-end purchase makes you do more work than you were doing before then it just another white elephant in your impulse-buy zoo. And we don’t want that. Don’t endanger your financial ecosystem like that.

Pros and Cons of Insteon Homekit

Instead, go for the Insteon HomeKit which is less on gloss and more on substance. You get the ultimate comfort of setting your room lighting from anywhere with you iPad or iPhone.

And some days you don’t even have to do that since you already scheduled it at the start of the week.

Quick Installation

“The best part of buying a new device is installing it from the scratch”, said no one ever!

Now, unless you belong to that rare tribe which reads installation guides for pleasure, your story is also the same. Keeping this common problem in mind, the Insteon HomeKit comes with an installation process so simple that you can get done with it in under five minutes.

In fact, it is a bit misleading to call it an installation process even. It’s more of a plug-and-play situation. You just need to connect the hub with power supply and your Wi-Fi. And plug in the dimmer modules. That is all!

Power Saver

You might think that the more options you get, the more you have to spend for it. It is applicable for most of the situations in our life.

But Insteon HomeKit makes an exception for you. You get only the best of both worlds with this remarkable technology. You get to pick your room lighting state without breaking your bank with the energy bills.

This smart lighting scheme is built to minimize the power consumption, to begin with. And on top of it, you get the option of setting the lighting events for the entire day. So you can just set the lighting events and let the Insteon HomeKit take care of it for you from then onwards.

 Cons

  • It actually creates its own Wi-Fi network whose range is not as widespread as we would want it to be.
  • The installation guide fails to prove helpful for even the most tech-savvy users.
  • Amazon Echo does not work readily with this system. You will face glitches every now and then with this association.
  • The hub has to be connected directly to a power outlet. You can’t plug it in a multi-way pin or other similar outlet extensions.
  • The software is not user-friendly and needs a lot of work to come even close to the current market standards.

Should I buy the Insteon Homekit?

The Insteon Starter HomeKit is for you and everyone who wants to own a smart home but with minimum hassles. It is a perfect fit for both big and small homes.

Insteon Starter HomeKit

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You can start small with the starter kit and let it take over your other chores too as you grow accustomed to it. After a while, you will be wondering that how were you able to function without it all these years in the first place.

You might need a few more choices to make this decision. Don’t worry, we have got you covered. Keep on reading to know about the next best thing after Insteon Starter HomeKit.

Insteon vs Lutron: Which is better for my home?

There are a lot of HomeKits available in the market to give you a range of options when you are looking to reinforce your smart home system.

But only a few of them are actually worth the money you invest. One such technological miracle is the LUTRON Deluxe Kit.

LUTRON P-BDG-PKG2W Caseta Wireless Smart Lighting Deluxe Kit

This specific kit comes with one Smart Bridge, 2 In-Wall Smart Dimmers, 2 Pico Remotes, wallplates and 2 Tabletop Pedestals. You get the ease and comfort of controlling your room lighting with it anytime and anyhow.

Insteon vs Lutron

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The smart app that comes along it keeps you updated on the latest developments. You also get the rare geofencing feature along with it that takes specified actions when you leave a certain virtual threshold.

You can give this HomeKit a try too when you want to mix things up. There is so much you can accomplish with the above two HomeKits that you might not feel the need for trying out the third option ever.

Conclusion

Thus, you can see that there are a lot of options when it comes to controlling the lights in your favorite room.

Insteon HomeKit Review

You can turn them on and off like you used to. But you can also use them to create that certain ambiance that transforms your room smoothly from a fancy gala venue to calm reading nook.

So you can say that it is not just about managing your lights panel. But creating unlimited possibilities for making your living space better for you, according to you.

This brings us to the end of this entry. But wait, there is more. There is always more to read and explore when you subscribe to our blog. So like and follow today to keep on discovering amazing things about the Home Automation World.

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