If you have a Wi-Fi camera (like the Nest Cam) set up for security, it’s one thing to catch any person on video. But it’s also a good idea to scare them off by automatically turning on the lights when burglars are detected.

RELATED: How to automate your favorite apps with IFTTT

Of course, you can use motion sensors connected to your smart lights, but if you don’t have them and you already have a Wi-Fi camera set up, you can use them as a kind of motion sensor — as long as you have there are some smart lights (like Philips Hue).

To make this happen, we will be using the If This Then That (IFTTT) service, which uses «applets» to connect various products and services to perform all sorts of automated tasks.

If you haven’t used IFTTT before, check out our getting started guide for information on how to create an account and connect apps and services. Then come back here to create the required recipe.

For this tutorial, we will be using Philips Hue and Nest Cam lights, but this can be done for several other products as long as they are supported by IFTTT.

Start by going to the IFTTT homepage and click on «My Applets» at the top of the page after logging in.

Then click «New Applet» on the right.

Click «This» highlighted in blue.

Type «Nest Cam» in the search field or scroll down and find it in the list of products and services below. Click on it when you find it.

Connect Nest Cam to IFTTT if not already done.

After that, select «New Motion Event» as the trigger. You can also select «New Sound or Motion Event» to turn it on when sound is detected.

Choose which Nest Cam you want to apply this applet to. If you only have one Nest Cam, it will be selected by default. Click «Create Trigger».

Then click «This» highlighted in blue.

Type «Philips Hue» into the search box or scroll down and find it in the list of products and services below. Click on it when you find it.

As with the Nest Cam, connect your Philips Hue to IFTTT if you haven’t already, and then select the Turn on Lights action on the next screen.

Click the dropdown menu and choose which lights you want to turn on when your Nest camera detects motion. You can choose one bulb or a room.

View the applet and give it an arbitrary name if you like. Then click «Done» at the bottom.

Your new applet will now appear in the list of other applets you have installed and will be automatically enabled. From now on, whenever your Nest camera detects motion, the Hue lights will turn on.

RELATED: How to turn Philips Hue lights on or off on a schedule

Unfortunately, one big caveat is that once your lights turn on due to Nest Cam motion, they won’t automatically turn off after a certain amount of time, so you can set up a schedule for your lights so that they don’t stay out longer. than for a few hours.

Похожие записи