What Are Scenes for Home Automation? The Smart Home’s “Magic Wand”

What are scenes? Well, what if you could lock your front door, turn off your lights, arm your security system, and set your thermostat for the night, all with the touch of a single button? With Frontpoint Security’s mobile app, you can do precisely that.

Frontpoint’s app includes four ready-made scenes: Home, Away, Sleep, and Wake Up. Each of these options allows you to adjust multiple smart home devices with a single tap on your mobile phone or a simple spoken command. Let’s take a detailed look at what scenes are, how they work, and the innumerable ways you can customize them to run your smart home.

Simply put, scenes are “combinations of multiple actions” performed by a variety of smart home devices at the same time. These scenes can be activated by specific home security events, by clicking the desired screen on the Frontpoint App or giving a voice command to a connected Apple Siri, Amazon Echo, or Google Home device.

This creates incredible convenience for homeowners. Using scenes for home automation removes the need to manually operate objects like lights, locks, intrusion sensors, and thermostats. It also reduces the number of actions users need to perform on the Frontpoint App or customer portal to control any devices integrated into their smart home security system.

Each of the four default scenes included in the Frontpoint App is programmed to perform actions suited for a specific situation or time of day. Using these scenes, occupants can easily create ideal home conditions, whether they’re at home, gone for the day, on vacation, heading to bed, or just waking up. The commands for Frontpoint’s Home, Away, Sleep, and Wake Up default scenes are easily customized. And customers can create their own scenes for other circumstances and events, from “kids home alone” to “vacation.”

When you integrate compatible Z-Wave products to your Frontpoint home security system, you can remotely control and automate your home’s lights, locks, thermostat, fans, home theater system, window shades, irrigation system, and whatever other devices you add. There are several ways this can be accomplished.

For example, you can control any light with a Smart Light Bulb installed—or any appliance plugged into a Wireless Light Control—through the Frontpoint App.

For example, you can set the Smart Door Lock to unlock when you disarm your security system.

For example, you could program Siri and the Frontpoint Hub to start your coffeemaker when you say, “Siri, make coffee.” (Note: This requires plugging your appliance into a Wireless Light Control device.)

For example, turning the front porch light on at 4:30 p.m. every day in the winter or opening connected smart blind controllers at 7 a.m. every morning.

You can initiate a scene using any of the methods above: use the Frontpoint app or website, program scene activation to occur automatically following a home security event, set a schedule, or trigger a scene by voice command. For instance, you might tap the “Away” button to arm your security system, lock your front door, and adjust your thermostat to conserve energy.

Learn more about adding Z-Wave devices to your Frontpoint security system.

Each of the four default Frontpoint scenes will activate different commands, depending on which equipment is integrated into your smart home security system. Tapping Home might unlock your doors, disarm your intrusion sensors, and set your thermostat to a comfortable 72°. The Away scene could arm your security system, lock your front door, close any smart blinds, and lower your home’s temperature to reduce energy consumption.

Wake Up might raise your home’s temperature for comfort, turn lights on so you can find your way around early in the morning, start the coffee maker, and disarm your interior motion sensors. Selecting Sleep could set your thermostat, set your security system to Arm (Stay)—with just the security perimeter sensors on—and turn off any lights left on while you made your way to bed. Each of these default settings can be easily customized to meet your specific needs—and options expand depending on how many smart Z-Wave devices you decide to add to your system.

Maybe you have a Friday family movie night tradition. Create a “Movie Night” scene to arm your security system, lock your front door, turn off the living room lights, and turn on your hallway light. If you entertain frequently, a “Dinner Party” scene could unlock the front door for your guests, disarm your intrusion sensors, and dim the lights over the dining room table, all with a simple Google Home command.

An “Out of Town” scene might set your security system to Arm (Away), lock your doors, and turn your lights off and on at scheduled times to deter burglars. You could create a scene for “Baby’s Naptime” to automatically lower the nursery lights, raise the temperature, so baby stays cozy in his crib, and turn on the sound machine plugged into a Wireless Light Control. Program scenes for “Date Night,” “Kids’ Bedtime,” “Morning Workout,” and so much more.

1. Locate the Scenes
2. Tap on the right arrow. To create a new scene, tap on the + button.
3. In the Scene Name field, enter the desired name for the scene.
4. Tap the icon symbol to change the icon image and color for your new Scene.
5. In Devices, tap on the +button to choose the devices that the scene will control.
6. Depending on the equipment integrated into your system, the following types of actions are available:
   
   
   1. In Security System, tap to select the desired arming status. The panel can be placed into Disarmed, Armed (Stay), or Arm (Away) status.
   2. In Lock, tap to select the desired lock status. Locks can be locked or unlocked.
   3. In thermostat, tap the desired thermostat status. Thermostats can be set to a custom temperature, mode, schedule, fan status, and/or specific temperature sensors.
   4. In Lights, tap the desired light status. Lights can be set to On, Off, or a specified brightness level (with compatible devices).
7. Click Save when you are done.

1. Click on Automation on the left menu.
2. Click the Scenes option at the top of the screen.
3. To edit an existing scene, click the pencil icon next to the name of the scene.
4. To create a new scene, click New Scene.
5. In the Scene Name field, enter the desired name for the scene.
6. Click the icon symbol to change the icon image and color to represent the scene.
7. Depending on the equipment integrated into your system, the following types of actions are available:
   
   
   1. For panels, click to select the desired arming status. The panel can be placed into Disarmed, Armed (Stay), or Arm (Away)
   2. For locks, click to select the desired lock status. Locks can be locked or unlocked.
   3. For thermostats, click the desired thermostat status. Thermostats can be set to a custom temperature, mode, schedule, fan status, and/or specific temperature sensors.
   4. For lights, click the desired light status. Lights can be set to On, Off, or a specified brightness level (with compatible devices).
8. Click Save when you are finished.

Directing multiple smart devices with a single tap, set schedule, or voice command saves you a lot of time and energy. It makes life more convenient and secure.

You won’t need to remember to take multiple actions each time you leave your home to protect it from intruders. Instead, you can quickly and easily lock doors, arm your security system, and turn your lights on or off.

Additionally, scenes allow you to decrease your home’s energy consumption and save money on your electric and heating bills without sacrificing comfort or convenience. Simple activation of automated systems for adjusting your lighting and thermostat settings is the key—and a Frontpoint system helps you do this with “smart schedule activity patterns.” The system clues you in on when you are typically home, when you leave, and how and when various activities take place. This enables you to customize various scenes to fit the patterns of your daily life, including those that control energy consumption.

By letting the system take care of the mindless, repetitive tasks with the tap of a button—or by programming them to happen automatically—you get more time for the things that really matter: spending quality time with family and friends, pursuing creative endeavors, and prioritizing your health and well-being.

Frontpoint keeps homes safe whether families are there or not. We've been revolutionizing the home security industry for over a decade. And we're just getting started. To shop DIY home security systems, check out our Security Packages. If you have questions or would like to discuss a quote, contact us at 1-877-602-5276.