Matter is a solution to how complex it has been to integrate myriad smart home devices, but these products only matter if they're actually solving real issues we have around the house. I've spent much of the past two years filling my home with Matter devices, and here are some areas where it was it was worth the effort.
Detecting leaks around the house
Water damage can absolutely wreck a home, and it also happens to be a silent danger. Leaks can uccur for days, weeks, or months without someone realizing. They have long been sensors that can serve as an early warning system, but IKEA's Matter-based KLIPPBOK water leak sensor has made the technology both cheap and simple.
After unboxing the KLIPPBOK, all I have to do is stick in a AA battery and place the sensor in a location where water might leak. When water touches the sensor, it loudly chimes.
If I want notifications sent to my phone, that's where Matter compatibility comes in. I simply scan the QR code on the back of the device using my smart home platform app of choice. For me, that's a Homey Pro. The product is functional without Matter, but Matter integration means I can be notified of a leak when I'm away from home and take action hours sooner than walking home to a puddle at the end of the day.
Turn off the lights that my family members leave on
I live in a family of four, and I'm the only one in the house who's conscious of lights being left on. This means I'm regularly walking behind everyone else, turning off closet, pantry, and bathroom lights. I'm not exactly happy as I make the rounds right before bed or as we're rushing out the door.
Matter has offered multiple solutions to this problem. I've set up an automation in my Homey app that lets me turn off the desired lights all at once. In this way, I can turn off the lights from bed, or I can turn them off after we're all in the car. I can even turn off lights after we've reached our destination.
With some lights, it's best not to have to think about them at all. This is the case with our pantry light, which my son leaves on quite often as he sneaks into the pantry for a nighttime snack. I then enter the kitchen in the morning to find the pantry light has been left on all night. By pairing the light to a presence sensor, it now turns off automatically when no one is in the space.
Aqara Multi-Sensor FP400
Not having to get up to turn on the ceiling fan
I'm a big believer in ceiling fans. When my wife and I designed our current home, we made sure a fan was in each of the main living areas. Yet unless you're looking up at the ceiling, it's not always noticeable when a fan is on or off until after you've sat down underneath it. This means sitting down at living room sofa only to find that there's no airflow and having to get right back up. It's worse at night when I'm wondering why I'm having a hard time getting to sleep and realize I'm feeling muggy because the fan has been off this entire time.
Paired to presence sensors, our ceiling fans are now able to turn on and off on their own. Ceiling fans may not use much electricity compared to HVAC systems, but it's still nice to have them on when we want them to without leaving them on overnight.
Knowing the humidity in our home
Like many people, I'm sensitive to the changes in the humidity in my home, but I haven't actually known when the humidity is changing. As the air outside gets colder towards the end of the autumn, and the air gets drier, it's easier to catch a cold. A humidifier makes a difference when I think to use it.
We now have humidity sensors in most rooms of our home, such as the SwitchBot Meter Plus and the IKEA ALPSTUGA. These can let us know when humidity has dropped as the season changes. When paired with a Matter-compatible humidifier, our home can automatically start to do something about this change.
Smart humidifiers can also notify us when they're empty, so they aren't sitting around useless as the humidifiers in our home often do. It also helps that SwitchBot's emitter fire holds several days of water and doesn't need to be tended to every single day.
Improving the airflow of our home
The thermostat in our home is located in the hallway. No matter how smart this thermostat is, it can't tell me the temperature in our bedroom, the kids' room, or in the office. The HVAC doesn't blow air evenly throughout every room. With Matter temperature sensors, I can see at a glance which rooms are hotter and which are cooler than what the thermostat reports.
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Read more about our ethics policySwitchBot Meter Plus
An accurate and versatile indoor thermometer and hygrometer with real-time tracking, smart notifications, and exportable environmental data.
ALPSTUGA Air Quality Sensor
A smart, compact sensor that tracks CO₂, PM2.5, temperature, and humidity to help you monitor and improve indoor air quality.
This brand helps to support our site to remain ad-free.
Read more about our ethics policySwitchBot Weather Station
A smart E-Ink weather and home dashboard for viewing forecasts, air quality, calendars, reminders, and smart home scenes from one shared screen.
Depending on the sensor and smart home platform, I can also save historical data, allowing me to see how temperature fluctuates throughout the day or even throughout the year.
Solutions limited only by your imagination (and your budget)
Each of these solutions relies on either sensors or switches I've placed throughout the home. Most of the sensors are cheap, but even $6 adds up when you need to buy several and also include batteries. So should you make the investment? That depends on how much your house currently annoys you and your patience for replacing batteries.
