Host a flawless Thanksgiving with these smart home tips

Philips

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and if you’re worried about hosting a great party this year, know that your smart home is here to help. We’ve pulled together some simple ways your smart home can be optimized to help you host a flawless Thanksgiving. From building a cozy atmosphere with smart lights to setting Quick Replies on your video doorbell, here’s a look at how your smart home can help throw a stress-free Thanksgiving.

Create a temporary smart lock password

Yale

Many smart locks allow you to program temporary passcodes — and this is an incredibly useful feature when you’re hosting. Instead of telling all your guests your permanent passcode, you can create a temporary code that’ll only work on Thanksgiving. This ensures your friends and family can let themselves inside your home if you’re busy without giving them free rein to barge in other times of the year. We’ve put together a comprehensive guide on how to create temporary codes on the Yale Assure Lock 2, but you’ll find a similar process available for most other smart locks.

Use Quick Replies on your video doorbell

Ring

Make your doorbell more inviting with Quick Replies. Once enabled, these give your guests a quick message after ringing your doorbell. For example, you can select a Quick Reply telling them you’ll be right at the door or another one asking them to leave a message because you’re unavailable. Ring just launched a set of Grinch-related Quick Replies, so if you’re excited about the holidays, consider checking out the new collection.

Create a cozy home with smart lights

Lutron

Smart lights are an integral part of any Thanksgiving party. Whether you want to build a cozy atmosphere for dinner, dim the lights before watching football, or turn them as bright as possible to find all the scraps of food that fell on the floor, smart lights are shockingly useful. Along with light bulbs and string lights, under-cabinet smart lights are another fun option. GE Lighting recently launched the Cync Smart Undercabinet Fixtures, which are a great way to show off all the delicious food in your kitchen. Best of all, they can be hardwired or plugged in directly to an outlet, making them suitable for most homes.

Entertain your guests with a smart display

Amazon

Need a way to keep guests entertained while away from your home theater? A smart display can be a fun distraction, as these let you stream TV shows and play a handful of video games. The Echo Show lineup is particularly notable, and as long as you’re running FireOS 5 or higher, you should be able to stream games via Amazon Luna. Be sure to spend a few minutes checking out what entertainment options are available on your smart display and make them easily accessible to guests.

Keep everyone comfortable with a smart thermostat

Ecobee

Depending on where you live, the weather can be wildly unpredictable this time of year. Warm days might give way to cool nights, doors might be left open as guests filter inside, and all the cooking could easily heat up your house. Whatever the case may be, a smart thermostat lets you quickly (and remotely) control your home’s temperature. Instead of leaving a group conversation or stepping away from the kitchen, you can easily adjust a smart thermostat with your smartphone. So whether you notice people wearing their coats in the house or shedding layers to stay cool, you can adjust your settings on the fly without much effort.