I use it to control various systems in the home (Please note - the links below contain detailed technical discussions):
Every Home Automation system provides lighting control. My system allows automated control of most room and all outside lights.Outside lights turn on at sunset (at changing times during the year to follow actual sunset) and turn off at midnight.
Motion detectors turn on selected outside lights when someone approaches the house. Optionally, a chime sounds in the house when a visitor approaches.
A button next to the garage entryway to the main part of the house can turn off all inside lights when you're leaving, and turn on a selected set of lights when you come home. It's also possible to turn on lights from your car, if your car is equipped with "Homelink" controls.
While away, we can also set up internal lighting to turn on lights and TVs at varying times to give the home a "lived-in" look. (See "security" lighting.)
Another set of buttons in the kitchen & family room area allows the homeowner to select different lighting "scenes", such as "work", "casual", "party", and even "romantic".
Control of the heating and air conditioning systems also allows for more flexibility. The automation controller talks directly to the thermostat to set it to the right temperatures according to time-of-day and day-of-week. This of course can be done with a simple "programmable" thermostat. Where home automation comes to play is in the additional control during other events that a basic programmable thermostat cannot handle: Scheduling ahead of time a different temperature setting (e.g., for days someone will be home during a weekday, instead of school or work), when the cleaning people are in the house, or when you want to set up or set back the temperature from a room other than where the thermostat is located (this is particularly good for turning up the heat if you need to get up before the heat is scheduded to increase on a cold winter morning!)
Other items of (possible) interest: