http://www.synapsesmarthomes.com/

Synapse Smart Homes, Oshawa, ON (2026)

12/23/2025

This has been a LONG time coming.

The very first HomeKit accessory I ever got for my house (and the second smart device after my original smart lock), were these garage door controllers.

Made by Best Buy’s house brand Insignia back in 2016, I had to go to an American Best Buy in 2019 to find them. For years they worked flawlessly, but recently they had started acting up: responding to Siri requests, but going offline temporarily afterwards, and the indicator light had started flashing for no reason. At the time, they were the only real HomeKit garage door controllers, and I loved them, especially when CarPlay brought them into my vehicle.

Since 2019, a number of garage door controllers have come on the market, and the Smart Garage Door Sensor was my go to; I just didn’t love the magnetic sensor used to determine if the door was open as you had to run a long cable from the door to the controller.

Enter the Pro. With the ability to control up to three doors, a gate (magnetic) and garage door (tilt sensor), both wireless and weatherproof, it looked like a great option.

I installed it a few days ago and it has been rock solid. I love that it has the visual and audible alarm when the door is opening/closing, and how I only need one controller for both my garage doors.

My only complaint is that they include ridiculously short wires in the box if you’re planning on running directly to the garage door motor from the iSmartGate Pro (vs. the option to install the unit near your wall controllers). Other than that, I highly recommend, especially if you don’t want to run a wired door sensor.

If you’re in Southern Ontario and want to make your garage doors smart, DM me for more details!

garagedoors

07/14/2023

haul!

Replacing my first smart home product, a smart lock by .ultraloq for the Aqara U100 with support!

12/23/2022

It’s finally here! The long-anticipated Eve light switch, with Thread.

Eve has long been my go-to choice for smart light switches, and this new version improves response times over the previous Bluetooth version. With Thread, the switch responds instantly, as fast as wifi-based switches, but with all the benefits of Thread: mesh network that is self healing, incredibly low latency, and no stress on your existing wifi network.

The Thread version also works in 3-way setups, which makes it a perfect option for rooms with multiple light switches, or stairways. In a 3-way (or 4-way) setup you only need one light switch in the circuit to be smart.

This light switch was put on a 3-way circuit controlling a hallway light, and automated so that when the goodnight scene was run the hallway turned on, and then the light automatically turned off after 10 minutes.

The indicator light is still behind the switch itself, like the last version, and is dimmable to three settings. You can also decide if the switch light is on when the switch is active or inactive.

No dimmer option from Eve yet, and by all accounts, it’s not in the roadmap. However, for 3-way or non-dimmable applications, this is a solid choice!

Thank you for sending this out for testing!

09/23/2022

After three solid years of use, it was time to upgrade my Ecobee Smart Thermostat with Voice Control. Meet the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium! Subtle design changes like a dark metal edge, combined with welcome UI updates, a larger screen, new radar occupancy sensor and the addition of an air quality sensor, this latest version of thermostat is my go to recommendation for anyone looking for a Smart Home-enabled thermostat.

Swipe through to see comparisons to the previous version’s display side by side with the latest version.

04/23/2022

One of the things I love most about designing (and owning one!) smart homes is the increase in efficiency. Smart switches and plugs and bulbs will help you’d Abe electricity. A smart thermostat will help you save electricity AND natural gas. But, water has been trickier to conserve with a smart home.

I had previously had a wifi enabled controller for my sprinkler system, and had attached a rain sensor to it to make sure that I wasn’t watering ground that had just been rained on. However, it never skipped watering if rain was forecasted and fell after the watering cycle.

Enter the Rachio3 controller. Using weather stations that are super local (my closest was 700m away, and there were dozens in my city) this smart home enabled sprinkler controller will take into account forecasted, and actual rain, to adjust the watering cycle to conserve water. Even working in soaking times during a watering cycle to prevent puddling and runoff.

We’re just getting into late spring and it will soon be time to start using the sprinkler system, and I’m excited to see how much water I’m able to conserve this summer compared to last!

Contact Synapse Smart Homes if you would like a design consult to add a smart sprinkler controller, or any smart home device, to your home. Link in bio.

04/23/2022

One of the things I love most about designing (and owning one!) smart homes is the increase in efficiency. Smart switches and plugs and bulbs will help you’d Abe electricity. A smart thermostat will help you save electricity AND natural gas. But, water has been trickier to conserve with a smart home.

I had previously had a wifi enabled controller for my sprinkler system, and had attached a rain sensor to it to make sure that I wasn’t watering ground that had just been rained on. However, it never skipped watering if rain was forecasted and fell after the watering cycle.

Enter the Rachio3 controller. Using weather stations that are super local (my closest was 700m away, and there were dozens in my city) this smart home enabled sprinkler controller will take into account forecasted, and actual rain, to adjust the watering cycle to conserve water. Even working in soaking times during a watering cycle to prevent puddling and runoff.

We’re just getting into late spring and it will soon be time to start using the sprinkler system, and I’m excited to see how much water I’m able to conserve this summer compared to last!

Contact Synapse Smart Homes if you would like a design consult to add a smart sprinkler controller, or any smart home device, to your home. Link in bio.

03/22/2022

The job today was to help this client modernize their network and home theatre setup.

First thing was to upgrade their ISP wifi router with a mesh network from and install the backbone for their smart home ( ). We also cleaned up their server cabinet and added a 16 port switch and bridge for their existing Lutron Caseta switches to allow for automation.

Next we had to dismantle the existing 1080p system and proprietary audio system.

Upgraded equipment and installations included: Install a 4K receiver, a pair of amps (hardwired to the switch for increased reliability) to power ceiling speakers in the kitchen and dining room, 4K over Ethernet adapters, IR blasters to allow control of system from the Family Room, and calibrate the 5.1 Family Room home theatre system.

The homeowners now have a functioning and calibrated 5.1 home theatre system, 4K end to end, multi-room audio that they can access with their phones, lightening fast wifi in every corner of their house, and a system future-proofed for when it launches later this year.

Contact Synapse for all you smart home and home tech needs, and let us design your ultimate smart home!

02/16/2022

One of the easiest, and highest impact, smart lighting improvements you can do in your living space is to add bias lighting to your TV. Not only will it give you 16 million colour options to complement your decor (or even what you’re watching!), but it can help to reduce eye strain when watching TV by creating a gentler gradient of light from your bright TV to your dark(er) walls.

For the adventurous, you can even add bias lighting that changes based on what’s on screen, effectively extending the lighting and colour from your TV onto the surrounding walls!

Contact Synapse Smart Homes to add this feature to your home (link in bio).

01/03/2022

2022 is already delivering! Came home to find a surprise from on the doorstep and I couldn’t wait to in box the Eve Room with Thread!

As I’ve come to expect from , setup was super simple and quick and the Eve room exposes temperature, humidity and air quality to . And as a enabled device, I get the benefit of super low latency and low power consumption, and further build out my network in the !

First automation? Turning my kitchen exhaust fan on and off based on the air quality reading on the Eve Room.

Synapse Smart Homes

12/23/2025

07/14/2023

12/23/2022

09/23/2022

04/23/2022

04/23/2022

03/22/2022

02/16/2022

01/03/2022

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share