Outdoor

Outdoors is where smart home hardware is tested honestly. Rain, frost, direct sun and 60 metres of distance between a sensor and the nearest mains socket will find every weakness in a product that behaved perfectly on a kitchen table.

Here we cover watering that responds to soil and forecast rather than a timer, protecting pipes and plants from frost, and the radio and power realities of putting devices at the end of a garden.

Articles in this category

1. Irrigation that responds to weather instead of a clock

   A timer waters during a downpour and during a drought at the same rate. It also, in most gardens, waters too often and too shallowly.

   7 min read · 1,465 words · Reviewed August 2026

2. Outdoor lighting: four layers, and much less light than you think

   Most gardens are over-lit and badly lit at the same time. Restraint, warm colour and shielded fittings do more than wattage.

   6 min read · 1,328 words · Reviewed July 2026

3. Getting signal into the garden, shed and garage

   The sensor at the end of the plot is almost never a faulty device. It is a radio problem, and radio behaves differently outdoors.

   7 min read · 1,491 words · Reviewed July 2026

4. Home weather stations: which readings earn their place

   A well-sited cheap station beats an expensive one on a sunny wall. The test for every reading is whether it feeds a decision.

   6 min read · 1,302 words · Reviewed October 2026

5. Robot mowers: what determines whether one works in your garden

   A lawn cut a little every day looks better than one cut hard every fortnight. The failure modes and the safety questions are both predictable.

   6 min read · 1,381 words · Reviewed October 2026

6. Hot tubs, pools and ponds: energy, safety and what sensors can do

   A hot tub is often the largest electricity consumer a household adds without noticing. It also carries the most serious safety obligations in the garden.

   7 min read · 1,532 words · Reviewed October 2026

7. Greenhouses: what to monitor, and what to automate first

   Conditions under glass change within an hour and the consequences show within days. Ventilation is the automation that does the most work.

   6 min read · 1,402 words · Reviewed November 2026

8. Where to put an outdoor camera, and how to keep it weatherproof

   Coverage is decided by geometry, not gadgets, and a weatherproof rating means little once a cable gland has been fitted badly.

   6 min read · 1,329 words · Reviewed October 2026

9. Stopping foxes, cats and wind from triggering every outdoor alert

   Most outdoor false alarms share three causes: sensor type, detection zone shape, and things that move without being a person.

   5 min read · 1,218 words · Reviewed June 2026