I wanted to monitor my chickens remotely and after some web digging found this open source software homeassistant that had allowed me to use cheap devices like RPI and some dlink/digoo cameras in order to monitor then via web.
It doesn't end there, i also bought the sonoff device and after some reflash i got it working with hass mqtt, so now i can also turn on light and fans.
There are also things like automation, so when I'm at home my bluetooth devices presence gets lights on, small details that helps to make your life easier, like turning off lights automatically.
There is probably more to do, next challenge is voice :-)
[1] http://home-assistant.io/
[2] https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-MQTT-OTA