I've been doing that for years with a programmable thermostat. Bonus points, actually, since the newer models (and we got a new one from the insurance company a month ago, because we got a new furnace after a flood) also allow you to program seasons into it, and controls for different heat levels at different times of year.
In the winter, the overnight temperature is 14'C. It goes up to 18' starting at 5:00am, and back down to 14'C at 7:00. Back up around 6:00pm, and starts going down at 10:00.
In the summer, the rules are slightly different. We run the A/C overnight, cooling the house to 18'C, and let the house heat up naturally (closed curtains, thermal glass, etc.) over the course of the day, with the A/C not coming back on until 10:00pm.
The thing is... this is something you could have been doing for a very long time... programmable thermostats have been available for almost 20 years now. While some would count it as home automation, I wouldn't, as you don't need a dedicated computer to handle the automation for you. In fact, most of what people would consider home automation can be done quite cheaply with things like socket timers, an electronic thermostat, motion detectors, and for things like your outdoor house lights, an ambient light sensor hooked up to the switch. All of these technologies have been around since the 80's and earlier.