Smart Home-ification: come discuss your attempts!

[Particle Physicist]

Anyone use Netatmo devices?

I am looking at their yet to be released smartdoorbell, but I like the fact that you don't need a subscription service, can save the videos locally or to your own dropbox/ftp/cloud storage.

https://www.netatmo.com/en-ca/security/doorbell

It looks like their indoor/outdoor cameras work the same way.

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Nobody? :(

So I just switched from the Nest to Ecobee for a thermostat due to Ecobee having multiple sensors I can use and Home kit integration. I've had it installed for about 3 or 4 days now and I'm not sure if it just sucks in comparison to Nest or I did something wrong. I have central air and a furnace hooked up to it. Both are brand new. The heat turns on fine and so does the air, but no matter what it just doesn't feel as comfortable as it did with the Nest. Part of the reason is the humidity levels. The Nest seemed to keep all that in check but this unit sucks. My humidity levels right now are reading 72% inside. I've turned on all the features such as using the AC to dehumidify and set my desired levels. It doesn't seem to matter. The Nest on the other hand was damn near perfect. Not sure what is up but I'm about to ditch this Ecobee thing and go back to Nest. Anyone else have these issues?

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Anyone have similar experience between Nest versus Ecobee? I was looking into getting the Ecobee since I like the multiple sensors (my youngest daughters room tends to be the hottest/coldest) but if it doesn't function overall as well as the Nest I'll go with that instead.

 

[CurseVox]

Nobody? :(



Anyone have similar experience between Nest versus Ecobee? I was looking into getting the Ecobee since I like the multiple sensors (my youngest daughters room tends to be the hottest/coldest) but if it doesn't function overall as well as the Nest I'll go with that instead.

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Heya. I noticed you quoted me. Just a heads up I have updated opinions on the Ecobee. The Humidity reading was off when I first installed it. I think it's actually pretty fantastic and the sensor thing really does make a difference. It can tell what room is occuped, the temp of said area and adjust according to your preferences to that room. Besides the actual aesthetic of hardware itself, I think the Ecobee is a much better all around device. Hope this helps!

 

[captive]

Nobody? :(



Anyone have similar experience between Nest versus Ecobee? I was looking into getting the Ecobee since I like the multiple sensors (my youngest daughters room tends to be the hottest/coldest) but if it doesn't function overall as well as the Nest I'll go with that instead.

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I like the ecobee, I don't have one but have researched it. It will hook into my ISY system but the nest wouldn't last I checked.

 

[Nordic4tKnight]

I like the ecobee, I don't have one but have researched it. It will hook into my ISY system but the nest wouldn't last I checked.

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One thing about the ecobee is that it plays way nicer with other smart home hubs that the nest does such as HomeKit and SmartThings.

 

[Particle Physicist]

Awesome. Thanks for the impressions everyone. Is the Ecobee 3 the exact same as the 4 (newst one) without alexa? It's a little unclear with the info I'be found so far. I have a multi-zones system with an upstairs thermostat and downstairs. I don't really need Alexa in both thermostats.

 

[Particle Physicist]

So i got the ecobee. Really liking it so far. I was wondering if there was a way to have it play music through my echo dot and my ecobee at the same time? Essentially doing multiroom music using the ecobee. I can't seem to figure it out, maybe it is not enabled?

 

[Midramble]

Sooo trying to clean up parts of my setup, I've got a table lamp and desk fountain on our coffee table but they have wires running to them. Got smart bulb for the lamp and smart switch for the fountain but want to remove the wires going to the coffee table. Does anyone know of any consistent AC plug batteries that I can use to power this system at least a week at a time? I keep scouring amazon but almost everything is 4* with 80% of (possibly paid) people saying everything is absolutely perfect and 20% of people saying they never charge up more than once.... Don't want to dump almost $100 into a battery that will die on me quick.

 

[Deleted member 279]

Got a free google home mini one year ago through a spotify promotion... ive used it once: the day i received it.

Is there a guide for useful features? Not even really sure what i can do with it

 

[MarioW]

Got a free google home mini one year ago through a spotify promotion... ive used it once: the day i received it.

Is there a guide for useful features? Not even really sure what i can do with it

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I've recently set up a Google Home and Google Home Mini myself, combined with a couple of Chromecasts to allow voice activated streaming to my bedroom TV (Netflix/Youtube) and house speaker system (Spotify), though the latter doesn't get set up properly until tomorrow (I have a Savant/Lutron automation setup to plug it into). I also use the bedroom Home unit for asking about the weather when I'm getting out of bed and reminding of my schedule.

That's about all I'm using them for currently, partly because I don't know what else to be using them for. Information on what commands you can use with Home is around, but a lot of it is superficial and doesn't get into interesting specifics.

I've bumped into a few problems/limitations though, so it would be great to know if anybody has any insight

• what command to launch the latest video in Youtube channel, or even just directly into the channel hub? The closest I can get is it bringing up a handful of video "options" from the channel which almost never includes the latest.
• what command to show the latest options from your Youtube subscriptions? Don't think Home supports Youtube subscriptions yet but asking if somebody has a way to make it work.
• what command to stream a genre radio channel on Spotify? My efforts take me to random playlists featuring the genre name.

 

[ty_hot]

I believe this is the actual OT for smart things so I will ask my question here:

I have a Philips Hue, 2 of their light bulbs and I also got 3 bulbs (1 color, 2 normal) and a 1 switch from OSRAM. I did my research first and found out that the OSRAM stuff work fine with Hue as long as you pair them at very close range (it somehow forces the Hue to accept the connection from a non-hue device because the signal is too strong, and then you can use it from far away).

I managed to make the 2 Hue lights sync fine (obviously) and also the colorful and one of the normal ones, but there is one bulb that I just cant connect to the bridge... the colorful one was easy, I connected it from the other room without problems. The normal one I had to install in the same room (about 2 meters from the bridge) to connect but for some reason the other one that is the exactly same model cant be found.

any advice on how to connect it? Due to cable lenghts I cant go any closer than 1 meter distance bridge-bulb (I was holding the bridge up closer to the bulb and no success). It is the last smart thing I need to make work at home so that I can relax and live in the future.

 

[chairhome]

Anyone have any fun shortcut phrases they want to share?
Lights:
kitchen light on/off: "plus ultra" and "Detroit smash"

Another room: "lightspeed" and "dark side" (I just now realized this is a flawed reference)

Bedroom "lumos" (half brightness) "expecto patronum" and "nox" (nox gives us issues sometimes and it treats it like a Google search)

 

[MarioW]

Don't see many comments in the thread about robot vacuums. Anybody have recommendations?

Was kinda waiting for Dyson to get around to releasing their robot in NZ, but doesn't seem like it will ever get here. The Roomba i7+ with automated dirt emptying seems great, and will connect in with my new Google Assistant setup, but is pretty expensive.

 

[OrangeNova]

Most major lights in my apartment are Phillips hue now, the living room has 2 hue bulbs and a hue light strip, and everywhere except the office/washroom/kitchen have White hue bulbs.

Honestly I'd put one in the office but we don't have a lamp to use one in right now so it's just a regular lamp. Washroom and Kitchen I just want quick lights on and off, so dumb lights are still better in that respect.

 

[Winstano]

I've had cheap MiLight bulbs running for about 4 years or so now, which have been fine - I've set up HomeBridge on my media server to integrate them with Apple Home, and I've just picked up a Hue set with 2 white bulbs and a colour one to start moving over to those... Wish I hadn't now as they're so much more responsive etc than the cheap ones, it's gonna cost me a fortune!

 

[mrglcs]

Don't see many comments in the thread about robot vacuums. Anybody have recommendations?

Was kinda waiting for Dyson to get around to releasing their robot in NZ, but doesn't seem like it will ever get here. The Roomba i7+ with automated dirt emptying seems great, and will connect in with my new Google Assistant setup, but is pretty expensive.

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I've been using a Neato Botvac Connected for the last 2.5 years and I love my little murgoVAC very much. I also recommended the newer D7 Connected to a colleague, and he's also very happy with that one.

 

[spootime]

I've been struggling to get up at 430 to go to the gym. Just got a smart plug for my lamp and hooked it up to Alexa. Now Alexa starts playing music and turns my lamp on at 430 and its been much easier to fully wake up and work out. I would definitely recommend.

 

[Priapus]

Don't see many comments in the thread about robot vacuums. Anybody have recommendations?

Was kinda waiting for Dyson to get around to releasing their robot in NZ, but doesn't seem like it will ever get here. The Roomba i7+ with automated dirt emptying seems great, and will connect in with my new Google Assistant setup, but is pretty expensive.

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Check reviews of the Xiaomi Roborock. It seems to have the most complete feature set for the price.

 

[Brian McDoogle]

Any good cheap recommendations for a motion or door sensor for HomeKit? Wyze doesn't support HomeKit and I don't want to do homebridge, and I dont want to pay 40 a sensor for Eve's stuff.

 

[Infinity Times Two]

I have the itch to put smart thermostats on all the radiators. Netatmo promises 37% reduced heating bill, which seems great but I wonder if there's any experience here?