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Smart Home-ification: come discuss your attempts!
- Thread starter Cantaim
- Start date
Anyone here got or experienced Keen smart vents for psuedo-zoning of an old-school HVAC setup? Combined with an ecobee 3 or higher with room sensors, it sounds like an amazing way to save more on your heating bills than you would by a smart thermostat alone, but it's hypothetical without knowing how well it works in the real world.
Afaik even hue needs a hub to work as home doesn't send out a propriatory signal to activate switches. And generally hue lights and other switches are not connected to your local wifi network. The hubs send their dedicated signal to the lights or switches. In the case of switches it's often zwave or a 433mhz signal. You'll need something like a fibaro hub and switch or an alternative to make it work.
I use a mix of Insteon and Smartthings hub. The plan is to have everything running through the smartthings hub, but at the moment I am waiting for Insteon to provide me with an API key.
I forgot Ihave a ring and nest as well. BTW the ring is awesome, especially if you ever had issues with missing packages. UPS/USPS can never lie again, or they can but you can prove otherwise :)
I forgot Ihave a ring and nest as well. BTW the ring is awesome, especially if you ever had issues with missing packages. UPS/USPS can never lie again, or they can but you can prove otherwise :)
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I actually did the same over the weekend. It's incredibly easy with the Chromecast. I set zones in the Home app so I have the various devices for various areas.
I'm still wondering what I can do for outdoor speakers on the porch. Might just end up with a portable bluetooth speaker that I move around and connect it to the phone directly.
Interesting I haven't heard of these. Curious if anyone has any feedback as well!
I live in an apartment so can't do much, but I just got a 2nd gen Amazon Echo (and Dot, arriving later today) so i've started to dabble. I first had a WeMo smart plug a few years ago, just to operate the bedroom AC wall unit. Yesterday I got a LIFX multicolor bulb and two additional smart plugs (Martin Jerry, much cheaper price and smaller form factor than my old WeMo). I put one on the lighted garland I have over the living room windows, and the other on the kitchen coffee maker. Linking everything to the Alexa ecosystem was very simple and quick. This morning, I tested out my first Alexa routine, "Alexa, Good morning"...which I set up to turn on the bedroom LIFX light to 50%, start the coffee maker, and tell me the weather and news briefing. Worked great.
My partner then wanted me to get a couple more LIFX bulbs, and I also ordered a YeeLight smart LED strip that I want to put under the living room recliner sofa. I wish I had my own place to tinker with things like smart locks, doorbell cams, the Nest thermostat, etc.,but hopefully in the near future.
My partner then wanted me to get a couple more LIFX bulbs, and I also ordered a YeeLight smart LED strip that I want to put under the living room recliner sofa. I wish I had my own place to tinker with things like smart locks, doorbell cams, the Nest thermostat, etc.,but hopefully in the near future.
Just found out about these today. I'd be interested in any feedback as well. I too have a ecobee 3 and a traditional HVAC furnace in the basement, central air in my home. Wonder if these would be able to regulate some heating/cooling a little better.
As for a question I have in general, what are people's opinions on robot vacuums? my wife and I have a dog and a cat and the dog especially sheds a lot. We'd like to have something set up to run overnight and clean things up. How good are these at going over thresholds like from tile to hardwood floors, or over little bumps like where an area rug meets hardwood floor? How do these learn the area you want vacuumed?
Looking for some advice with an Amazon Echo Plus and Dot. I set up all my Philips Hue bulbs, everything is working great. I then added my wife to the Household and everything looks to be linked properly. We can see each other in the app, etc. But she's unable to see any of the already connected devices (9 of these bulbs). She can access each Echo and Dot, along with push Spotify and all the functionality to them. Just missing the the actual connected "devices" in the Smart Home area.
Does she need to add these all individually and if so, will that override anything I've already done in the initial setup (routines, groupings, etc)?
Thanks in advance!
Does she need to add these all individually and if so, will that override anything I've already done in the initial setup (routines, groupings, etc)?
Thanks in advance!
Bought a couple of echo dots for the girlfriend. Put one in the living room and another one in the kitchen, but no matter where I place them they both respond and it's getting super annoying. Anyone has experience dealing with this?
You can change the "wake" word - so for example one Dot can respond to Alexa and the second will respond to Echo.
We've had Phillips Hue and an Amazon Alexa for some while.
Took advantage of the Echo Dot + Smart Plug deal Amazon was running.
Now we got the Christmas Tree connected to one smart plug, and my retro Vornado fan to another which is nice since it doesn't have any remote control.
Took advantage of the Echo Dot + Smart Plug deal Amazon was running.
Now we got the Christmas Tree connected to one smart plug, and my retro Vornado fan to another which is nice since it doesn't have any remote control.
I did the same thing. Pretty cool just saying, "Alexa, turn on Christmas tree lights"
All done for now...I have an IFTTT applet set to turn on the Christmas garland lights at 5pm, and after some research and tinkering, I got some lighting routines going. My living room lights are LIFX, but the light strip under the sofa is YeeLights...for whatever reason, even though I could control YL with Alexa, it couldn't be added in Routines, it would just show a blank screen after selected that device. But it DOES work with Scenes...so in the YL app, I created a scene with the color/brightness level I wanted, and saved it, then Alexa was able to discover that scene...then I was able to add it to the routine like I wanted.
So for instance, "Alexa, Movie time", now turns off the living room lamps, and turns on the under sofa light strip to low, like 3% or so...and the other routine is "Alexa, hit the lights", and it raises the sofa light brightness and turns on the lamps to 30%. I really wanted the lights to dim down then turn off to simulate the movie theater experience, but I haven't found how to do that as of yet.
So for instance, "Alexa, Movie time", now turns off the living room lamps, and turns on the under sofa light strip to low, like 3% or so...and the other routine is "Alexa, hit the lights", and it raises the sofa light brightness and turns on the lamps to 30%. I really wanted the lights to dim down then turn off to simulate the movie theater experience, but I haven't found how to do that as of yet.
I currently live in an apartment right now (could easily buy an house, but will wait for now), so I am keeping it simple. I have 3x TP plugs for lamps plugged into my bedroom/living/office. I have Philips Hue for my ceiling lights. All lights run on Echo dot. All rooms have at least one echo dot, and my kitchen has a Google mini due to better setup for my wife. I also have every TV in the house using the Logitech hub from Harmony and my PC also works with my Logitech. Feels so good to operate my KS8000 with my echo dot and my Google Mini. Still trying to figure out how to get the Logitech Hub to do voice commands using Google Fiber internet / cable.
It does, though to my understanding no Google home type (mini, regular, or max) includes an inbuilt hub like the echo plus, so you will need the hue lights hub to connect them to your network/Google home.
Just decided to pull the trigger on hue white ambiance kit. I'm getting excited about bulbs here, but controlling them would be a big convenience.
Didn't know I needed that bridge. But I did find out the four pack white ambiance kit is 15 bucks on Best Buy sale cheaper than Amazon.
Didn't know I needed that bridge. But I did find out the four pack white ambiance kit is 15 bucks on Best Buy sale cheaper than Amazon.
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I just installed a ceiling fan in my living room. Finally a decent amount of light since I'm not using lamps. I wired an outlet into my attic, then a plug into the fans wiring. Plug the fan into a Wemo outlet and use my Echo Dots or Google Home Minis to turn it on and off. Saved me a ton by not having an electrician put in light switches.
Thanks for the heads up on the harmony hub! Just picked one up. Can't beat that price!
Now I gotta do that Christmas tree idea....
No prob, couldn't resist either. Got Alexa turning on my TV/XBOX now. Apple TV is being a little difficult with the echo though. Haven't figured out what's wrong there yet.
Yeah, I have the Hue hub already so I should be good to go.
No prob, couldn't resist either. Got Alexa turning on my TV/XBOX now. Apple TV is being a little difficult with the echo though. Haven't figured out what's wrong there yet.
Yeah, I have the Hue hub already so I should be good to go.
I've got a Ring, Nest thermostat, Hue bulbs, SmartThings hub, and Logitech Harmony
It's such a money sink. Satisfying though.
I've got many sensors on Windows/doors, motion sensors, etc.
It's such a money sink. Satisfying though.
I've got many sensors on Windows/doors, motion sensors, etc.
Came here to post this. That documentary pretty much sealed the deal and ensured I will never buy any smart shit for my home.
I have a Roku Sharp TV and it feels very sluggish. Are it's stats comparable to the FireTV/Roku stick? I'm having a hard time finding stats on the TV like processor and RAM.
hmmm. I thought something like this would be cheaper. Not sure it's really worth that cost at this point. Also the reviews say it blocks the outlet below which is dumb. It doesn't look like these are for outdoor use either.
Once these things are like $5 a pop I'd buy them. It's just a plug with a wifi chip?
just for reference, if I would buy one, how do you set it up with Google Home? Are you able to label each smart plug? Like I could call this one "outdoor lights" and then just say "Hey google turn on outdoor lights"?
They have also released a mini version that does not block outlet. Once you have activated the switch with TP, you link your TP account to home. From there, it will default to the name you gave in TP but you have the option to assign it to a different name in the Home app.
does anyone sell a smart plug that I can just replace the current socket in my wall with? Mini looks fine I guess but again so expensive.
I am a sucker for home automation, here is my current setup:
1) Nest Thermostat (2nd gen) - in my dining room / kitchen area, controls all the temperatures.
2) 3x Nest Protects (2nd gen) - one on each floor (basement/main/upper), ties in with my thermostat to sense if I'm home /movement on floors in which the thermostat can't see us.
3) Belkin Wemo Light Switches & Smart Plugs - I've got three smart plugs ,two of which are insight plugs, that allow me to monitor energy usage on my home computer and entertainment centers, I've also got upwards of 11 Wemo light switches and dimmers installed throughout the house, which allow me to remotely activate/schedule lights when I'm away, or any other reason.
4) Philips Hue - All my exterior bulbs are RGB philips hue bulbs, as well as my main chandelier in the entry way. All outside facing lights are color tintable, which is great for holidays or directing people to find my place. I've also got some hue lightstrips in my home theater setup behind my tv, but they don't get used as often. Need to upgrade to a hue 2.0 bridge before I try to integrate that into any live viewing light setups.
5) Chamberlain Homelink enabled Garage doors - It will integrate with my eventual Tesla Model 3, and it also has an app to control and monitor the door state.
All the above are IFTTT compatible, so they will all speak to eachother.
Future purchases
Nest Cam Outdoor IQ (x2) for the front of the house.
Nest Cam Outdoor - for the backyard gate area.
Nest Hello Doorbell
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I'm still debating on which voice activation to run with, if I do amazon, google, or apple. I'm leaning towards apple since all my network appliances are airport extreme and expresses, it will probably integrate much better.
1) Nest Thermostat (2nd gen) - in my dining room / kitchen area, controls all the temperatures.
2) 3x Nest Protects (2nd gen) - one on each floor (basement/main/upper), ties in with my thermostat to sense if I'm home /movement on floors in which the thermostat can't see us.
3) Belkin Wemo Light Switches & Smart Plugs - I've got three smart plugs ,two of which are insight plugs, that allow me to monitor energy usage on my home computer and entertainment centers, I've also got upwards of 11 Wemo light switches and dimmers installed throughout the house, which allow me to remotely activate/schedule lights when I'm away, or any other reason.
4) Philips Hue - All my exterior bulbs are RGB philips hue bulbs, as well as my main chandelier in the entry way. All outside facing lights are color tintable, which is great for holidays or directing people to find my place. I've also got some hue lightstrips in my home theater setup behind my tv, but they don't get used as often. Need to upgrade to a hue 2.0 bridge before I try to integrate that into any live viewing light setups.
5) Chamberlain Homelink enabled Garage doors - It will integrate with my eventual Tesla Model 3, and it also has an app to control and monitor the door state.
All the above are IFTTT compatible, so they will all speak to eachother.
Future purchases
Nest Cam Outdoor IQ (x2) for the front of the house.
Nest Cam Outdoor - for the backyard gate area.
Nest Hello Doorbell
-------
I'm still debating on which voice activation to run with, if I do amazon, google, or apple. I'm leaning towards apple since all my network appliances are airport extreme and expresses, it will probably integrate much better.
all 4 hue
aren't Apple airports discontinued and just... routers? In what way will they work better with Homepod vs Google Home/Alexa?
I also don't expect Homepod to be very refined when it releases either but I guess we'll see. I think they delayed it as they realized it was way behind what Google and Amazon are doing. Didn't they initially unveal it just as a really good sounding speaker with some limited smart home capabilities? Siri just seems cringeworthy compared to Google Assistant and Alexa.
Previously in the thread I linked to a three pack of plugs for 26 and after the headache set up they're working great. If you want 5 for a single plug, that's old fashioned outlet timer level.
And yup, I renamed the plugs to lamp, Christmas tree, etc.
not that I know of for wifi based. it's more than just the wifi chip in it, it needs other 'smarts' to talk back to the server and deal with logistics. I can't imagine the range of wifi if it was in the wall with all the interference.
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Possibly, but I figure I'll wait till they're all on the market before diving in with my wallet. I've made that mistake in the past :P
cool... it's up to $33 for three now but maybe I'll give these a shot as a trial.
They're my first smart things after a nest. The set up was hanging on my phone, but I found you can activate Alexa skills on a desktop browser which worked. Their Smart Life app does include a link for Home too. Maybe it's easier.
There are Z Wave outlets that I've thought about getting, but haven't really done any research on them. You'd probably need to use Smart Things or Home Assistant to really integrate them in a meaningful way.
So Google Home seems kind of limited when it comes to working with Hue lights. Like there's no scene options at all? There's linking between Hue and Alexa, or Hue and iOS's Home app, and the ability to create scenes in both.
On the positive side, it does seem a little faster than Alexa when it comes to interacting with the lights. It also seems to be faster in general, and certainly a little more 'natural'.
On the positive side, it does seem a little faster than Alexa when it comes to interacting with the lights. It also seems to be faster in general, and certainly a little more 'natural'.
Peanut zigbee smart plugs are on sale for $10 at Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Securifi-Peanut-Smart-Minute-Setup/dp/B00TC9NC82/ It's a Lightning Deal for the next ~3 hours. The one I bought works with my Smartthings hub(energy monitoring doesn't work). It'll also act as a zigbee repeater, if you need to extend your network range.
Best Buy has the Arlo 4 pack of indoor/outdoor cameras for $200 off today.... so $300.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgea...as-4-pack-white-black/1668003.p?skuId=1668003
Seems like a pretty good deal @ $75/camera.
do you still need to buy the base station thing with this though for it to work?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgea...as-4-pack-white-black/1668003.p?skuId=1668003
Seems like a pretty good deal @ $75/camera.
do you still need to buy the base station thing with this though for it to work?
Picked up the Nanoleaf Aurora on sale, this thing is siiiiiick. Gonna slowly add more panels over time, they're expensive...
https://nanoleaf.me/en/consumer-led...ter-series/nanoleaf-light-panels-smarter-kit/
You can do some really awesome shapes, I can't wait
https://nanoleaf.me/en/consumer-led...ter-series/nanoleaf-light-panels-smarter-kit/
You can do some really awesome shapes, I can't wait
