how smart has your home gone?

Semple · 12 Oct 2020 at 09:56

FoxEye said:
Personally my viewpoint is that I don't really see the need for any of this smart stuff.

I'm more than happy to flick a light switch with my finger. And the beauty of simplicity is that there's very little to go wrong

Meanwhile, the bleddy Amazon Firestick has never worked properly from the moment I first got it. Alexa? No thanks

So yeah, there will always be 100 things I need more than a smart home.

But yeah, the (lack of) security would concern me also. A lot of these devices are riddled with exploits.

Sounds like you fell into the wrong thread whilst half asleep

andy_mk3 · 12 Oct 2020 at 10:10

Semple said:
Yes this was some great news to hear. Will wait for some devs to put together new integrations.

I unfortunately didn't get any nest products until after they had closed the nest Dev api for new users. I was using an integration called "Bad Nest" which mostly worked, but every so often the cookie would expire and it was a bit of a PITA to keep sorting out.

I wonder if Google backtracked on this due to the number of people complaining and either swapping their nest stuff for competition, or vowing to never buy a nest product again.

Same for me, missed the old API! I did see that Bad Nest but never used it.

It's a shame they still don't offer a local API.

balky12 · 16 Oct 2020 at 11:51

Hoping you guys can help.. Moving house in the near future and wanting to 'smart' my house up, starting with basically zero.

On my list is:

Video Doorbell.
Smart Lock (Something like August lock)
Thermostat
CCTV Cameras
Few lights (lamps - which come on sunset off sunrise etc)
I currently use Sonos for all my musical needs.

Not completely sold on the whole lighting solution yet... I don't see the agro of flicking a light switch.

Anyone offer some advice? Appreciate there probably isn't a one stop shop for everything, but I would like to try and have it all compatible if possible.

andy_mk3 · 16 Oct 2020 at 13:09

balky12 said:
Hoping you guys can help.. Moving house in the near future and wanting to 'smart' my house up, starting with basically zero.

On my list is:

Video Doorbell.
Smart Lock (Something like August lock)
Thermostat
CCTV Cameras
Few lights (lamps - which come on sunset off sunrise etc)
I currently use Sonos for all my musical needs.

Not completely sold on the whole lighting solution yet... I don't see the agro of flicking a light switch.

Anyone offer some advice? Appreciate there probably isn't a one stop shop for everything, but I would like to try and have it all compatible if possible.

Depends on what end setup you want and how much work to put into it. You can buy a few different ecosystems and have it controlled by their separate apps and some Alexa/Google control, you you can integrate everything together with something like Home Assistant.

I can recommend the Hue lights, not the cheapest but the app is great and I've found them to be extremely reliable. Cameras look into Nest or Blink. Thermostat Nest or Hive.

balky12 · 20 Oct 2020 at 14:23

Thanks dude! I will continue to do my homework, I was put off nest as I've heard it doesn't play nice with other things, but I recently heard they have now opened their API.

Bluecube · 20 Oct 2020 at 15:19

Can anyone recommend automated blinds? Preferably battery operated ones that can integrate with Alexa.

jrwagh333 · 20 Oct 2020 at 15:33

Alexa...
Turn on the lights
Show me the front doorbell
Boil the kettle

andy_mk3 · 20 Oct 2020 at 16:07

jrwagh333 said:
Alexa...
Turn on the lights
Show me the front doorbell
Boil the kettle

That's just being married!

mattyg · 20 Oct 2020 at 16:19

My house is so smart. If i want to put a light on but the house doesn't.....The house wins.....

Maybe I should put the switches back in.....Give me a fighting chance

m@rty · 20 Oct 2020 at 17:09

jrwagh333 said:
Alexa...
Turn on the lights
Show me the front doorbell
Boil the kettle

Next it will be “Alexa...wipe my **** for me”

danlightbulb · 20 Oct 2020 at 17:30

Its doing my head in. I don't have a smart home, and my table lamp is literally 2m from where I park my ass at night. Yet can I get a simple dimmable lamp in the style I want? Can I balls. £38 for a bulb and dimmer for my industrial look lamp and it will take me longer to change the brightness by picking up my phone and opening an app than it would by getting up out of my chair. We're going backwards on some of this.

I can understand turning the heating on while your out, and security things like ring doorbells but all I want is a simple dimmer switch for my simple lamp.

glenimp617 · 20 Oct 2020 at 18:15

Bluecube said:
Can anyone recommend automated blinds? Preferably battery operated ones that can integrate with Alexa.

Iirc somfy with the correct adapters

SimonR · 20 Oct 2020 at 23:33

danlightbulb said:
Its doing my head in. I don't have a smart home, and my table lamp is literally 2m from where I park my ass at night. Yet can I get a simple dimmable lamp in the style I want? Can I balls. £38 for a bulb and dimmer for my industrial look lamp and it will take me longer to change the brightness by picking up my phone and opening an app than it would by getting up out of my chair. We're going backwards on some of this.

I can understand turning the heating on while your out, and security things like ring doorbells but all I want is a simple dimmer switch for my simple lamp.

Hue bulb and Echo Dot. Alexa table lamp 40%’ - dims to 40%. ‘Alexa table lamp 100%’ - full brightness. ‘Alexa Goodnight’ - lamp turns off. No phones, no switches, no getting up.

danlightbulb · 21 Oct 2020 at 00:53

SimonR said:
Hue bulb and Echo Dot. Alexa table lamp 40%’ - dims to 40%. ‘Alexa table lamp 100%’ - full brightness. ‘Alexa Goodnight’ - lamp turns off. No phones, no switches, no getting up.

i dont want to spend over £100 for the sake of moving 2 metres to turn my lamp down.

matt100 · 21 Oct 2020 at 09:05

danlightbulb said:
i dont want to spend over £100 for the sake of moving 2 metres to turn my lamp down.

What do you actually want then? You don't want to use your phone, you don't want to invest in the thing that makes the phone not required.. maybe you just need to buy a new lamp with an inline dimmer?

Irish_Tom · 21 Oct 2020 at 09:43

danlightbulb said:
i dont want to spend over £100 for the sake of moving 2 metres to turn my lamp down.

Username checks out.

Semple · 21 Oct 2020 at 09:51

Bluecube said:
Can anyone recommend automated blinds? Preferably battery operated ones that can integrate with Alexa.

I'm pretty certain Ikea's are battery powered, although they only do roller blinds iirc. But are likely to be a fair bit cheaper than Somfy.

mattyg said:
My house is so smart. If i want to put a light on but the house doesn't.....The house wins.....

Maybe I should put the switches back in.....Give me a fighting chance

Why not have the best of both, i've got smart bulbs and smart switches, so if i do want to switch a light on without it being timed, or asked, or using the app. I can still do so the traditional way without then switching the light off which then means it can't be smartly controlled.

danlightbulb said:
i dont want to spend over £100 for the sake of moving 2 metres to turn my lamp down.

Sounds like you're in the wrong thread then.

You can get unbranded/chinese branded dimmable bulbs for less than a tenner with a remote.

mattyg · 21 Oct 2020 at 11:39

Semple said:
Why not have the best of both, i've got smart bulbs and smart switches, so if i do want to switch a light on without it being timed, or asked, or using the app. I can still do so the traditional way without then switching the light off which then means it can't be smartly controlled.
.

I went down the Smartthings route. I have units behind every (light switch/blanking plate) These can be connected to switches still but need to be the right type. I've not looked lately to see if there are more on the market yet

danlightbulb · 21 Oct 2020 at 11:51

matt100 said:
What do you actually want then? You don't want to use your phone, you don't want to invest in the thing that makes the phone not required.. maybe you just need to buy a new lamp with an inline dimmer?

I would like a lamp with an inline dimmer but you can't get them in the style I want.

Cheap lamp in the style I want - TICK
Cheap filament style dimmable globe bulb - TICK
In line dimmer capable of dimming a filament style bulb down low - NOPE.

jpaul · 21 Oct 2020 at 12:07

Semple said:
You can get unbranded/chinese branded dimmable bulbs for less than a tenner with a remote.

philips are rather taking the p*** with their Hue pricing, apart from black friday vicinity, the qualities not all that
Philips Hue White Filament Review
IKEA TRÅDFRI Wireless Dimmer Starter Kit First Look Review TRADFRI vs Philips HUE [EUROPE 220V]
the lighting market seems to be a minefield, yes, the philips stuff has a warranty, versus chinese

tradfiri seems better value , I liked following app that allows dimming to behave like a incandescent bulb.
How-To: Pairing IKEA Tradfri Smart Lights with a SmartThings Hub

equally the traditional wired dimmer market, has been eaten into(ecomies of size) by smart bulbs, so smart dimmers are dam expensive,
and dimmable (dumb) led bulbs of questionable quality, flickering like hue can.

lifespan of (dumb) leds too is problematic - leastaways I've had 6 gu10s and 3 e27's fail from reputable brands v-tec/hyperikon.