Home Automation

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Ok guys. Im looking at moving away from the past and going into the future with home automation tech.

Here is what i want to achive:

- Control my heating via Hive via voice

- Control majority of lights (Hue or similiar) in the home (needs to be future proof so that i can eventually replace all lights for smart ones)

- BT/Wifi speakers in each room to play music - Like Sonos

- To be able to turn on/off living room devices via voice (smart 4K TV, Amp, Virgin, PS4 etc)

- Motion sensor lights which come on with movement (i.e. when someone enters the living room at night the lights come on etc etc)

- Smart doorbell ??! (so it alerts you on your phone etc)

- Smart fire detector - Nest?

- Indoor security camera - ?!?

Thats the requirements.
Can be either controlled via Amazon Alexa or Google Home. I use a lot of Google services (Gmail, Calender, GMusic) but i know Alexa is a little better for home automation.

Now, is Philips Hue the best option for the lights? Not really bothered about colours- just want dimmable white light. Does this require any tinkering to the actual on/off wall light switch??

Would a Smarthings Hub be required to control all these via Google Home/Alex?

What are my options?

 

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I'd move away from Hue and go with smart switches instead. That will probably be significantly cheaper than individual smart bulbs and you'll be able to control more than just the type of light bulbs Hue has.

You can also look into remote closing blinds as well.

Thanks.

What are these switches you speak of?
I take it they can talk to smart things hub and inturn be controlled via Alexa?

I guess in the same way Sonos speakers can be controlled via ST hub and then use IFTT to control via Alexa?

Didn't know about the blinds! Did this require a mechanical device or rail to be able to do this?

 

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This is where my location causes problems. Not sure exactly what is available in the UK for switches and blinds. Best bet is to look on the SmartThings forums and see what is recommended. But yes, they would be able to connect directly to the SmartThings hub and then you can control them any way you can control anything associated with the hub.

As of yet, I don't think there are any light switches in the UK that you soak of. In the us the are a few like Zig.b etc but the UK is lacking.

 

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I have only done a small bit of these but this is what I have currently in my Living Room.

Echo Dot
Harmony Ultimate with Hub
1 White Hive Light
1 Colour Hive Light

The harmony is configured for my different activities and I can ask Alexa to ask Harmony to turn on Sky, Roku, PS3 etc and it turns on the TV, the Amp and the device, I can ask it to pause, play, change volume, mute, I can ask Alexa to ask Plex to play The Matrix and it will start playing it. I can say Alexa lamp on and the colour bulb turns, on, or I can say living room on and the white bulb in the ceiling rose comes on. I can then dim the lights by saying Alexa dim lamp/living room or change the colour of the lamp by saying Alexa change lamp to purple.

I have Prime so can ask Alexa to play music and it automatically plays something from Prime, I have it paired to my amp so can ask alexa to ask harmony to turn on bluetooth and when it does the Echo connects automatically, giving me better sound for my music. I have also found that the ot works perfectly powered by a USB socket on a wall outlet, no need to use an actual plug socket.

I am sure as time goes on I will slowly add, but not bad considering I only got the Echo dot on Wednesday.

Sounds like a nice solution...but the money is increasing. I think at this rate i'll end up spending several thousand just so i can sit on my bottom rather than get up and do things.
But it is the way things are going so might aswell embrace it.

My only worry is that standard bulbs and switches are future proofed already as they have been round decades but with the new automation tech its getting updated every year so these devices will become obscelete quickly and you will need to upgrade after a few years to better hardware.

Im thinking an Alexa in the living room, bedroom and kitchen and the rest of the rooms kitted out with echo dots.

But wont having Sonos speakers and Alexa devices in the same room be kind of overkill as both are smart speakers which play music?!
Hopefully in the future Alexa will be on the same par as Sonos music quality but as of yet it isnt.

 

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I have 3 dots,6 Philips hue lights and just about to get some tp link smart plugs so i can turn the kettle on when I'm just getting out of bed

Lol that is ultimate laziness.
But what if the kettle have no water in it ?

Am i right in thinking the Hue bulbs need the light switch to be on the ON position at all times? How does this affect the circuitary and the electricty?

 

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Do the Hues put out descent light?
Max I can find is they do 10W and around 1000 lumen'ish - equivelant to around 60/75W bulbs.
Will 2 be enough for a large 6m long x 5m wide lounge?

I tend to go for 100W bulbs as I like it bright with the option to dim at will when in a movie mode.

 

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Yes it would but what better way to make a cup of tea

Come to think of it my kettle is automated already. I just speak teh command to my wife and she makes it

Are the Hue GU spot light bulbs any good?
Thinking of the bathroom and toilets (2 spot light bulbs each) and the kitchen....

Also, whats the best way to get music in the shower and bathroom? Wouldnt mind adding Sonos but how do you go about connecting them to power as power sockets in wet rooms are a no-no?

 

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But before you go into it just think of one thing....money,i have spent over £500 so far and that will go up quite a bit if i got every bulb done,my next hue purchase will be the strip light for the kitchen.

The ultimate aim is to have all smart lights over a period of 2 years. Do all the main bulbs and leave the spotlights till later years.
Im more bothered about having a connected multimedia experience in the house in the first instance so connected speakers in all living spaces and fully automated home cinema in the lounge. The smart lights are an extension to that along with the heating and the home security.

But i need to get the eco systems right to begin with so i can build upon anytime. So the choice is either Amazon Alexa or Gogle Home....
For multi-room speakers i think the only current option is Sonos.

The only thing that is putting me off is i will end up with electronic devices left, right and centre in each room which is not what i want as i like clean minimul spaces. So having an Alexa/dot/Google Home and a Sonos next to each other is like overkill and messy. If only the Amazon Alexa/GHome was as good as a speaker as the Sono Play 1

 

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This. If you don't care about colour this is what you want.

Lightwaverf replaces the switch itself, meaning it's that you turn on and off remotely.

However, you need to watch what bulbs you get. They turn off dimming to "very low" instead of turning the power off entirely. It does so that it's drawing power so it can still be controlled while off. Some LEDs have capacitors that mean they don't work with Lightwaverf as they draw some very small charge them flash for half a second every so often.

I had lightwaverf in my old house and loved them.
EDIT:

Oh yeah, I've got 5 Echo Dots, 5 Sonos Play:1's, Samsung Smartthings hub that allows Alexa to control the Sonos as well as a couple of switches for various things, and a couple of rooms that are all Hue lights.

Thanks!

So correct me if im wrong:

You need the Lightwaverf (LWRF) link (£89.99) and then the power sockets (double ones at £39.99) and then plug in any floorstanding or table lamp and control via Alexa or Google Home?
Or
You need the Lightwaverf (LWRF) link (£89.99) and then the Dimmer switch (single one at £44.99) and then control the bulb via Alexa or Google Home?
Is that correct?

Then also a Samsung SmartThings Hub (SSTH) (£89.99) to package up all the LWRF hardware and pass it on to Alexa/GHome to be controlled via voice? The LWRF hardware is fully supported by the SmartThings Hub? Yes?

- The Sonos would talk directly/independently to the SSTH which Alexa/GH can control?
- Likewise with the heating (Nest or Hive) would talk directly to SSTH and be controlled via Alexa/GH?

So basically the Samsung Hub is the central unit which controls all the smart devices and is teh middle man between the device and Alexa/GH?

Can the LWRF switches/dimmers be programmed like the Hue's so they come on when it gets dark?

I do like the option of replacing the switch/sockets themselves because your targeting the source which frees you up to use any bulb (compatible ones) or plug in any electrical device in the sockets.


EDIT: For floorstanding or table lamps plugged into teh mains i would need Hue to dim them as Lightwave socket would only be able to turn them on and off and not dim

 

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The Lightwaverf Link can connect to Alexa separately. You don't need the Smrtthings hub to control any Lightwaverf device.

Samsung are trying to make the Smartthings Hub/app at the center of your home automation so that you can control all your different smart products from the one app. For example you CAN add your Hue bulbs to the Smartthings app (you still need a hue hub to do this) but you don't need to. Alexa works with hue directly, the same way the Lightwaverf kit works with hue (with its link box). Im not 100% sure but if you can "add Lightwaverf to smartthings" its not really required if you're using Alexa as the "aggregator" - but in theory it would let you configure mentions/ light sensors from Smartthings to trigger Lightwaverf devices automatically.

Currently Sonos DOES require the Smartthings hubs to work with Alexa. Alexa doesn't talk directly to Sonos yet, but is coming. Currently, limitations are limited to turning the Sonos on and off again - even with the Smartthings hub. That's all I need it for so works well for me.

My Nest works directly with Alexa.

I think Hive works directly with Alexa.

Regarding timing / programmed automation with Lightwaverf kit you'd need to have a wee google yourself. It's not something I ever bothered with as my routine was never that constant, buts it's entirely possible. If Lightwaverf CAN be linked to the Smartthings hub that would allow you to do it, but the LWRF app might have been updated as well.

Also yes, for a Lamp you'd need a hue bulb to be able to dim it. You can't dim a socket, only a switch.

Thanks - that explains things better for a novice like me.

Sounds like the Samsung Hub isnt really needed if the device/hardware can speak to Alexa directly.

I've had a look on the Lightwave website and the Alexa section and it lists the commands that work with Alexa. Such as..

On/Off: “Alexa, turn on [or off] the [device name]”

Dimming: “Alexa, set [dimmer name] to [number]”

Dimming: “Alexa, increase [or decrease] [dimmer name] by [number]”

Can these commands be customised so you choose your own phrases to do certain actions or do you have to say exactly as listed above commands?
So for example, if i said "dim living room light to 50%" it would understand?

Likewise I can group lightwave devices into groups and turn them on and off with just a single command to Alexa?

I suppose what im asking is the LT intergration with Alxa just like the Hue hardware so smae commands, grouping, etc etc ?

How long is the delay between issuing a command to Alexa and the lightware stuff reacting?

 

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I've got a hue bulb called "living room ceiling" and one called "living room lamp". I've also got a TP-link smart socket called "fire place lights" and a Smartthings smart socket called "bookcase lights".

Alexa is able to turn on each of these devices individually but I also created a group called "Living Room Lights" with every one of those different devices assigned to that group.

Now if I tell Alexa to "turn on the living room lights" they all go on.

I've got a second group called "night time lights" that has just a select few living room lights in it as well so I can say "turn on night time lights".

A 3rd group I've got is called "living room big lights" so I can say "turn off living room big lights" and it effectively creates "night time" mode (as groups can currently only toggle everything on or off rather than setting a specific scene and disabling some and enabling others - this might be where an IFTTT task might be better)

Additionally I've also created a group called "everything" that allows me to "turn off everything" as I leave the house.

Can you do the above using Lightwave and Alexa (or is this only possible with Hue)?

 

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As im going to be re-decorating the house i could always remove all the existing normal wall light switches and replacing them all with the Hue switches to use with Hue bulbs.
That way people can still use it as normal using the switch.

Is this a good or bad idea to do away with the traditional wall switches(taking plates off, taping up wires, covering with a blank wall plate or similair so they can be relocated in the future) and replace them with the Philips ones?

 

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Personally I'd avoid removing the original switches as you have no backup in the event of the hue hub/system failing. What Philips needs to do is release something like this:- https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1454110

Switch covers or a replacement switch plate that can also host the remotes.

It solves the issue but damn its ugly!

 

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Anyone tried a Hue Bulb with a LightwaveRF switch to see if they both work?

 

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Why do you need a Hue bulb with lightwave switch? Sounds like doubling of price for little reason, unless you NEED the colour change as well?

Because I would need a hue dimmer switch anyway so my guests and other people can use the hue system and I would rather have one light switch than two. Plus then I could use the colour bulbs too.