how smart has your home gone?

Please do not assume how long I have been working in HA, it only confirms your ignorance and arrogance As an FYI my experience with LED lighting extends way back before you even heard about it, when it was being developed as a low voltage alternative for the aircraft industry. Enjoy your tinfoil hat.
 
area51 said:
Been playing with this tech before you'd even seen/heard of it in it's expensive wrapping.
Had LED lights before was mainstream and worked with radio/wireless comms in trial stages and other things and many things we designed yonks back amongst a group and been sold on.
Have friends involved in these fields and far far more that isn't out in public domain! so Techno phobe no have my head on yes! as seen/know where going so for me it's my house etc and im in control!
Somethings you can't get away with being "seen" but try to minimise as best as if they want my data/info/do there work/make money out of me then they'd better be paying me/giving me some benefit from it.

But to me if i want the lights on i turn them on along with heating etc Had leds where can change colour with a remote years back.
Because if your going "Smart" where does it stop? you'll have an app/bot that does exercise for you and walks the dog/does the cooking/washing/Shopping/driving the car/Then maybe wipe your botty while slobbered in front of the smart TV? all 30 stone of you as been stuffed by a smart app that feeds you smart delivered pizza.

We are becomming/are far to lazy as a race

But leave you all to it!
But i will say do have a think and look into things before letting your lives become ruled by these things when letting them in your house!
I already have friends that have had things plus things on phones etc and have got shot of/deleted them as found things out they didn't like!
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conspiracy theory nutjob

seriously you need to go see a psychiatrist before it's too late
 
Anyone got any smart powered blinds?

At the moment we have 2 windows which are directly in line with our TV. They have wooden slatted blinds on them, however what became apparent over the weekend watching a few films is that around the edge of the blind and through the slats there is a lot of light bleed which causes reflections on the TV. Usually it's not an issue as we don't watch tv in the day, but it was pretty bad at the weekend and it didn't really go till around 8pm, something that's only going to get worse over the summer (first summer in this house)

What i'd like would be to fit blackout roller blinds behind the existing wooden slatted blinds. That way we can use the slatted blinds for every day use but also give us the option to fully block out the light for tv viewing. As the blinds are in a recess behind the sofas, they're pretty inaccessible without climbing on the sofa to get to the chords which is making me look at battery/solar powered blinds.

The issue is that to get what i want involves investing in the Somfy eco-system and the hub is £300 and then around £200 per blind. I can live with the blind cost, but buying the hub for only 2 blinds is a little hard to stomach. I don't forsee us changing any other blinds in that roomas the rest are the "Perfect Fit" ones which clip into the window frame and work brilliantly. However never say never and all that, plus having electric blinds in the bedroom would be nice where they could open on a timer would be handy too.

Thats pretty waffly. Bascially does anyone have any alternatives to the Somfy Tahoma that works well? Or has the Somfy and can tell me how much it's worth it!
 
Marvt74 said:
The issue is that to get what i want involves investing in the Somfy eco-system and the hub is £300 and then around £200 per blind. I can live with the blind cost, but buying the hub for only 2 blinds is a little hard to stomach. I don't forsee us changing any other blinds in that roomas the rest are the "Perfect Fit" ones which clip into the window frame and work brilliantly. However never say never and all that, plus having electric blinds in the bedroom would be nice where they could open on a timer would be handy too.
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You don't need a hub for SOMFY. We sport two different versions here, SOMFY RTS and SOMFY Bluetooth.

We can expand on top of either without a hub and if you need to you can pair with the wall switches or handhelds. We sourced ours from Powered Blinds and Huna Blinds respectively. Nice bits of kit!
 
I need some help.

My grandma has dementia and me and my parents are looking for a webcam and doorbell for her that we can use to keep an eye on her in the kitchen and make sure she has taken her medication, check who is at the door. Perhaps just outdoor CCTV for the door.

I prefer Google to Amazon but what should we buy. No idea what to get. Budget isn't a problem.
 
I only know of the Ring Doorbell products that many seem to like for this application. With regards to the webcam in the kitchen I don't think you need to spend a lot. I've a few YI dome cameras around the house that support night vision, 2 way audio, remote access and have some limited cloud recording facilities for free (more if you want to pay a subscription). When they go on offer they're available for £30ish - Ring doorbell a fair bit more. This all assumes she has a decent internet connection (a pre-requisite whatever you go for). I'm not sure what integration your expecting from cameras into Google.
 
Eurofighter said:
I need some help.

My grandma has dementia and me and my parents are looking for a webcam and doorbell for her that we can use to keep an eye on her in the kitchen and make sure she has taken her medication, check who is at the door. Perhaps just outdoor CCTV for the door.

I prefer Google to Amazon but what should we buy. No idea what to get. Budget isn't a problem.
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For inside the house, just get any cheap wifi enabled camera - Yi for example. Easy to install the app on any of your phones and get live video without subscription. Less than 20 quid a camera with night vision, movable lens etc
 
tres said:
For inside the house, just get any cheap wifi enabled camera - Yi for example. Easy to install the app on any of your phones and get live video without subscription. Less than 20 quid a camera with night vision, movable lens etc
Click to expand...

Maybe I will try something cheap first. Any other recommendations other than Yi?
 
jpaul said:
Noticed another zigbee compatible bulb £10/b22/dimming+'2.7->6K' sengled - new to me.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0725BQ7TF ... seems to have good usa reviews .. should work with a the 'bargain' £8 ikea dimmer - the equivalent ikea bulb is £15.

wifi/hubless bulbs like like lifx with more complex electronics do seem to have more reliability issues from reviews, so perhaps my aversion to the hassle of hubs with zigbee is misplaced.
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I was looking at Zigbee add-ons, this seemed an interesting generic hub

DIY Zigbee Gateway with zigbee2mqtt

I could attach it to usb on a home windows server, which could then run the domoticz open software .. to schedule stuff .. has anyone done this ?


Found some great Zigbee components below, too .. the one for monitoring electriity meter (optically)
would avoid all the shortcomings of these mickymouse home energy monitors that accompany the SMET2's -you could get your data on a PC (in excel)

https://www.develcoproducts.com/products/meter-interfaces/external-meter-interface/
 
Whats the going rate for a sonoff basic? Ive just looked on bangood and they are £7 but Im sure they used to be about £3-4. Perhaps they have put the prices up ahead of the Black Friday sales?!

Edit - Im an idiot, I had selected shipping FROM the UK as I thought it meant what plug you wanted when obviously it doesnt have a plug! Shipping from China - £3.46!
 
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So far...

- Loads of Hue bulbs, a dimmer switch for each room, a couple of motion sensors
- 3 x Echo Dots
- A couple of TP Link HS100s
- Nest Thermostat
- Nest Protect smoke alarm x 2
- Nest Cam Outdoor (front)
- EZViz camera (rear)
- Ring doorbell
- 2 x Logitech Harmony Hubs (lounge and home cinema)
- 5 x Chromecast Audio - Bathroom (ceiling speakers), master bedroom (ceiling speakers), kitchen (speakers on top of cabinets), lounge (through hifi), cinema (through hifi)
- 1 x Ubiquiti AP AC Lite (covers whole house and most of the garden)
- HDHomerun Connect Duo for streaming Freeview

Looking into alarm systems at the moment, torn between something "simple", e.g. Ring Alarm or something more "pro", e.g. a Texecom wireless system.
 
I've only just started after first buying an Echo Dot while I was living in the US a few months ago.

I now have...

Echo Dot x2
Echo Flex
Hue bulb (Warm White) x3
Peteme WiFi Panoramic Cam
Smart WiFi Power Strip (4 plugs + 4 USB)

I use a Dot in the Living Room and Bedroom, Flex in the Kitchen. Bulbs split between Living Room, Bedroom and Dining Room. My power strip controls the Living Room lamp with a Hue bulb (non Bluetooth, no bridge) and Cam. So when I leave the house I have it set so that the lamp turns off and the camera turns on, when my phone goes out of range. When I return the opposite. I know I don't necessarily need a Hue bulb in a lamp controlled by a WiFi switch, but it was a gift and has a dimmer switch controller which we like when watching TV. The other two bulbs are Bluetooth.

I've also just ordered a Wyze smart cam and Wyze Sense starter kit to attach to doors to control lighting.

I plan to buy more bulbs, probably colour from now on and buy some nice table lamps to dot around the house with them.
 
Marvt74 said:
Anyone got any smart powered blinds?

At the moment we have 2 windows which are directly in line with our TV. They have wooden slatted blinds on them, however what became apparent over the weekend watching a few films is that around the edge of the blind and through the slats there is a lot of light bleed which causes reflections on the TV. Usually it's not an issue as we don't watch tv in the day, but it was pretty bad at the weekend and it didn't really go till around 8pm, something that's only going to get worse over the summer (first summer in this house)

What i'd like would be to fit blackout roller blinds behind the existing wooden slatted blinds. That way we can use the slatted blinds for every day use but also give us the option to fully block out the light for tv viewing. As the blinds are in a recess behind the sofas, they're pretty inaccessible without climbing on the sofa to get to the chords which is making me look at battery/solar powered blinds.

The issue is that to get what i want involves investing in the Somfy eco-system and the hub is £300 and then around £200 per blind. I can live with the blind cost, but buying the hub for only 2 blinds is a little hard to stomach. I don't forsee us changing any other blinds in that roomas the rest are the "Perfect Fit" ones which clip into the window frame and work brilliantly. However never say never and all that, plus having electric blinds in the bedroom would be nice where they could open on a timer would be handy too.

Thats pretty waffly. Bascially does anyone have any alternatives to the Somfy Tahoma that works well? Or has the Somfy and can tell me how much it's worth it!
Click to expand...


You could try here https://zemismart.aliexpress.com/st...spm=a2g0o.store_home.pcShopHead_6023968.1_0_2

I got my Zemismart Smartthings Control Z-wave Curtain rail and motor from the main seller.
It only took 8 days to come and no tax.
 
I’ve been getting a few more smart plugs and have 6 different things (mainly Christmas lights!) set up via routines on the Alexa app but sometimes one of the routines randomly won’t work. As my smart tech expands I feel the Alexa app may not cut the mustard. Is there any other software that I can use? I assume I’d need to run it via a Pi or similar.

Thanks
 
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