how smart has your home gone?

[matt100]

Won't be making new house very smart. I don't even like things like hive. I just don't see the point. Hive and nest seem really popular but I just don't get it .
Can't see me needing a smart washing machine or fridge etc.


Just reading about the sonos stuff on BBC news too.

This may be the wrong thread for you then.. but the smart thermostat especially is fantastic. For starters most thermostats I've come across require a PhD in nuclear physics to operate and nest makes it an app but more to the point it knows if you're home and turns things off if you're out. For a house like ours with irregular comings and goings with us both working from home/being out a lot that's saved loads.

But yeah, horses for courses.. maybe you don't need it but theres more to it than Sonos and washing machines.

 

[413x]

This may be the wrong thread for you then.. but the smart thermostat especially is fantastic. For starters most thermostats I've come across require a PhD in nuclear physics to operate and nest makes it an app but more to the point it knows if you're home and turns things off if you're out. For a house like ours with irregular comings and goings with us both working from home/being out a lot that's saved loads.

But yeah, horses for courses.. maybe you don't need it but theres more to it than Sonos and washing machines.

Yeah I think that's it. Generally have the heating come on before getting home from work. We're a couple with similar hobbies so often out and in the house at the same time

I totally get people worth random schedules. But for those who work standard hours surely must be easier and cheaper in the long run to just have a timer and thermostat

 

[matt100]

I don't see why it would be cheaper, you still have a schedule underneath so the auto stuff is a plus.

It's also great being able to turn it on and off from a distance, so in the past when we actually managed to have cold days (weird winter this year worryingly!) It was great to be able to turn it on from work and get home to warm.

It's.not revolutionary but I like it!

To be honest I've gotten super used to lights on timers and motion detectors too, I just don't touch light switches anymore, I can't forget to turn a light off

 

[AndyCr15]

I just don't see the point. Hive and nest seem really popular but I just don't get it .

I totally get people worth random schedules.

So you did get it, thought you'd poke a little though... Or, you don't see the point for you and came to tell us all that...

 

[Semple]

I think it's one of those that until you've tried and integrated smart tech into your lifestyle, you don't actually know how it will benefit you.

It's like old people adopting smart phones, they never had anything like it growing up, and when phones did become available they had tiny screens with lots of buttons. Now it's like a mini computer in the palm of your hand.

I would say my other half was the same with the smart home stuff. When i bought a Hue starter pack she really couldn't see the point in it. After expanding it with more bulbs and some sensors she really warmed to it, to the point that when we were moving out of the flat to a house and i packed up all the smart bulbs/sensors, she felt rather lost without them.

Home assistant with Fire 8 wall panels to control

Did you make a post on reddit about this project?

I came across someones project page about integrating HA on fire devices to use as a wall panel, and really liked the idea so bookmarked it for a future project.

 

[413x]

I get some of it. And I totally get in where someone's circumstances lend to it.

But my friend has the bulbs, and the hive and it just is a pain.
I guess I've never really even liked smart elec meters either .


Concerns include
future proof due to software support
That just creates more micro management
Never realising monetary benifits (from systems like hive)

New house needs a new boiler, looked at the cost of nest etc and maths just doesn't show a cost benefit as far as I can see

Do you guys do it to save money? Save time? Or because its techy?

The last one isn't a dig. I get plenty of stuff because it's techy!

 

[Bluecube]

My recent smart home purchase was 13 Hive radiator valves along with the (necessary) thermostat. There are quite a few rooms in the house that don’t need to be heated all the time (eg just in the morning, just at night or not at all) so being able to schedule the heating for each individual radiator has made a huge difference to my gas bill, cutting it by a third. Additionally, the rooms we use are much warmer and more comfortable.

 

[AndyCr15]

Save time? Or because its techy?

These, but also because they're actually quite useful. I have a Nest camera in my living room which alerts me on my phone to movement. Having been burgled a few years back, this is great peace of mind. Similar with the Ring doorbell, but also handy being able to talk to delivery people when I'm not home.

Then the nest, I love that I can be lying in bed thinking it's no warm enough, and I can turn the heating on/up with my voice, just lying there! As has been said, being able to turn it on as you leave for is great too (I work shifts).

 

[matt100]

I get some of it. And I totally get in where someone's circumstances lend to it.

But my friend has the bulbs, and the hive and it just is a pain.
I guess I've never really even liked smart elec meters either .


Concerns include
future proof due to software support
That just creates more micro management
Never realising monetary benifits (from systems like hive)

New house needs a new boiler, looked at the cost of nest etc and maths just doesn't show a cost benefit as far as I can see

Do you guys do it to save money? Save time? Or because its techy?

The last one isn't a dig. I get plenty of stuff because it's techy!

the micro management thing exists for anything you're not using properly, I barely ever have any interaction with my nest now. Far less than I used to with a physical thermostat and your new boiler point makes no sense at all... a nest isn't a boiler, a boiler isn't a nest, a new boiler used with a properly configured smart thermostat will spend less than a new boiler without and the same would be true with an old boiler.

They're completely unconnected.

I suspect on the bulbs being a pain they're also just not doing it right/using half a solution and forcing a "smart" solution that isn't fit for purpose.

For example, bulbs you operate with an app or your voice even, almost certainly more bother than just a switch.

Bulbs with motion sensors and properly controlled scheduling of what they do.. a totally different story. I genuinely never ever touch the switches and rarely use voice control because it's configured correctly.

 

[utajoker]

Can anyone reccomend which smart thermostat to suit my needs?

I have a 3 floor house with 2 thermostats and 1 timer

Thermostat one controls:
Ground floor - garage, utility room, my man cave, bathroom
Middle floor - living room, dining room,kitchen

Thermostat two controls
Top floor - 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms

I want to have the top floor off in the day but on at night at a low constant temperature when we are asleep but not heat ground and middle floor. I have a 3year old and a wife who is always cold.

In morning and evening heat middle and ground floor but not top floor as we are not in those rooms.

It is a pain on one timer because I have to adjust thermostats every day to only heat the floors we are on. In an evening I have to change the top floor to not activate while we are in the living room/kitchen then at night adjust both to not heat bottom floors and keep top floor warm. In a morning I have to go down stairs in cold to set the middle floor to warm up while we get ready for work etc.

Do I replace both thermostats with smart ones. which should I look at to do what I want to do?
Also working with Alexa and controlling hot water would be great.

Thanks

 

[Bluecube]

Both Hive and Nest will do the job here. Replace both thermostats with a smart one. The timer will be bypassed by the thermostats which will control each section of your house individually based on your schedule. You’ll need to check that each section of the house can actually be individually controlled though but if there’s two thermostats then that should be the case.

 

[AndyCr15]

I've had a new router installed and had to go round reconnecting all my Google Home's, but now some of them can't be added back into a speaker group. They just don't show up. Any ideas what I might have done or needs to be done?

 

[hamesy]

Are smart thermostats generally compatible with most boilers?

The house I'm currently renting has got an old baxi boiler which is connected to a unit next to it, that allows me to program the timings etc.

The thermostat for controlling the temperature is a Honeywell.

Looking at installing a smart thermostat so I haven't got to keep going upstairs to manually turn the heating on if the timer hasn't clicked on yet.

 

[katie279]

Yep, pretty much - we installed our first nest onto a 1970s oil boiler. Basically if you've got a thermostat that can switch heat on and off, that's all it takes over!

 

[hamesy]

Yep, pretty much - we installed our first nest onto a 1970s oil boiler. Basically if you've got a thermostat that can switch heat on and off, that's all it takes over!

Nice one.

Now I've got to decide what to go with.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I've had a new router installed and had to go round reconnecting all my Google Home's, but now some of them can't be added back into a speaker group. They just don't show up. Any ideas what I might have done or needs to be done?

install the old router

 

[AndyCr15]

install the old router

I'm not actually sure I can. Engineer was talking about the new router is 'g.fast' compatible, wasn't sure the old one is. Old router also used to run from a modem, not sure old router can take the connection direct as old modem definitely can't take the new connection speed (according to install engineer, who seemed a decent guy with good knowledge tbf) Also, I've switched everything over to new WiFi, it would be a bigger ball ache going round switching everything back!

Mind you, last night it seemed to have everything back in the main group, so possibly it fixed itself.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I'm not actually sure I can. Engineer was talking about the new router is 'g.fast' compatible, wasn't sure the old one is. Old router also used to run from a modem, not sure old router can take the connection direct as old modem definitely can't take the new connection speed (according to install engineer, who seemed a decent guy with good knowledge tbf) Also, I've switched everything over to new WiFi, it would be a bigger ball ache going round switching everything back!

Mind you, last night it seemed to have everything back in the main group, so possibly it fixed itself.

does the 5ghz and 2.4ghz share the same SSID?

a lot of stuff doesn't like that. naming them differently solves it.

 

[AndyCr15]

does the 5ghz and 2.4ghz share the same SSID?

Yes, it appears to. I'll try separating them if I have future problems, thanks.

 

[SoliD]

Finally Google have changed to the new Nest aware subscription model today, £5/10 per month or £50/100 year no matter how many devices you have.