how smart has your home gone?

pepp77 · 26 Nov 2020 at 14:57

I have a few bits now

Hue bulbs in Bedrooms and Living Room
Echo Dots in Spare room and office, with another in the living room that connects to the Amp for Bluetooth, then a Show 8 in the kitchen and a Show 5 in the main bedroom.
I have a Harmony Elite in the living room and the main bedroom
I have a blink camera at the front of the house
and just two days ago I added a Ring Video Doorbell 2 to the front door.

Now when I am in bed I don't have to get up to tell cold callers to go away

rodders · 26 Nov 2020 at 19:47

I bought a bulb! Go me

andy_mk3 · 26 Nov 2020 at 22:04

rodders said:
I bought a bulb! Go me

It's a slippery slope from here on

jellybeard999 · 27 Nov 2020 at 08:17

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/c/smart-home/c1693/w2

Noticed this and seems competitively priced. I know little about it, but it's all ZigBee compatible and I've seen a few of you mention that here

eagleuk · 27 Nov 2020 at 08:22

Hue lights around the house, mostly use the different shades of white to be honest!

Welshman · 27 Nov 2020 at 08:59

What do you all use to control all the smart things you got, is it pc or iPads, tablets??? And how easy is it to set-up

thanks

Basher · 27 Nov 2020 at 09:20

Welshman said:
What do you all use to control all the smart things you got, is it pc or iPads, tablets??? And how easy is it to set-up

thanks

For us, they're all timed based on sunrise/sunset. I can't remember the last time I used a light switch.

eagleuk · 27 Nov 2020 at 09:23

Welshman said:
What do you all use to control all the smart things you got, is it pc or iPads, tablets??? And how easy is it to set-up

thanks

Easiest I've found is to just get a 4K Firestick, as mostly you would want it for controlling your TV anyhow ( unless your TV has a really good interface ).

Can't be bothered with the dimmer switches but will get a motion sensor somewhen.

Welshman · 27 Nov 2020 at 09:58

eagleuk said:
Easiest I've found is to just get a 4K Firestick, as mostly you would want it for controlling your TV anyhow ( unless your TV has a really good interface ).

Can't be bothered with the dimmer switches but will get a motion sensor somewhen.

I’ve got a 4K firestick connected to the tv......so what else do I need as I only use the firestick for Amazon streaming of the football on the few occasions they have it on

eagleuk · 27 Nov 2020 at 11:16

Welshman said:
I’ve got a 4K firestick connected to the tv......so what else do I need as I only use the firestick for Amazon streaming of the football on the few occasions they have it on

I just use the firestick remote and talk to it even if I'm not using as it's always on.

You can get a good deal on a hue pack and echo dot device atm

mid_gen · 27 Nov 2020 at 13:20

Welshman said:
What do you all use to control all the smart things you got, is it pc or iPads, tablets??? And how easy is it to set-up

thanks

Motion/light detectors and schedules.

It's great to just walk into my study and have all the lights come on the appropriate setting depending on time of day.

matt100 · 27 Nov 2020 at 14:16

mid_gen said:
Motion/light detectors and schedules.

It's great to just walk into my study and have all the lights come on the appropriate setting depending on time of day.

Same, plus voice assistants.

Basically if I need to use a screen I've failed.

Semple · 27 Nov 2020 at 14:55

mid_gen said:
Motion/light detectors and schedules.

It's great to just walk into my study and have all the lights come on the appropriate setting depending on time of day.

matt100 said:
Same, plus voice assistants.

Basically if I need to use a screen I've failed.

And door contact sensors - i find these massively more reliable than motion sensors.

So much so that i actually ditched the hue motion sensor near the front door in favour of a contact sensor. So far it's been 100% reliable.

I've also got some HA Automations/Scripts that will do certain things based on timings, or device states.

Semple · 27 Nov 2020 at 14:58

no idea what said:
Anyone using smart TRV's with Home Assistant? I want to be able to turn rads on/off based on time and an external temp sensor ideally.

I've missed the boat this year for looking at what i need to set up some smart heating - especially with some of the good deals.

But as a heavy HA user, my main requirement is that it needs to integrate well with HA, if it doesn't then i won't even consider it.

Will be interested to hear what you've chosen! (as well as how well it works

)

Semple · 27 Nov 2020 at 15:02

jellybeard999 said:
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/c/smart-home/c1693/w2

Noticed this and seems competitively priced. I know little about it, but it's all ZigBee compatible and I've seen a few of you mention that here

If it's zigbee compatible, then it *should* be compatible with other hubs. It's not a brand i've ever heard of, and is more than likely just lidl's branding of some other 3rd party components.

That said, it's reasonably cheap to have a play with, and looks like it supports the usual GAssistant/Alexa.

jellybeard999 · 27 Nov 2020 at 15:16

Semple said:
If it's zigbee compatible, then it *should* be compatible with other hubs. It's not a brand i've ever heard of, and is more than likely just lidl's branding of some other 3rd party components.

That said, it's reasonably cheap to have a play with, and looks like it supports the usual GAssistant/Alexa.

Yes. It's Lidls own brand, which as you say will be a rebranding of something else. I'm not looking to buy it, but thought others might be interested as it seems competitively priced.

Relentless81 · 27 Nov 2020 at 15:26

Semple said:
And door contact sensors - i find these massively more reliable than motion sensors.

Hi,

Can I use a contact sensor to trigger a Hue Bulb that's running off Zigbee on an Echo Plus and if so can it be setup so it can only trigger at certain times of the day? Also what happens if you're leaving and not entering, how would you avoid switching the bulb on when leaving?

Basically if its dark I want the front door to switch on the Hallway light which has the Hue bulb fitted, at the moment we have to ask (shout) the echo to switch it on and the nearest is in the kitchen

Thanks

Semple · 27 Nov 2020 at 15:36

Relentless81 said:
Hi,

Can I use a contact sensor to trigger a Hue Bulb that's running off Zigbee on an Echo Plus and if so can it be setup so it can only trigger at certain times of the day? Also what happens if you're leaving and not entering, how would you avoid switching the bulb on when leaving?

Basically if its dark I want the front door to switch on the Hallway light which has the Hue bulb fitted, at the moment we have to ask (shout) the echo to switch it on and the nearest is in the kitchen

Thanks

Yes i've got this set up mostly as you describe in Home Assistant - although i haven't bothered with the timing schedules, although i do know it's an option. As you mentioned, walking into the house isn't so much an issue as triggering another motion sensor that'll switch the bulb off after some time. I've got an automation script in Home Assistant that runs once the hallway bulb has been switched on to switch it off after three minutes - if the front door is opened again, or the motion sensor is activated again then the timer is reset.

Edit: I should add that it might not be possible to set that up in the Echo Plus - i'm not sure of its capabilities.

rodders · 27 Nov 2020 at 15:54

no idea what said:
It's a slippery slope from here on

I have talked myself out a few ideas lol

mid_gen · 27 Nov 2020 at 16:04

My Bosch Smart TRVs arrived. All installed and setup in 15 minutes

Will see how they get on....