how smart has your home gone?

[matt100]

Please tell me you’ve put this on YouTube lol.

I haven't because I thought it was unkind, he properly hurt himself, I only realised it had happened as I skipped through some videos and wondered why we has sat on the pavement.. rewound an realised it was because he'd almost knocked himself out poor guy.

We're talking the pace these guys walk between bins head turned then turns back just at the wrong time to smack himself full on in the head with a lamppost, clean shot on his head nowhere else..

To the point where you can hear the clang OVER the sound of the lorry which was by that point pretty much outside my house.

Poor guy.. I suspect that was the end of his day!

 

[matt100]

ok ok... watch from the start.. keep an eye on the right at about 50s.. sound up high.

 

[Salty22]

Haha that’s brilliant.
My friend from work has a video from his dash cam that’s freaky lucky but he won’t let me post it.
He left his hand break off in Halfords car park, it sat there for 5 mins then somehow the wind from a car going past gave it the little shove needed to make it roll.
His civic rolls backwards straight between two cars without touching either and comes to a perfect stop in a parking space two bays away.
About 15 people crowd the car then as he comes out

 

[fuzzylogic]

ok ok... watch from the start.. keep an eye on the right at about 50s.. sound up high.

Actually crying laughing at this.

 

[Ancientpencil]

wow .. other than led bulbs i'll stick to manual control of every thing I use ,and control is the word I like . I wouldn't want to lose it

I'm with you on this. I don't fear technology but mostly it's a matter of what budget I have and all these things are outside my budget.

I heard a story of someone babysitting, being unable to find light switches, sitting in the dark and waiting for the parents to return … … to talk the lights on! I know I'll be that person one day.

 

[Semple]

What's the cross-app support like for smart devices though, i've specced up a lot of things to buy for our new place, but i'm still worried about having to have 10 different apps to control each thing.

I also wonder what the easiest way of making something smart is, for example a table lamp can be made smart in 3 ways:
- A smart wall socket with a normal lamp plugged in
- A smart plug adapter, which sits between a normal wall socket and a normal lamp
- A smart bulb, which can also use a normal wall socket


Here's a few things i've planned:
- Nest thermostat
- Nest smoke/carbon monoxide alarm
- Nest doorbell
- Hue bulbs for ceiling lights
- LightwaveRF sockets OR tplink plugs for table/floor lamps
- mySmartBlinds for remote/scheduled blind automation
- Motion sensors (probably samsung smarthings) in kitchen/hallway
- Loop electricity and gas monitor
- Cameras/Security system

And some things that would be nice if the prices weren't extreme:
- GROHE water guard
- Smart washing machine
- Smart dishwasher
- Smart oven

 

[matt100]

I'm with you on this. I don't fear technology but mostly it's a matter of what budget I have and all these things are outside my budget.

I heard a story of someone babysitting, being unable to find light switches, sitting in the dark and waiting for the parents to return … … to talk the lights on! I know I'll be that person one day.

You retain manual control over everything regardless of how automated it is, there's always an override. I mean you can continue to use the normal switches with hue for example, if the light is off at the switch it's off and that's that.

Does remind me of a fun situation though, we had a friend of the family doing some work in our house and we left him to it to go away for the weekend recently.. I thought I'd do him a solid and leave the radio on via the echos..

Anyway we heard on the grapevine he didn't like them.. couldn't turn them off so I went to the recordings..

"alexia... alexia please... please.. alexia.. ALEXIA.. please alexia"

 

[vvalter]

I recently bought a second hand 'clapper' for bedroom lights. Does that count?

 

[matt100]

What's the cross-app support like for smart devices though, i've specced up a lot of things to buy for our new place, but i'm still worried about having to have 10 different apps to control each thing.

I also wonder what the easiest way of making something smart is, for example a table lamp can be made smart in 3 ways:
- A smart wall socket with a normal lamp plugged in
- A smart plug adapter, which sits between a normal wall socket and a normal lamp
- A smart bulb, which can also use a normal wall socket


Here's a few things i've planned:
- Nest thermostat
- Nest smoke/carbon monoxide alarm
- Nest doorbell
- Hue bulbs for ceiling lights
- LightwaveRF sockets OR tplink plugs for table/floor lamps
- mySmartBlinds for remote/scheduled blind automation
- Motion sensors (probably samsung smarthings) in kitchen/hallway
- Loop electricity and gas monitor
- Cameras/Security system

And some things that would be nice if the prices weren't extreme:
- GROHE water guard
- Smart washing machine
- Smart dishwasher
- Smart oven

ok.. what do you mean with cross app support?

Ideally I would say you set it all up and then control with voice assistants.. I almost never have to use the apps, I tried bluetooth bulbs forever ago and that scared me off apps forever.. you need it to be more seamless than that.

On your lamp question.. I'd say bulbs (in fact I'd more than say it, I've done it) because if you're using hue you need a hue hub, so thats one hub you absolutely need. If you want to go with smart sockets then you'll need something like a lightwave hub and socket which is a lot more expense and more complexity to replace the functionalist of just another hue bulb.

Similar although not quite as complicated with the smart plug but again it adds bulk and potentially another hub.

Plus with anything other than bulbs you lose all the dimming functionality.. so thats simple to me, stick with just bulbs.

On your plan I'd say:

- Nest thermostat - sensible but consider hive or tado
- Nest smoke/carbon monoxide alarm - sensible
- Nest doorbell - is that available in the UK yet? Consider ring, with amazon ownership it's now super cheap and well backed
- Hue bulbs for ceiling lights - no brainer
- LightwaveRF sockets OR tplink plugs for table/floor lamps - why not bulbs? I don't understand why you'd treat lamps differently to ceiling lamps.. if it's cost, look at INNR on Amazon, you can get B22.E27/E14 and GU10 which covers pretty much every option
- mySmartBlinds for remote/scheduled blind automation - know nothing about blinds
- Motion sensors (probably samsung smarthings) in kitchen/hallway - sensible.. you can get compatible xiaomi sensors cheap too
- Loop electricity and gas monitor - no idea what this is
- Cameras/Security system - could sit well with nest

but then the rest of it... why?

I have a smart dishwasher and it is utterly pointless, I can turn it on from a distance and get alerts about salt and rinse aid but I can't do anything about it until I'm in front of it so I find the whole thing a total gimmick.

Having invested fairly heavily and (disclosure I guess) working partly in the field I would say heat, light, entertainment.. all suit it very well but there is a lot of smart home snake oil out there.. think about what you want to achieve and whether it's worth the premium.

 

[utajoker]

a smart kettle could be useful to boil it before you get there but i'm not sure on appliances like washer and dishwasher other than to tell you when they are done, you need to be in front of them to load/unload them.

what do people use motion sensors for?

They turn your lights on when you enter the hall way but how long do they stay on for? Do you have one on each end to turn off as you pass it again?

 

[matt100]

I use mine to trigger different groups of lights depending on the time of day and then when they haven't seen motion for x amount of time (varies throughout the day too) they automatically go off again.

Love them..

 

[fonzee]

And why people would willingly invite Amazon, Google et al into their house, and pay for the privilege I still cannot get my head around.

Nail head. As an avid listener of security focused podcasts it's scary just how much has been exposed, even in the last 2 years. The big players should know better, the little players simply don't have the expertise in their design.

Just a bunch of devices for lazy people I always gathered anyway?

 

[LeeUK]

Not all that smart.

Wireless stat/controls for the boiler and 1x wifi cctv camera.

 

[Proc]

That Ring vid looks pretty good quality, been thinking about getting a Ring for a while. But with all the mixed reports was unsure, think my WIFI would be an issue as even though the router in by the front door, its not very strong. Still might pick up a Ring 2 and see.

 

[matt100]

Man alive what are some of you doing that you think someone else would be so interested in snooping on?

I mean I strongly disagree with the police state type "if you have nothing to hide then why worry" I totally understand privacy is important etc but the whole risk/reward thing comes into play surely?

It's got nothing to do with being lazy either, my setup allows me to control the music and lights with my voice/set timers etc which is great when you're cooking etc.. similarly I can ensure all the lights are off without having to cover 3 floors of the house.. I can make sure things come on/off when I'm not here if I wish, I can confirm the heat is off when I'm not there and have it learn my usage patterns etc.

I am absolutely certain we spew out more info via ANPR, CCTV, cookies etc than you do with all this, it's somewhat inevitable anyway...

 

[uchuff]

Yeah I'm happy enough having an Echo Dot in the kitchen but not sure I'd put an Echo Show on the bedside table.

what do people use motion sensors for?

They turn your lights on when you enter the hall way but how long do they stay on for? Do you have one on each end to turn off as you pass it again?

Our motion detectors are in the hallway which is the main entrance into the house and also the most common route upstairs. Thus when coming home in the dark lights come on automatically when you go through the front door. Similarly they come on automatically and turn off again when we go up to bed. Useful if carrying up kids, glasses of water etc.

The duration they stay on after motion is no longer detected is configurable, I think we have it on 4 minutes or something at the moment.

 

[platypus]

Man alive what are some of you doing that you think someone else would be so interested in snooping on?

Living my life. Which is completely uninteresting and at this point in time of very little value. But these companies profit by selling the data one is blithely willing to hand over. At this point in time perhaps it isn't a problem. But when insurance companies start getting hold of datasets from these sorts of companies whats to stop things that are recorded by these sorts of services being used when deciding whether or not you should get health insurance, for example? Or you should pay a premium? We've got a government that have demonstrably gotten hold of peoples data illegally, whats to stop them using datasets to influence policy?

The bigger issue as I see it though is that the following generations are just being taught thats its ok to have no privacy. The older generations are usually (broadly generalising of course) technologically quite behind, and its common enough that they get targeted in scams online, so it worries me when people do just think these sorts of things are ok, and don't even consider the consequences.

I can't control CCTV nor ANPR capturing me, I can stop companies that want to profit from my data from entering my home.

 

[matt100]

Living my life. Which is completely uninteresting and at this point in time of very little value. But these companies profit by selling the data one is blithely willing to hand over. At this point in time perhaps it isn't a problem. But when insurance companies start getting hold of datasets from these sorts of companies whats to stop things that are recorded by these sorts of services being used when deciding whether or not you should get health insurance, for example? Or you should pay a premium? We've got a government that have demonstrably gotten hold of peoples data illegally, whats to stop them using datasets to influence policy?

The bigger issue as I see it though is that the following generations are just being taught thats its ok to have no privacy. The older generations are usually (broadly generalising of course) technologically quite behind, and its common enough that they get targeted in scams online, so it worries me when people do just think these sorts of things are ok, and don't even consider the consequences.

I can't control CCTV nor ANPR capturing me, I can stop companies that want to profit from my data from entering my home.

I suppose I get all that but I'm pretty certain you're just excusing yourself from these datasets not making any kind of meaningful stand and in the meantime potentially missing out on a bunch of interesting new tech etc.

But fair enough I suppose if that's what you want to do.. I mean I take your point on the insurance thing too but my instinct is that that would end up regulated before it had gone too black mirror and if it does then you'll either be required to provide the data to access the services or just required to provide the data full stop.

And for what it's worth.. certainly for me there's nothing blithe about this.. it's a risk/reward calculation and being dumped into a massive pool of metadata doesn't really worry me that much.

I mean if push really really came to shove and I concluded philips were evil surely I could just sort out the router part of the equation to push my connection through a VPN and make me basically anonymous anyway?

I assume plenty of people objected to the doomsday book.. plenty object to the census.. in the end all you're doing is making your own life harder.

Obviously this thread isn't the place but I still thing this is a very odd place to draw the line.

 

[platypus]

I think for me where the trust breaks is hoping that anything regulated would be done so in our favour. Our government does not have a track record in protecting our best interests through data legislation.

 

[matt100]

I think for me where the trust breaks is hoping that anything regulated would be done so in our favour. Our government does not have a track record in protecting our best interests through data legislation.

No.. the EU does (I dare anyone to suggest the UK government would have dreamed GDPR up) but that's a bit moot now I guess..

My point is.. right now, there's got to be close to zero risk in this.. I mean if it's a slippery slope to us all having to have heart monitors to price up health insurance and prep transplant teams for your imminent death then fine.. react, push back then.. like people are a bit with facebook now they've realised what it is..

All you're doing now is removing yourself from the pretty tame benefits of having smarthome products.. seems like a very early over reaction to me.. but then it's horses for courses again