how smart has your home gone?

[CapitalOne]

Oh and does a fitbit alta hr count too? Ikve got that all IFTTTed up too.

Current project is to use IFTTT to alert me when my ETH trade blotter google sheet shows me in the money with a cash register sound. Sadly the conditions aren’t there with ETH at the moment for that ever to be triggered

 

[CapitalOne]

Eek, just popped in the kitchen for a top-up and noticed my other half prepping the Annova for dinner! I think thats all the devices admitted to now.

 

[matt100]

There are 2 ways:

Easy: get a router with built in 4g backup like the tp link ac750 and the best sim deal you can get
Harder: use something like the asus 3200rt with a huawei usb dongle

Second is harder because you need to play around in the settings a bit and use a supported dongle. Obviously you need to run the router off of a power strip UPS like one of those big APC ones with the biggest battery you can find (plus you probably want another to run your hubs and 1 echo!)

I love the fact than when my netatmo detects an air temp of 0.5c (close enough to freezing for me) it can set the heating and turn my “stealth light strips” blue so when I wake up I know what I’m in for.

Another very smart thing (using smartthings) is text to speech for sonos, so you can have it say “back door opened” or the like. Useful too to check at say 9pm if any windows are open and then sonos can tell you which ones to shut before you go to bed. TBH the next thing to get is split box smart air con plus blinds.

Hmm.. you lost me at the self evident now you've said it.. UPS... I'll live with a powercut every now and then

Love the idea with the temperature/lights and to be honest I'd be getting onto the blind and lightwave sockets if I were likely to stay in this house longer.

The hue entertainment thing is also edging closer to being useful, I'd love to sync the strip behind the TV with the screen but it's Mac/PC only at present.

 

[CapitalOne]

Aye, and don’t forget Hue Disco...

 

[father-ted]

Hue lights in disco mode is great for parties.
I have them in the living room and also use them for mood lighting.
They definitely get more use in winter with the dark nights.

 

[Trifid]

Nest Thermostat
Nest Hello Door Bell
Sonos in Lounge, hallway, kitchen and bedroom
Hue Colour lights in Lounge, Hallway, Bedroom
2x Google Home Mini's
CCTV front and back (not sure if this counts as Smart? I can view it on my phone)
NAS

 

[Doobedoo]

I have a smart finger installed. It can do all sorts of clever things like turn on lights, operate a tv remote and many more things .

Falling that my misses can do it for me via voice command.

 

[robj20]

Currently got,

Honeywell Evohome, so full control of each room.
Echo Show in the bedroom.
Echo gen 2 in the livingroom.
Nest Protect in the landing.

Also got another Nest Protect to be fitted in the dining room outside the kitchen, i might just wire it into a standard plug for now and fit it to the wall.

And just this minute ordered,

Hue bridge
Hue motion sensor to control the front door outside light.
Hue white E27 for front door outside light.
Innr colour B22 for the babies bedroom.

Will obviously add more hue controlled lights as we go. Really want them to bring a UK size switch out, battery powered that just replaces the standard switch.
I would love a door bell based camera but im not paying for a subscription.

Its a shame the Nest Protect motion sensor cant be used to trigger events as well, would be handy to turn the landing light on as well as its own night light.

 

[Martynt74]

@robj20

Whilst the subscriptions unlock most of the recording functions. The doorbells still work ok without the subscription. You still get the alerts and live video functions.

 

[Squid Vicious]

Alexa Echo Dots in key rooms and integrated with Hue and Harmony.
Philips Hue Lighting in study, bedroom and hallway and looking at options to automate lighting in living room and kitchen as probably better value to look at smart switch rather than the bulbs due to the numbers involved.
Logitech harmony driving AV stack (Virgin V6 box, Yamaha sound bar and LG EF9500 tv)

Some additional home security (thinking Netatmo) and undecided on smart thermostat at the mo.

 

[robj20]

@robj20

Whilst the subscriptions unlock most of the recording functions. The doorbells still work ok without the subscription. You still get the alerts and live video functions.

That's it I would want it to record onto an SD card really so it acts as a security camera.

 

[ubern00b]

I have just moved into my new house and am trying to get some things 'smart'. I have 2 smart sockets which I have set up using the Smart Life app. I have linked my Smart Life account to the Google Home app and I can see the devices and turn them on and off from within the Google Home app.

My Home Mini however says it 'cannot find any remote devices linked to my account' when trying to issue voice commands. I can see them there in the app! I have issued the 'sync devices' voice command but still nothing.

Any ideas?

EDIT: Turns out it's the voice command I was using. '''Turn lounge on/off" works. Need to work out how to refine that now

 

[ElliotHand]

I'm going to be commencing a fairly major renovations in my home in January and so currently wondering what smart home devices to buy. My big concern is that will they all talk to each other or am I better off waiting for a particular eco-system to win out as at the moment it seems quite fragmented.

I currently have Nest smoke alarms and would like the Nest thermostat (as I had it in my previous house). I also have sonos speakers and an alexa show (which is great but I struggle to get to work with the speakers).

 

[matt100]

I'm going to be commencing a fairly major renovations in my home in January and so currently wondering what smart home devices to buy. My big concern is that will they all talk to each other or am I better off waiting for a particular eco-system to win out as at the moment it seems quite fragmented.

I currently have Nest smoke alarms and would like the Nest thermostat (as I had it in my previous house). I also have sonos speakers and an alexa show (which is great but I struggle to get to work with the speakers).

It really depends on what you want to do.. if it's multi room music then I think you'll need to be in an ecosystem for that but otherwise they all work with each other pretty well.

Give us some scenarios you'd like to create and we/I can see if there re any potential gotchas.

Remember you can put smartthings in the middle of it all to cross some compatibility stuff off the list.

 

[matt100]

I have a question of my own actually.

My house is full of Echos and I'm getting a bit tired with how dumb they are, I'm also deep into the google ecosystem so considering a switch to all google home product.

My questions are:

• Can I mix brands and retain spotify multiroom (within the google ecosystem, like a google home and for example a JBL whatever with Google assistant built in.. can they be in the same group)?
• If I went fully 3rd party can I retain spotify multiroom?
• Am i able to set devices into different groups for multiroom? For example something which irritates me with my echos doing this is I can have either all which is the group I've created or single speakers.. I can't have for example my top floor echos in one group that ALSO sit in an "everywhere" group so if I don't want the music all over I have to have a single speaker

Anything else I should know moving from Echo to Home? I have Nest, Ring, Smartthings, Hue etc. Nothing especially niche.

 

[ElliotHand]

Well, multi-room music is certainly on my list of requirements. The house is being rewired anyway so I was thinking of installing wired ceiling speakers in the downstairs and connecting them to a sonos bridge but would be happy to use homepods / etc etc if that's going to be better.

I like the idea of hue lighting in our entertaining area and so will look into that. I had the Ring door bell on my list and would also like the idea of electric blinds you can set on a timer / smart system so that the house appears more lived in when you're away. From a heating perspective I'd also want 2 zones.

Other than that I'm a bit of a newbie on the topic and not really sure what else is available / I should consider. My concern around the eco-systems stems from the Nest products not forming part of the apple home environment as I like them more than the hive devices that are supported.

 

[matt100]

Well, multi-room music is certainly on my list of requirements. The house is being rewired anyway so I was thinking of installing wired ceiling speakers in the downstairs and connecting them to a sonos bridge but would be happy to use homepods / etc etc if that's going to be better.

I like the idea of hue lighting in our entertaining area and so will look into that. I had the Ring door bell on my list and would also like the idea of electric blinds you can set on a timer / smart system so that the house appears more lived in when you're away. From a heating perspective I'd also want 2 zones.

Other than that I'm a bit of a newbie on the topic and not really sure what else is available / I should consider. My concern around the eco-systems stems from the Nest products not forming part of the apple home environment as I like them more than the hive devices that are supported.

Considering you've mentioned homepods is it fair to assume you're in the Apple Ecosystem?

I think your fear may stem from homekit support which is poor. Google, Amazon and Samsung are all pretty universal and agnostic so they'll work well with Apple, the nly challenge would be if you wanted multi room apple music because due to their stupid ecosystem lock in you're stuck with homepods.. lovely as they are, they're still £300 speakers.

 

[ping8781]

I have a question of my own actually.

My house is full of Echos and I'm getting a bit tired with how dumb they are, I'm also deep into the google ecosystem so considering a switch to all google home product.

My questions are:

• Can I mix brands and retain spotify multiroom (within the google ecosystem, like a google home and for example a JBL whatever with Google assistant built in.. can they be in the same group)?

Yes, as long as they have Google Assistant (chromecast) built in you will see them in the google home app and be able to talk/listen to them (spotify etc) just like an actual Google Home. Confirm this for each actual device you will buy but from my knowledge the JBL ones will

• If I went fully 3rd party can I retain spotify multiroom?

Yes, as above

• Am i able to set devices into different groups for multiroom? For example something which irritates me with my echos doing this is I can have either all which is the group I've created or single speakers.. I can't have for example my top floor echos in one group that ALSO sit in an "everywhere" group so if I don't want the music all over I have to have a single speaker

Yes, you can add a speaker to any number of groups you like. I have 1x GH and 2x GH minis. I have 4x Groups. ALL, Lounge and Bedroom, Lounge and Kitchen, Kitchen and Bedroom. and obviously can still play from each device individually as well. I am using Spotify but also works with Radio or other sources (Google Play Music etc).

Anything else I should know moving from Echo to Home? I have Nest, Ring, Smartthings, Hue etc. Nothing especially niche.

Not that i can think of, just take the time to create your rooms, name things sensibly and link your accounts and you should be good to go

 

[matt100]

Interesting thanks.

So chromecast and google assistant in this instance are entirely interchangeable concepts? One and the same basically for multiroom?

 

[ping8781]

I think so, however, it's worth checking the specific device you want to use has the functions you need (chromecast built in). There may be some devices that have the assistant but not the chromecast functionality although i'm not certain