how smart has your home gone?

Bradmax57 said:
Quick question, i've got 10 GU10 bulbs in my kitchen on 2 separate circuits, one has 6 bulbs and the other 4, if I buy the bridge and 10 bulbs what happens to the existing switches are they redundant?
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It's a shame they're on two separate circuits otherwise you could have just kept the bulbs and added a fibaro dimmer behind the switch - just did this for two ceiling pendants with multiple GU9s that were on the same circuit (switched the single dimmer switch for a momentary switch to physically control the dimming should I need to)

It could still be done with 2 fibaros but at that point costs start getting similar (approx £200 for Hue hub and 10x GU10s vs £170 for 2 fibaro and a smartthings hub for z-wave).

I've still got to do the kitchen which has 15 spots on a dimmer and don't fancy paying £250+ for Hue GU10s or even £105 for a set of the cheapest Tradfri - so will be going for a Fibaro dimmer again.
 
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Anyone got any smart blinds?

I've not seen many blinds which are both electric and also smart (compatible with Google Home). Would also like battery/solar powered and either some kind of "perfect fit" with the option to change between blackout and also have a "mid way" setting.

Lots of criteria really and just not sure if what i want exists at the moment. Given whatever i get is likely to have a hefty cost i'd rather wait to tick all boxes than go half way now only to have to replace in the future. Especially as it'll have virtually no resale value.
 
Squid Vicious said:
It's a shame they're on two separate circuits otherwise you could have just kept the bulbs and added a fibaro dimmer behind the switch - just did this for two ceiling pendants with multiple GU9s that were on the same circuit (switched the single dimmer switch for a momentary switch to physically control the dimming should I need to)

It could still be done with 2 fibaros but at that point costs start getting similar (approx £200 for Hue hub and 10x GU10s vs £170 for 2 fibaro and a smartthings hub for z-wave).

I've still got to do the kitchen which has 15 spots on a dimmer and don't fancy paying £250+ for Hue GU10s or even £105 for a set of the cheapest Tradfri - so will be going for a Fibaro dimmer again.
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I have 19 GU10s on 3 circuits, 2 led ribbon circuits and one circuit with 3 pendant lights, Fibaro all the way.
 
4 bathroom GU10 colour Hue on one circuit with the dimmer switch too were installed yesterday; alongside 2 outdoor Hue lights set to sunrise/sunset.

Got Hive installed too for Heating and Water, so still getting to grips with that.

I'm thinking of getting an iPad Mini to use for all the Smart Home stuff, including Sonos. Would you recommend that, or simply sticking with my mobile? (Seems an epic single point of failure).
 
I've just setup a Home Assistant server (well docker on my Unraid) and slowly getting hooked on automation. It started so innocently with my outside lights coming on 10 minutes before the sunset and turning off 5 minutes after sunrise. Now I've got the thing checking where my wife and I are and depending on location and time of day then it puts heating/lights on to welcome us home etc. Very addictive.
 
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I've found the opposite actually. I wanted to get more into smart home but I've pretty much lost interest in it. Not interested in spending loads replacing the spotlights, see that as a waste. Can't do heating as our boiler is from the stone ages.

So far we have:
Echo Show
Echo dot x2
Phillips hue lights in a couple a few rooms
 
If you connect a standard Echo to your external speakers does it only then send sound to those speakers. Could do with it only sending sound when I choose. I won't always want the sound through the external amp.
 
robj20 said:
If you connect a standard Echo to your external speakers does it only then send sound to those speakers. Could do with it only sending sound when I choose. I won't always want the sound through the external amp.
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Yes, if it's connected then it uses that connection all the time you can't specify.. but then what you might want to look at is something like a dot or echo for normal use and then an echo input for your external speakers and use them as separate things.
 
Its a shame you cant give a command to direct audio via the stereo connector. I guess an input could work, how do these cope with 2 echo next to each other.
 
robj20 said:
Its a shame you cant give a command to direct audio via the stereo connector. I guess an input could work, how do these cope with 2 echo next to each other.
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Totally fine, in fact you can set a different trigger word for each.. for example we have an echo and a spot in the bedroom, the echo is "alexa" the spot is "computer" because it's used much less often.

Easy peasy
 
robj20 said:
If you connect a standard Echo to your external speakers does it only then send sound to those speakers. Could do with it only sending sound when I choose. I won't always want the sound through the external amp.
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You can Bluetooth from echo to a Bluetooth enabled amp. You can get the echo to use the speakers when you want and disconnect the bluetooth and use the echo's speaker otherwise. I do this all the time with my Dot in my kitchen and my AV Amp in there.
 
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