How smart is your home?
- Thread starter tres
- Start date
Soldato
Mine is getting there, i have
2 x echo's + 1 x DOT
A Nest
2 Nest protects
3 x TP link wifi plugs
2 x LIFX colour bulbs
2 x Xiaomi IP cameras (not that smart!)
Pretty happy with that to be honest.
2 x echo's + 1 x DOT
A Nest
2 Nest protects
3 x TP link wifi plugs
2 x LIFX colour bulbs
2 x Xiaomi IP cameras (not that smart!)
Pretty happy with that to be honest.
Man of Honour
Sorry, I'm a bit slow responding to this. But, what? What exactly is the connection between operating a light switch by hand and growing crops? I see no equivalence of any type. My response remains: as with much of modern technology, "smart" house equipment is a solution in search of a problem. If you are doing it to save money, I can't see how it will pay back in less than twenty years, depending on how much you install. Lots, and it will never pay back. If you do it for bragging rights, well, it's your money. If you do it because you are lazy, fine. But it's not "better" except for very narrow and silly definitions of better. It it certainly does not supply anything that I want, never mind need.
Well, that is an unfortunate way to start to your reply
Normally using reductio ad absurdum makes it easier but I guess not
I'm not doing it to save money
I'm not doing it for bragging rights
I'm not lazy but nice to see acceptance of different races, genders and work ethics in the 21st century.
It's not better except it is?
That's great but I'm not sure why you feel the need to insult people who do
Associate
- Joined
- 6 Feb 2008
- Posts
- 1,750
We have Bosch Home Connect appliances (Washing Machine, Fridge and Oven).
The fridge is admittedly a bit of a gimmick. It has two cameras, one facing from the door inwards and one facing the door. So we can see what is in the fridge at any time. We can control fridge and freezer temperatures and it alarms us if either fails or a door gets left open.
The washing machine and oven though are much more useful in my opinion. Our washing machine is in the garage and so it notifies us when the programme has finished. This way we know when to go into the garage to collect the washing. Same with the oven. The oven can also be preheated remotely so that we can preheat it whilst watching TV in advance of wanting to cool for example.
All of this bosch home connect stuff can be controlled using our Echo. So we can ask Alexa how long until food is ready, until washing has finished, etc.
The fridge is admittedly a bit of a gimmick. It has two cameras, one facing from the door inwards and one facing the door. So we can see what is in the fridge at any time. We can control fridge and freezer temperatures and it alarms us if either fails or a door gets left open.
The washing machine and oven though are much more useful in my opinion. Our washing machine is in the garage and so it notifies us when the programme has finished. This way we know when to go into the garage to collect the washing. Same with the oven. The oven can also be preheated remotely so that we can preheat it whilst watching TV in advance of wanting to cool for example.
All of this bosch home connect stuff can be controlled using our Echo. So we can ask Alexa how long until food is ready, until washing has finished, etc.
Associate
Meridan is spot on. Most of it is utterly pointless nonsense aimed at geeks.
Soldato
Not very at the moment, as I struggle to see some advancements really yield any benefits. I'm limited to a Hue system that runs a few lights. Changing the colours is quite cool but we don't do it too often. Of more use is the geo fence, I like the lights just turning off when we leave and, more importantly, turn on before we arrive at home when it is dark in winter. However, it doesn't seem to be that smart. We've several devices controlling them, and if one leaves the house even with all the others still in it, the lights will still turn off.
Nest and 2x protects, z wave switches downstairs connected to SmartThings and a moisture sensor that can turn off the washing machine if it detects a leak. Also have a few wifi timer plugs for lights.
Still need to add a couple of cameras (for garage and workshop), a couple of blinds downstairs, a remote switch for the mains water (and a couple more moisture sensors) and a harmony hub when we get a new TV.
We also have an ever growing Sonos system.
Most of my system is designed to relate to the TV/HT area, security of our buildings and leak protection. Don't really see the need for simple rooms like bedrooms or bathrooms yet.
Edit: And a smart door lock and garage door openers at some point. We have "dumb" keycode locks for the garage and workshop but not in the house so far, would rather have something to alert me when the door is opened and be able to code key choices on the fly if anyone needs to get in.
Still need to add a couple of cameras (for garage and workshop), a couple of blinds downstairs, a remote switch for the mains water (and a couple more moisture sensors) and a harmony hub when we get a new TV.
We also have an ever growing Sonos system.
Most of my system is designed to relate to the TV/HT area, security of our buildings and leak protection. Don't really see the need for simple rooms like bedrooms or bathrooms yet.
Edit: And a smart door lock and garage door openers at some point. We have "dumb" keycode locks for the garage and workshop but not in the house so far, would rather have something to alert me when the door is opened and be able to code key choices on the fly if anyone needs to get in.
Soldato
I've got a bunch of Hue light bulbs, a couple of Lutron dimmers, a Google Home, a Nest Thermostat, 2 Nest Outdoor cameras and 1 indoor camera.
Eventually, I want to replace every light switch with a Lutron dimmer but at $60 each, it's going to get expensive. The bathroom alone has 7 switches, 9 including the closets off it. It's annoying having to go around turning all of those off individually.
I'm looking into setting up ceiling speakers around the house all hooked up to either Sonos or Airplay2. I'm leaning towards Airplay2 as AppleTVs are cheaper than the Sonos offerings. It'll integrate better with the Apple Alexa thing too.
Eventually, I want to replace every light switch with a Lutron dimmer but at $60 each, it's going to get expensive. The bathroom alone has 7 switches, 9 including the closets off it. It's annoying having to go around turning all of those off individually.
I'm looking into setting up ceiling speakers around the house all hooked up to either Sonos or Airplay2. I'm leaning towards Airplay2 as AppleTVs are cheaper than the Sonos offerings. It'll integrate better with the Apple Alexa thing too.
Soldato
Just moved into a new build so all I've fitted so far are 2 x nest Thermostats and 3 x Nest Protects. I already had a Google Home and I'm now looking at smart door locks.
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Lol at the lazy replies.
I went away for 4 days working. It turned into 7 weeks...
Luckily my house is full of automation tech. So I was able to turn off the heating. Set lights around the house to come on/off. Play music at times during the day/evening to make it look like someone was home.
Back in the day it was easy for people to light gas lamps. Only the lazy wanted to flick a switch...................
I went away for 4 days working. It turned into 7 weeks...
Luckily my house is full of automation tech. So I was able to turn off the heating. Set lights around the house to come on/off. Play music at times during the day/evening to make it look like someone was home.
Back in the day it was easy for people to light gas lamps. Only the lazy wanted to flick a switch...................
Permabanned
just got my yale keyfree lock and door, will be adding smartthings, lightwaveRF and some home security, and smart plugs of course 
Associate
Dumb as hell my house is! We have to do everything ourselves! In this day and ago of all things! 
How well does everything integrate?
I'm planning on buying a new house later in the year and would be looking at getting Hive plugs/lights/motion sensors/window sensors/heating kit then add some lightwaveRF wall sockets/dimmers.
I also want to get some Nest Protect's and some Cameras (not decided which yet).
But really I don't want 8 apps to control everything, so does it mostly integrate well with one app (i.e. if I want to turn off the wall socket, or dim the light, or hush my alarm, or turn down the temp can I do so using one app, or am I likely to have to switch between Hive's, Nest's, Lightwave's, etc?)
I'm planning on buying a new house later in the year and would be looking at getting Hive plugs/lights/motion sensors/window sensors/heating kit then add some lightwaveRF wall sockets/dimmers.
I also want to get some Nest Protect's and some Cameras (not decided which yet).
But really I don't want 8 apps to control everything, so does it mostly integrate well with one app (i.e. if I want to turn off the wall socket, or dim the light, or hush my alarm, or turn down the temp can I do so using one app, or am I likely to have to switch between Hive's, Nest's, Lightwave's, etc?)
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Jan 2006
- Posts
- 4,226
I've got a few lightwaveRF lamp modules which work quite nicely but at present have to be controlled using a lightwave remote, my intention in the future is to have a setup where everything can be controlled using a harmony remote (I'm not huge interested in voice control), with something like a raspberry pi running a backend like domoticz or some such but as has been said there's so many options out there it's hard to know which route to take at the moment.