Another thread about Smart Homes 
Basically I'm hoping to get a good idea of what I'll need later in the year so hoping to get a pretty decent list and budget set aside for the things I want prior to buying a new house later in the year and get a better understanding of some aspects
Essentially hoping to do it in 2 batches, the first immediately after moving in then the second a few months later, then obviously anything else can follow that
So initially I'd be looking to purchase:
A few months later I'd want to change the sockets using LightwaveRF sockets
Obviously the numbers and subsequently prices are just best guesses based on the type of house I'll be buying, but that can be easily changed.
The dimmers would mostly be used with standard bulbs as I'd be able to control lighting with LightwaveRF dimmers and only have Hue in the living room, office and bedroom. Initially I'd just be buying the white bulbs but would be upgrading to colour in the living room and bedroom, this would be in the 2nd batch too but I'd have to wait to see I'm happy with the Hue bulbs to begin with.
Thanks in advance.
Basically I'm hoping to get a good idea of what I'll need later in the year so hoping to get a pretty decent list and budget set aside for the things I want prior to buying a new house later in the year and get a better understanding of some aspects
Essentially hoping to do it in 2 batches, the first immediately after moving in then the second a few months later, then obviously anything else can follow that
So initially I'd be looking to purchase:
- £279.00 - 1x Nest Learning Thermostat
- £199.99 - 1x Samsung SmartThings Starter Kit
- £89.97 - 3x SmartThings Multipurpose Sensor
- £29.99 - 1x SmartThings Motion Sensor
- £44.99 - 1x SmartThings Power Outlet
- £59.99 - 1x Philips Hue White Wireless Lighting LED Starter Kit
- £59.96 - 4x Philips Hue White Wireless LED 9.5W Light Bulb
A few months later I'd want to change the sockets using LightwaveRF sockets
- £89.98 - 1x Lightwave Link
- £494.78 - 11x LightwaveRF 1 Gang Dimmer
- £319.84 - 8x LightwaveRF 2 Gang Socket
- £279.84 - 8x LightwaveRF 1 Gang Socket
- £224.76 - 1x Logitech Harmony Elite
- ? 4-6x Colour (LifX/Hue/etc) bulbs
- ? 2x Nest Protect
- ? 3x CCTV
- What are the recommendations on Hue/LifX? I see that LifX was being recommended more than Hue due to colour range, brightness and no need for the Hue Bridge but Gen 3 allegedly fixed the issue with the colours and brightness, I've also seen a lot of complaints with the LifX bulbs dropping off recently, so would I be better to go with the Hue bulbs as opposed to LifX?
- How do the bulbs work regarding switches? I assume the light needs to be left turned on for it to work (otherwise it'll obviously have no power), so does it just set the brightness to 0 or something similar when you turn off the bulb?
- Is there a 'default' setting for when a socket is turned off and back on? e.g. say I set colour to red and 10% brightness, turn the wall socket off then back on, does it go back to say white 100% or stick red 10%? or alternatively say I turn the bulb off with the app then turn the socket off and on again, will the light simply stay off? or does it go back on?
- Do dimmers work with Hue bulbs? In my 'plan' I want to replace all wall sockets with dimmers (I can't seem to find simple on/off switches from LightwaveRF? am I just missing something obvious?). I don't expect the dimmer switches to work with dimming the hue bulbs, but will it cause any issues?
- Does anyone have feedback on the Nest Protect's, I've seen a few complaints about them randomly going off and being unable to turn the alarm off as it's not responding, although I'm not sure if that was on the latest generation.
- I believe SmartThings will integrate with the Hue Bulbs and LightwaveRF, as such I should be able to control everything through SmartThings app and use of the Logitech Harmony Elite, any reason to think otherwise?
- What would you recommend for CCTV? I've mostly been seeing the Arlo's, ideally I'd need 3 (one outside on Garage, one inside front door, one outside back door)
- Any other must haves that I'm missing out on? I have really no interest in the voice controlled devices like Google Home/Echo/Dot/etc or smart locks. I would be looking to get a robo vac and 'smart' doorbell at some point but that's likely to further off.
Obviously the numbers and subsequently prices are just best guesses based on the type of house I'll be buying, but that can be easily changed.
The dimmers would mostly be used with standard bulbs as I'd be able to control lighting with LightwaveRF dimmers and only have Hue in the living room, office and bedroom. Initially I'd just be buying the white bulbs but would be upgrading to colour in the living room and bedroom, this would be in the 2nd batch too but I'd have to wait to see I'm happy with the Hue bulbs to begin with.
Thanks in advance.
