# Smart home tech



## Chew Toy McCoy

What are you guys rockin?  I'm mostly just hue lights, including motion sensors in my kitchen and walk-in closet - the 2 most common lights that don't get turned off upon exiting.  I also have a standalone motion sensor nightlight in my bathroom.  Between timers and motion sensors I sometimes get appalled when I go to other's house and they actually have to touch a switch.


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## Alli

I feel the same way. All the lights in our house are controlled by Alexa and Google. I have an Alexa in every room. One in the bedroom and one in the adjoining bathroom - cause those two feet are so important. Four in the living room cause I have a FireTV which answers to Alexa, a Show and a Dot, and a Google Home sitting by my work area. 

The kitchen is also controlled by all these digital assistants. The den has another Alexa and Google, and the 2nd bedroom only has a single Alexa right now. The junk room is old fashioned. If we ever get it fixed back up, it will get the Spot from the living room.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Alli said:


> I feel the same way. All the lights in our house are controlled by Alexa and Google. I have an Alexa in every room. One in the bedroom and one in the adjoining bathroom - cause those two feet are so important. Four in the living room cause I have a FireTV which answers to Alexa, a Show and a Dot, and a Google Home sitting by my work area.
> 
> The kitchen is also controlled by all these digital assistants. The den has another Alexa and Google, and the 2nd bedroom only has a single Alexa right now. The junk room is old fashioned. If we ever get it fixed back up, it will get the Spot from the living room.




I have 7 ways to turn the lights on and off in my bedroom.  That wasn't the intention.  That's just how technology progressed.


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## Eric

It looks like we're all automated these days, I get all put out if something doesn't work and I have to get up and manually turn off my light like a caveman. I have 5 echos and two google homes in our single story 3 bedroom home. I can say "Alexa" from anywhere and I will be heard.  I mostly use Lutron switches but I also have several Hue bulbs that I'll use for some lamps. 

I also have a few of the Amazon wifi plugs, those things are cheap and work great, just plug it in and the Amazon Alexa app finds it right away, easiest home automation device I've ever used. I also use a couple of Wemo light switches for easy on/off automation. 

For home alarm I've setup the Nest Secure, it's a perfect solution for our home and you can opt in or out of monthly monitoring and during the pandemic we don't leave as much so we don't need it, if we do we can turn it on monthly if we want.


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## fooferdoggie

all our house is smart more just because I needed something to do. but I have the lights on always when we are home it actually costs more to buy a motion sensor and sometimes they are slow. when we wake a single light strip coems on at its slowest setting and ramps up then another and another. the window ac and fan go off and the music starts.


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## Alli

fooferdoggie said:


> all our house is smart more just because I needed something to do. but I have the lights on always when we are home it actually costs more to buy a motion sensor and sometimes they are slow. when we wake a single light strip coems on at its slowest setting and ramps up then another and another. the window ac and fan go off and the music starts.




That sounds nice. I opted against any motion sensors. I have emergency lights for when the power goes out unexpectedly. I usually turn them off immediately. If I take a trip to the loo in the middle of the night, I keep it dark. The nicest thing about retirement at this point is that the light and the birds can wake me naturally.


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## chagla

got echo plus for $75 now.. usually it's twice the price and it has a built-in hub. personally prefer google which seems more intelligent than alexa. you can ask it questions!


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## Alli

chagla said:


> got echo plus for $75 now.. usually it's twice the price and it has a built-in hub. personally prefer google which seems more intelligent than alexa. you can ask it questions!




We’ve got two of the Google hubs in the house. Don’t ask me why. I had no idea there was an Echo Plus. Will have to look into that.


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## fooferdoggie

my wife battles with both to get them to hear her. they used to be too sensitive now they are not sensitive enough. she has too yell sometimes .She uses them a lot to control music as she is blind and its faster.


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## lizkat

My house remains in human-operated mode, mostly so that in retirement all my muscles don't completely atrophy at the same time.   I do let my laptops announce the hour,  in case I happen to be in a room with them while needing a blunt reminder of the flight of my remaining time on the planet.  Such a reminder is useful if I've been wasting time on yet another compelling episode of Suits, for instance.

I thought about getting motion sensor lights for the deck one year when the whole neighborhood along the ridge here was being hassled by some lively little juvie raccoons using the area as a playground and training center for how to take lids off trashcans and birdseed storage containers.

Fortunately before I got around to blowing money on the lights, a fishercat settled into the 'hood and starting teaching anything smaller than a border collie how to run really fast or else become a bedtime snack. 

Man those fishers are ugly, ill tempered and have a mating call that could wake the dead in another county.  But as long as you don't have outdoor kitties or some small dog, they're your friend when it comes to clearing an area of critters you might not be all that fond of anyhow,  and they mostly mind their own business out in the woods or meadows...  as opposed to trying to set up housekeeping under your porch.  And,  they work even during power outages.

My only wonderment is how do fishers and skunks get along.  Hope I don't ever have to find out, because whether a skunk wins or loses a battle, in a way it always wins anyway as far as any nearby humans are concerned.  Anyway skunks are another reason I don't have those motion sensor lights.   A pal up the way got some and when the lights went on the skunk took offense.  'Nuf said.


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## DT

I definitely want to get a smart garage door opener/monitor, you know, where I can set it up to close at X time, or at the very least message me it's open, do remote opening/closing - I know the opener we have has a "cloud module", and I understand it's Homekit compatible.

I have an IP camera in the garage, so I can see if it's open, but if I forget to close it, I'll probably forget to check if it's close ...


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## JBaby

I don’t have a Smart Home. I have two Smart Rooms. My bedroom and office have devices. I have a Hunter Symphony ceiling fan and a Vizio M558-G1. The tv is new. My TCL 43S525 broke in May. I didn’t even get a year out of it. I couldn’t get it fixed under warranty because of Rona. At the time when I bought the Vizio I didn’t even know it was a HomeKit TV. I love it though. I like integrating it into my scenes and automations. 

In my office I just have a Koogeek Smart plug that I used to use with my Vornado tabletop fan in my bedroom before I got my Symphony. Now the Koogeek controls my floor lamp. 

Oddly enough I don’t have any smart bulbs. 

I want to get the IKEA smart blinds for both my bedroom and office windows.


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## Eric

JBaby said:


> I don’t have a Smart Home. I have two Smart Rooms. My bedroom and office have devices. I have a Hunter Symphony ceiling fan and a Vizio M558-G1. The tv is new. My TCL 43S525 broke in May. I didn’t even get a year out of it. I couldn’t get it fixed under warranty because of Rona. At the time when I bought the Vizio I didn’t even know it was a HomeKit TV. I love it though. I like integrating it into my scenes and automations.
> 
> In my office I just have a Koogeek Smart plug that I used to use with my Vornado tabletop fan in my bedroom before I got my Symphony. Now the Koogeek controls my floor lamp.
> 
> Oddly enough I don’t have any smart bulbs.
> 
> I want to get the IKEA smart blinds for both my bedroom and office windows.



Sounds like you have all you need and that's what really matters. I have so many frivolous devices to turn on little things that are totally unnecessary but also fun. If something doesn't work and I have to get up and turn out a light like a caveman I get all putout about it. 

I've been looking at IKEA too and actually wanted to buy some of the FYRTU shades but they were out and had no future date for releases so I gave up on it.


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## JBaby

ericgtr12 said:


> Sounds like you have all you need and that's what really matters. I have so many frivolous devices to turn on little things that are totally unnecessary but also fun. If something doesn't work and I have to get up and turn out a light like a caveman I get all putout about it.
> 
> I've been looking at IKEA too and actually wanted to buy some of the FYRTU shades but they were out and had no future date for releases so I gave up on it.




I know what you mean. I get so annoyed when stuff doesn’t work. Like 4 days ago HomeKit was being crazy. Everything kept turning on and off. And that went on for hours. 

I want the FYRTUR blinds so badly! I hope they’ll be in stock someday. They will complete my smart room setup.


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## Alli

Y’all are killing me. I just want an IKEA!


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## JBaby

Alli said:


> Y’all are killing me. I just want an IKEA!




Me too. I’ve never been. I had planned on going 4th of July when we’d go see my sister in Dallas, but Rona said no.


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## User.45

JBaby said:


> I don’t have a Smart Home. I have two Smart Rooms. My bedroom and office have devices. I have a Hunter Symphony ceiling fan and a Vizio M558-G1. The tv is new. My TCL 43S525 broke in May. I didn’t even get a year out of it. I couldn’t get it fixed under warranty because of Rona. At the time when I bought the Vizio I didn’t even know it was a HomeKit TV. I love it though. I like integrating it into my scenes and automations.



Lol I have the same TV just 55". Not a fantastic TV, but still the best $250 I've ever spent.


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## JBaby

PearsonX said:


> Lol I have the same TV just 55". Not a fantastic TV, but still the best $250 I've ever spent.




Which one? I named two.


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## User.45

JBaby said:


> Which one? I named two.



Oh yes. The TCL


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## JBaby

PearsonX said:


> Oh yes. The TCL




I totally agree with your assessment. I got it only because it was a daily deal on Amazon. I bought it in September 2019 for my birthday. I had a 2012 32” Vizio smart tv previously. Compared to that I thought the TCL was amazing. But since getting the M558-G1 I realize just how wrong I was. But fir the price it was amazing and I’d still be using it if it worked. I’m hoping to get it fixed by a local repair person and then selling it. To recoup some of the cost of the Vizio.


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## Alli

JBaby said:


> Me too. I’ve never been. I had planned on going 4th of July when we’d go see my sister in Dallas, but Rona said no.




The closest one to me is in Jacksonville, where my mother lives. We frequently make a day of going there. My husband still hasn’t been. Ever. That was on our to-do list for retirement. Thanks Covid.

At some point I’ll be looking for a new TV. Gonna have to have ATV built in. I may be limiting myself to LG, especially if my son can get me a discount, since LG is his account.


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## JBaby

Alli said:


> The closest one to me is in Jacksonville, where my mother lives. We frequently make a day of going there. My husband still hasn’t been. Ever. That was on our to-do list for retirement. Thanks Covid.
> 
> At some point I’ll be looking for a new TV. Gonna have to have ATV built in. I may be limiting myself to LG, especially if my son can get me a discount, since LG is his account.




So many retirement plans down the drain. Mom and I were planning a trip to visit living history sights. That’s definitely out for years. We were also going to take a train trip. I’ve never been in a train and it’s on my bucket list. Biden’s love of trains is one of the things I love most about him. 

I never even bothered to check if this tv has the tv app. I know it has AirPlay though.


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## Alli

JBaby said:


> So many retirement plans down the drain. Mom and I were planning a trip to visit living history sights. That’s definitely out for years. We were also going to take a train trip. I’ve never been in a train and it’s on my bucket list. Biden’s love of trains is one of the things I love most about him.




Us too! I love trains. I suspect that will be something I do long before flying. Especially since you can get a roomette and see the same window view in thee privacy of your own space.

BTW, I expect to see more of you in the actual political threads.


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## JBaby

Alli said:


> Us too! I love trains. I suspect that will be something I do long before flying. Especially since you can get a roomette and see the same window view in thee privacy of your own space.




I watch other people’s train trips on YouTube. I’m so weird. 



Alli said:


> BTW, I expect to see more of you in the actual political threads.




Ok. I’m just so used to avoiding political feeds. I’ll dip my toes in.


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## Eric

JBaby said:


> I watch other people’s train trips on YouTube. I’m so weird.
> 
> 
> 
> Ok. I’m just so used to avoiding political feeds. I’ll dip my toes in.



I get the feeling you're among friends here in that regard.


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## Chew Toy McCoy

I have no idea how this thread got derailed into train travel but I'm onboard.  

I hate myself now.  I'm better than that.


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## Alli

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> I hate myself now. I'm better than that.




Don’t hate yourself. You just didn’t....






conduct yourself properly.


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## Eric

Alli said:


> Don’t hate yourself. You just didn’t....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> conduct yourself properly.



^ That's comedy gold right there!


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## User.45

My TCL TV got the airplay update and it is absolutely fantastic! Now I can use the iOS remote to control the TV. It even allows me to control volume. This is a total WIN! Now all I need is an HBOmax app for Roku and my 4K AppleTV will officially migrate to the basement.


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## Edd

PearsonX said:


> My TCL TV got the airplay update and it is absolutely fantastic! Now I can use the iOS remote to control the TV. It even allows me to control volume. This is a total WIN! Now all I need is an HBOmax app for Roku and my 4K AppleTV will officially migrate to the basement.



Are you saying the TCL has an Apple TV + app built in and that allows control with the remote? Is an Apple TV device involved?


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## User.45

Edd70 said:


> Are you saying the TCL has an Apple TV + app built in and that allows control with the remote? Is an Apple TV device involved?



Nope. They've integrated airplay into the OS of the TCL Roku TV (this was announced about 2 months ago, but I've been skeptical...this is a $250 55" TV after all.) No app, no third party stuff, and thus far the only limitation is a ~0.5 sec lag in volume changes and a 5 sec lag initiating screen mirroring, but once established, it works decently. Truly amazing.


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## Clix Pix

I'm in the dark ages here......when a room becomes dim as the light outdoors begins to fade, I get up from my chair and walk to the light switch and turn it on.   When I want to be a little cooler or a little warmer I get up and walk to the thermostat and adjust it manually, too.  No fancy "Smart TV" here for me, either, as I rarely watch TV and am perfectly happy with the one I have, circa 2013 or thereabouts.  It works.  That's all I ask of it on the rare times I turn it on.  Lighting in the house -- finally did get around to putting LED bulbs in the chandelier when I'd used up the last of the old kind, and I do have LED lights in my lamps.  The kitchen still has the original fluorescent light fixture that was in here when I bought the place, and I'm sure one day it'll give up the ghost, at which time I'll replace it.   I am in a small condominium apartment and like Lizkat, I am retired and would just as soon keep my muscles moving as much as I can rather than be depending on technology to turn my lights on-and-off for me.   So no Alexas or Home Pods or any of that kind of thing live here.....


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## Edd

PearsonX said:


> Nope. They've integrated airplay into the OS of the TCL Roku TV (this was announced about 2 months ago, but I've been skeptical...this is a $250 55" TV after all.) No app, no third party stuff, and thus far the only limitation is a ~0.5 sec lag in volume changes and a 5 sec lag initiating screen mirroring, but once established, it wor



Your iOS remote app controls volume? If so, do you use the phone hardware buttons or are buttons showing up on the app? I’ve never seen that.


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## User.45

Clix Pix said:


> I'm in the dark ages here......when a room becomes dim as the light outdoors begins to fade, I get up from my chair and walk to the light switch and turn it on.   When I want to be a little cooler or a little warmer I get up and walk to the thermostat and adjust it manually, too.  No fancy "Smart TV" here for me, either, as I rarely watch TV and am perfectly happy with the one I have, circa 2013 or thereabouts.  It works.  That's all I ask of it on the rare times I turn it on.  Lighting in the house -- finally did get around to putting LED bulbs in the chandelier when I'd used up the last of the old kind, and I do have LED lights in my lamps.  The kitchen still has the original fluorescent light fixture that was in here when I bought the place, and I'm sure one day it'll give up the ghost, at which time I'll replace it.   I am in a small condominium apartment and like Lizkat, I am retired and would just as soon keep my muscles moving as much as I can rather than be depending on technology to turn my lights on-and-off for me.   So no Alexas or Home Pods or any of that kind of thing live here.....



I suspect techies are overrepresented here, we migrated from a tach forum after all. I have smart everything in my home, but after the 4th move, I'm just too lazy to integrate it all. The most milage smart lights get here is that my toddler's nightlights are scheduled to dim gradually and turn off by 10PM. If she has a nightmare, I can just turn the nightlight back on remotely, and it usually saves us from getting up and console her. My lights shift into red hue as the night progresses, and are programmed to turn on at sunset and turn off by 11PM. Alexa is in the most remote corner of the kitchen so it only picks up our sound if we yell at it, and it's mainly used to tell the weather, and preheat the car on cold days. It also gives me reminders when I need to feed the kids, or their nap time...


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## User.45

Edd70 said:


> Your iOS remote app controls volume? If so, do you use the phone hardware buttons or are buttons showing up on the app? I’ve never seen that.



It's weird because the remote app doesn't have the remote setting but when I roll the remote slider on my iPhone and even my Mac when airplaying audio to the Roku TV it slides the volume there too. I suspect same would happen if I used the volume buttons on my iPhone.


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## Apple fanboy

I have everything manual in my house. Never use Siri even to be honest. Its too prone to mistakes. Easier just to type it. As for lights how am I supposed to hit my stand target on my Apple Watch if I control everything from the sofa?


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## User.45

Edd70 said:


> Are you saying the TCL has an Apple TV + app built in and that allows control with the remote?



Confirmed. iPhone's volume buttons control volume on TV. Fantastic!


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## Edd

PearsonX said:


> Confirmed. iPhone's volume buttons control volume on TV. Fantastic!



Whoa, that’s interesting.

I‘m actually a big fan of the ATV itself. I’ve got the 4th gen and it’s a pretty fantastic device in my view. It’s cool that their bringing some Apple functionality to other devices.


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## Clix Pix

In many ways I consider myself a techie but in some realms, not so much so.  I think that if I were living in a larger place and and especially one with two levels, that would make a difference.  I'm just so used to turning lights on-and-off myself, I can't imagine doing it any other way!  LOL!      I don't use Siri, either -- in fact, I had to turn the darned thing on in my iPhone in order to set up Apple CarPlay, which rather annoyed me.   But, it's worth it!!   I still press buttons and such, though, rather than talking to Siri.


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## JayMysteri0

I confess, I'm a bit of luddite when it com

All I have is a Fire TV of sorts from Best Buy.

I ordered my first Amazon Echo to control it in case the remote ever breaks with the 4th gen Dot with clock.  It came out Nov 5th, so with 2 day shipping I am expected to get it Nov 27th.  



JBaby said:


> I watch other people’s train trips on YouTube. I’m so weird.
> 
> 
> 
> Ok. I’m just so used to avoiding political feeds. I’ll dip my toes in.




I've long wanted to go to Japan.  I watch a lot of 'walkaround' videos of Japan in 4K, it's quite the thing on Youtube.


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## User.45

JayMysteri0 said:


> I've long wanted to go to Japan.  I watch a lot of 'walkaround' videos of Japan in 4K, it's quite the thing on Youtube.



Tokyo is my home planet.


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## JayMysteri0

PearsonX said:


> Tokyo is my home planet.



Kind of wished I had gone to Tokyo and got 'stuck' there during the pandemic.

One food youtuber I watch got so stressed from being in the states during covid, he's temporarily moved to South Korea.  He can afford to, and it's added fresh content for his youtube channel.


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## User.45

JayMysteri0 said:


> Kind of wished I had gone to Tokyo and got 'stuck' there during the pandemic.
> 
> One food youtuber I watch got so stressed from being in the states during covid, he's temporarily moved to South Korea.  He can afford to, and it's added fresh content for his youtube channel.



When we were visiting I read Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. So dark, so melancholic and just refreshing. It had such well-written cyberpunk elements I was shocked to read it was written in the 80s. In the USA, sometimes I feel like I should be ashamed of or at least being looked at weird for deeply enjoying melancholic stuff.  I love the Shintoist temples. Centuries old wooden dragon carvings and the smell of the rain. The quietness of the world's largest metropolis.


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## Edd

JayMysteri0 said:


> I've long wanted to go to Japan.  I watch a lot of 'walkaround' videos of Japan in 4K, it's quite the thing on Youtube.



I watch stuff like that also. I’ve not been to Japan either and we’re keen to go. Good skiing to be had.


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## JayMysteri0

PearsonX said:


> When we were visiting I read Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. So dark, so melancholic and just refreshing. It had such well-written cyberpunk elements I was shocked to read it was written in the 80s. In the USA, sometimes I feel like I should be ashamed of or at least being looked at weird for deeply enjoying melancholic stuff.  I love the Shintoist temples. Centuries old wooden dragon carvings and the smell of the rain. The quietness of the world's largest metropolis.





Edd70 said:


> I watch stuff like that also. I’ve not been to Japan either and we’re keen to go. Good skiing to be had.



When I'm not watching the walking tour videos of Japan, I've watched this series for personal inspiration.  They cover a wide range of creators.


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## lizkat

PearsonX said:


> I suspect techies are overrepresented here, we migrated from a tach forum after all. I have smart everything in my home, but after the 4th move, I'm just too lazy to integrate it all. The most milage smart lights get here is that my toddler's nightlights are scheduled to dim gradually and turn off by 10PM. If she has a nightmare, I can just turn the nightlight back on remotely, and it usually saves us from getting up and console her. My lights shift into red hue as the night progresses, and are programmed to turn on at sunset and turn off by 11PM. Alexa is in the most remote corner of the kitchen so it only picks up our sound if we yell at it, and it's mainly used to tell the weather, and preheat the car on cold days. It also gives me reminders when I need to feed the kids, or their nap time...




About all I bother with is having my laptops announce the hour in case I've been stupid enough to sit around that long.  Oh, and turn on Do not Disturb and some night shift lighting on my gear.

Short of that at least in winter I do need the exercise of going around to turn lights on or off and raise / lower the shades etc. 

And... the way I look at demos of tech-assisted living has turned out to be mostly from standpoint of laughing at the go-wrongs of other people's more advanced cars than I ever owned.  Stuff like windows in the rear that automatically roll down when it rains...


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## chagla

I wonder why Alex Jones hasn't started a new theory.. all smart TVs are secretly recording you. You see the camera is embedded, it's got multiple mics like Alexa..


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## User.45

lizkat said:


> About all I bother with is having my laptops announce the hour in case I've been stupid enough to sit around that long.  Oh, and turn on Do not Disturb and some night shift lighting on my gear.
> 
> Short of that at least in winter I do need the exercise of going around to turn lights on or off and raise / lower the shades etc.
> 
> And... the way I look at demos of tech-assisted living has turned out to be mostly from standpoint of laughing at the go-wrongs of other people's more advanced cars than I ever owned.  Stuff like windows in the rear that automatically roll down when it rains...



There's no remote for my kids unfortunately.:/


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## SuperMatt

chagla said:


> I wonder why Alex Jones hasn't started a new theory.. all smart TVs are secretly recording you. You see the camera is embedded, it's got multiple mics like Alexa..



Alexa was secretly recording you until somebody proved it and Amazon stopped... but who knows if they just stopped for a while and started again when we stopped paying attention?


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## Eric

SuperMatt said:


> Alexa was secretly recording you until somebody proved it and Amazon stopped... but who knows if they just stopped for a while and started again when we stopped paying attention?



Technically, they're "supposed" to show the light when it's recording but it seems obvious that isn't the case. I can't say whether I really trust these devices or not but one thing I do know for sure is that if listening to me tell my dogs to get out of the kitchen all day is the best use of their time, then so be it.


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## lizkat

ericgtr12 said:


> Technically, they're "supposed" to show the light when it's recording but it seems obvious that isn't the case. I can't say whether I really trust these devices or not but one thing I do know for sure is that if listening to me tell my dogs to get out of the kitchen all day is the best use of their time, then so be it.




With me about all they're gonna get from tuning into my studio activity is a clue that maybe someday I'll shift to ordering seam rippers by the case instead of the two-pack....   the recordings would run mostly to me addressing myself out loud in exasperation...  like "Gee if you're tired of using the unsewing tool you could try stitching this stuff right the first time once in awhile..."


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## Clix Pix

If I had one the device would hear me instructing Alfred, the geese or the hooded mergansers on the lake not to go away, stick around, I've just gotta grab the camera......


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## lizkat

Clix Pix said:


> If I had one the device would hear me instructing Alfred, the geese or the hooded mergansers on the lake not to go away, stick around, I've just gotta grab the camera......




Oh yes...  that was me whispering through glass of the back door to a fledgie hermit thrush who popped into the interior of my deck outside the kitchen to have a look around.  I was so astounded to see that beautiful creature (who definitely is not the type of bird to be investigating people's porches or decks)   and so annoyed that my phone didn't happen to be on top the microwave getting charged up. Of course he was gone by time I returned!  And good thing what I said then wasn't recorded.


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## User.45

It seems that we are embarking upon home ownership (again), and I want to install smart vents for our system. Does anybody have any experience with

Flair https://flair.co/pages/ecobee-smart-vents
or
Keen https://keenhome.io/pages/how-it-works
?

With the kids I desire much more significant temp gradients in the home. I like my bedroom as cold as it gets at night (like 60-62), but warm up 2h before waking up. For the kids I want to prevent temps to ever go below 68 in contrast.


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## Alli

Dang! I didn't even know there was such a thing.


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## Eric

P_X said:


> It seems that we are embarking upon home ownership (again), and I want to install smart vents for our system. Does anybody have any experience with
> 
> Flair https://flair.co/pages/ecobee-smart-vents
> or
> Keen https://keenhome.io/pages/how-it-works
> ?
> 
> With the kids I desire much more significant temp gradients in the home. I like my bedroom as cold as it gets at night (like 60-62), but warm up 2h before waking up. For the kids I want to prevent temps to ever go below 68 in contrast.



I have considered this but always wondered how one would keep them charged, I suppose batteries would last a while like they do in my smart lock. I do like that idea of the automation though, it would be fun to play around with for sure. 

Temperatures here in the central valley in CA are often in the 110s and while we have great AC I still had to put a portable window unit in my office because I run 4 or 5 computers at a time in there. The AC can't keep it balanced enough.


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## DT

Well thanks a fucking lot, like I need something else to send me down an obsessive research rabbithole ...


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## User.45

ericgtr12 said:


> I have considered this but always wondered how one would keep them charged, I suppose batteries would last a while like they do in my smart lock. I do like that idea of the automation though, it would be fun to play around with for sure.
> 
> Temperatures here in the central valley in CA are often in the 110s and while we have great AC I still had to put a portable window unit in my office because I run 4 or 5 computers at a time in there. The AC can't keep it balanced enough.



The battery IS a concern. The reviews complained of 2 issues: 
1) Batteries dying because of he heat they are exposed to
2) Smart vents disconecting all the time. Which make sense when they are embedded in a metal duct system, wifi signals are probably shielded and they require good signal distribution.

I dount think theres a good solution for the battery problem. Unless you charge these devices using 5G


----------



## DT

I guess we could make a "yard" thread or something, but just going to drop this here ... I guess it's "smart-ish"  

I've had a Greenworks blower and then later picked up a string trimmer, and then later again, a [chain] pole saw, they all use their 40v battery pack. So it's cool, the initial blower purchase (for Dad's day, hahaha ...) had the battery and charger, so I got the other two as "tool only", so around $89 for each.  The pack charges quick, has a charge indicator __and__ has bluetooth and an app, so I can check the exact state, condition, etc., from my iPhone 

Well, I was out of gas for the mower, it was empty, the main can was empty, it's a decent little simple B&S motor'ed push mower (no bag, manual push) we've had for a few years (even just put on a new blade), but in an effort to green up a little more, not deal with starting/gas/oil/smell/noise, we just scored a Greenworks electric mower - from Woot!  ~50% off, arrived today.  It has two packs, a 4.0a and a 2.0a and another charger, so now I'll have 2/3/4 amp batteries, two chargers (hell, another battery and charger is $100 and we got the mower for $199).  Plus this mower bags, and where we normally don't worry about it that much, we've had an excess of leaves fall this year, so one good bagging mow will be nice).


----------



## User.45

In the process of buying a house again and after a 3-year break, it's time for me to delve into smart home tech again.

I'm planning to have meaningful smart tech installed, and since a lot of it is new, let me share some. This time around I'll create a guest network for my smart devices and use a Homekit router and limit the access of all these devices as much as possible. So I'm getting this setup:

1. Homekit router - Linksys Velop (there's no wifi 6 homekit router yet, and I decided to not wait for one)




__





						Linksys Velop Whole Home Mesh Wi Fi System 2 pack - Apple
					

Apple Store Search Results



					www.apple.com
				





2. There are new cheap smart lightbulbs that use Thread...tech that uses each light as a wifi range extender to improve responsiveness. NanoLeaf's bulbs are $20 a piece. Philips Hues (of which I have a dozen) are 2-3x more expensive and are marginally better.  








						Nanoleaf Essentials A19 Bulb
					

Nanoleaf Essentials provides a seamless introduction to smart lighting with a unique multi-faceted bulb design and the purest color performance. Buy online now at apple.com.



					www.apple.com
				




3. This is a dirt cheap ($50) for a 32' lightstrip, which I'll use to wrap around the ceiling. This wouldn't be a brand I'd trust, but it has homekit and I'll fully restrict the network access of this.




__





						Wifi Led Stripe - Meross Smart Home Devices - MSL320
					

Meross wifi led stripe that support scenes with different effects.




					www.meross.com
				




4. I have an ecobee thermostat and am planning to get matched door/window monitors. Ecobees sensors can also double as motion sensors.








						Motion & Occupancy Bundle | ecobee
					

Connect wireless temperature, occupancy, and contact sensors to our smart thermostats and indoor security cameras for home comfort and peace of mind.




					www.ecobee.com
				




5. Ikea has smart blinds which I'lll use get my kids woken up by natural light.








						FYRTUR Black-out roller blind, smart wireless/battery operated gray, 32x76 ¾" - IKEA
					

FYRTUR Black-out roller blind, smart wireless/battery operated gray, 32x76 ¾" FYRTUR block-out roller blind blocks out all light from outside and completely darkens your room. Use with remote control or team it up with TRÅDFRI gateway and IKEA Home smart app.




					www.ikea.com
				




It requires ikea's gateway.




__





						Products
					

Browse our full range of products from dressing tables to complete modern kitchens. Click here to find the right IKEA product for you. Browse online and in-store today!




					www.ikea.com


----------



## User.45

I'll also need 2 security cams, and I'd only trust secure homekit video, but I'm kinda annoyed by the requirement of having a 2TB iCloud subscription to have more than 1 cam. The compromise would be to have a smart doorbell on one end and a security cam on the other. Does anybody have experience with this?


----------



## Eric

P_X said:


> In the process of buying a house again and after a 3-year break, it's time for me to delve into smart home tech again.
> 
> I'm planning to have meaningful smart tech installed, and since a lot of it is new, let me share some. This time around I'll create a guest network for my smart devices and use a Homekit router and limit the access of all these devices as much as possible. So I'm getting this setup:
> 
> 1. Homekit router - Linksys Velop (there's no wifi 6 homekit router yet, and I decided to not wait for one)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Linksys Velop Whole Home Mesh Wi Fi System 2 pack - Apple
> 
> 
> Apple Store Search Results
> 
> 
> 
> www.apple.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 2. There are new cheap smart lightbulbs that use Thread...tech that uses each light as a wifi range extender to improve responsiveness. NanoLeaf's bulbs are $20 a piece. Philips Hues (of which I have a dozen) are 2-3x more expensive and are marginally better.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nanoleaf Essentials A19 Bulb
> 
> 
> Nanoleaf Essentials provides a seamless introduction to smart lighting with a unique multi-faceted bulb design and the purest color performance. Buy online now at apple.com.
> 
> 
> 
> www.apple.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 3. This is a dirt cheap ($50) for a 32' lightstrip, which I'll use to wrap around the ceiling. This wouldn't be a brand I'd trust, but it has homekit and I'll fully restrict the network access of this.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wifi Led Stripe - Meross Smart Home Devices - MSL320
> 
> 
> Meross wifi led stripe that support scenes with different effects.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.meross.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 4. I have an ecobee thermostat and am planning to get matched door/window monitors. Ecobees sensors can also double as motion sensors.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Motion & Occupancy Bundle | ecobee
> 
> 
> Connect wireless temperature, occupancy, and contact sensors to our smart thermostats and indoor security cameras for home comfort and peace of mind.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ecobee.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 5. Ikea has smart blinds which I'lll use get my kids woken up by natural light.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> FYRTUR Black-out roller blind, smart wireless/battery operated gray, 32x76 ¾" - IKEA
> 
> 
> FYRTUR Black-out roller blind, smart wireless/battery operated gray, 32x76 ¾" FYRTUR block-out roller blind blocks out all light from outside and completely darkens your room. Use with remote control or team it up with TRÅDFRI gateway and IKEA Home smart app.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ikea.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It requires ikea's gateway.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Products
> 
> 
> Browse our full range of products from dressing tables to complete modern kitchens. Click here to find the right IKEA product for you. Browse online and in-store today!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ikea.com



Congrats on the new home! At least when doing it this way you get to plan the whole thing from the start rather than cobble things together. Most of my stuff is controlled through Smartthings and Google. 

I also have a lot of Philips bulbs and a few strips as well. I also have their motion detector that I use along with Nest cameras for motion detection. So while you get the standard notification if there's movement detected, I also have it set to trigger one of my light strips above the cabinets. If motion is detected in the front on the camera, it turns purple and goes off after one minute. If there is motion in the back, it turns it orange the same way. Sort of frivolous but also fun.

I've also setup a recipe with between a Wemo plug and Honeywell thermostat that triggers a mini fan behind my TV pointed at my HDMI hub (which gets pretty hot in the summertime) when it hits 75 degrees, anything below 74 shuts it off. One of the cool things about Smarttings is that it let's nearly all of my stuff from different platforms play together.


----------



## Eric

P_X said:


> I'll also need 2 security cams, and I'd only trust secure homekit video, but I'm kinda annoyed by the requirement of having a 2TB iCloud subscription to have more than 1 cam. The compromise would be to have a smart doorbell on one end and a security cam on the other. Does anybody have experience with this?



I personally use Nest cameras and the Nest Hello doorbell, they have pretty reasonably priced plans for multiple cameras, you can choose how long you want to retain storage, I think the max is 30 days but I just do a rolling 7 days on all of them, then save clips if I need them. I also have a couple of Google Hubs which are great for monitoring, iPhone app is really nice too. IMO whatever is chosen should be in the same ecosystem though, this way it all plays well together and integrates nicely into a single app.


----------



## User.45

Eric said:


> I personally use Nest cameras and the Nest Hello doorbell, they have pretty reasonably priced plans for multiple cameras, you can choose how long you want to retain storage, I think the max is 30 days but I just do a rolling 7 days on all of them, then save clips if I need them. I also have a couple of Google Hubs which are great for monitoring, iPhone app is really nice too. IMO whatever is chosen should be in the same ecosystem though, this way it all plays well together and integrates nicely into a single app.



The only company I trust on this end is Apple, as their business model lergely relies on overpriced devices not my data. Now looking at Nest Cam subscriptions I might as well just shell out that $10 a month for 2TB iCloud. The Apple One family bundle is just really overpriced IMHO. So essentially I'd get iClould 2TB and Music family plan for $25 if subscribed separately which is too much already. Or pay pay for Apple One family, and pay an extra $5 for News, Arcade and Fitness+, none of which I'd ever use enough to even justify $5.


----------



## tranceking26

I have 4 smart LED bulbs here, you get an app to control the colours and themes etc. They run on the 2Ghz band on my router. 

They may be more affordable ones but the developers listen to feedback, for example they added dark mode to the app after I requested it.   

That's as far as I go in terms of a smart home, I don't even use Siri.


----------



## User.45

Not sure if I wanted it in my network without homekit support, but this seems pretty cool:



			Amazon.com


----------



## Eric

P_X said:


> Not sure if I wanted it in my network without homekit support, but this seems pretty cool:
> 
> 
> 
> Amazon.com



Very cool! Yeah, going with a single platform will definitely limit what you can use. Are you able to use Smartthings with homekit?


----------



## Huntn

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> What are you guys rockin?  I'm mostly just hue lights, including motion sensors in my kitchen and walk-in closet - the 2 most common lights that don't get turned off upon exiting.  I also have a standalone motion sensor nightlight in my bathroom.  Between timers and motion sensors I sometimes get appalled when I go to other's house and they actually have to touch a switch.



Zero smart tech in the house, though we do have a monitired security system and Ring devices. In the master bedroom, we have lamps on each side of the bed. I see no way to conveniently control that with motion devices. Sometimes one of us reads in bed. In the bathroom, we have 4 lights, just as easy to turn on the lights we prefer. Same in the kitchen, we have high spot lights and island lights, using a switch is easy. I guess I might consider it if I could say “island lights“, which I know is doable, I just don’t feel the need to go to the effort of installing it.


----------



## Huntn

Eric said:


> Sounds like you have all you need and that's what really matters. I have so many frivolous devices to turn on little things that are totally unnecessary but also fun. If something doesn't work and I have to get up and turn out a light like a caveman I get all putout about it.
> 
> I've been looking at IKEA too and actually wanted to buy some of the FYRTU shades but they were out and had no future date for releases so I gave up on it.



I’m thinking auto blinds would be cool, but they are also something else to break. And our latest blinds are cordless and super easy to adjust and  for the bathroom, lowering them from the top is wonderful, for the infrequent times they need to be adjusted.

I remember that I was anti-electric windows in cars when they first came out. Now I could not live without them..


----------



## User.45

Eric said:


> Very cool! Yeah, going with a single platform will definitely limit what you can use. Are you able to use Smartthings with homekit?



I don't have a single smartthings device I have a hue hub and an apple TV (which doubles as a homekit hub).


----------



## User.45

P_X said:


> In the process of buying a house again and after a 3-year break, it's time for me to delve into smart home tech again.
> 
> I'm planning to have meaningful smart tech installed, and since a lot of it is new, let me share some. This time around I'll create a guest network for my smart devices and use a Homekit router and limit the access of all these devices as much as possible. So I'm getting this setup:
> 
> 1. Homekit router - Linksys Velop (there's no wifi 6 homekit router yet, and I decided to not wait for one)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Linksys Velop Whole Home Mesh Wi Fi System 2 pack - Apple
> 
> 
> Apple Store Search Results
> 
> 
> 
> www.apple.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 2. There are new cheap smart lightbulbs that use Thread...tech that uses each light as a wifi range extender to improve responsiveness. NanoLeaf's bulbs are $20 a piece. Philips Hues (of which I have a dozen) are 2-3x more expensive and are marginally better.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nanoleaf Essentials A19 Bulb
> 
> 
> Nanoleaf Essentials provides a seamless introduction to smart lighting with a unique multi-faceted bulb design and the purest color performance. Buy online now at apple.com.
> 
> 
> 
> www.apple.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 3. This is a dirt cheap ($50) for a 32' lightstrip, which I'll use to wrap around the ceiling. This wouldn't be a brand I'd trust, but it has homekit and I'll fully restrict the network access of this.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wifi Led Stripe - Meross Smart Home Devices - MSL320
> 
> 
> Meross wifi led stripe that support scenes with different effects.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.meross.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 4. I have an ecobee thermostat and am planning to get matched door/window monitors. Ecobees sensors can also double as motion sensors.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Motion & Occupancy Bundle | ecobee
> 
> 
> Connect wireless temperature, occupancy, and contact sensors to our smart thermostats and indoor security cameras for home comfort and peace of mind.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ecobee.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 5. Ikea has smart blinds which I'lll use get my kids woken up by natural light.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> FYRTUR Black-out roller blind, smart wireless/battery operated gray, 32x76 ¾" - IKEA
> 
> 
> FYRTUR Black-out roller blind, smart wireless/battery operated gray, 32x76 ¾" FYRTUR block-out roller blind blocks out all light from outside and completely darkens your room. Use with remote control or team it up with TRÅDFRI gateway and IKEA Home smart app.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ikea.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It requires ikea's gateway.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Products
> 
> 
> Browse our full range of products from dressing tables to complete modern kitchens. Click here to find the right IKEA product for you. Browse online and in-store today!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.ikea.com



A few updates on many of these items.

1. I got the Velop mesh routers. They are quite good, but 1 probably would have been sufficient for my 2000 sqFt 3-story home. This way though I definitely have no spots with connectivity issues. I could finally put my smart devices on a separate guest network and on homekit. I could also finally place my timecapsules in partial retirement. I turned off their wifi radios but continue using them for backups. In theory this is best of both worlds as I think this sped up the back up process by bringing up WIFI speeds to the harddrive speed limits.

2. The Nanoleaf bulbs may be 19 bucks, but they have some serious caveats. They tend to get stuck/respond slowly seemingly at random. What's both a pro and a con, that while the tuned white light of these is comparable to that of 2nd and new gen Hues, the color lights are super dim. It's about 2-3x more faint than that of a 2nd gen Hue. This works in the kids room where I prefer to keep a very dim red nightlight, but in living spaces where you'd expect to be able to read by colored lighting this just doesn't cut it. 

3. Learned a lot about Ecobee as well. Ecobee 3 has 2 gens and the first gen is not homekit compatible... So you want the 2nd gen which I got yesterday. You can add it to homekit and set the temp from your Home app. You can also use this to add the exobee sensors to homekit, BUT you only seem to be able to add it to the same room the thermostat is in. 

4. Lastly the Ecobee door sensors also double as motion sensors, so while I still couldn't figure out how to assign them to rooms other than that of the thermostat, you could in theory use this as a super helpful trigger to control lights (turn on when putting shoes on, turn off when I close the door and there's no motion anymore). 

5. Oh and I got Flair smart vents too. They are arriving later this week. I got a puck which is it's hub and sensor. Yet to see it, but it's not homekit compatible yet and I expect it to be quite wonky...


----------



## fooferdoggie

P_X said:


> I don't have a single smartthings device I have a hue hub and an apple TV (which doubles as a homekit hub).



we have all our lights and doors and several things that turn on and off on smartthings. but this last update has messed up the app and its pretty useless right now. it still runs the automatons but thats about it.


----------



## User.45

fooferdoggie said:


> we have all our lights and doors and several things that turn on and off on smartthings. but this last update has messed up the app and its pretty useless right now. it still runs the automatons but thats about it.



yeah, this is why I went with homekit...all the security issues with me providing access to the wifi to 50 products, and I've been disappointed with samsung making exciting products only to abandon them few years later when it's not that hot anymore, just to copy Apple on something else. Homekit may be rudimentary on many levels, but it's realistic to expect not to get completely messed up with updates.


----------



## fooferdoggie

P_X said:


> yeah, this is why I went with homekit...all the security issues with me providing access to the wifi to 50 products, and I've been disappointed with samsung making exciting products only to abandon them few years later when it's not that hot anymore, just to copy Apple on something else. Homekit may be rudimentary on many levels, but it's realistic to expect not to get completely messed up with updates.




HomeKit is pretty limited and it has been glitchy too and far fewer devices work with it a f they tend to be expensive. You can’t really program it like SmartThings well when it works. Like I open a bedroom window it turns on that fan and turns it off when it is shut plus can turn on and off with temps. Doors lock lights turn off and alarm turns on when we leave and reversed when we come home 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## User.45

fooferdoggie said:


> HomeKit is pretty limited and it has been glitchy too and far fewer devices work with it a f they tend to be expensive. You can’t really program it like SmartThings well when it works. Like I open a bedroom window it turns on that fan and turns it off when it is shut plus can turn on and off with temps. Doors lock lights turn off and alarm turns on when we leave and reversed when we come home
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro



That's pretty neat!

Now you can do IF statements in home (or shortcuts?), but haven't had time to dig into it. You're generally correct, but recently Homekit items are dropping in price.


----------



## Pumbaa

HomeKit is really growing on me. I’m pretty happy with the Home stuff available now in iOS/iPadOS, and more and more devices seem to get support for it.

That said, I’m still planning to go down the openHAB route. More work for me, but easier to segregate stuff I reckon, I don’t trust the “smart” stuff as far as an imaginary cat can throw them.


----------



## DT

Wow, woo, finally.

We've got new lamps coming for the bedroom redesign, beautiful mid-Century design, umm, anyway, I was thinking about the need to turn off either from bed, and they have more traditional switches so not as convenient as the old pull chains, etc., just a way to make things a bit easier, maybe even have an option to schedule them, etc.

So I said, let me finally score some smart plugs.  I wanted inexpensive (as this was semi-experimental), and HomeKit compatible.

Reviews, recommendations, led me to *meross* (on Amazon). A 2-pack of single outlet smarties was only $19, HomeKit compatible (along with Google/Amazon as needed), great reviews.

I decided not to setup their app at the moment, it required an account setup, and I don't plan on using it for control - however, it's how you update firmware, so maybe if I run into any issues in the future.   HomeKit was amazingly simple, I already had the AppleTV in the entertainment room setup (that device, that room), I plugged in the outlet, connected to its WiFi (like an Access Point), iOS immediate ID'ed it as a smart device, added it to our network and to HomeKit.

Tap on/off, outstanding!

Then I changed the name, and tried something I had been wanting to do, the new name, Kettle Plug, and yep, plugged in the electric Kettle, turned off plug, turned on kettle, went upstairs ...

"Hey Siri!  <bloop> Turn on Kettle Plug"

*click*

__Hell_Yes__



Added two new rooms, got the one plug upstairs, backgrounds color coded to match the room color, ordered another 4-pack


----------



## DT

Thinking of getting one of these as well:



			Amazon.com


----------



## Eric

DT said:


> Thinking of getting one of these as well:
> 
> 
> 
> Amazon.com



Nice! "No hub required" is a big deal these days, if it doesn't work with Smartthings or on it's own I pretty much won't do it anymore. I have a Liftmaster that came with my home and the MyQ opener app, works great and best of all will alert you if you've forgotten to close the garage after x number of minutes. I also have a Nest camera out there just so we can view it anytime as well.


----------



## DT

Eric said:


> Nice! "No hub required" is a big deal these days, if it doesn't work with Smartthings or on it's own I pretty much won't do it anymore. I have a Liftmaster that came with my home and the MyQ opener app, works great and best of all will alert you if you've forgotten to close the garage after x number of minutes.




Yeah, we have the compatible opener for the MyQ system, but only in that you can add that feature.  So to get it to HomeKit it's the smart module __and__ the HomeKit module, this seemed to get straight to the solution I wanted for a good bit cheaper (~$45 for just the one controller).

I guess with HomeKit, devices are technically working through a hub, which I assume is one of the ATVs in the house[?]  Hahaha, I haven't researched this thoroughly.



Eric said:


> I also have a Nest camera out there just so we can view it anytime as well.




So you're saying if I come into your garage, I should take off my clothes first, gotcha.


----------



## Pumbaa

Nice when stuff gets updated with support for HomeKit. Just yesterday I connected two Netatmo sensors to HomeKit and can now enjoy readings from two rooms in one app (Home) instead of two. Seriously. Two devices that externally only differ in color, made by the same manufacturer, providing the same types of sensors — Two different apps on the phone.

The Home app seems to average the temperature of all temperature sensors when presenting the Home temperature, and then the corresponding temperature when viewing the particular room a sensor is located in. Makes sense. Until I change the batteries of my outdoor module and it starts reporting temperatures. It is currently not clear to me how I can have easy access to the readings of that sensor without messing up the Home temperature… Maybe I’ll have to log in over at MR again and see if I can get answers that way.


----------



## User.45

Pumbaa said:


> Nice when stuff gets updated with support for HomeKit. Just yesterday I connected two Netatmo sensors to HomeKit and can now enjoy readings from two rooms in one app (Home) instead of two. Seriously. Two devices that externally only differ in color, made by the same manufacturer, providing the same types of sensors — Two different apps on the phone.
> 
> The Home app seems to average the temperature of all temperature sensors when presenting the Home temperature, and then the corresponding temperature when viewing the particular room a sensor is located in. Makes sense. Until I change the batteries of my outdoor module and it starts reporting temperatures. It is currently not clear to me how I can have easy access to the readings of that sensor without messing up the Home temperature… Maybe I’ll have to log in over at MR again and see if I can get answers that way.




Homekit is still half-cooked. It offers very low functionality for lights so I am once again unimpressed by it, though it got to the level of being barely but functional.

I have an ecobee thermostat that is homekit compatible (version 2 of ecobee3 and up). Now I can assign the Thermostat and its sensors to different rooms and control it from the Home app. But I can't program my Hue Dimmer Switch using Home. The Switch has 4 buttons: on, off, increase decrease, where you can add up to 5 different actions to each press of On. In Home it only sees 4 buttons, no sequential action on button press, unless I create a rather complex Shortcut. And the response to Home programmed switching is wonky at best. 

Thus, here's what I recommend people who have smart lights and wanna use Homekit to control them:
A) Either use lights and switches from the same Homekit compatible vendor
B) Combine them in a way that their operation takes place in separate spaces (I ended up using Hues on my main floor, Nanoleafs in the bedrooms, etc)


----------



## DT

@Eric Can we merge the two "Smart Home Tech" threads?  The one I'm posting in with this one:









						Smart home tech
					

What are you guys rockin?  I'm mostly just hue lights, including motion sensors in my kitchen and walk-in closet - the 2 most common lights that don't get turned off upon exiting.  I also have a standalone motion sensor nightlight in my bathroom.  Between timers and motion sensors I sometimes...




					talkedabout.com


----------



## SuperMatt

P_X said:


> Homekit is still half-cooked. It offers very low functionality for lights so I am once again unimpressed by it, though it got to the level of being barely but functional.
> 
> I have an ecobee thermostat that is homekit compatible (version 2 of ecobee3 and up). Now I can assign the Thermostat and its sensors to different rooms and control it from the Home app. But I can't program my Hue Dimmer Switch using Home. The Switch has 4 buttons: on, off, increase decrease, where you can add up to 5 different actions to each press of On. In Home it only sees 4 buttons, no sequential action on button press, unless I create a rather complex Shortcut. And the response to Home programmed switching is wonky at best.
> 
> Thus, here's what I recommend people who have smart lights and wanna use Homekit to control them:
> A) Either use lights and switches from the same Homekit compatible vendor
> B) Combine them in a way that their operation takes place in separate spaces (I ended up using Hues on my main floor, Nanoleafs in the bedrooms, etc)



This new PS4 game looks fun:


----------



## Eric

DT said:


> @Eric Can we merge the two "Smart Home Tech" threads?  The one I'm posting in with this one:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Smart home tech
> 
> 
> What are you guys rockin?  I'm mostly just hue lights, including motion sensors in my kitchen and walk-in closet - the 2 most common lights that don't get turned off upon exiting.  I also have a standalone motion sensor nightlight in my bathroom.  Between timers and motion sensors I sometimes...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> talkedabout.com



Since Chew Toy started the other one first we would logically be merging this one into that. Let's get @P_X to confirm he's good with that first since he started this one separately.


----------



## Pumbaa

P_X said:


> Homekit is still half-cooked. It offers very low functionality for lights so I am once again unimpressed by it, though it got to the level of being barely but functional.
> 
> I have an ecobee thermostat that is homekit compatible (version 2 of ecobee3 and up). Now I can assign the Thermostat and its sensors to different rooms and control it from the Home app. But I can't program my Hue Dimmer Switch using Home. The Switch has 4 buttons: on, off, increase decrease, where you can add up to 5 different actions to each press of On. In Home it only sees 4 buttons, no sequential action on button press, unless I create a rather complex Shortcut. And the response to Home programmed switching is wonky at best.
> 
> Thus, here's what I recommend people who have smart lights and wanna use Homekit to control them:
> A) Either use lights and switches from the same Homekit compatible vendor
> B) Combine them in a way that their operation takes place in separate spaces (I ended up using Hues on my main floor, Nanoleafs in the bedrooms, etc)



That’s one of the reasons I’m aiming to have an instance of openHAB doing the heavy lifting and just expose simple things via HomeKit. I’m happy with using Home (and Siri and Alexa) mostly for basic control of stuff (toggle outlets/dim lights, stuff). I rarely need to change things so I’m okay with configuring stuff using a separate app.

HomeKit and Home is keeping me content for now until I take some time to revisit my homelab and get things up and running.


----------



## User.45

Eric said:


> Since Chew Toy started the other one first we would logically be merging this one into that. Let's get @P_X to confirm he's good with that first since he started this one separately.



Pls!


----------



## DT

I thought I was having an old guy moment, I'm like, "I'm positive I posted in the Smart Home Tech thread, but I don't see it ...  Ma!  Get muh medications!!"


----------



## Pumbaa

DT said:


> I thought I was having an old guy moment, I'm like, "I'm positive I posted in the Smart Home Tech thread, but I don't see it ...  Ma!  Get muh medications!!"



Maybe your home simply is smarter than you are?


----------



## User.45

DT said:


> I thought I was having an old guy moment, I'm like, "I'm positive I posted in the Smart Home Tech thread, but I don't see it ...  Ma!  Get muh medications!!"



Ditto, but I was also lazy to make that request, LOL.


----------



## User.45

Another review, now for Doorbells. 

So with the new house I inherited an Arlo *Wired* Doorbell too. I have to tell ya...It uses a 16-24 VDC transformer which as it turned out was fried in this new house...I actually had to use a multimeter, measure it out, replace it, electrocute myself (so glad it's only 110V here not the usual 230, LOL). But now it's working. It's supposed to be Homekit compatible, but it seems to require an Arlo base for that to work. So that's also half functional too. The doorbell is cute though. We live in a major city's relatively frequently walked area. I can eavesdrop on passers byer's conversations...the mic actually picks up talk a block down.


----------



## Eric

P_X said:


> Another review, now for Doorbells.
> 
> So with the new house I inherited an Arlo *Wired* Doorbell too. I have to tell ya...It uses a 16-24 VDC transformer which as it turned out was fried in this new house...I actually had to use a multimeter, measure it out, replace it, electrocute myself (so glad it's only 110V here not the usual 230, LOL). But now it's working. It's supposed to be Homekit compatible, but it seems to require an Arlo base for that to work. So that's also half functional too. The doorbell is cute though. We live in a major city's relatively frequently walked area. I can eavesdrop on passers byer's conversations...the mic actually picks up talk a block down.



If you're not shocking yourself every now and then when installing your own electrical equipment you're not a true amateur lol. I've done it quite a few times over the years so I feel your pain (sometimes all the way down to my heels).


----------



## User.45

Eric said:


> If you're not shocking yourself every now and then when installing your own electrical equipment you're not a true amateur lol. I've done it quite a few times over the years so I feel your pain (sometimes all the way down to my heels).



Yup, this was really dumb on my end I paid special attention not to close the circuit with my heart being part of that very circuit. Here I needed the power running to measure stuff out with the multimeter and didn't feel like running down to the fuse box, running back, placing multimeter, running to fuse box, running back, looking at multimeter read, run to fuse box etc. Truth is, I was in a timecrunch because my wife took the kids out for a short walk. I didn't tell her what I was up to, and the transformer would have been the first thing they would have grabbed upon coming home. So I didn't want to lose sight of it even for a second. I could have just called my wife telling her to take a longer walk...but I didn't want her to worry about me getting electrocuted... Well


----------



## Eric

Just saw an ADT commercial with Google Home and a person said "Hey Google, unlock the front door". It's hard to believe the supposed leader in home security would condone such an obvious security risk.


----------



## User.45

Eric said:


> Just saw an ADT commercial with Google Home and a person said "Hey Google, unlock the front door". It's hard to believe the supposed leader in home security would condone such an obvious security risk.



If ADT is the leader we all are in trouble. A small story in these regards:

When I bought the house i was called by ADT's sale team. I told them I'll think about their offer and call me in a week. Two days later two guys wearing ADT jackets knock on my door with an attitude of "beating sales" to getting my business...Sales told me that they'd waive a $99 fee for a home inspection and these two guys tell me they can inspect my house for free instead of $99 and talking shit about ADT sales... I tell them no thank you politely at first, then another time indicating that I'm busy with my kids who are visibly growing antsy, and they still don't shut up just go on yapping...I tell then NO and I really need to go and while I'm closing the door they tell me, "sorry for not letting us save you money. Enjoy paying $99." A few days later sales call me and I ask them if these were really ADT techs and they say _probably._ The service was already way too expensive, but the attitude and lack of coordination was super off-putting. 

So based on this I wouldn't be surprised of the commercial was true and I would never use their services anyway.


----------



## Eric

P_X said:


> If ADT is the leader we all are in trouble. A small story in these regards:
> 
> When I bought the house i was called by ADT's sale team. I told them I'll think about their offer and call me in a week. Two days later two guys wearing ADT jackets knock on my door with an attitude of "beating sales" to getting my business...Sales told me that they'd waive a $99 fee for a home inspection and these two guys tell me they can inspect my house for free instead of $99 and talking shit about ADT sales... I tell them no thank you politely at first, then another time indicating that I'm busy with my kids who are visibly growing antsy, and they still don't shut up just go on yapping...I tell then NO and I really need to go and while I'm closing the door they tell me, "sorry for not letting us save you money. Enjoy paying $99." A few days later sales call me and I ask them if these were really ADT techs and they say _probably._ The service was already way too expensive, but the attitude and lack of coordination was super off-putting.
> 
> So based on this I wouldn't be surprised of the commercial was true and I would never use their services anyway.



Wow, nothing turns me off more than hard sales, I'll flat out tell them to GTF off my porch. 

BTW in the commercial they said that word for word so it's true.


----------



## fooferdoggie

after smartthings app update we pretty much have not been able to access it. the automations for the most part kept running but when we leave or arrive nothing happens. it has not been perfect over the years but it usually worked. I had not really used HomeKit as for years it sucked. plus at the time I had to set it up on my wife's phone so she could use voice over years ago but that meant I had to use her phone to change anything.  but I see now I can set it up so I can change things. we had wemo outlets for years that worked mostly but I have had ones go bad. when we changed our wifi router they have been more unreliable. but lately sometimes the plant light ones would not turn on or not turn off. we have Hue so thats ready to go so I bought a bunch of new HomeKit outlets. not a huge expense. also needed new door and window sensors. but they are not expensive. what costs are the new locks the Schlage locks were the expensive part. they either work with smartthings or HomeKit not both so 400 for the new locks. but they are the most important because my wife could not deal with them to check if they were locked when she left. usually she manually locks them. but its good too be able to check and to be able to lock and unlock them remotely. these versions of the lock I can use a app to set all the things like codes and such instead of having to punch them into the keypad.  not sure how much I can automate HomeKit. like if I opened a window the fan in that window would turn off and turn off when I shut it, also with the temp it would turn off when it got 69 degrees. far more things connect to smart things its crazy. like arlo hooks right up arlo is supposed to hook uo to HomeKit but I think our hub is too old. I used arlo as a outdoor motion sensor for our system. just checked and my Arlo system should connect but it wont.


----------



## Pumbaa

fooferdoggie said:


> after smartthings app update we pretty much have not been able to access it. the automations for the most part kept running but when we leave or arrive nothing happens. it has not been perfect over the years but it usually worked. I had not really used HomeKit as for years it sucked. plus at the time I had to set it up on my wife's phone so she could use voice over years ago but that meant I had to use her phone to change anything.  but I see now I can set it up so I can change things. we had wemo outlets for years that worked mostly but I have had ones go bad. when we changed our wifi router they have been more unreliable. but lately sometimes the plant light ones would not turn on or not turn off. we have Hue so thats ready to go so I bought a bunch of new HomeKit outlets. not a huge expense. also needed new door and window sensors. but they are not expensive. what costs are the new locks the Schlage locks were the expensive part. they either work with smartthings or HomeKit not both so 400 for the new locks. but they are the most important because my wife could not deal with them to check if they were locked when she left. usually she manually locks them. but its good too be able to check and to be able to lock and unlock them remotely. these versions of the lock I can use a app to set all the things like codes and such instead of having to punch them into the keypad.  not sure how much I can automate HomeKit. like if I opened a window the fan in that window would turn off and turn off when I shut it, also with the temp it would turn off when it got 69 degrees. far more things connect to smart things its crazy. like arlo hooks right up arlo is supposed to hook uo to HomeKit but I think our hub is too old. I used arlo as a outdoor motion sensor for our system. just checked and my Arlo system should connect but it wont.



I think the app update killed your return ⏎ key as well.


----------



## DT

I finally picked up a camera solution:  Eufy 2c kit with 2 cameras (Eufy is an Anker product, I didn't realize this from previous research)

I wanted:

HomeKit compatible
Wireless - talking zero wires / free standing
Battery powered (see above)
No service requirement / local storage

And all the typical things you'd want in an [external] camera:  good quality video, night mode, motion/people detection, etc.

I looked up a a couple of reviews and this product was constantly rated at the top, specifically the best for a fully wireless product, supposed to last 180 days - and as I'm sure that's the first thing some might ask ... no, it's no big deal for to toss them onto a charger for a 1/2 a day every few months.   They're IP67 water resistant,  have slick, simple mounts (that are easily disconnected), and the cameras are pretty small, I have an idea for a possible 3rd camera.

The system comes with a base with 16GB of storage, I connected it to the network with ethernet, the setup using their app was pretty simple, push a couple of buttons, set a camera near the base, they show right up in the Eufy app, it will send alerts when they detect motion, can you name them, swap positions in the multiview, check battery, very full featured.

So I go to connect it to HomeKit, I open the iOS app, hit the [+], add device, the cameras won't scan, they have a QR code, but I can see it's not a HomeKit code (missing the little house icon), OK, I see the base does have one, I scan it and get a message (the base actually has voice for messages), "Unit Already Configured", same message on the app, says, to reset and set it up under homekit ... uh, OK ...

So I reset it, [+] add device, it scans, says added, I see nothing on HomeKit.  So I set the two cameras up again, sync button on base + sync button on each camera, they show up under the Eufy app again.  Hmm, maybe these won't work as expected, but I stick them outside just on the left/right fence, work great, video is awesome.  The next day I'm rummaging around in the Eufy app and I see under the config for the base, there's a HomeKit authentication!  In that function, you can select any paired devices, so I select both cameras and **BOOM** both show under HomeKit now 

With that setup I now have a single unified app to control various plugs, the main TV, and the two cameras, and I can do cool things like save streams to iCloud, setup Scenes, add them to an Automation, very cool. You can even view the cameras on the AppleTV (the one downstairs is also the HomeKit hub).

I might buy a 3rd camera and I have a little trick planned - our mailbox is mounted on a hollow, square pole, the cross beam (where the box sits), would let me place something in the upper section and have it rest on top of the crossbeam, __inside__ the pole.  I'd cut out a small hole on the side facing the house.  SECRET SPY STUFF


----------



## fischersd

Maybe one of you can point me at a deadbolt replacement for my apartment that would work (likely bluetooth) with the Apple Watch and iPhone (HomeKit) as well as the RFID fobs?  (that's what are used in the building - I've cloned the tags that the developer put in the bulky garage remotes into these slim little fobs) .

Bought the RFID cloner and a few rewritable fobs from these guys:  https://tinylabs.io

Hoping Apple's announcements about embracing digital ID's and locks for Apple Wallet will get more universal HomeKit compatibility, but we'll see....it takes time for new products to come to market.


----------



## DT

Interested as well, I'd love a deadbolt that's HK, and NFC, __and__ has a physical backup.


----------



## DT

SuperMatt said:


> This new PS4 game looks fun:
> 
> View attachment 6571


----------



## DT

DT said:


> I finally picked up a camera solution:  Eufy 2c kit with 2 cameras (Eufy is an Anker product, I didn't realize this from previous research)




Oh, this was awesome, so the kit has been the same price for weeks, since I started my research, sitting at $239, then it dropped with a clickable coupon (Amazon) by $20, so I'm like yay, $219, I pull the trigger.  Well, when I went to wrote the post above, I opened the product page and saw it had dropped $50!  From the coupon price!  $169, I was ready to order and return, I mean, $50 on a $219 item is pretty substantial, but instead I hit up Eufy through Amazon customer messaging and in < 24 hours, they had refunded me the difference in the new price ($53.xx with tax).

Excellent, and simple customer service, like I've come to expect with Anker products.


----------



## fooferdoggie

I have debated on getting one since I cant get Arlo to connect to HomeKit its jsut wont connect and it is capable of it. 
I would go this way as it works with bluetooth and will unlock and lock with your phone. https://www.amazon.com/August-Wi-Fi...1-1-12d4272d-8adb-4121-8624-135149aa9081&th=1


----------



## User.45

Got Ikea blinds. Quite the process. The blinds come with an Up/Down switch an signal repeater and the blind. You really need a Trådfri gateway to make it actually smart. And apparently you need the Switch to do a handshake with the gateway, then with the Signal repeater, and then with the blinds. It was a pain in the neck. But it's pretty neat now that I can prime my kids for getting up by pulling the blinds at 630AM. Ours come up at 545 in the bedroom. Overall, the system is worth the $330 I've spent on it.

Forgot to add, it's homekit compatible so now the blinds show in in Home:


----------



## Clix Pix

I guess I'm really old-fashioned.  In the evening when it gets dark I step into my  master bedroom and with a hand I grasp and  pull the cord that shuts the blinds.  In the morning once I am reasonably awake and functioning I use the hand again to pull the cord to open the blinds and let the daylight in.....


----------



## User.45

Clix Pix said:


> I guess I'm really old-fashioned.  In the evening when it gets dark I step into my  master bedroom and with a hand I grasp and  pull the cord that shuts the blinds.  In the morning once I am reasonably awake and functioning I use the hand again to pull the cord to open the blinds and let the daylight in.....



I get the snark, but the goal is not to save a trip to the blinds. It is to awaken the family to natural sunlight (when there is such at 545...or 630). We get plenty of exercise just by getting the kids presentable for school. It takes 2K steps on average.


----------



## fooferdoggie

Clix Pix said:


> I guess I'm really old-fashioned.  In the evening when it gets dark I step into my  master bedroom and with a hand I grasp and  pull the cord that shuts the blinds.  In the morning once I am reasonably awake and functioning I use the hand again to pull the cord to open the blinds and let the daylight in.....



I am even more and fashioned I never bother to open them (G)


----------



## Clix Pix

No snark intended, I just really find it rather amusing when people have these automated controls these days for doing something which really isn't a huge thing to do manually.....

That  said, I do not have a family which needs to be awakened by any means,  natural sunlight or not, and gotten ready to head out for the day by a specific time.   Here it it is just me.   Since I am now retired and no longer working anyway, no one expects my presence anywhere  at a certain time, I can get up at 7:00 AM or at 10: AM -- no big deal one way or the other.  That said, I can relate to the concept of natural light awakening someone, and very often when I am staying in a hotel I will position the blinds so that they are not quite closed all the way and so that the gradual progression of dawn and light will come in and naturally awaken me......


----------



## Clix Pix

fooferdoggie said:


> I am even more and fashioned I never bother to open them (G)



 I have neighbors who never open their blinds, but I am someone who really, really thrives on light and my first actions in the morning are to open my blinds and all through the day I appreciate being able to look outside my windows and see whatever there is to see, whether it's the parking lot with my car and other cars or the lake with the wildlife.....  I think that much of this is related to my hearing impairment and so I depend on visual cues from my environment and thrive on seeing lots of light in my environment......   For someone who is visually impaired but who has normal hearing or who lives with someone in this situation,  the opposite would be more the case, though,  and I can understand how in your home having lots of light pouring in all through the day isn't going to be as important.


----------



## User.45

Clix Pix said:


> No snark intended, I just really find it rather amusing when people have these automated controls these days for doing something which really isn't a huge thing to do manually.....
> 
> That  said, I do not have a family which needs to be awakened by any means,  natural sunlight or not, and gotten ready to head out for the day by a specific time.   Here it it is just me.   Since I am now retired and no longer working anyway, no one expects my presence anywhere  at a certain time, I can get up at 7:00 AM or at 10: AM -- no big deal one way or the other.  That said, I can relate to the concept of natural light awakening someone, and very often when I am staying in a hotel I will position the blinds so that they are not quite closed all the way and so that the gradual progression of dawn and light will come in and naturally awaken me......



While I worked from home, I let my natural circadian rhythm take over, which is waking up around 7AM. But now that I'm back in the office and kids take 75-90 min to get ready I needed an absolutely unambiguous indicator that it's time to get up, and well the sun (or the street lights are pretty good for that). But the key isn't even this, it's the kids. I can take a shower while the light gently wakes them up, so by the time I'm dressed I can just tell them to get up and they jump out of the bed.

I do enjoy that once it's dark outside I gradually remove the blue lights from my motion sensored bathroom lights (the purple turns red around 9). Then in the AM it turns purple again, and the bedroom lights bright white.


----------



## Pumbaa

Clix Pix said:


> No snark intended, I just really find it rather amusing when people have these automated controls these days for doing something which really isn't a huge thing to do manually.....



The typical real reason: It’s _fun_!


----------



## fooferdoggie

Clix Pix said:


> I have neighbors who never open their blinds, but I am someone who really, really thrives on light and my first actions in the morning are to open my blinds and all through the day I appreciate being able to look outside my windows and see whatever there is to see, whether it's the parking lot with my car and other cars or the lake with the wildlife.....  I think that much of this is related to my hearing impairment and so I depend on visual cues from my environment and thrive on seeing lots of light in my environment......   For someone who is visually impaired but who has normal hearing or who lives with someone in this situation,  the opposite would be more the case, though,  and I can understand how in your home having lots of light pouring in all through the day isn't going to be as important.



we have shade and nothing but ivy to look at and my wife is blind.


----------



## User.45

fooferdoggie said:


> we have shade and nothing but ivy to look at and my wife is blind.



It's one of the things I have a hard time getting. People fixate on having huge bedroom suites. I do nothing in there that requires more space than a bed and a wardrobe. If it weren't for work/kids the shades would stay closed all day.


----------



## Pumbaa

P_X said:


> It's one of the things I have a hard time getting. People fixate on having huge bedroom suites. I do nothing in there that requires more space than a bed and a wardrobe. If it weren't for work/kids the shades would stay closed all day.



Maybe they’re used to bad ventilation and therefore associate small bedrooms with stale air?

Or maybe they hope to fit a film crew in there some day. Who knows?


----------



## Clix Pix

fooferdoggie said:


> we have shade and nothing but ivy to look at and my wife is blind.



Yes, I know your wife is visually impaired, which is why I wrote what I did in my earlier post.  For those of us who hare hearing-impaired, things are different and we want lots of light.....  It's all about what someone needs and wants in their environment that they think will benefit them in some way.......


----------



## fooferdoggie

Clix Pix said:


> Yes, I know your wife is visually impaired, which is why I wrote what I did in my earlier post.  For those of us who hare hearing-impaired, things are different and we want lots of light.....  It's all about what someone needs and wants in their environment that they think will benefit them in some way.......



I tend to not notice my surroundings when they never change.


----------



## Pumbaa

fooferdoggie said:


> I tend to not notice my surroundings when they never change.



Drax was right!


----------



## Deleted member 215

We have ADT's security/smart home system. It's kinda cool. I don't do much with it myself. In my room the only thing controlled by the system is the ceiling light and I never use it anyway; I prefer my lamps. I was thinking of getting wi-fi bulbs but haven't done so yet. Being able to control the heating/AC from my phone is pretty neat, but my parents control it most of the time. I think my dad just wanted this because he's a geek. Back in the 80s, my dad had a primitive form of home automation system; it was a control console with plug modules for lightbulbs and outlets. So he's always been interested in this stuff. I actually found the console (it's meant to sit on your nightstand or desk and plugs into the wall) and the modules in a box in the garage and set it up at one point when I was a kid. I used it to control Christmas lights in my room.


----------



## tobefirst

We just upgraded our robot vacuum from the Eufy one that Wirecutter recommends...maybe the 11s or the 30c or something, I'm not sure. We went with their upgrade pic this time – the Roborock – and this one is soooo much better. Granted, it should be, for twice the price, but the Eufy is worth nothing compared to this one. It picks up so much more, cleans "intelligently," has mapping ability, etc. I obviously don't know how long it will last, but with a dog and a cat at home, I love it so far.


----------



## Alli

tobefirst said:


> We just upgraded our robot vacuum from the Eufy one that Wirecutter recommends...maybe the 11s or the 30c or something, I'm not sure. We went with their upgrade pic this time – the Roborock – and this one is soooo much better. Granted, it should be, for twice the price, but the Eufy is worth nothing compared to this one. It picks up so much more, cleans "intelligently," has mapping ability, etc. I obviously don't know how long it will last, but with a dog and a cat at home, I love it so far.



We got a Wyze since we already had the cameras and were happy with them. The mapping is great. If only my cats didn’t love the little brushes….


----------



## Herdfan

P_X said:


> Got Ikea blinds. Quite the process. The blinds come with an Up/Down switch an signal repeater and the blind. You really need a Trådfri gateway to make it actually smart. And apparently you need the Switch to do a handshake with the gateway, then with the Signal repeater, and then with the blinds. It was a pain in the neck. But it's pretty neat now that I can prime my kids for getting up by pulling the blinds at 630AM. Ours come up at 545 in the bedroom. Overall, the system is worth the $330 I've spent on it.




I ordered a Lutron Serena blind about a month ago for our bathroom.  The window is on the other side of the tub and is a PITA to open and close it.

I have a full Lutron Homeworks lighting system, but the Serena works off the Caseta system.  Should be fine for one shade.  You can program times and use the Pico remote.

Hopefully it will be in by the end of the month.


----------



## Eric

Herdfan said:


> I ordered a Lutron Serena blind about a month ago for our bathroom.  The window is on the other side of the tub and is a PITA to open and close it.
> 
> I have a full Lutron Homeworks lighting system, but the Serena works off the Caseta system.  Should be fine for one shade.  You can program times and use the Pico remote.
> 
> Hopefully it will be in by the end of the month.



I got MySmartBlinds for my office, where the window is behind all my computer equipment so I get the PIA aspect of it. I just installed it into the head piece and it works great.


----------



## User.45

So Homekit turns out to be still ridiculously buggy, and I think I sabotaged myself by allowing betas on my Hub, which is my AppleTV.

I bought some Trådfri motion sensors from Ikea. It's $10 a piece, so I got 4 for the price of the Hue Sensor. Hue sensor is actually superb as it has both a light sensor and a thermometer. Hue Sensor went to the patio so I can tell what the actual temp is outside and in the summer it will give me UV alarms based on luminosity  (my wife burns very easily). 

Here's the issue, any automation I set most recently, Home registers the motion but fails to trigger the automations. Triggers work for the ecobee sensors, but not anymore if changed them now. So i suspect it all boils down to a HomeHub bug. Fucking annoying. At this point I've spent more time and brain power figuring it out that I ever will save by having sensor controlled lights.


----------



## Eric

P_X said:


> So Homekit turns out to be still ridiculously buggy, and I think I sabotaged myself by allowing betas on my Hub, which is my AppleTV.
> 
> I bought some Trådfri motion sensors from Ikea. It's $10 a piece, so I got 4 for the price of the Hue Sensor. Hue sensor is actually superb as it has both a light sensor and a thermometer. Hue Sensor went to the patio so I can tell what the actual temp is outside and in the summer it will give me UV alarms based on luminosity  (my wife burns very easily).
> 
> Here's the issue, any automation I set most recently, Home registers the motion but fails to trigger the automations. Triggers work for the ecobee sensors, but not anymore if changed them now. So i suspect it all boils down to a HomeHub bug. Fucking annoying. At this point I've spent more time and brain power figuring it out that I ever will save by having sensor controlled lights.



Not to take away from the compatibility issue you're having here but I'm wondering how well these sensors will work with SmartThings, looks like it supports Zigbee(?) their site does not give much for details here. Not interested in adding another hub or forced compatibility with other Ikea products but if I can incorporate I totally would, that is a great price and includes a thermometer. I also have a Hue sensor but don't want to pay $35 a pop for more.


----------



## fooferdoggie

P_X said:


> So Homekit turns out to be still ridiculously buggy, and I think I sabotaged myself by allowing betas on my Hub, which is my AppleTV.
> 
> I bought some Trådfri motion sensors from Ikea. It's $10 a piece, so I got 4 for the price of the Hue Sensor. Hue sensor is actually superb as it has both a light sensor and a thermometer. Hue Sensor went to the patio so I can tell what the actual temp is outside and in the summer it will give me UV alarms based on luminosity  (my wife burns very easily).
> 
> Here's the issue, any automation I set most recently, Home registers the motion but fails to trigger the automations. Triggers work for the ecobee sensors, but not anymore if changed them now. So i suspect it all boils down to a HomeHub bug. Fucking annoying. At this point I've spent more time and brain power figuring it out that I ever will save by having sensor controlled lights.



have not had luck with the hue outdoor motion sensor. it would not trigger anything in HomeKit and it would turn off lights when not scheduled too. worse it effected lights it wasn't to set to effect. 3 times it turned al the lights on in the middle of the night.


----------



## User.45

Eric said:


> Not to take away from the compatibility issue you're having here but I'm wondering how well these sensors will work with SmartThings, looks like it supports Zigbee(?) their site does not give much for details here. Not interested in adding another hub or forced compatibility with other Ikea products but if I can incorporate I totally would, that is a great price and includes a thermometer. I also have a Hue sensor but don't want to pay $35 a pop for more.





fooferdoggie said:


> have not had luck with the hue outdoor motion sensor. it would not trigger anything in HomeKit and it would turn off lights when not scheduled too. worse it effected lights it wasn't to set to effect. 3 times it turned al the lights on in the middle of the night.





Eureka!!! I fixed it and it was largely human error. So I have a HomeKit router, and I also created a guest network to compartmentalize my untrusted devices to, which are my IoT devices. Turns out that my AppleTV was on the guest network (as preferred), but since my Trådfri and Hue hubs are wired in, those were partially isolated from my AppleTV. So Motion was detected, but triggers didn't go thru. Then when I noticed that my other devices worked consistently, I switched my ATV to the main network and voilà, it works. In fact now I have to go and remove all the redundant automations.


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## User.45

Turns out, the Apple Watch is the best smart home accessory. The crown allows ultra precise adjustments of light intensity, trigger automations quickly, etc. It's really fantastic, especially when reading bedtime stories and I want to set the lowest light levels at which I can still read. (I couldn't automate it because it depends on the book and how tired we are).

Now shopping for a homekit ceiling fan. I have ceiling fans at home and on the lowest setting in reverse direction, they are absolutely phenomenal for evening out the living room temp. It's annoying tho if it's running continuously. A smart fan could run for a minute every 0.5-1H or if there's significant temp differential sensed across rooms.


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## Huntn

P_X said:


> Turns out, the Apple Watch is the best smart home accessory. The crown allows ultra precise adjustments of light intensity, trigger automations quickly, etc. It's really fantastic, especially when reading bedtime stories and I want to set the lowest light levels at which I can still read. (I couldn't automate it because it depends on the book and how tired we are).
> 
> Now shopping for a homekit ceiling fan. I have ceiling fans at home and on the lowest setting in reverse direction, they are absolutely phenomenal for evening out the living room temp. It's annoying tho if it's running continuously. A smart fan could run for a minute every 0.5-1H or if there's significant temp differential sensed across rooms.



My understanding is that fans  don’t cool a room, just make the occupants  feel cooler. Not trying to start a fight.


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## User.45

Huntn said:


> My understanding is that fans  don’t cool a room, just make the occupants  feel cooler. Not trying to start a fight.



Correct. But it helps you evaporate sweat, i.e. facilitate heat exchange.

But for winter, in reverse, it pulls cold air up and pushed warm air down and the real purpose is to eliminate cold/hot spots. E.g. the kitchen tile gets warmed up by the fan running, so it subjectively feels much warmer without using more heat.


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## User.45

Just got a Hunter Homekit fan. The cheapest one for the bedroom. Works well enough, I have yet to program it to circulate the air for a few minutes every hour. Got two fancier ones for the living room and kitchen. Will set them to autoturn on to circulate the air if the oven is on, a prime cause of cold spots on weekends. 

Got a Eufy robot vac this BF too. It's hilarious, the app has now a remote control, and I can use it to chase the toddler out of our rooms (she really enjoys it). 

I'll say the Ikea smart blinds are a homerun but the Trådfri motion sensors are just way to slow in a homekit network (~10 sec delay) to be useful.


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## Eric

P_X said:


> Just got a Hunter Homekit fan. The cheapest one for the bedroom. Works well enough, I have yet to program it to circulate the air for a few minutes every hour. Got two fancier ones for the living room and kitchen. Will set them to autoturn on to circulate the air if the oven is on, a prime cause of cold spots on weekends.
> 
> Got a Eufy robot vac this BF too. It's hilarious, the app has now a remote control, and I can use it to chase the toddler out of our rooms (she really enjoys it).
> 
> I'll say the Ikea smart blinds are a homerun but the Trådfri motion sensors are just way to slow in a homekit network (~10 sec delay) to be useful.



Nice! Do you install your own as well? I've always done it myself but after this last one I think I'm done and will have to hire someone in the future, I'm just getting too old now.


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## User.45

Eric said:


> Nice! Do you install your own as well? I've always done it myself but after this last one I think I'm done and will have to hire someone in the future, I'm just getting too old now.



The house came with ceiling fans preinstalled so it doesn’t take much effort to exchange them. Otherwise I’d consider pro install. Im also considering a tv panel too, but im concerned about it getting resonated by my speakers and becoming a source  of distortion. 

The final tech touch i want is solar panels with storage (powerwall is appealing).


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## Chew Toy McCoy

Looking to conserve water in our backyard drip system I got an Orbit B-hyve hose faucet timer. Our drip system is very basic, just one hose run off a faucet split. Before this we had a basic timer connection that just went off at the same time every day.

This thing is pretty slick. It connects to wifi and uses an app. When setting it up it asks you what type plants are being watered, the type of soil, and if the ground is flat or sloped. It also connects to the nearest weather data center and makes adjustments based on conditions. If rain is in the forecast or it is too cold at the normal watering time it will delay watering. Since weather predictions are often inaccurate it also reviews the previous day's actual data. So maybe it was predicted it was going to rain but it didn’t actually rain. It will adjust the watering schedule based on that. It also sends you notifications if there was a situation that it needed to delay watering and what the reason was.

When I first set it up it ran a water pressure test to make adjustments based on that. It tracks how much water you’ve used over time and you can view the data. You can also manually turn the water on and off with the app. It cost less than $50 with the included wifi dongle. Once you have the dongle you can buy more hose times for about $25 - $35 each. They have hardware for more elaborate setups but this more than suits my needs.

It’s been pretty rain heavy the last couple weeks and for that reason the plants only got system watered a couple days. The old timer would have just continued to water daily regardless. When we start getting into summer I’ll be curious to see if it increases the length of time in a day that it waters.


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## Herdfan

P_X said:


> Just got a Hunter Homekit fan. The cheapest one for the bedroom. Works well enough, I have yet to program it to circulate the air for a few minutes every hour. Got two fancier ones for the living room and kitchen. Will set them to autoturn on to circulate the air if the oven is on, a prime cause of cold spots on weekends.




Sounds useful for sure, but how do they know the over is on?


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## fooferdoggie

we have had an amazon microwave since they came out. makes it easy for my blind wife to use it. but it was dinky only 700 watts. popcorn  bags would get stuck in it and not rotate it.  one brand of popcorn took over 4.40 to pop. when I changed brands I was watching it but got distracted and the popcorn burned. since the bag got stuck it cracked the side of the microwave and stunk so bad. so time for a new one got a Toshiba microwave that works with Alexa. it has its own app that lets you run it and then you install a skill to run it on alexa. got it all setup but as usual alexa find it but when you tell it how long to run alexa tells us something went wrong. I redid it but nope. so either my wife can use the app and it works well with voiceover or just label the buttons with a paint that has texture.  man talk about going back to before talking tools. but all she does is reheat so I only need to label that and start and stop button and the popcorn button for hte granddaughter.


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## DT

Cmaier said:


> I was thinking something like the MeRoss homekit garage door opener.




Kind off topic, but I've had a Meross garage door opener in my cart for months, I'll eventually get it.  One of our cameras is in the garage, so I can get a visual check of the door (though can't do anything about it, other than haul my ass out of bed, stumble down the stairs, close it, and wind up in my office, distracted by something online and drinking a beer )  Also got an LM883 opener switch, our door uses Security 2.0+, so you have to send the signal through something to decode it, just a couple of wires soldered onto that switch and you're good to go for ~$9.

We have several Meross (HK compatible) outlets, they work, well, exactly as expected, but that's not always the case


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## Cmaier

DT said:


> Kind off topic, but I've had a Meross garage door opener in my cart for months, I'll eventually get it.  One of our cameras is in the garage, so I can get a visual check of the door (though can't do anything about it, other than haul my ass out of bed, stumble down the stairs, close it, and wind up in my office, distracted by something online and drinking a beer )  Also got an LM883 opener switch, our door uses Security 2.0+, so you have to send the signal through something to decode it, just a couple of wires soldered onto that switch and you're good to go for ~$9.
> 
> We have several Meross (HK compatible) outlets, they work, well, exactly as expected, but that's not always the case




I have BOTH a meross and the Best Buy (insignia) garage door openers hooked up to the same door.  The meross works a LOT better, so I’ve disabled the insignia.  

With the meross, it *always* stays connected in homekit, and it reacts instantly when I hit the button or tell siri what to do.  The main problem with the insignia seems to be the wireless sensor for the door position keeps losing its connection or getting confused.  The meross has a wired magnetic sensor which works a lot better.


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## DT

Cmaier said:


> The main problem with the insignia seems to be the wireless sensor for the door position keeps losing its connection or getting confused.  The meross has a wired magnetic sensor which works a lot better.




That's good to hear confirmed from a trusted source    In reading reviews, some people suggest the install of a wired sensor is "more complicated" (I guess maybe the logistics of running wires, which is no biggie for me), but the wireless sensors can be a little finicky.

I was chuckling the other day that I still have extensions/strips and some pulleys ziptied to the door supports from last halloween (I was putting up new, beefier eyelets to store a SUP board).


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## Cmaier

DT said:


> That's good to hear confirmed from a trusted source    In reading reviews, some people suggest the install of a wired sensor is "more complicated" (I guess maybe the logistics of running wires, which is no biggie for me), but the wireless sensors can be a little finicky.
> 
> I was chuckling the other day that I still have extensions/strips and some pulleys ziptied to the door supports from last halloween (I was putting up new, beefier eyelets to store a SUP board).




I guess it’s “more complicated” both because you have to hang the wire (I just used gaffers tape on the ceiling, since my garage is unfinished anyway), and because you need to line up the sensor and the magnet.  That last part is pretty trivially easy, too, though I suppose somebody could have weird enough garage door geometry or something such that it takes a few minutes.


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## DT

Left in a bit of a rush yesterday, heading out with the daughter to pick up the wife from the Town Center, got about 10 miles north on A1A, could not for the life of me remember if I closed the garage door (again, the daughter had run back in for something ...).   I've got a camera in the garage, so it's easy to check, but no way to do anything about it, heck, even if the across-the-street neighbors were around I'd hit them up to close it.

So just ordered the Meross garage door opener, and a Liftmaster 883 switch that I'll modify to provide the proper Security+ signal to the Meross (just involves soldering a couple of wires).

(The garage was closed )

Hmmm, I guess all this talk was kind of OT for this thread, maybe we should move it to the home automation topic ...


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## Herdfan

DT said:


> Left in a bit of a rush yesterday, heading out with the daughter to pick up the wife from the Town Center, got about 10 miles north on A1A, could not for the life of me remember if I closed the garage door




I our last house, me leaving in the morning was sort of a running joke.  "Will he back down the street to see if he closed it?".  Happened at least a couple of times a week.  And I swore the next house I would be able to see it as I drove off.  That was good for about 5 years until the vegetation grew up so I can no longer really see it.

So I installed 2 Liftmaster's with MyQ so I can check them on an app.

FYI, in the original scenario, IT WAS ALWAYS CLOSED.  LOL


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## DT

Herdfan said:


> FYI, in the original scenario, IT WAS ALWAYS CLOSED.  LOL




My paranoia over the garage being left open?  1 in 3 times I leave the house.

Number of times it's actually been left open?  Zero.


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## Eric

DT said:


> My paranoia over the garage being left open?  1 in 3 times I leave the house.
> 
> Number of times it's actually been left open?  Zero.



No worse feeling than leaving and not remembering, we now have both the LiftMaster with MyQ and an alert that let's us know if it's been open for more than _x_ amount of minutes and for extra peace of mind a camera in the garage.


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## fischersd

I would highly recommend people avoid the Level locks:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0886K9GHC/

We've had this one since February (we needed one that looked like a regular deadbolt - strata bylaws) - we wanted the "unlock when I get close to the door" function to work - well, it's only gotten worse and worse over time.  The thing also chews through a CR2 battery about every 4 months. 

Only thing that has been reliable has been the auto-lock - but we've seen lately the lock is randomly unlocking by itself?!  That's a little scary.  May end up putting the original deadbolt back on the door and seeing if I can't get some of my $ back on this on Craigslist.

Oh - and the "touch" feature of the lock - it's so damn slow, you may as well pull your keys out of your pocket.


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## Citysnaps

I have a Liftmaster garage door opener and like it a lot. Went with their direct drive jackshaft model and have had zero issues over the last three years. I installed my own door open sensor that ties into my home automation system, Just need to coordinate that with the house alarm being set or the door being open under certain other conditions.


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## DT

I also scored a good deal on another coupleof Eufy cameras.

We had the kit that was 2 cams, 1 base station, great cameras, good night vision, solid software, they're also HomeKit compatible, so you can view through any HK device including the AppleTVs, support automations, triggers, recording, face detection.  They use a rechargeable battery and last for like 6+ months, super easy to remove, or just charge in place with a battery pack, and have been very weather resistant (given our weather). 

The base handles the connection to the network, and has WiFI and ethernet, can handle 16 devices.  Our current garage and front door works decent with the current placement of the base (using WiFi).

Single cameras are usually around $99 (always some discount running).  I wanted another one, but two would be handy, so there was sale (Amazon) where I could get another base and two cams, same kit we got the first time for $169!

Even without the case that's a better per camera price, but I'm going to keep the existing garage cam to the existing base, add a new camera at the far left corner for base 1, then use the new base for the front door and the other camera on the far right corner of the yard.   The single base couldn't quite cover both corners, so this will be perfect.


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## DT

Ha!

I put a Meross smart plug on the outlet the kettle uses in the kitchen, now we can turn the switch off, turn the kettle on, and I have an automation set to run just before we usually get up.  So hopefully tomorrow we'll have pretty hot water waiting for us (will almost for sure need to heat it up again, but it'll save 6 or 7 minutes )


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## DT

DT said:


> So just ordered the Meross garage door opener, and a Liftmaster 883 switch that I'll modify to provide the proper Security+ signal to the Meross (just involves soldering a couple of wires).





Oh, hahaha, I actually cancelled that order.  I kept seeing it $10 less, and it bugged me, figured no rush and they eventually drop in price.  Kind of forgot about it, weeks later, it did drop to $39 again, re-ordered and it is sitting here. 

I need to make time to bust out the soldering stick, modify the Liftmaster button, do the install - maybe this weekend!  I already setup the opener itself, easily registered in HomeKit, flashed the latest firmware with the Meross app (already installed for our smart outlets).


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## DT

Whew!

That was a chore modifying my own button, it was smaller than I realized, about the size of a doorbell, so the solder points were __small__.  In fact, I initially wrecked, it, hahaha, then fixed it (removed some excess solder), then got a good attachment on the two leads from the switch (basically the smart opener "pushes the button").  This was required because of the Security 2.0+ spec.

Got the magnetic close/position sensor installed too, I was going to skip it today, but had car moved, ladder out, already into it so finished it up.  I ran it right down the center ceiling, used some eyelets and zip ties, it's nice and secure, the magnet I just stuck onto the door using 3M trim tape, it didn't need to be super close, I've probably got a good 1/4"-1/2" gap between the two when closed.

Works great!  I can open remotely from my iPhone, my Watch, via Siri, I get all sorts of notifications (including to the downstairs AppleTV), and since it's HomeKit you can setup all sorts of automations like triggers for when you leave the house, at a certain time, good stuff, very cool!


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## fischersd

Finally given up on the Level Lock Touch:

Awful company to deal with. Next to no post-launch dev support.

- random unlocking that isn't logged in the app (your door is left unlocked)
- lobotomized since iOS 16 - thinks you're on the other side of the door, so bluetooth unlocking when you arrive home doesn't work - and unlocks itself when you get close to the door with your phone sometime afterwards (in my case, usually happens 15-20 minutes after I'm home).
- touch feature is insanely slow (much faster to get out your key)
- using the cards or fobs that they sell separately is similarly slow
- their "low" audio option is quite loud - all of your neighbours in an apartment/condo complex will know you have a smart lock (so, so much for stealth)
- chews through CR2 batteries every 3 months

All of that is with their own software - the unreliability of HomeKit automations, you can't lay at their feet (I didn't use them) - finally re-tried the HomeKit automations at the end to see if there was some way that we could keep this and make it useful - nope.


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## Herdfan

Placed my order for Lutron's Radio Ra3 lighting control system today for the new house.

I currently have Homeworks in my current house, but Ra3 has a lot of the capability of HW (at least for what I want and need) and HW would be overkill in the new house.


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