Hello boys and girls, Happy new year!! So with the holidays coming and going - we've decided to start working a bit more on our home automation. Lights - Philip hue lights - turning on at night.. turning off etc. Plugs - turning appliances on and off at particular times etc. Alarm - smart alarm - turn on and off remotely etc. Bose speakers - whole house coverage of sound. What other options do we have? Heating i suppose? Smart fire alarms?
One of the biggest problems I've found with this plan is that most appliances can't be controlled with a simple relay plug, 'cos they're too 'smart.' Like, I have a dehumidifier. Would be nice to turn it on when I'm out, but for two problems: 1) It doesn't actually turn on unless you physically press a button on it; and B) You have to press the button again to turn it off so the fan can run for a minute or so to cool it down, or the desiccant inside gets all messed up. Same goes for an air filter I recently bought - powering it on at the wall isn't enough, you have to press a button - while other appliances like the oven, washing machine, microwave and what have you not only need a button pressing before they'll do anything but also need me physically there to insert things like food and clothes so it actually has something to do. About the only things I could come up with that I could automate without replacing outright with a 'smart' version of themselves: electric fan heater... Actually, that's it.
I have a Nest as heating is the only part that I care to automate, turning a lamp on has never really been an issue. I'm surprised it's not where you started down this road? Maybe consider a doorbell or some CCTV for the portfolio? I'm considering some motorised blinds for the bedroom but everything I've seen so far looks like a scaled down garage door, it might be necessary to home brew them.
Switching something on an off from an app or static timer does not automation make. What you should be thinking about is use cases - just asking what "smart" ecosystems people recommend is automation for the sake of it. What do you want to achieve? what would make your life easier? What menial task bugs you at the moment?
The biggest benefits are to be had from smart lighting and heating IMO, and only because they'll help you save money in the long run. A Hive or equivalent smart thermostat can pay for itself in the first year if you're not currently being frugal with your heating. Lighting too, goes without saying. I set my smart lighting to come on at dusk in the key living areas and go off automatically when it's our normal bedtime. It also turns off when both my wife's and my smartphones are no longer in the home, via IFTTT task. A simple voice command overrides either way if you decide to stay up late etc. I've also set up voice commands to turn on lighting and cooker hood extraction in the kitchen when we're about to cook, so even if your hands are caked in whatever you're preparing, you can turn lights and ventilation on - useful. As for the rest of it, such as smart locks, smart alarms etc? No thank you! The security side I'm quite old fashioned about and would always want a manual input on that.
If it's dark, I turn on a light.... when I go to bed I turn it off. My thermostat has a timer (which rarely gets used) I've only had to turn up the heating once this year. Home automation is a BS excuse, really you're just trying to justify staring at your phone for a bit longer. Get outside, ride a bike, climb a tree.... /rant Do we really need another home automation thread too? https://forums.bit-tech.net/index.php?threads/the-home-automation-thread.310354/
Nah, it's ace. I can make sure that my heating is turned down when we are out, without arsing around with the thermostat/program, I can make sure that lights come on and off when we are away, I can check the status of things with my voice (meaning that I can actually get some time away from my 'phone), automate things to make my life easier and my home more secure, make things easier at my home for guests, and my ageing grandmother can make the tv come on and select a channel without pissing about with the remote. Better still, I can wake up ask what the weather is, turn the radio on, and boost the heating if I'm cold before I get out of bed. Quality of life ++. That said, it's all a matter of opinions, which of course, are like bumholes, in that we've all got one, and they're pretty much all different.
The whole point of home automation is that you don't have to stare at your phone. That's why it's AUTOMATION....
What you (and many) are thinking of isn't automation... Automation is switching the lights on when you enter the garage because chances are you have your hands full Automation is switching your espresso machine on 40 minutes before your alarm is set because it takes an age to heat up Automation is switching the heating off when you leave the house
My sum total of home automation comes in around nothing. When I enter a room i turn the light on, when I leave I turn it off, handily the fellas that built the house put all the switches right next to the doors. If I'm cold I put on a jumper (I don't think a NEST stat can do that yet), if I'm still cold I'll turn the heating on and back off a couple of hours before I'm going out or to bed. My only nod to home automation is a wee bell next to my sofa, ding it once and the child will do her duty and fetch me a beer
As Jinq said, everyone is entitled to their opinion but Mojo is asking for ways he can automate his home - not a lecture on whether others think it's lazy or pointless.
I disagree whole heartily with this. The idea is so that i don't have to look at my phone at all. Otherwise i may as well press a button on my wall than press a button my phone. Seems that response is a bit on the aggressive. If anything the use of home automation is an excuse to make life more fluid and safer. It gets dark outside.. i don't want my girlfriend or myself walking into a dark house in case some how there is an intruder in the house. On the other side of this.. if we've left the house and forgotton to put the house alarm on.. we can set it remotely.. it's got nothing to do with getting outside, riding a bike or climbing a tree.. though to note i am 32.. not 12.
And where do you go to check these AUTOMATED things are doing their thing? When (A),you can't physically see if the lights are actually turning on/off Or (B), when you can't feel the emanating warmth of your radiator? ...... ahhh yes, your phone/app
This. Making life easier... not adding in more devices to switch on and off with my phone! Yeah if i needed that.. i'd go and see my parents for good measure!
...and you don't go to parties any more 'cos you're 42? Why so much aggression and hatred for automation? It makes life less stressful, and more fun. Leaving more time to do things you want to do, like go outside, go to parties, or climb trees!
You use your phone to set them up, obviously. But once they're set up, it's automatic and therein lies the benefit. If you can't see that, then I can't offer anything else up I'm afraid. I can have lights turn on or off to feign occupancy whilst we're away. I can turn the heating on two hours before we get home from a winter holiday so we don't have to run the heating unnecessarily for two weeks or sit shivering for a few hours when we get in. You can even have the heating switch on when you're within (x)km from your home so you're not burning gas. There are many benefits if you can just look past your own ignorance.
