Smart Home & Home Automation discussion thread

[dlock13]

Anyone know a good place to sell old HA gear? Moved away from Wink and Z-wave, and I need somewhere to offload this stuff!

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Anyone know a good place to sell old HA gear? Moved away from Wink and Z-wave, and I need somewhere to offload this stuff!

There is a Facebook group where I sell stuff called the Wink, Ring, ST, HA, IoT Trading & Sales group.

 

[dlock13]

There is a Facebook group where I sell stuff called the Wink, Ring, ST, HA, IoT Trading & Sales group.

Man, I don't have a Facebook account! Looks like I have to sign up for a junk one... Thanks for the tip!

 

[luv2liv]

i have a Schlage smart lock connected to my SmartThings via zwave. every time the lock is opened, it would send a message to my phone.
March 13th 7:32pm eastern time, for the first time ever, i received a message saying the door was opened. BUT no one was at the door to open it. i even looked at my security cams to verify if it was the in-laws. but nope. no one.
has my SmartThings hub been compromised? how to verify no one else was logged in or have access to my hub remotely?

 

[lupi]

i have a Schlage smart lock connected to my SmartThings via zwave. every time the lock is opened, it would send a message to my phone.
March 13th 7:32pm eastern time, for the first time ever, i received a message saying the door was opened. BUT no one was at the door to open it. i even looked at my security cams to verify if it was the in-laws. but nope. no one.
has my SmartThings hub been compromised? how to verify no one else was logged in or have access to my hub remotely?

I'm saying it's a schlage issue. Recently mine only locks from the outside about a third of the time when you press the logo. I'm off monday and plan on calling about this.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

i have a Schlage smart lock connected to my SmartThings via zwave. every time the lock is opened, it would send a message to my phone.
March 13th 7:32pm eastern time, for the first time ever, i received a message saying the door was opened. BUT no one was at the door to open it. i even looked at my security cams to verify if it was the in-laws. but nope. no one.
has my SmartThings hub been compromised? how to verify no one else was logged in or have access to my hub remotely?

You’re probably fine but experienced a glitch with Schlage or ST. Have you changed the lock’s batteries recently?

FWIW, I’ve seen a lot of slowness and glitchiness with ST lately. For example, I have a bulb which keeps randomly turning on even though it is no longer in any automations. I’m going to move it and many of my other ST-connected devices over to Hubitat soon, as I think it has reached a level of maturity I’m comfortable with in the last few months. I’ve already moved many devices over and it is much faster than ST, but not without its weaknesses.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Two bits of news today:

1. Stringify is shutting down (if you're a user, you will have received the email).
2. Wink's problems continue - they've had major reliability issues lately and then this article appears: https://www.howtogeek.com/409925/why-we-cant-recommend-wink-hubs-anymore/#comments. Reddit also had a post showing a Glassdoor review from an employee for at wil.i.am's company which claimed employees weren't getting paid.

 

[luv2liv]

so my ST v3 hub, 5 months old, just bit the dust! it boots up with blue light blinking then solid blue.
refuses to be online. app says hub is disconnected. i know the cat5 line has internet because i plugged that into a laptop and got online.
looks like a hard reset is my only option and have to start all over again with pairing up the devices right?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

so my ST v3 hub, 5 months old, just bit the dust! it boots up with blue light blinking then solid blue.
refuses to be online. app says hub is disconnected. i know the cat5 line has internet because i plugged that into a laptop and got online.
looks like a hard reset is my only option and have to start all over again with pairing up the devices right?

I'd ask support first. I'm really not sure what you should do. How many devices do you have?

 

[lupi]

so my ST v3 hub, 5 months old, just bit the dust! it boots up with blue light blinking then solid blue.
refuses to be online. app says hub is disconnected. i know the cat5 line has internet because i plugged that into a laptop and got online.
looks like a hard reset is my only option and have to start all over again with pairing up the devices right?

Had the same thing on my first hub. Bit the bullet after an update. Ended up having support send a new one out and old went back to them.

 

[luv2liv]

I only have 10 devices. After googling around it seems there's no way to create a backup of my existing settings.

So when they sent a replacement, did you start over from the beginning?

update: just hard reset the v3 hub and lost everything. had to pair up the devices and set up all the automations. if his happens again, i will probably go back to HomeAssistant. HA is complicated but at least there are ways to back things up.

 

[Kaido]

This looks waaaaaaaaaaaay cool:

https://knocki.com/

Freaking GENIUS! Best part is, the Kickstarter was like 3 years ago, so it's shipping now! Hahaha. Just ordered one!

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Man, our smart home threads here on AT are slow. I thought a bunch of tech nerds like us would've jumped on smart home tech by now!

 

[herm0016]

Man, our smart home threads here on AT are slow. I thought a bunch of tech nerds like us would've jumped on smart home tech by now!

A lot of the "smart home" stuff is just for cool factor and not actually all that useful. code/wifi door locks are great, maybe a few switches for outside lights or what not, sprinkler controllers that know the weather are great. Bluetooth light bulbs though? That surface remote thing above? its cool and fun for a bit, but i bet most of them end up in a stack of other electronics people don't know what to do with.

let me know when i can automate taking out the garbage and ill be on board.

taking out my phone to do things i did not have to take my phone out to do previously just seems silly.

 

[Kaido]

Man, our smart home threads here on AT are slow. I thought a bunch of tech nerds like us would've jumped on smart home tech by now!

It's hard for two reasons:

1. There's actually not a lot of smart home tech available (not just on the market, but rather in terms of "stuff you can actually use it for")
2. The custom stuff (Savant, Crestron, etc.) is MEGA expensive (stream 9 channels to any device using video multi-plexing & customized apps, use tablets with HD photos of your rooms to change scenes

There's only so much you can do to your house. Like, take lightning for example. Philips has the Hue line, which has:

1. A variety of colors
2. A variety of styles
3. A variety of integrations

So you can do bright white or warm white, or multiple colors. You can get light bulbs, strip lights, and lamps. You can stick the strip lights in crown molding coves, around your monitor, TV, projector screen, or bathroom mirror. You can sync them up to your Alexa or Knocki or Siri HomeKit or Google Home with Google Assistant. You can make them blink to the music or active on triggers like a red-alert alarm or nightlight with motion detector. You can also get an Ambi-light clone:

https://lightpack.tv/

You can slap that on your computer monitor, or your television, or your projector screen...if you like the effect, that is. After that...there's not really much more you can do. You can turn your house funky colors with can lights & under-cabinet lightning & whatnot...and then you're kind of out of options for what to do, because you can only put in so many color-changing LED lights, haha. You can knock, talk, motion-sense, use a timer, use a trigger like with IFTTT, or press a button to activate them. I mean, I have a couple extras, like some party lights & stuff, and some people go as far as integrating DMX lasers & whatnot into their systems, but you know...it's just lights, lol.

For me, the Smarthome dream is a little bit like the iPad dream...I went gaga over the rumors of the iPad, but then in practice...meh. lol. Like, my smarthome does nearly everything I want right now...lighting, HVAC, door locks, security, etc. The only piece I'm waiting on right now is the upcoming IKEA smartblinds:

https://www.slashgear.com/these-ike...ke-auto-blinds-much-more-affordable-07560499/

Which have been delayed:

https://www.slashgear.com/ikea-smar...-kadrilj-fyrtur-tradfri-integration-14569724/

Motorized blinds aren't a show-stopper, but rather a nice-to-have. It's kind of like my window treatment stack approach:

1. Low-E windows
2. Coat the outside with a hydrophobic coating (Glassparency or Rain-X)
3. Cover the inside with a decorative privacy tint (kind of like a one-way mirror with bonus UV protection, available in a variety of colors)
4. Install trim molding & paint as desired
5. Install blinds & drapes as desired (automation optional)

After that...there are kind of no more things to add to your windows, haha. You can do some motorized awnings or between-the-glass shades or glass-break detectors for security or AtmosFX Halloween window decorations & some other unique spins, but you're more or less "done" at that point, which is what I mean about a lack or rather limited scope of smarthome stuff. A lot of problems have been solved over the past 5 years since Wink was launched:

http://www.portvapes.co.uk/?id=Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps&exid=threads/the-wink-home-automation-thread.2390152/

1. We have really great locking systems (I like Schlage personally)
2. We have really great camera & doorbell systems (Ring, Arlo, Synology for heavy-duty stuff, etc.)
3. BAF Haiku fans are amazing, and Lutron has a smart fan switch available for legacy products now
4. Lighting is excellent between Philips Hue, GE switches, and Lutron's hub & switch system
5. PLEX makes for an amazing media server, and home theater & TV stuff is super easy with the Logitech Harmony Express system
6. There are a variety of lawn & water controllers available (I'm a fan of Spruce & FlowPro Meters), not to mention they're selling lawnmower robots at Home Depot these days

I mean, you can get fancy & do motorized projector drop boxes (ex. Vutec), hidden TV's with motorized lifts (ex. Nexus 21), etc. if you want to spend some money...I prefer passive (ex. wall-mounted TV) rather than active stuff as much as possible (instantly usable + less crap to break lol). Plus, there is such a thing as "too much" automation, depending on the circumstance. For example, back in the Wink days, they had the "Quirky Refuel Smart Propane Tank Gauge", which was a neat little system that alerted you when your propane was running low. However, at $50, it was the same price to simply buy a second tank, which also solved the problem of having a backup/failover unit for when you ran out of propane while grilling. That's one of those "solutions looking for problems" kind of things, haha. Same deal with the Wi-Fi enabled hot water heaters...I mean, I guess it's technically useful, and it'd be cool to have, but I've never once in my entire life adjusted my hot water heater, you know? If you travel a lot & for extended periods of time, it might make sense, but aftermarket controllers are like $150 to save what, a few bucks a week to turn it off when you're not home while on the road? Meh (but, depends on your situation!).

There are a lot of super-cool things you can do too, outside of the off-the-shelf stuff...there's MagicMirror², DAKboards, ActionTiles, etc. It all boils down to what you want to do & how you want to do it. Once you get the basics down (security, lightning, HVAC, media entertainment, etc.), then it's really just some additional custom stuff that you personally want (ex. the Knocki system I just bought will be useful for say integrating TV controls with my end-table so that I don't have to yell at Alexa to pause the Roku over the sound from the speakers...talk about #FirstWorldProblems lol). And then once you get that figured out...I mean, it goes back to that problem of having a kind of limited scope. Once you do everything you can do & want to do, then there's not really any more things to do, you know? lol. I'd love to throw more crap at my place, but aside from blinds, I'm really pretty happy with my current setup (Schlage, Lutron, Alexa, etc.), so for me, at least, I've kind of reached a saturation point. Kind of like computers did a few years back...a quad-core CPU + a SSD is overkill for most people at this point, in terms of having a fast-booting & instant-loading computer at home. Which is a Good Thing, because that's what we've been working towards all these years - solves the problem & does so in an easy, affordable way!

 

[Kaido]

A lot of the "smart home" stuff is just for cool factor and not actually all that useful. code/wifi door locks are great, maybe a few switches for outside lights or what not, sprinkler controllers that know the weather are great. Bluetooth light bulbs though? That surface remote thing above? its cool and fun for a bit, but i bet most of them end up in a stack of other electronics people don't know what to do with.

let me know when i can automate taking out the garbage and ill be on board.

taking out my phone to do things i did not have to take my phone out to do previously just seems silly.

That's really it. For most people, I think the following setup would be great:

1. Alexa (or Apple or Google) for voice (and app) control & multi-room speakers & intercom system
2. LED lighting throughout the inside & outside of the house
3. Schlage smart lock & Ring video doorbell & Arlo or Nest camera system
4. HVAC controller & IKEA blinds
5. Logitech IR blaster & Wi-Fi remote system
6. Upgrade all appliances to modern Energy Star-rated devices (ex. my large upright deep freezer cost dropped to $5/mo operating cost with my last purchase 3 years ago, which paid for itself in less than 2 years)

Easy-to-use system, non-insane price (ex. won't cost $50,000 to install like a high-end Crestron system), some help on the monthly utility bill, and added functionality to your home.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

A lot of the "smart home" stuff is just for cool factor and not actually all that useful. code/wifi door locks are great, maybe a few switches for outside lights or what not, sprinkler controllers that know the weather are great. Bluetooth light bulbs though? That surface remote thing above? its cool and fun for a bit, but i bet most of them end up in a stack of other electronics people don't know what to do with.

I have 200+ smart devices - it's very useful if you have the use cases. The Bluetooth stuff is just dumb - I'll never understand why people buy that stuff.

let me know when i can automate taking out the garbage and ill be on board.

That will take a leap in robotics to make happen.

taking out my phone to do things i did not have to take my phone out to do previously just seems silly.

If you're taking out your phone to make home automation work, you're doing it completely and totally wrong.

 

[herm0016]

That's really it. For most people, I think the following setup would be great:

1. Alexa (or Apple or Google) for voice (and app) control & multi-room speakers & intercom system
2. LED lighting throughout the inside & outside of the house
3. Schlage smart lock & Ring video doorbell & Arlo or Nest camera system
4. HVAC controller & IKEA blinds
5. Logitech IR blaster & Wi-Fi remote system
6. Upgrade all appliances to modern Energy Star-rated devices (ex. my large upright deep freezer cost dropped to $5/mo operating cost with my last purchase 3 years ago, which paid for itself in less than 2 years)

Easy-to-use system, non-insane price (ex. won't cost $50,000 to install like a high-end Crestron system), some help on the monthly utility bill, and added functionality to your home.

yep.

i would even say most people don't need the remote system. we have a roku tv with a roku remote. with the right setup we need 0 other remotes for entertainment, even with my sound system hooked up. I also find voice control to be nearly useless as well.

HVAC control is great if you have a forced air or a heat pump system. useless for hot water heat. Multiple zones, lots of thermal mass to heat if you want to change the temperature and no cooling possible with the existing system.

i would add a sprinkler system controller for those with sprinkler systems.

 

[herm0016]

I have 200+ smart devices - it's very useful if you have the use cases. The Bluetooth stuff is just dumb - I'll never understand why people buy that stuff.

That will take a leap in robotics to make happen.

If you're taking out your phone to make home automation work, you're doing it completely and totally wrong.

not really a leap in tech to take out the trash, just not all that accessible to the population.

I struggle to imagine 200 points i could even put a "device" on our acre with a duplex. also depends on what you consider a "device" we have a few.
Does a boiler that adjusts output temperature based on the demand curve count?

you sound like you do not fit into "most people"

 

[IndyColtsFan]

not really a leap in tech to take out the trash, just not all that accessible to the population.

I struggle to imagine 200 points i could even put a "device" on our acre with a duplex. also depends on what you consider a "device" we have a few.
Does a boiler that adjusts output temperature based on the demand curve count?

I've got sensors almost everywhere, many for experimental purposes. Most of my automations are completely transparent to the user and are automatically activated by actions or certain conditions - for example, if both my wife and I leave our geofence (currently 1 mile around our house), several actions automatically kick off in my house - AC settings, alarm settings, certain electrical outlets are disabled, etc. If we're both still out of our geofence when a certain time occurs, a vacation light simulator kicks on and randomly turns lights on and off throughout the house. Likewise, simpler automations are controlled by basic actions such as doors opening, entering a room, etc. For those that require more direct control, we typically use voice commands through Alexa.

Some use cases solved issues of convenience, like automatically turning on lights when you walk into certain rooms or open certain doors. Others are designed to solve problems which may cause issues - for example, I have temp sensors in my refrigerator and freezers which alert us if the temp falls out of range. When garage doors open in my house, certain distributed lights in my house glow red until the doors are closed. I also have water sensors placed under a water heater (which caught leaks before and let me resolve the issue before it was a problem) and near my AC, where it also detected a leak once last summer.

Now, a lot of skeptics will say "I can get up and use a light switch." That's true, but a couple of years ago, I broke my foot and going up and down stairs on crutches was really difficult and once I got seated, it was a pain to get back up to flip switches. So voice control of lights was a life saver.

you sound like you do not fit into "most people"

Correct - like much of AT, I'm a nerd and am an outlier compared to the general population.

 

[herm0016]

are the temp sensors wireless? I cant imagine much signal getting out of a sealed steel box like our subzero... problems with batteries at the cold temps?

i am somewhat interested in doing more, beyond the front door. HVAC control for hot water with baseboard does not make much sense beyond the upgraded control for the boiler. leak sensor for mechanical sounds good. I would like to get the 1960s intercom system working as well. automatic gate across the driveway with geofencing. Too many use our drive for a turn around and put ruts in the gravel when the full throttle back out the drive.

 

[Kaido]

not really a leap in tech to take out the trash, just not all that accessible to the population.

I struggle to imagine 200 points i could even put a "device" on our acre with a duplex. also depends on what you consider a "device" we have a few.
Does a boiler that adjusts output temperature based on the demand curve count?

you sound like you do not fit into "most people"

200 sounds like a lot, but once you add up door locks, blinds, smart lights or switches, smart outlets, ceiling fans, etc. it's actually not an obscene amount.

 

[Kaido]

are the temp sensors wireless? I cant imagine much signal getting out of a sealed steel box like our subzero... problems with batteries at the cold temps?

No, they make special ones. I have the AcuRite version. The latest version has a central hub with 5 sensors for $170:

https://www.acurite.com/5-sensor-hu...home-environment-system-my-acurite-977es.html

The sensors are:

1. Temperature (with a range of -40F to 158F & +/- 2F accuracy)
2. Humidity (accuracy varies based on humidity level)
3. 330-foot range (depending on what's between the sensor & the hub)
4. Data reporting every 16 seconds
5. Uses 2 "AA" batteries (alkaline are fine, but they recommend lithium if you're going to use them below -4F)
6. Indoor/outdoor-friendly

I use them for indoor & outdoor temperature monitoring, as well as monitoring my fridges & freezers (like if there's a hardware or power failure, or if someone leaves the door open for too long & the temp starts going up), which sounds a bit silly, but most people have at $100 to $300 worth of groceries in their fridge/freezer units at any given time, so I basically consider it insurance.

 

[Kaido]

yep.

i would even say most people don't need the remote system. we have a roku tv with a roku remote. with the right setup we need 0 other remotes for entertainment, even with my sound system hooked up. I also find voice control to be nearly useless as well.

HVAC control is great if you have a forced air or a heat pump system. useless for hot water heat. Multiple zones, lots of thermal mass to heat if you want to change the temperature and no cooling possible with the existing system.

i would add a sprinkler system controller for those with sprinkler systems.

Yeah, I have a 65" Roku TV from Costco, along with a set of Klipsch 2.1 ProMedia speakers. Single remote, volume on the 2.1 set set to 49%, and then I adjust the volume via the Roku remote. I can also control it from the Roku phone app & lately Alexa, thanks to the newly-added Roku support (not super useful, as you have to talk over the TV, but nice when you walk in a room and can tell Alexa to turn the TV on...the pausing stuff is what I'm excited about for the Knocki unit, assuming the lag isn't terrible).

 

[IndyColtsFan]

are the temp sensors wireless? I cant imagine much signal getting out of a sealed steel box like our subzero... problems with batteries at the cold temps?

Yes, they're wireless. Batteries typically last a few months.

No, they make special ones. I have the AcuRite version. The latest version has a central hub with 5 sensors for $170:

https://www.acurite.com/5-sensor-hu...home-environment-system-my-acurite-977es.html

The sensors are:

1. Temperature (with a range of -40F to 158F & +/- 2F accuracy)
2. Humidity (accuracy varies based on humidity level)
3. 330-foot range (depending on what's between the sensor & the hub)
4. Data reporting every 16 seconds
5. Uses 2 "AA" batteries (alkaline are fine, but they recommend lithium if you're going to use them below -4F)
6. Indoor/outdoor-friendly

I use them for indoor & outdoor temperature monitoring, as well as monitoring my fridges & freezers (like if there's a hardware or power failure, or if someone leaves the door open for too long & the temp starts going up), which sounds a bit silly, but most people have at $100 to $300 worth of groceries in their fridge/freezer units at any given time, so I basically consider it insurance.

You can use standard ZigBee or Zwave sensors inside of a refrigerator or freezer and they work fine.