Smart Home & Home Automation discussion thread

[IndyColtsFan]

I'd also really like to get a Ring doorbell, but the side of my front door is a glass window, so there's no mounting options available to me due to the layout. #firstworldproblems

You don't have an existing doorbell?

 

[Kaido]

You don't have an existing doorbell?

Yes, but the mounting point is only about 1/2" wide (thin strip of vertical wood) & the rest is glass. The Ring is 2.43" wide, so it would overlap & look horrible. Basically no good way to mount it. Not a biggie as that's more of a fun thing to have than something I really want-need like a better thermostat (which I need to install, just showed up woot woot!)

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Yes, but the mounting point is only about 1/2" wide (thin strip of vertical wood) & the rest is glass. The Ring is 2.43" wide, so it would overlap & look horrible. Basically no good way to mount it. Not a biggie as that's more of a fun thing to have than something I really want-need like a better thermostat (which I need to install, just showed up woot woot!)

Ah, got it.

I'm thinking about a Nest smoke alarm for my man cave to supplement our existing smoke alarms, an Ecobee 3 thermostat, a Ring, and of course, MORE sensors. My dilemma now is this - do I use Wink or SmartThings? I can't wait to grab a couple of the new Iris contact sensors to use as temperature sensors.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I came across this great Home Automation Hub called B.One. It can control motion sensors, security cameras, smoke detectors and also devices like old TV's & music systems via a simple application or by voice commands. It has its own ecosystem which consists of highly advanced and secure products for home security, such as -

• 1080P Security Camera
• Smart Sensors
• Wireless Smart Doorbell
• Siren.

It is compatible with several devices. Its seems to be super fun with best in class home security. It really looks promising and efficient.

Oh look, a guy with a single post talking about a "new home automation hub." I'm sure he isn't a spammer....


Editted by Moderator PM - removed spam link

 

[Kaido]

Oh look, a guy with a single post talking about a "new home automation hub." I'm sure he isn't a spammer....

And it's on Indigogo!

The trouble with hubs is that you need a big name behind them to get max support across vendors. Wink is more or less the leader for consumer support right now, followed by SmartThings. And if you're handy, there's stuff like Mister House. A lot of these Kickstarter & Indigogo projects have really neat ideas, but there's so much integration to be done that until there's a universal language & security system between products, it's just not going to happen on a wide-scale.

I'd also be a lot more open to crowdfunded ideas here if every single one didn't do a single post of "I found" or "I came across" like it's not totally obvious what they're trying to do

 

[Aikouka]

I was at Lowes the other day, and I saw that they have a whole end-cap dedicated to the Keen Smart Vent. The only bad part is that the signage in the store stated that it's compatible with the Nest Thermostat and SmartThings or Iris home automation. As someone that has an Ecobee 3 and a Wink Hub, that's a double whammy of :'(.

 

[Kaido]

I was at Lowes the other day, and I saw that they have a whole end-cap dedicated to the Keen Smart Vent. The only bad part is that the signage in the store stated that it's compatible with the Nest Thermostat and SmartThings or Iris home automation. As someone that has an Ecobee 3 and a Wink Hub, that's a double whammy of :'(.

Speaking of Lowes, looks like they're doing a big push with updating their Iris system:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/16/lowes-iris/

$60 hub: (down from $100)

While most connected home devices on the market were introduced as mobile-first solutions, the Lowe's Iris system on the other hand, required new users to set it up via a browser. After set up -- while the mobile app was able to share status information and access features like turning items on and off -- it was still a desktop-heavy setup. Today the hardware store-turned developer is fixing that with a new platform built from the ground up with a mobile-first strategy and updated devices.

"We're going to try to focus on continuously improving," Mick Koster GM of Iris Home Systems told Engadget. That means up updating the app every few weeks and adding more third-party devices to the Works with Iris program. The updated app now handles all the on boarding functions and settings for devices. The company is also lowering the bar for entry by cutting the price of its hub.

The new hub is $59.99, a substantial price cut from the $99.99 hub. It works with ZigBee, Z-Wave, WiFi and AllJoyn. It's joined by all new slimmer keypads, smart sensors, smart plugs and others. They can be purchased separately or part of the security or home automation packs for $99 and $129 respectively.

Iris still has a $9.99 a month subscription service that adds a two week history, custom groups of devices and video recording based on alarms and events. But the free service still does all the important things you need from connected-home in a box system.

 

[Aikouka]

Ugh, I was interested until I hit the $10 subscription cost. :\

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Ugh, I was interested until I hit the $10 subscription cost. :\

Honestly Aikouka, you should look into ST v2.0. I look at Wink and ST as complementary devices at this stage. The ST can also use most of the newer Iris sensors which are cheap and readily available.

I just can't rely on Wink to support devices I need. I think they're good with the big ticket stuff, but you can't even get a simple temperature sensor for Wink now, whereas SmartThings puts temperature sensors in ALL their sensors and it appears that the Iris devices also have temperature sensors.

 

[CAL7]

Wink, until Flextronic shuts down the web service, is basically relegated to a timer for my Lutron switches. Everything else is ST. The ST Community is amazing at providing drivers and apps. If you have to be spoon-fed, ST may not be for you, but the user ecosystem is beyond anything Wink has/had.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Wink, until Flextronic shuts down the web service, is basically relegated to a timer for my Lutron switches. Everything else is ST. The ST Community is amazing at providing drivers and apps. If you have to be spoon-fed, ST may not be for you, but the user ecosystem is beyond anything Wink has/had.

Yep, me too. It seems Wink has some good support for big things like Nest, but it is REALLY pathetic that I can't get a temp sensor. I was tired of waiting for Wink to support products like the ones from Aeon Labs and went ahead and bought ST.

 

[boomerang]

I bought a WeMo Starter Set with the WeMo Link and two LED bulbs. It's exactly what I needed to try and make the house look occupied when we snowbird January through April. It's easy to set up except that for whatever reason I got stuck in this perpetual firmware upgrade loop. I opened the app and got prompted to upgrad the firmware and then every time afterwards I got prompted again to upgrade the firmware. I found how to reset the Link and from them on all was good in that regard.

The app is slow and kind of clunky. Navigation is too slow and it's compounded by the fact that whatever you press on gives no feedback that you've pressed it. It took a while to have enough confidence that something had been pressed and that the app would in fact respond. Once that rhythm got embedded in my brain it was acceptable.

In my case I needed to program the two lights on various schedules to once again, try to make it appear that someone was there and that lights were going on and off. This is where the app really gets to be a pain. I had originally created some schedules in excel with a lot of variation in on and off times. Once I started using the app to schedule, and there is a learning curve with that (more a bit later) I realized that too much variation was going to necessitate a lot of inputting. It was far easier to make common schedules for a number of days in the week. It's compounded when you want the app to turn on and off a light several times in an evening. Multiply that by two bulbs and it's kind of a big deal.

When setting up scheduling, there is a lot of what I felt was redundant saving. Set the times, save, set the name of the Rule, save then save everything. All the parameters of the Rule are in front of you. A back navigation to set up the next paramater, review and one save would be better IMO. It makes me wonder though where the Rules are being saved. In the bulb or the WeMo link.

Lastly, I have put everything away to take out and put in place before we leave in late December. I can't do anything with the app anymore. No alterations to the schedules. That makes sense, I understand why, nothing is powered up but it would be nice if the app could store schedules. I believe that would also speed up the app. But, for the price, I paid $49.99 with free shipping, I am probably asking for too much.

Haven't read the whole thread. If I'm posting info that has already been posted, just deal with it.

 

[Claudius-07]

I have been searching for days with no luck. I am trying to simply connect my very common home natural gas fireplace to a "smart"... something or anything, so I can turn it on/off etc., using an iphone/iPad etc.

My fireplace is controlled by a very simple wall switch which is millivolt. On or off. Easy peasy. I have found now a very nice thermostat that is programmable by Aube that can handle millivolt and I can use that to set temps when I want it to come on (the fireplace has a nice fan on it too, helps push heat out more in my livingroom), based on time of day or temp. But it's not smart enabled and thus cannot be accessed or controlled by iphone etc.

Of course my wife wants a bloody remote. So I found a few companies that offer a wall mount control that is either a very simple on and off remote or some for much more money offer remotes that act as actual thermostats. But NONE OF THESE are smart enabled. Thus I would need one more interface, one more remote instead of being able to use my iPad or my wife's Iphone which no control our heating/cooling, lights, locks etc.

So why is it so hard to find a bloody smart enabled thermostat that can handle millivolt (simple on and off)?? heck it does not have to be even a thermostat just a switch that can handle millivolt but one like any of a 100 now that are smart enabled but are all for common home wiring so 110v or 24v etc.

Do i have to start using transformers etc? is that the only option right now for millivolt use?

 

[Kaido]

First Alert announced a connected system called OneLink:

http://www.firstalert.com/onelink

1. Wi-Fi Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm
2. Wi-Fi environment monitor (carbon monoxide, room temp & humidity monitor)
3. Wifi fire resistant safe

 

[Kaido]

I have been searching for days with no luck. I am trying to simply connect my very common home natural gas fireplace to a "smart"... something or anything, so I can turn it on/off etc., using an iphone/iPad etc.

My fireplace is controlled by a very simple wall switch which is millivolt. On or off. Easy peasy. I have found now a very nice thermostat that is programmable by Aube that can handle millivolt and I can use that to set temps when I want it to come on (the fireplace has a nice fan on it too, helps push heat out more in my livingroom), based on time of day or temp. But it's not smart enabled and thus cannot be accessed or controlled by iphone etc.

Of course my wife wants a bloody remote. So I found a few companies that offer a wall mount control that is either a very simple on and off remote or some for much more money offer remotes that act as actual thermostats. But NONE OF THESE are smart enabled. Thus I would need one more interface, one more remote instead of being able to use my iPad or my wife's Iphone which no control our heating/cooling, lights, locks etc.

So why is it so hard to find a bloody smart enabled thermostat that can handle millivolt (simple on and off)?? heck it does not have to be even a thermostat just a switch that can handle millivolt but one like any of a 100 now that are smart enabled but are all for common home wiring so 110v or 24v etc.

Do i have to start using transformers etc? is that the only option right now for millivolt use?

Hmm. Well, one way to do it is to use an on/off smartswitch. Lutron has one for $60:

http://www.amazon.com/Amp-Max-Multi-Location-Incandescent-PD-5S-DV-WH/dp/B00NCEMBIA

You basically have 4 wireless control options:

1. Pico remote
2. Wink Hub (note that it shows up as a dimmer)
3. Lutron's Smart Hub (smartphone app)
4. Logitech Harmony remote (in conjunction with the Lutron hub)

The Pico remote is Lutron's RF mini-remotes. Simple on/off functionality. Battery lasts 10 years & is user-replaceable. Can be used handheld, put on a small pedestal for tabletop use, or mounted into a faux wallplate for convenience:

http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-PJ2-2B-GWH-L01-Remote-Control-White/dp/B00KLAXOE8

The Wink Hub is a pretty versatile smarthome controller & can recognize this switch, although it sees it as a dimmer, which is annoying, but it works for on/off. If you don't want a full-on smarthome system, Lutron sells their own Smart Hub, which has a smartphone app. So you can use the Pico remotes for a handheld controller & the Smart Hub to control it via iPhone & iPad. You can optionally tie in the Logitech Harmony smart home remote to control the switch, plus stuff like lights, home theater equipment, and so on.

Lots of options. Easiest for what you want sounds like it would be to buy the on/off smartswitch, buy a Pico remote, and buy the Lutron Smart Hub. $160 total, plus some labor to install it.

http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-L-BDG2-WH-Caseta-Wireless-HomeKit-enabled/dp/B00XPW67ZM

 

[shabby]

1. Wi-Fi Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm

It has an interconnect wire = win. Doesn't work on android = wtf.

 

[Kaido]

Not a lot of people are familiar with the power of modern off-the-shelf NAS devices; I wrote up a little post over here explaining the Synology DSM system:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=38018275&postcount=43

It's basically a networked hard drive that can run apps. Lets you setup PLEX to stream movies, have a web downloader for files, record footage from network security cameras, and so on.

 

[dlock13]

Not a lot of people are familiar with the power of modern off-the-shelf NAS devices; I wrote up a little post over here explaining the Synology DSM system:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=38018275&postcount=43

It's basically a networked hard drive that can run apps. Lets you setup PLEX to stream movies, have a web downloader for files, record footage from network security cameras, and so on.

That sounds so amazing and something I would love to do at my house. I'm definitely saving that post.

 

[Kaido]

That sounds so amazing and something I would love to do at my house. I'm definitely saving that post.

The best part is that it's stupidly easy, just completely turnkey. Outside of waiting to format the drives, you can have everything setup in minutes. I used to be a huge fan of only doing stuff like FreeNAS or a DIY server or whatever, but if you can save up the bucks for the hardware, they manage it for you so that all you have to do is set it up & use it! They handle updates & everything!

I didn't know until recently that these were even viable products, especially for home use, but it's kind of like having a Wink Hub...you buy the product, set it up, and pretty much just use it with minimal maintenance. Between say this, a Wink HA setup, and a Chromebook, you can have a lot of power with nearly zero headaches.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Kaido you may have covered this in your post, but I'll mention it here - one thing to keep in mind is that while most of these NAS boxes can run Plex, very few can transcode. So, you need to make sure that if you're going to run Plex on one of these devices that 1) the media format you use is supported natively by all of your player devices or 2) run Plex on a PC or a higher-end NAS which has the CPU power to transcode. I'm honestly not sure which, if any, NAS supports transcoding - the multicore Celerons probably have the power but I am not sure if Plex supports transcoding on a NAS at all.

 

[Kaido]

Kaido you may have covered this in your post, but I'll mention it here - one thing to keep in mind is that while most of these NAS boxes can run Plex, very few can transcode. So, you need to make sure that if you're going to run Plex on one of these devices that 1) the media format you use is supported natively by all of your player devices or 2) run Plex on a PC or a higher-end NAS which has the CPU power to transcode. I'm honestly not sure which, if any, NAS supports transcoding - the multicore Celerons probably have the power but I am not sure if Plex supports transcoding on a NAS at all.

Excellent point. Synology does, depending on the model you get; they have a matrix breakdown here:

https://www.synology.com/en-us/know...y_Synology_NAS_transcode_videos_for_my_device

Definitely not as powerful as running a Plex server off a computer, just more convenient to have it consolidated in a NAS.

 

[KentState]

Not a lot of people are familiar with the power of modern off-the-shelf NAS devices; I wrote up a little post over here explaining the Synology DSM system:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=38018275&postcount=43

It's basically a networked hard drive that can run apps. Lets you setup PLEX to stream movies, have a web downloader for files, record footage from network security cameras, and so on.

I love my 1511+ and if it ever died would buy another one. I like the fact that you can use it as a web server. I currently host a site that Torque for Android can log to over the internet. Dumps all of my OBDII data directly to it when I want to log.

 

[pm]

I love my 1511+ and if it ever died would buy another one. I like the fact that you can use it as a web server. I currently host a site that Torque for Android can log to over the internet. Dumps all of my OBDII data directly to it when I want to log.

Ditto that. I love my IOSafe DS214 as well. I use it for everything (Plex, backups, home automation, DVR, cloud drive, phone cloud backup). And the fact that it's waterproof and fireproof and RAID 1 gives me peace of mind just in case.

I was just using it tonight and thought "this thing is wonderful". The software all looks a little spartan and sometimes is a bit non-intuitive but everything just works and is totally reliable and it does so many things.

 

[Kaido]

Yeah, so...Barbie has a better smart home than I do:

http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/16/barbie-smart-home/

 

[Kaido]

Ditto that. I love my IOSafe DS214 as well. I use it for everything (Plex, backups, home automation, DVR, cloud drive, phone cloud backup). And the fact that it's waterproof and fireproof and RAID 1 gives me peace of mind just in case.

Holy crap! Added to my bookmarks, thanks!! And it's powered by Synology DSM!