The Wink home automation thread

[azgdds]

Tomorrow I am going to install a Leviton 3way dimmer with a companion switch. I have pretty much all three way switches in my house also, so this is an important test. So far the one leviton dimmer (same switch but doesn't have a companion) works well, but the state does not register in the app, which may make me hesitate to continue installing them.

 

[azgdds]

Personally I don't think using purely wifi, tapt, switches is the answer because of the delay. If I hit a physical switch the light should turn on now. That is why I am going to go all smart wired switches and skip smart bulbs in most places.

 

[CAL7]

Agreed. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that my smart bulbs will become orphans (or, at best, find very limited application). I need a handy wall-mounted, always findable, convenient switch for daily use. Love my smartphone, but those aren't its qualities.

 

[bozack]

Anyone have the lutron casetas with this and like the way it works? I was originally going to go with a mix of Lutron Casetas for dimmers and then levitron switches for 3 way, however I am leaning more towards all Lutron now given that they are a simple three wire install and Lutron has a pretty good rep for quality, only problem is the switches are pretty rare and its actually cheaper to do all dimmers even though I don't need them.

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[colinnwn]

Hi,

I have the Hub and 3 GE Link bulbs. I'm looking for a remote to turn on/off the bulbs outside of their scheduled time. Wife wants an easy to use remote on her bedside table, not a smartphone app. If Wink developers are reading, not really interested in investing more money to get additional features until I get this working for her.

I got this Z-wave remote hoping I could connect it to the Hub as a generic Z-wave device, and use a Robot to sense button presses and perform an action (turn bulb on/off). The remote will connect and show up as a device under the Hub page, but the Hub doesn't seem to know what to do with it, and the Robot can't detect it.

Has anyone figured out how to get a remote control working for the GE Link bulbs?

The Spotter 2 with 3 button shields looks like it will have the ability to do this. But it is still a month away from release, the first gen has a sketchy history, and $60 for a 3 button remote seems wayyy excessive.

As others have said, I REALLY wish the Pico remotes could control any connected device.

Thanks.

 

[MjnMixael]

Anyone have the lutron casetas with this and like the way it works? I was originally going to go with a mix of Lutron Casetas for dimmers and then levitron switches for 3 way, however I am leaning more towards all Lutron now given that they are a simple three wire install and Lutron has a pretty good rep for quality, only problem is the switches are pretty rare and its actually cheaper to do all dimmers even though I don't need them.

Any thoughts appreciated.

I went all Lutron. They are really good. Easy install, though you need to make sure you have compatible bulbs and there is a list on their Caseta website.

For 3 way applications, you install the dimmer in one location and then twist the wires together in the other. (They have instructions for this in their website.) Then I bought a Pico reboot wall mount kit and mounted the remote like a wall switch over the box where I tired the wires together.

I like the Lutrons because I have switched on the wall (that look nice, BTW) and can control then from the app.

They are more expensive than smart bulbs, but they offer a much deeper integration in your home as a smart product because yet don't compromise direct physical control.

Also, Lutrons don't require a neutral wire in the switch box, making them great for older homes. But this is also the reason why you need compatible bulbs.

 

[BillinGlendale]

Personally I don't think using purely wifi, tapt, switches is the answer because of the delay. If I hit a physical switch the light should turn on now. That is why I am going to go all smart wired switches and skip smart bulbs in most places.

I really suspect the lag is due to going to the cloud, I've got Wemo's connected to a local server, there is no lag.

 

[BillinGlendale]

Has anyone figured out how to get a remote control working for the GE Link bulbs?

I'd get a cheep android phone and put shortcut widgets for the lights.

 

[bozack]

I went all Lutron. They are really good. Easy install, though you need to make sure you have compatible bulbs and there is a list on their Caseta website.

For 3 way applications, you install the dimmer in one location and then twist the wires together in the other. (They have instructions for this in their website.) Then I bought a Pico reboot wall mount kit and mounted the remote like a wall switch over the box where I tired the wires together.

I like the Lutrons because I have switched on the wall (that look nice, BTW) and can control then from the app.

They are more expensive than smart bulbs, but they offer a much deeper integration in your home as a smart product because yet don't compromise direct physical control.

Also, Lutrons don't require a neutral wire in the switch box, making them great for older homes. But this is also the reason why you need compatible bulbs.

So currently I have two of the dimmers and am using them both with standard bulbs and have had no issues.

I am looking at adding a bunch more, either in 3 way configs, or one in a 4 way config possibly with two remotes, which seems possible but I wonder how the remotes work with WINK as I have read you need to bind the switches to wink, and then the remotes to wink, and then assign the remotes to the switches.

Also can you see status through the system, a guy at my work has all levitron and cannot.

Thanks

 

[MjnMixael]

So currently I have two of the dimmers and am using them both with standard bulbs and have had no issues.

I am looking at adding a bunch more, either in 3 way configs, or one in a 4 way config possibly with two remotes, which seems possible but I wonder how the remotes work with WINK as I have read you need to bind the switches to wink, and then the remotes to wink, and then assign the remotes to the switches.

Also can you see status through the system, a guy at my work has all levitron and cannot.

Thanks

You can see the status of Lutrons in Wink. It's really a shame the Leviton stuff doesn't do that properly. For a four way switch, you would have to use remotes. I don't think you could put 2 Lutron dimmers on the same circuit without risking damage to the equipment.

The way they work with Wink is actually (according to my research) the same as they would work on a Lutron bridge. Pair the dimmer to Wink. Pair the remote to Wink. Use the app to tell the remote which light or lights to control. After that, the remotes will work even if the hub is completely powered off. I have tested that myself and it's another reason I went with Lutron in the whole house.

The remotes can work with any number of lights. I could have one remote control every light it my home. Similarly, you can have any number of remotes controlling any one light. In our master bedroom, I wall mounted a remote to control the lamp. I then setup 2 extra remotes to go on the beside tables on each side of the bed. 3 remotes to one light.

 

[Blanky]

Kudos to Kaido, it appears he's created with this thread the internet's premier resource for Wink. Look at all the new members popping in.

 

[bozack]

You can see the status of Lutrons in Wink. It's really a shame the Leviton stuff doesn't do that properly. For a four way switch, you would have to use remotes. I don't think you could put 2 Lutron dimmers on the same circuit without risking damage to the equipment.

The way they work with Wink is actually (according to my research) the same as they would work on a Lutron bridge. Pair the dimmer to Wink. Pair the remote to Wink. Use the app to tell the remote which light or lights to control. After that, the remotes will work even if the hub is completely powered off. I have tested that myself and it's another reason I went with Lutron in the whole house.

The remotes can work with any number of lights. I could have one remote control every light it my home. Similarly, you can have any number of remotes controlling any one light. In our master bedroom, I wall mounted a remote to control the lamp. I then setup 2 extra remotes to go on the beside tables on each side of the bed. 3 remotes to one light.

Nice, exactly what I was hoping for....thanks for all the helpful info.

 

[ieee_raider]

I'd get a cheep android phone and put shortcut widgets for the lights.

That's exactly what I've done.
I've purchased cheap android tablets and have a few around the house.
These wall mounts work great: http://www.amazon.com/Damage-free-Ta...s=koala+tablet

Not only do I have the wink widgets, but I have widgets for weather and security cameras as well. I can also control thermostat and harmony remotes from them. Pretty functional overall.

 

[ieee_raider]

Has anyone used the Wink shortcuts in Android Wear (smartwatches?)
I have an issue where the watch won't load the wink shortcuts unless wink is "active" on my phone. So I have to pull out my phone and run the app before it'll work on my watch. But after that, locking and unlocking the front door from my watch is pretty cool.

I assume it's because wink would need to run as a background service for it to work correctly, but I'm not sure.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Started playing with my Trippers today. I mounted one on the garage door and couldn't pair it, but I could pair it closer to the hub and then mount it on the garage door and it would report status reasonably well. Having a hard time finding a good place and way to mount it to the door; if I put it too close to the edge of the door, the it bumps against the rail when rolling up and falls off. The bottom panel separates from the panel above it when it rolls up and stops (gaps is about 1/4", maybe a tag larger) and I thought that would be enough to trigger an "Open door" alert, but it apparently isn't. I'll need to play with it more. The adhesive on these things really sucks, however.

 

[azgdds]

" We'll be pushing out a fix for Leviton products showing the incorrect state in the near future. Sorry for the delay!"

"The Hue bulbs don't work with features like shortcuts and robots because of limitations with our partnership but it's definitely a possibility in the future." Quote from wink today.

 

[marvin67]

As others have mentioned, I've had issues with geo fencing. I hope they add 'connecting to Wifi' as an option for location sensing. When I added my location, it would show up with different locations each time (I was in the same location in my house when setting up the robot each time). 1 time it was my neighbors address, so I had to enter the street from one directions before the robot worked. Another time it added a group of addresses. That worked much better. But my OCD kicked in. I had to get it working with my address. I deleted the robot, got my address to show up on the location and then nothing worked.

So I deleted the robot and I started with just the notification first until I was convinced it would notify me every time I arrived home. This worked. Once I had the right location and notification each time, I added turning off/on lights. When that worked I added time frames. It all seems to work fine now (I'm scared to change anything for fear it will stop working again).

Now I have a list of locations, can they be deleted (OCD again)?

 

[GdgtSam]

" We'll be pushing out a fix for Leviton products showing the incorrect state in the near future. Sorry for the delay!"

"The Hue bulbs don't work with features like shortcuts and robots because of limitations with our partnership but it's definitely a possibility in the future." Quote from wink today.

Hopefully that update or a future one will also enable polling so other non-Leviton zwave switches and dimmers will display the correct status.

 

[goose1977]

My trippers just quit working today Won't update. Tried to delete and reinstall one and no dice. CRAP!!

 

[Scottie Parr]

Just... Read... The... Entire... Thread... ZZZZZZZzzzzzz Hahaha

So glad to see reliable results are coming through time.

I appreciated reading about the Lutron Caseta dimmers in a 3-way scenario. This gives me ideas for my home.

As sensors, products and features become available, I will be interested in hearing about your Shortcuts and especially Robots. If anyone has anything currently that is useful to you, please share. If you have any future dream Robots, share those too. Clever home automation is, well... clever.

 

[bozack]

Anyone try the staples hub or smart things and how do they compare to Wink...number 1 gripe I read about wink is people feel it was rushed and more of a beta, plus the necessity for network connectivity is often seen as a boo

 

[RossMAN]

My trippers just quit working today Won't update. Tried to delete and reinstall one and no dice. CRAP!!

I'm still waiting for my trippers, outlinks and spotter uniq to ship

 

[marvin67]

As mentioned before, home automation is not taking off because of the cost. I agree you get what you pay for, but I don't mind spending less if it might take me a little effort to get something to work. I went into purchasing the wink hub with this attitude. I understood with the cheap price, it may take a little more time and research to get things working. So far I've been pleased.

I've looked at the Lutrons wall switches but they seem to be more than I want to spend. I looked around on Amazon and found 3 less expensive wall switches- Linear, GE and Jasco (there may be others). The wall switches run between $28-$40. I've read through some of the reviews and there are reviews where people report having these brands working with the Wink hub without any issues. Has anyone found a cheaper alternative for wall switches and willing to recommend?

 

[bozack]

As mentioned before, home automation is not taking off because of the cost. I agree you get what you pay for, but I don't mind spending less if it might take me a little effort to get something to work. I went into purchasing the wink hub with this attitude. I understood with the cheap price, it may take a little more time and research to get things working. So far I've been pleased.

I've looked at the Lutrons wall switches but they seem to be more than I want to spend. I looked around on Amazon and found 3 less expensive wall switches- Linear, GE and Jasco (there may be others). The wall switches run between $28-$40. I've read through some of the reviews and there are reviews where people report having these brands working with the Wink hub without any issues. Has anyone found a cheaper alternative for wall switches and willing to recommend?

So its interesting as I read in another thread what is being billed at the DIY level is more remote control than true "automation" for most, sure some are starting with geofencing and scenes but its all pretty small scale when compared to some of the big time smart home installs...

With that said I think you're right that cost is prohibitive for most/many however I also wouldn't discount the overall "fear" of too much technology that many seemingly have...and to be fair the companies aren't helping with all of these formats (Zwave, Lutron Clear Connect, Zigbee etc) and some of the issues that come up when trying to make it all work...I think a lot of people just follow the KISS principle now until this becomes more mainstream and standardized.

As for switches I have seen that the Jasco/GE are the least expensive overall, but not by any earth shattering amount, my thought is that I'd rather just spend a little more for the Lutrons now as they seemingly work really well and are simpler to wire in.

Good luck

 

[IndyColtsFan]

One thing I wish they would let you do (and maybe they do but I haven't found it yet) is to flip what constitutes "opened" and "closed" for the Tripper. It would be much easier for me to use them on my garage door if I could do that.