The Wink home automation thread

[BillinGlendale]

I'm not a big fan of connected lights.

I have quite the opposite view. First, I'm a renter, so it makes sense to change as little of the infrastructure as possible. Second, because the way I've configured my cave, the light switch for living room/kitchen lights are behind a toaster oven. I first was using wireless remotes, and then Wemos with floor and clip lamps. The bulbs allow me to use the existing fixtures and better control the lighting by turning on one bulb or two in each fixture, depending on my lighting needs. Also with Tasker/Autovoice/Autowear and the program from trunzoc, I can tell my watch to turn the lights on and off. The only switch I have now is the bathroom.

 

[trunzoc]

I have quite the opposite view. First, I'm a renter, so it makes sense to change as little of the infrastructure as possible. Second, because the way I've configured my cave, the light switch for living room/kitchen lights are behind a toaster oven. I first was using wireless remotes, and then Wemos with floor and clip lamps. The bulbs allow me to use the existing fixtures and better control the lighting by turning on one bulb or two in each fixture, depending on my lighting needs. Also with Tasker/Autovoice/Autowear and the program from trunzoc, I can tell my watch to turn the lights on and off. The only switch I have now is the bathroom.

For a renter, the connected bulbs absolutely make sense. It would be a pain, not to mention a likely lease violation, to replace all the switches, then unreplace them if you had to move.

 

[trunzoc]

Does anyone here have any type of controllable blinds hooked up to their wink, and either already use my Tasker thingy, or want to try it?

I've never actually gotten confirmation that blinds work with it and I'd like to find out. I know the Chamberlain works, and basically, blinds are a much smaller, lighter garage door.

 

[bigverm24]

For a renter, the connected bulbs absolutely make sense. It would be a pain, not to mention a likely lease violation, to replace all the switches, then unreplace them if you had to move.

I have at least 2 lamps in every room, and 1 in each of my kids rooms that are not connected via a switch. I find it really convenient to use the bulbs in the lamps, vs. the plug in modules. Not to mention, $15 for a bulb vs $35+ for outlets.

I just set up multiple schedules where the lights come on at sunset, full brightness, then slowly start to dim throughout the evening, and then a bedtime shortcut turns them all of except one. Eventually when my damn Leviton switches show up and are controllable via the app, the automation will kick in here as well for the overhead lights vs lamp lights.

 

[Kaido]

Does anyone here have any type of controllable blinds hooked up to their wink, and either already use my Tasker thingy, or want to try it?

I've never actually gotten confirmation that blinds work with it and I'd like to find out. I know the Chamberlain works, and basically, blinds are a much smaller, lighter garage door.

Depends on the system. You basically have 3 options for blinds & shades:

1. Lutron Serena (uses ClearConnect, which is built into the Wink Hub)
2. Pella (uses Insynctive, which requires a $$ Wifi/Zwave bridge)
3. Bali (uses Somfy RTS, which requires a $$$ Zwave bridge)

Somfy RTS, which is in the Bali blinds, is pretty much industry-standard, and you can find them in products other than Bali as well:

http://www.somfysystems.com/

You can buy Bali blinds at Home Depot if you want to get something done locally:

http://www.homedepot.com/c/KH_BP_DE_Bali_Blinds_Brand

You can also buy Bali blinds at Blinds.com online if you want to DIY:

http://www.blinds.com/control/produ...otorized&cId=motorized.htm&height=60&width=36

Serena blinds are available for online ordering as well, apparently:

http://www.serenashades.com/

I think the Pella stuff is coming out shortly (later this year). The nice thing about Pella is that they offer between-the-glass, interior inside-mount, and interior outside-mount blinds & shades. Somfy has the most variety though. I'm not sure as to what extent Wink supports all of the different configurations, but iirc they do both up/down shades & tilt shades (like wood blinds). I'd imagine the drapes would work in a similar manner, although I don't know if it'd still show the up/down or not. Wink isn't real clear about what all you need for setup (ex. requiring a $300+ radio adapter for the Wink Hub to talk to the RTS radios in the Bali blinds).

Basically, just go in knowing that it's going to be fairly expensive to do. I priced out regular blinds vs. motorized Bali blinds for my place; it was $530 for manual blinds on all windows & $3300 for the motorized versions, a $2700 price difference (and that's without drapes!). I am currently interested in the Pella because I want to do dual shades (light-cutting & light-blocking), so I could do between-the-glass transparent blinds & inside-mount blackout blinds for each window & get motorization on both. And not only are they wireless, but they also have a solar-powered battery, apparently, so maintenance & installation is pretty easy (no running hardwires or having to swap out batteries on a regular basis).

 

[Kaido]

I have quite the opposite view. First, I'm a renter, so it makes sense to change as little of the infrastructure as possible. Second, because the way I've configured my cave, the light switch for living room/kitchen lights are behind a toaster oven. I first was using wireless remotes, and then Wemos with floor and clip lamps. The bulbs allow me to use the existing fixtures and better control the lighting by turning on one bulb or two in each fixture, depending on my lighting needs. Also with Tasker/Autovoice/Autowear and the program from trunzoc, I can tell my watch to turn the lights on and off. The only switch I have now is the bathroom.

That makes a lot of sense for your situation.

Again, I would really like the Pico remotes to be "universal" in terms of native support from Wink. Then you could just leave your smartbulbs with the wallswitch "on" all the time & stick Picos everywhere, and control either individual lights or groups of lights. Or stick two next to each other for doing both.

 

[trunzoc]

Depends on the system. You basically have 3 options for blinds & shades:

1. Lutron Serena (uses ClearConnect, which is built into the Wink Hub)
2. Pella (uses Insynctive, which requires a $$ Wifi/Zwave bridge)
3. Bali (uses Somfy RTS, which requires a $$$ Zwave bridge)

Somfy RTS, which is in the Bali blinds, is pretty much industry-standard, and you can find them in products other than Bali as well:

http://www.somfysystems.com/

You can buy Bali blinds at Home Depot if you want to get something done locally:

http://www.homedepot.com/c/KH_BP_DE_Bali_Blinds_Brand

You can also buy Bali blinds at Blinds.com online if you want to DIY:

http://www.blinds.com/control/produ...otorized&cId=motorized.htm&height=60&width=36

Serena blinds are available for online ordering as well, apparently:

http://www.serenashades.com/

I think the Pella stuff is coming out shortly (later this year). The nice thing about Pella is that they offer between-the-glass, interior inside-mount, and interior outside-mount blinds & shades. Somfy has the most variety though. I'm not sure as to what extent Wink supports all of the different configurations, but iirc they do both up/down shades & tilt shades (like wood blinds). I'd imagine the drapes would work in a similar manner, although I don't know if it'd still show the up/down or not. Wink isn't real clear about what all you need for setup (ex. requiring a $300+ radio adapter for the Wink Hub to talk to the RTS radios in the Bali blinds).

Basically, just go in knowing that it's going to be fairly expensive to do. I priced out regular blinds vs. motorized Bali blinds for my place; it was $530 for manual blinds on all windows & $3300 for the motorized versions, a $2700 price difference (and that's without drapes!). I am currently interested in the Pella because I want to do dual shades (light-cutting & light-blocking), so I could do between-the-glass transparent blinds & inside-mount blackout blinds for each window & get motorization on both. And not only are they wireless, but they also have a solar-powered battery, apparently, so maintenance & installation is pretty easy (no running hardwires or having to swap out batteries on a regular basis).

THanks Kaido, but I don't need info about the blinds that are available, I don't ever plan on buying them. I am just looking for someone that already has them and it willing to see if my Voice Control project will make them move.

 

[Kaido]

THanks Kaido, but I don't need info about the blinds that are available, I don't ever plan on buying them. I am just looking for someone that already has them and it willing to see if my Voice Control project will make them move.

Oh gotcha, misread, my bad.

Someone a few pages back (maybe a dozen or two pages, hah) bought some Bali blinds, if I remember right.

 

[mentalbob]

Hi MentalBob, You say that you have the "ancient" Intermatic's HA03 module working with the Wink hub.

I have tried for days and cannot get the hub to recognize it.

Can you (or any other member) tell me exactly how you did it?

Thank you in advance.

Actually, I have a HA14C wall dimmer working with it. Basically all I had to do was put the Wink hub into include mode and tap the power switch to pair it.

 

[WINKY-DINK]

I posted this before, but since I dont think there was a response and this thread goes on forever I thought I'd post once more to ask -
Has anyone set up a water shut off in WINK. Like the Fortrezz wireless Z-Wave Water Valve

 

[tsuprano]

Wondering if anyone else is having problems with the Wink leaving and arriving function of robots. Mine don't seem to function properly at all....often I get an arrive warning when I get to my office in the morning and almost never when I actually arrive at home....

 

[BillinGlendale]

Wondering if anyone else is having problems with the Wink leaving and arriving function of robots. Mine don't seem to function properly at all....often I get an arrive warning when I get to my office in the morning and almost never when I actually arrive at home....

I have one robot to turn one light on when my wife enters and leaves, it's never worked upon her arrival and rarely works when she leaves. Geofencing is hard to do without a pretty bad battery drain, unless you can calibrate it pretty finely. I use autolocation for my geofencing to lock/unlock my door. It works pretty well.

 

[trunzoc]

I have one robot to turn one light on when my wife enters and leaves, it's never worked upon her arrival and rarely works when she leaves. Geofencing is hard to do without a pretty bad battery drain, unless you can calibrate it pretty finely. I use autolocation for my geofencing to lock/unlock my door. It works pretty well.

I don't trust Geofencing and never have. I'd much rather use something that can triggered based on Wifi.

If I am connected to my home wifi... do whatever.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I have another Tripper showing low battery after about 4-6 weeks running on a new battery. Grrrr.

 

[blampen]

I have another Tripper showing low battery after about 4-6 weeks running on a new battery. Grrrr.

I have already had to replace one of my trippers batteries twice.

 

[Kaido]

I don't trust Geofencing and never have. I'd much rather use something that can triggered based on Wifi.

If I am connected to my home wifi... do whatever.

Yeah, I think that's a really good idea. Although Bluetooth would also work, since the newer phones do better with not killing the battery when you leave it on 24/7. My old iPhone 4S would die by noon with Bluetooth on, but my newer 5S makes it to the end of the day.

Actually, I'd bet they could implement Bluetooth pretty easily - it has a decent range & they already have the chip built into the Wink Hub, so if you added it as an auto-connect "headset" type of deal (and the newer BT chips support pairing to multiple devices at once, so you can still stream to your Bluetooth speaker or whatever), that would make pre-entry authentication pretty easy!

 

[ieee_raider]

I have already had to replace one of my trippers batteries twice.

Are your hubs running the latest hub firmware?
The last firmware; .56 I believe, brought along new firmware for trippers.
If you don't have .56 and it doesn't show update available; contact wink support and they can push it to you.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Are your hubs running the latest hub firmware?
The last firmware; .56 I believe, brought along new firmware for trippers.
If you don't have .56 and it doesn't show update available; contact wink support and they can push it to you.

I have been running .56 for weeks. The Tripper showing low is generally activated twice per day.

 

[tsuprano]

Can anyone tell me why I would by a wink relay at $300 instead of just getting an inexpensive table and mounting it in a convenient location?

 

[trunzoc]

Can anyone tell me why I would by a wink relay at $300 instead of just getting an inexpensive table and mounting it in a convenient location?

That is a great question that I ask myself every time I see a relay.

 

[FreddieT]

Can anyone tell me why I would by a wink relay at $300 instead of just getting an inexpensive table and mounting it in a convenient location?

To me, the question answers itself. With so many good quality tablets out there, (or for that fact, an old iPhone Kicking around) I couldn't justify the price tag of the relay, let alone trying to explain the purchase to the Mrs.!

 

[blampen]

Can anyone tell me why I would by a wink relay at $300 instead of just getting an inexpensive table and mounting it in a convenient location?

Keep watching eBay for the relay. I picked mine up for $125 shipped.

 

[ixtab]

Does anyone use the Honeywell zwave thermostat with their Wink setup?
I have one and I can manually control the temperature from the Wink app (up/down/cool/heat/auto) but whenever I try to setup the temperature using schedules or robots it won't work.

Anyone had better experience with the z-wave Honeywell thermostat?

Wink support are not really helping. Escalated but no real response.

Latest version of the iOS app and hub at 00.56.

Thanks!
Ixtab

 

[enyce9]

Can anyone tell me why I would by a wink relay at $300 instead of just getting an inexpensive table and mounting it in a convenient location?

Got mine with the 50% off code wink had. For $150 I think its worth it.

 

[trunzoc]

Anyone with a Nest want to test my voice control stuff for me? BillInGlendale and I have it working with his RadioThermostat, but another fellow is using a Honeywell and it doesn't work. Looking for someone with a Wink to round out the testing.