There might be a thread buried somewhere, but I am too lazy to look for it. So...

I just got addicted to home automation. I am doing everything myself. What do you have in the form of home automation. Here is my setup as it stands today. Reminder, I just started.

Smartthings Wifi Hubs - I have 3 of these which act as a router and a hub for many devices.

Martin Jerry Light Switches - I have 8 of these (7 installed presently). So far, so good. They were affordable with good ratings. Ask me again in a year. Easy to install and connect. I did install 4 in one Bus that caused a small issue when connecting to the wifi, but only delayed things about 15 minutes. I recommend installing one at a time.

Kwikset Dead Bolt Lock - Works great but the install was a disaster. I ended up finding an install video on Youtube that solved the problem. Had to "Unrecognize" the device before install by disassembling and taking to a hub and going through some hidden steps.

I also have two Honeywell thermostats. Nothing fancy, one is the T5 and the other is the cheapy.

Lastly, I have Nest Hello Doorbell. Super easy to install and works great.

My next purchase will be a Google Home Hub, but am waiting until I can get a good deal with a bundle of something. I procrastinated and missed the great Christmas deal BestBuy had.

I have started using IFTTT to help with some automations that Google Assistant or Alexa cannot perform. The main one is to have the house do something once the last member of the house leaves the wifi or when the first member enters the wifi. This took awhile to figure out. Ended up utilizing Life360 to achieve.




So what do you have?

What I am really interested in is what automations/scenes do you run that you like?

The home hub is great.

I've got the first gen Arlo cameras, they are ok but the don't support the home hub.

I perferred the hue lights in rooms I am in a lot or at night. (I.e. bedroom, living room bathroom) and switches on ones that I am in during the day or that I don't mind only having a single temp of bulb. (kitchen, office, hallway)

Sprinker system is a must.

Chamberlain garage door opener is my favorite

Anyone using Home Assistant?

I'm probably going to go the Smith Thompson route and get alarm, doorbell camera, cameras, and garage through them. Wife requires a security system and they will do all of this for $30 per month so that's kind of no brainer for me.

Will worry about lights later. Don't really care about that. I do have a Honeywell thermostat on wifi that I presume I could hook into this system, but I don't understand the fascination with having thermo on automation. I set the schedule twice a year (summer and winter) and never need to look at it again. I don't get folks who are constantly jacking with their thermostats.

YouBet said:

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I don't get folks who are constantly jacking with their thermostats.

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Agreed. I'm regretting ever giving my wife the ecobee password. She's constantly changing schedules and temps so it's uncomfortable to save money. Is it too much to ask to have it less than 78 in the summer or sleep above 62 in the winter???

OldArmyBrent said:

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YouBet said:

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I don't get folks who are constantly jacking with their thermostats.

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Agreed. I'm regretting ever giving my wife the ecobee password. She's constantly changing schedules and temps so it's uncomfortable to save money. Is it too much to ask to have it less than 78 in the summer or sleep above 62 in the winter???

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This is what I don't get. People will save more money smartly shopping a new plan at the end of their contract with powertochoose.org (if you are in Texas) than you would ever save constantly fiddling with your temperature.

Set your schedule on your physical thermostat for your typical Wake Up, Leave the House, Come home from Work, Go to Bed schedule (or whatever your typical schedule might be) and you are done for 6 months.

This is a classic scenario of a solution looking for a problem. All the other use cases make sense to me.

Rant over.

OldArmyBrent said:

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YouBet said:

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I don't get folks who are constantly jacking with their thermostats.

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Agreed. I'm regretting ever giving my wife the ecobee password. She's constantly changing schedules and temps so it's uncomfortable to save money. Is it too much to ask to have it less than 78 in the summer or sleep above 62 in the winter???

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Literally the only time I use my smart thermostat is when I leave town and forget to turn it down. The schedules may or may not make a difference. Seems to me that the energy usage required to recover from temperature extremes may cancel out most of the savings from changing temps in the first place. Plus my wife works/goes to school weird hours so she's home randomly throughout the day, so for somebody like us the schedules are pointless.

Hey you're both preaching to the choir. Ecobee actually tells you how much energy you save over having at the same temp and it's not a ton for us. Once I upgraded insulation, the temp doesn't really move as much when the system is off now.

The use case I have is that I want it slightly cooler when I sleep and it's easier to get up in the morning if the temperature has gone up alongside my lights that have started to gradually brighten.

You are doing it wrong with the thermostat scheduling geofencing or presence sensing thermostats adjust to when you are actually home. I set mine once a year as it auto changes between heating and cooling. It adjusts to away, home and sleep settings on it's own. The sleep setting is time based but only adjusts is we are home. It's lowered our electric bills by roughly $50 in the winter and $100 in the summer while maintaining comfortable temps while we are home.

We have smart lights, a Nest, an Echo, a Home Hub and multiple minis/Google enabled speakers, etc. The only smart lights I like are the ones by the garage that are set to come on at dark. Other than that I'd rather just use a switch.

The smart speakers are great but are used mostly for music.

Smarthings v2 Hub
3 Kwikset Zwave locks (RBoy Lock user code management App)
2 GoControl/Linear GD00Z-4 Z-Wave Garage Door Opener
2 Ecobee Thermostats
3 Amazon Echos

New projects
Konnected.io wire security system (currently working to install and integrate sensors).
Home Assistant (Base installed on Raspberry Pi 3 B+ )

I've been running Smarthings for a couple of years with just basic automation (lights and locks). Looking to expand with geo fencing and security.

My biggest complaint is the z-wave switches and plugs are still fairly expensive.

ValleyRatAg said:

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You are doing it wrong with the thermostat scheduling geofencing or presence sensing thermostats adjust to when you are actually home. I set mine once a year as it auto changes between heating and cooling. It adjusts to away, home and sleep settings on it's own. The sleep setting is time based but only adjusts is we are home. It's lowered our electric bills by roughly $50 in the winter and $100 in the summer while maintaining comfortable temps while we are home.

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Geofencing is the way to do the thermostat. You can tell the thermostat to go to "Away" mode when the last family member leaves the house and then go to "Home" mode when the first person arrives. The only way to do this with a family is with IFTTT and Life360. At least that is the nly way I have found.

Kuz89 said:

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My biggest complaint is the z-wave switches and plugs are still fairly expensive.

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The Martin Jerrys switches I bought are $19/ea. They do not dim, but handle led.

I have outdoor lights that come on during dark hours and I have a few other lights that are geofenced to come on when the first family member arrives at home. I also have a routine and a timed event that makes sure the house is in "Sleep" mode when I go to bed.

Kuz89 said:

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Konnected.io wire security system (currently working to install and integrate sensors).

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Which integration approach are you taking with the Konnected alarm controller? SmartThings?

If so, the disadvantage I see with SmartThings is the alarm not going off if SnartThings or your internet connection is down.

caleblyn said:

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The Martin Jerrys switches I bought are $19/ea. They do not dim, but handle led.

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That's very reasonable as opposed to the $40 z-wave wall switches. I don't have any wifi devices configure yet for SmartThing but at $20 they are worth a shot. Thanks for the recommendation.

bco2003 said:

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Which integration approach are you taking with the Konnected alarm controller? SmartThings?

If so, the disadvantage I see with SmartThings is the alarm not going off if SnartThings or your internet connection is down.

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Agreed, my concern as well with the cloud processing for SmartThings. That's my main reason for the Home Assistant install. Assuming the HA local processing will still sound an alarm if needed but I still would not be notified. The one drawback to HA other than the complexity is the lack of an app.

I thought HA supported a web interface?

What about Sonoff switches? Thinking about picking up a few of those to try with Tasmota firmware.

Duncan Idaho said:

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To show my age, my favorite automation in my house:
from midnight to 6:00 am detected motion in my bathroom cause the lights to come on red at 10%. Enough to take a piss but not enough to wake me or anyone else up.

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Lol, this has me thinking... there is a Ecobee in the hall next to the bathroom I use at night.... Can I use it's motion detection?

OldArmyBrent said:

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I thought HA supported a web interface?

What about Sonoff switches? Thinking about picking up a few of those to try with Tasmota firmware.

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Yes, HA is web only, including phones. One thing Smarthings has going is a nice UI I can use anywhere.

I had not heard about the Sonoff switches, interesting. I would not have a problem flashing new firmware.

I've kinda gone all in on the amazon echo platform for HA.

I am moving into a new house in July so am looking forward to starting from scratch and adding a few new devices that I didn't want to add to our current rental.

Right now;
Echo Plus in kitchen (this is the core of the whole system since it has the zigbee hub)
Echo in master bedroom
FireTV cube in living room
Echo dot in guest bedroom
Fire TV's on all TV's (so i can use the echo to control the TV's)
For lighting I have a mix of Zigbee based stuff (outlet modules for lamps and underlighting in the kitchen and a few hue bulbs)
Sylvania smart+ light scrips (for backlighting on my two tv's)
Blink Cameras (2 outdoor and 2 indoor cameras)

I am really starting to leverage the routine function with the alexa app and its been working out pretty well. I really like that everything is contained to the alexa app.

In my new house I am going to add an echo show to replace the main echo plus in the kitchen and replace a good chuck of the light switches with GE zigbee switches. Also will be adding a ecobee thermostat, rachio 3 sprinker controller and some motion sensors.

I use:
1) Wink 2 hub
2) GOCONTROL WNK01-311KIT Premium Z-Wave Home Security Suite
3) Chamberlain MyQ for the garage door.
I had preexisting IP Netgear cameras.

The MyQ has been a life saver. Close the garage from anywhere. YES!

Not to be a debbie downer but until companies start taking security serious on their IoTs, I would stay away from all of it. There are tons of articles and warnings out there on the lack of security these smart home devices have.

They are neat and I would love to invest in all of it, but not at this point.

Duncan Idaho said:

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To show my age, my favorite automation in my house:
from midnight to 6:00 am detected motion in my bathroom cause the lights to come on red at 10%. Enough to take a piss but not enough to wake me or anyone else up.

I also have my bedroom lights slowly brighten over 30 mins before my alarm goes off. Which then turns on the kettle and grinds my coffee.

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This thread makes my head hurt. To show my age, all of this sounds overly complicated and is one other thing that when it breaks it causes me to waste 2 hours on a Saturday trying to diagnose a problem that I would have never had by simply being ok with walking 5 feet to flip a switch.

Thus, why I'm going to do just the basics and pay someone else to do even that and then I'm going to be ok with using the built in automation of a standard digital thermostat twice a year and walk around turning off and on lights myself.

I lose my mind when I have a WiFi router issue. I can't imagine adding all of these new failure points to that!

Something else that isn't really "smart", but that I've become very accustomed to is my Japanese style bidet toilet seat. The bidet functionality is rarely used, but I love the heated toilet seat. For the first few months, it's like Christmas morning when you sit down and had completely forgotten that it's heated. There's also a couple of LEDs on it, so it makes it easy to see the location of the toilet in the dark without turning the lights on.

aggieforester05 said:

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Something else that isn't really "smart", but that I've become very accustomed to is my Japanese style bidet toilet seat. The bidet functionality is rarely used, but I love the heated toilet seat. For the first few months, it's like Christmas morning when you sit down and had completely forgotten that it's heated. There's also a couple of LEDs on it, so it makes it easy to see the location of the toilet in the dark without turning the lights on.

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Now this.....this is something I'm intrigued by.

I currently run the following through a Smartthings hub:

- Skybell HD doorbell
- 2 Wifi Bulbs in a couple of lamps that are commonly used
- Ecobee thermostats for upstairs and downstairs
- Kwikset wifi deadbolts on back door and garage door (detached)
- Zooz wifi switches. I went with these over the GE due to my house having a lot of 3 and 4-way switches and these do not require an add-on switch like the GE does. Cut my expense in half. Currently only have a dimmer installed on the front porch due to me not being able to figure out the 3-way installation. My brother is an electrician and will eventually make it over to do everything.

I currently have my wife and I's phones set up as location sensors that trigger certain actions as both of us leave and enter my defined geofence. Depending on the time of the day, lights will come on or go off and doors will lock/unlock. I have scenes set up for practically everything (arrival, vacation, goodnight, upstairs away, etc). All of these are also set up to be used via Alexa (Alexa, I'm going to bed, etc).

Future plans include:
- Finally installing all of my switches
- Motion sensors on the landing upstairs to trigger front porch to illuminate to 100% so my kids can see if they're coming downstairs at night. The front porch light lights up the foyer a decent amount so I have that switch set to dim to 10% at a certain time so it isn't so lit up inside. It goes to 100% currently if the doorbell senses motion between a defined time.
- Looking at Arlo Pro cameras an will do something with those

If you browse the smartthings forum, you'll find all sorts of "apps" created that you have to go to GitHub to get it to work on the hub. I did a Vacation Manager through this that will turn lights on/off as if people are here.

OldArmyBrent said:

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YouBet said:

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I don't get folks who are constantly jacking with their thermostats.

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Agreed. I'm regretting ever giving my wife the ecobee password. She's constantly changing schedules and temps so it's uncomfortable to save money. Is it too much to ask to have it less than 78 in the summer or sleep above 62 in the winter???

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The best thing about it is the ability for it to kick the temp up if you're away and not cool an empty house. During the week, it's probably not that big of a deal and a set schedule will work, but on the weekends, you come and go at different times for a schedule to actually work effectively. With my hub, temp kicks up (or down during the winter) after us being gone for 5 minutes and kicks back to our set temp as we enter the geofence. Current Ecobee time before it kicks to away mode is 2 hours. Haven't found a way to change that default.

Nest Yale front door lock is terrific design and easy to use
Kevo sucked and definitely do not recommend
Phillips hue with IFTTT works terrific. I love their outdoor lights. Also have some motion sensors that work great for kids at night

aTm2004 said:

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OldArmyBrent said:

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YouBet said:

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I don't get folks who are constantly jacking with their thermostats.

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Agreed. I'm regretting ever giving my wife the ecobee password. She's constantly changing schedules and temps so it's uncomfortable to save money. Is it too much to ask to have it less than 78 in the summer or sleep above 62 in the winter???

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The best thing about it is the ability for it to kick the temp up if you're away and not cool an empty house. During the week, it's probably not that big of a deal and a set schedule will work, but on the weekends, you come and go at different times for a schedule to actually work effectively. With my hub, temp kicks up (or down during the winter) after us being gone for 5 minutes and kicks back to our set temp as we enter the geofence. Current Ecobee time before it kicks to away mode is 2 hours. Haven't found a way to change that default.

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Yeah, I get that and sounds cool on paper. I just question if the savings are any more than a rounding error when factoring an edge scenario like the weekend. If we are going to be gone a significant amount of time on a weekend I simply move the temp up or down (depending on season) as I walk by and then when we get back I hit the Run Schedule button and all back to normal.

Anywho, I'll stop yelling at clouds in here.

YouBet said:

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aTm2004 said:

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OldArmyBrent said:

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YouBet said:

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I don't get folks who are constantly jacking with their thermostats.

---

Agreed. I'm regretting ever giving my wife the ecobee password. She's constantly changing schedules and temps so it's uncomfortable to save money. Is it too much to ask to have it less than 78 in the summer or sleep above 62 in the winter???

---

The best thing about it is the ability for it to kick the temp up if you're away and not cool an empty house. During the week, it's probably not that big of a deal and a set schedule will work, but on the weekends, you come and go at different times for a schedule to actually work effectively. With my hub, temp kicks up (or down during the winter) after us being gone for 5 minutes and kicks back to our set temp as we enter the geofence. Current Ecobee time before it kicks to away mode is 2 hours. Haven't found a way to change that default.

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Yeah, I get that and sounds cool on paper. I just question if the savings are any more than a rounding error when factoring an edge scenario like the weekend. If we are going to be gone a significant amount of time on a weekend I simply move the temp up or down (depending on season) as I walk by and then when we get back I hit the Run Schedule button and all back to normal.

Anywho, I'll stop yelling at clouds in here.

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We have 3 kids we're trying to corral every time we leave, so being able to automate it vs. remembering (and walking upstairs) is a big help. It's also great during the cold snaps when it's in the 20's in the morning to just say "Alexa, set the downstairs temp to XX" to warm things up a bit, and given the motion downstairs is in the master, that's the temp it will use to determine to continue to run vs not.

Also, my daughter's room upstairs is the "hot" room of the house. I put a sensor in there and now things a much more comfortable for her.

I also like the ability to log in and see how long each unit runs throughout the day and what the starting & ending temp/humidity is. Because of that, I found kicking my upstairs unit to where I wanted it to go when we were away was causing it to run more to recover when we arrived home vs. just kicking it up a couple of degrees and having it run some when we are gone (during the summer). So, less run time overall while increasing the temp...I get my cake and eat it too.

I went TP-link/Kasa due to prices on slickdeals. I really like the integration with Alexa despite not being Wink compatible. I use wink for the Schlage lock,honeywell thermostat, arlo, and ring stuff. All in all, they all work with Alexa for voice control. I have a harmony hub that I want to integrate but I haven't taken the time to set that up yet.

The only thing I have is a Nexx Garage garage door opener.

I had to Jerry rig and add a bigger magnet to get the switch to function. But it's been spot on since I got it rigged up. Its never failed.

It has a voice notification function, which I really like.