Home Automation

[Raoul]

I've always been an early adopter of tech. Dialup to high speed cable. I'm not too positive IoT yet. Also not sure I want everything centrally controlled. 

 

[Capbyrd]

2 hours ago, Raoul said:

I've always been an early adopter of tech. Dialup to high speed cable. I'm not too positive IoT yet. Also not sure I want everything centrally controlled. 

 

Likewise

[analog_kidd]

The Ecobee thermostat is probably next on my list. Although, one feature of the Nest I really like it the ability to link it to their smoke detector. If the smoke detector goes off, the A/C will shut off. That could sway me when I actually go to buy it.

I've had two rooms on smart switches for a few months now, and I really like it. It's taken some getting used to the feel of the switches. Mine all sit in a center position, and you click it up or down to use it, but it always returns to the center. It just has a different feel than any switch I've used all my life.

I have a couple of routines set up for them. One is to turn them all off at 10:15 PM, which is generally after we've gone to bed. This ensures I haven't forgotten to turn off any lights downstairs where those two rooms are. The 2nd routine is to turn the lights on if either of us arrive to the house after sunset. It's pretty cool to be pulling into the driveway and see the lights all come on.

I also have them linked to my Amazon Echo, so I can turn them on / off, or set a dimmer level by voice. And I can use a tablet or phone to do the same.

I've been thinking about dedicating an old tablet to use as a SmartTiles command center. It will be more useful the more devices I have. Another project that I have in mind, that would fit nicely on a SmartTiles interface, is one where I take a Raspberry Pi and add a driveway camera (we have a poor view of the driveway from the house) and an outdoor thermometer. Those two things could be added as tiles, plus any switches, locks and the thermostat, for one nice location to monitor everything in the home.