Smart switches, smart lightbulbs, motion sensors, fridges that do who knows what, my other half wants it all. I like the idea of a few motion switches here and there but I’d like to hear from you who have a ‘smart home’, things you like, don’t, wish you had etc. How do you like USB receptacles or do they last?We are down the the studs so the sky’s the limit. There’s just so much to pick from… a little overwhelmed. Thanks

I'll go first. Setting my heated blanket to essentially pre-heat my bed before getting in at night.

Device: Meross Smart Plug Mini Automation using Apple Shortcuts

Mine is turn on robot vacuum when everybody goes to sleep in a house with a dog. Total disaster.

First the pictures: https://ibb.co/album/9Z6vjS

We bought this lakehouse two years ago. It was built by a builder who went all-out in many regards, including the automation.

Like anything with the best of intentions; the manufacturer of the primary system I believe has gone out of business, as has the installer.

Fortunately, everything is still functioning reasonably well. However, the fact that I don't fully understand how it all works makes me nervous. I also would love to be able to make changes. Eventually, a component is going to fail. I would like to be able to diagnose the system better.

Here is my basic understanding of the systems in play:

Home Automation (AMX)

The AMX system provides LCD screens throughout the house (approximately 6). A lot of care was put into the integration with room layouts, etc. The AMX system talks to the lighting/shade (Lutron) system, video system, audio system, and HVAC system. It appears to be by and large secondary, just reading/writing from these otherwise independent systems.

I haven't really tried to communicate with this system. However, I have setup VNC to one of the LCDs.

I believe AMX has exited this space.

Lighting, Shades, Wall Switches (Lutron)

The lights in every room appear to be dimmers. Additionally, each window has two shades (privacy & blackout). Each room also has a couple of wall switches with various buttons. These control the lights, shades, and audio in the room. I believe this to be a massive independent Lutron system. The AMX system can read/write the various states.

This system works great. The wall switches are easy to use. A preliminary conversation with the (probably) initial installer was that this Lutron controller is EOL. He mentioned that it was known for going belly-up. Losing this system would be pretty catastrophic to the house. We'd lose all lighting & shade control. A rough quote to upgrade to a newer system was ~$20k. To be honest, it is working great, and I really like it.

Audio (AMX)

Each room has several in-wall/ceiling speakers. These can be controlled by the AMX controllers or Lutron switches. There appears to be ~4 input sources (FM, Sirius, Apple Airport) that are routed by 2 pre-amps to 4 amps. Airplay works pretty well with this system. The pre-amps are controlled via rs-232 (or similar) by the AMX system. I am not sure, but my guess is the wall switches are going Lutron -> Amx controller -> Pre-a

Most of the articles that give tips for home automation ideas are all the same... smart lights, locks, fridge, ect.

What are some less known but aweosome ideas (that current technology allows)?

Hello good home automation people

I am at the very beginning of looking to automate my home - lights, a/c, tv, apple devices, android tv, security cameras, etc… and I’d be very appreciative of example set ups for inspiration. I have an unraid server which I plan on loading home assistant on to.

Currently I’m thinking of automated lights, power sockets, ir blaster to manage tv, stereo and air conditioner, airplay, garage door based on location. So Shelly relays, Shelly temp/humidity sensor, broad link or blasters, home bridge, Plex integration, and on it goes….

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

First, let me get out of the way that I'm a noob at home automation. I've been doing this for less than 4 months, but been dreaming about it for 11 years. So far I'd say my experience has been far worse than what I had imagined, and less good than what I had hoped for. This is a little rant. Maybe some can find some nuggets here, or can relate in one way or another.

I'm glad to say that I have stuck to my first principle that "it must work even if home automation is not working". Thankfully all the lights switches still turn on and off the lights.

Well, it's been kinda working over the past 4 months, with an average "command success rate" somewhere in the 90%-ish range... Simply. Not. Good. Enough.

I've tried a lot of different installation methods, and devices, and come to a sad conclusion: Home Automation isn't ready for prime time yet. I'm generally leading edge and cut the cord in 2014 going to a less than mature Kodi, and have since switched to Plex, and FireTV, both of which "just work". Home Automation so far feels like Kodi from 2012 when I first started to evaluate it as an alternative.

I'll preface this very long post by saying the zigbee devices and network has been absolutely flawless through this entire experience. I had a few sonoff temp/humidity sensors go offline, but that's because they're cheap POS and not due to anything else. ... All of the below is zwave issues.

My history with Home Automation so far:

- Hubitat with 9 zwave devices from Zooz. Worked. But significant delay getting anything to happen from the mobile app and rules were laggy as F.

- Ditched that in favor of Home Assistant installed in a VM on Unraid, with 4 Xeon cores and 6GB Ram dedicated to it. Much better, but found I was rebooting every few days as devices went dead, and trying to figure out why devices kept going dead!

- Put my new zooz USB stick on a longer USB extension to try and get away from metal ducting in the basement. Helped, but not too much.

- Added some zigbee stuff including a number of sonoff lite plugs, and a bunch of wireless temp/humidity sensors from sonoff and Aqara, and a couple of aqara cubes for the kids, plus a Nortek combo stick - planned not to use the zwave side of the stick since I already had a 7-series zwave with zooz.

- Added a lot more zwave switches and dimmers, plugs, an appliance plug, and the water shutoff. Up to a total of 46 zwave devices.

- that's when devices started to go dead every few hours. Research and

Hello everyone! A little while ago I made a post introducing my Volcano app and the reception was amazing! I've done a lot of development work on the app since that post and wanted to give an update. Here is a link to the original post

If this subreddit doesn't want posts like this in the future please let me know. It seems to be in the scope of the rules but I don't want to be unwelcomed spam. Also I do really want people to use it. I've put a lot of attention into the details and do think its a great app experience. Of course the software is to be used at your own risk. I personally use it all the time on my Volcano. Its usage drives its design. If there is something I didn't like I make sure to fix it.

App Updates

• App Page
  • Temperature
    • Temperature can now be incremented by +-1 degree
    • Temperature presets can be customized in the settings page. You can now have any temperature you'd like with one press of a button! For those wondering the settings persist through browser local storage. This is probably the best option since I don't want to burden the user with setting up an account.
    • Temperature presets can be restored to defaults in settings page
    • Temperature slider added. You can have a buttery smooth temperature setting experience. For a real minimalist experience you can remove all the temperature presents and just use the slider
• Device Info Page
  • Moved all device information to its own view
• Settings Page
  • Volcano Settings
    • Change device from c to f or f to c (for app and volcano)
    • LED brightness slider for volcano display
    • Toggle Vibrate when Volcano reaches temperature (I noticed this one takes a second for the volcano to listen. I'm not really sure why)
    • Toggle Volcano Shows temperature when the heat is turned off
  • App Settings
    • Allow customization of temperature grid. Only show the temperatures you need!
    • Allows user to restore to default temperature grid

There were a lot of changes behind the scenes as well to set the app up for success. Adding react router, redux, and react range really took the app development experience to the next level. With components having direct access to the store it made implementing features a lot easier.

Caching has also been implemented for fields that don't change often. For example, if

Hey guys, I'm a one man electrical shop, doing largely residential service, custom home builds, and light commercial tenant improvement. I'm looking to expand into offering some more serious home automation processes, and could use some input. I'd like to put together a few packages, from low end to fancy as hell.

1. System - I'd be looking for something that wouldn't require active management. I don't mind it be complicated to upgrade/change (that would be part of a service agreement), but I don't want callbacks to constantly troubleshoot an existing system. The ideal would be something relatively robust that's easy for the end customer to interact with.

2. Devices - Here's where I could use input. What would you guys want to see during rough in wiring to facilitate home automation down the line? Wiring to blinds? LV wiring to individual outlets? Give me your wildest ideas. What do you wish they'd done in your home?

3. Energy efficiency - This I'm putting in its own category because a large part of my clientele is green builders. Obviously, lighting and HVAC are key here, but what are some efficiency ideas that aren't super obvious?

4. Resources - This sub has been super helpful already, but how do you guys stay up to date on new trends/ideas? Any sites you recommend?

The wiki for the sub is super helpful for the homeowner, but ultimately my question is, what would you install for someone else?

Thanks!

I’m interested in learning more on how people feel regarding the current state of home automations. If you have a few minutes to spare (and love raffles), I’d appreciate you filling out a quick 2-min survey: https://airtable.com/shrqeiPZnITRh0Ps4

As for the raffle, 3 lucky participants will be randomly selected to win a $50 Amazon gift card next week. Good luck!

I am an electrician with a fair bit of familiarity troubleshooting industrial machines using Siemens S7 and RSLogix500/5000. But I have very limited experience building/programming systems from scratch, or with HMI development (just a couple small alterations to existing HMIs using FactoryTalk View).

Now it's been a couple of years since I worked in plant maintenance, and I want to make a little project to both preserve the skills I've picked up over the years, and to expand my panel design/build capacity.

I'm planning to build a little greenhouse with automatic air circulation and watering, humidity and temperature control, lighting control. And an HMI for programming each of these parameters.

I'm looking at Automation Direct's C-More HMIs, particularly the EA9-RHMI headless unit (cheap!).

For PLCs, I am also looking at the A-D options but I'm a bit overwhelmed by the range of choices. Does anybody have experience with the Click, Productivity, BRX lines and could you comment on the differences? Which option would best approximate the capabilities of the more robust and popular industrial options?

I also considered the Siemens S7-1200 starter kit, which is appealing both because I'm already somewhat familiar with S7, and because it is fairly widely used in industry, though getting old. Also not as easy to get my hands on Siemens PLC components compared to A-D.

I've also looked a bit at the Allen-Bradley MicroLogix 1400, which again is compelling as A-B is very popular in my area.

I would be glad to hear your thoughts, and any other alternative recommendations.

Thank you very much for your help.

I have just left my Alarm.com service where I built a simple home automation setup. I have installed Home Assistant. It has been working for my simple zwave setup. It seems pretty plain though. I was wondering if there is another free Home Automation setup that is a more all in 1 package rather than all of the integrations?

I’m closing on a new construction home soon and I want to start off strong and on the right foot with making my home “smart.” If you could start from a blank canvas like I am what would you do? What would you do differently than you have in the past or what would you avoid doing? The house will have Ethernet jacks in each room that go back to a panel in a closet so I plan on utilizing a mesh Wi-Fi system with a wired Ethernet backhaul. Suggestions on a good system for ~2500 sq ft? I also want to have smart locks, doorbell, thermostats and lighting/switches. I’d like to have external security cameras as well, but I’m not sure how feasible that’ll be yet as I’d like to have them be PoE, but the house isn’t wired properly for that. I'm up for suggestions of other things to make smart as well. I plan to utilize HomeAssistant for everything as much as I can so having devices that are compatible with that is ideal.

Hello,

Is it possible via the gui to set the brigtness of a light based on the time of day. I cannot figure this out...

I'm deciding on a micro controller for my first home automation project.

I want to go with the Arduino Micro because of its size.

My project is a simple automated planter that will automatically turn the light on and off during the day/night

I plan to achieve this using an RTC module to keep time, then have a relay switch at certain times of the day to turn a grow light on and off.

I don't know much about the Arduino Micro. Can it achieve this simple task?

TL;DR: Konnected is gauging interest in an upcoming crowdfunding investment opportunity. Drop your email on our StartEngine page if you’re interested in participating!

Konnected was started out of a passion for home automation, open-source software, and my belief that homeowners should have the freedom and flexibility to have the smart home monitoring solution that works best for them. Five years ago this month I published the very first (and very simplistic) version of what would later become the Konnected firmware on GitHub. In 2017 I formed a company, left my full-time job, and launched a Kickstarter campaign and the Konnected Alarm Panel was born!

This community helped us raise over $180,000 on Kickstarter to get the product started. Since then, we’ve sold over $3.5 million worth of products to customers all over the world, built out integrations with some of the leading consumer smart home platforms, launched a cloud service, launched the Alarm Panel Pro (with Ethernet!), and have several new products and integrations in the works!

We’ve bootstrapped the company this far and growth has been solid. There’s still so much more to do to achieve our mission of making every wired home smart – and I’ve decided to again ask our community for help.

This year, Konnected is teaming up with StartEngine – an equity crowdfunding platform endorsed by “Mr. Wonderful” (Kevin O’Leary) – and working out the details of an equity fundraising campaign. This is an opportunity for supporters like you to invest a small amount in the future of Konnected. Equity crowdfunding is different from Kickstarter in that it gives investors like you a chance to own a partial stake in the company. It’s a very efficient way for startups like mine to raise capital while presenting huge opportunities for investors.

As I work tirelessly to scale this company, I always, ALWAYS keep the best interest of the end user at the forefront. Our mission is to make every wired home smart, and to do it in a way that’s open, inter-operable, flexible, and secure. That’s one of the reasons we’re inviting you to join us not only as a customer and supporter – but also as an investor and part-owner.

Details are coming out very soon. If you’re interested in supporting Konnected and investing in our growth, please drop your email here to get early access on StartEngine.

Thank you so much for making Konnected gr

Security alarm notification alert for opened windows/doors

Doorbell camera, with phone alerts

Smart plugs

Lighting

Security lights

I'm asking about DIY because I'm not a fan of this information being collected by Amazon, etc. externally. I'd want it stored locally. Plus I like to tinker.

I just have no idea where to start.

So this client is giving me headaches. If it was a "normal" client I wouldn't work with them, but the CEO is my uncle and I'm very close to him and he needs my help because his business isn't doing great.

As I said in the title, it's a home automation business that sells to high net worth individuals. We tried Facebook advertising before and it wasn't a success (I'm usually very good at FB ads), maybe because the creative was poor. The business only has a budget of ~300 USD a month and having good creative is hard with no money.

We barely attempted content creation and branding but maybe that's the way to go? I'd like to do something that's more ROI oriented but don't know what. Maybe FB ads would work better with better creative?

What would you do for this business? Thanks in advance.

Friends asked me if I wanted to install 'home automation' in their home, 'like you have'. Well, my HA is a RPi with Home Assistant, some esps, tradfri bulbs, zigbee, wifi switches. There' so much I don't know how to do in Node Red. Home Assistant still has many secrets. It's functional but not great, due to lack of time to streamline automations. In short: a 'system' like I have won't work for them, especially as they are not really technically gifted.

I'm pondering what to do and come to the conclusion they are the prefect couple of out-of-the-box solutions. That, however, is an unfamiliar area for me. Fi I'm a big fan of the Tradfri range, but have no idea how that all would function without a Home Assistant instance.

What I think they're looking for is something simple and easy to manage, either buttons or controlled by an app.

Also, the Netatmo website states that the Indoor Module and Outdoor Module each measure the "Air quality". What do they measure exactly?

Hello everyone, I'm looking to get started with Home automation and HASS. Unfortunately in my country, I'm limited to source from Aliexpress/china. What are some good brands from there that I can use for the following categories:

1. Routers. - preferably one with a SIM slot.
2. Managed ethernet Switches
3. Zigbee devices and gateways
4. Smart plugs, relays/switches door sensors - zigbee/wifi based

preferably local/non-cloud based.

nb: Forgive the english. I'm not a native speaker

I live in an apartment and want to give it a try. I also have no idea what (and how) to automate other than lights.

Could you please share your most useful products?

Also couple of newbie questions:

I’m leaning toward Alexa but I mostly use Apple devices, is this a good idea or should I consider Google/Siri?

Which brand of smart dimmers is the best for a beginner? I’d like to be able to dim multiple lights at the same time using voice.

Anything else I need to buy to make it easier to install/use?

Thank you!/r/

Over the last few years, I've heavily built out my home with smart home equipment - first Nest, then HomeKit (bringing the Nest gear along for the ride using the awesome Starling Home Hub).

I have a possibly ridiculous number of items including light switches (Lutron Caseta in every room of the house), Hue bulbs (for lamps and lights not covered by the Caseta switches), smart outlets (various, generally holiday-themed items), garage door openers, alarm systems, cameras, motion sensors, door locks, shades, etc etc etc - even the fireplace is HomeKit enabled!

The vast majority of our family's interactions with all of this equipment is either via "Hey Siri" on the dozen or so HomePods / HomePods Mini around the house, or via the Home app itself. E.g, the first person downstairs in the morning asks Siri to "turn downstairs lights to 100%."

We also have various themes set up for major things. Probably the most useful one is "TV Time" which simply sets all of the lights downstairs at night to lower levels better for TV viewing.

But as I look through the posts on this sub, I see that many people seemingly rely much more heavily on automations to run their smart homes and it's got me wondering if I'm missing out or how I can better add automations into my mix.

I do have a handful of basic automations set up, but they primarily control some pretty basic stuff, including automations that:

- Turn the lava lamp in my home office on/off so that it's running when I get to my desk but doesn't run all day / night

- Closes the shades in the master bedroom every evening before bed

- Turns the outside lights on at sunset then off again at bedtime

But I'm curious how those of you who are using lots of automations have your homes set up, what best practices are, and, particularly, how your families deal with them (e.g., if it were just me in the house, I could see myself having motion sensors everywhere and making the lights follow me, but I tried that once in the kids' bathroom because they refused to ever turn the lights out and I kept getting yelled at because inevitably the lights would go out while they were *ahem* in dispose).

Educate me, Reddit - how can I take my HomeKit home to the next level with Automations?

I was wondering if any of you use Alexa as the main driver of your home automation? I have a Smartthings hub connected via Alexa that has 20+ light/fan Z-wave switches on it as well as all my oudoor lighting. I also have an Ecobee, Garage Door, Ring Cameras, Stereo Receiver, Sonos all interfaced through Alexa. All of the automations and timers I have are just done through Alexa. I just find the number one use of my home automation is just saying "Alexa set the temperature in the house to XX" or "Alexa, turn on the patio lights" or "Alexa, play some song in the master bedroom". I almost never use any of the app interfaces for any of my connected stuff. Am I missing the boat on deeper integration and automations?

I have a few miscellaneous scripts being ran as cron jobs. I never considered moving them away from cron until recently. I'm wondering if anyone else has made the move.

I got the idea after writing a new script recently that sends me a telegram message. At first I used node-red's telegram integration to do this but discovered it couldn't set the parse mode. To solve this I switched to using Home Assistant's telegram integration. Now that Home Assistant is incorporated into the process I could potentially simplify it by removing cron. Although on the flip side Home Assistant would take more configuration than cron so maybe not.

I noticed a complete lack of features in all of my Samsung products to the point where they don’t give any real use. Also how the hell do you even turn WiFi off in these devices? I have a Samsung NE63A6111 oven and there is literally no way to turn wifi off. Didn’t Samsung have a slight bit of foresight when adding features like this?

Literally just have a single dual lightswitch, but would like to expand this. Currently it's a Smart Life device (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X4Z69BV) but I'd like to add additional devices similar to this (at least one more of these and also some standalone buttons for automation).

What would be a cheap automation button I can add? Basically just need to toggle on/off lights in my bedroom with a switch next to my bed, as opposed to way across the room by the door. If it's possible to have it work regardless of internet connection (in case my internet dies, I don't want to be without light!) that would be best, but understandable if that's not done without a hub or more expensive setup (I mean, getting out of bed and hitting the physical switch is always an option).

What brand/devices would be suggested to expand my current setup? Mainly looking for another double light switch like I already have, additional buttons like mentioned above, and maybe some smart plugs for generic things. The biggest thing that's annoying is the time it takes to action from when I clicked the button my phone. Usually a few seconds (and my RGB strip takes a few seconds to fire up).

Update: Thanks for all the feedback. It works! I can not only enable and disable the security system when leaving and arriving, but can now also finally get the status of my garage door!