Are You A Smart Home User?

[Chris Savage]

Do you say, "Hey Google" or "Hey Alexa" to turn on / off lights, outlets, etc in your home? Optionally, do you have a Smart Hub, for example, Hubitat? Please feel free to answer poll and reply with any details you want to share.

[granz]

Not yet (and with my health, possibly never.)

I have been looking at Mycroft (or more accurately Picroft,) the open source off-line Alexa-ish system. I just haven't had the time to get into it yet - too many irons in the fire. 

[Chris Savage]

Not yet (and with my health, possibly never.) I just haven't had the time to get into it yet - too many irons in the fire. 

I understand.

[JKnightandKARR]

Personally, don't see a need for that stuff.  As it is I HATE those blasted Wireless Ring cameras in my house.... stupid things kill my wifi....

[Chris Savage]

I have gone to bed before and thought to myself, "Did I lock the front door?" When I would get up to check, I would have trouble going back to sleep. Now the door locks automatically.

The pull-string switches on my closet lights (apartment) broke and maintenance wouldn't fix it. I added a sensor to the door and put a smart bulb in the socket and now when I open the closet door, the light comes on. When I close the door, it goes off. If I forget and leave the closet door open, the light turns off after 15 minutes. If it's after bedtime, the light comes on dim. If it's daytime, the light comes on full brightness.

The in-wall A/C doesn't work right. If you plug it in, it comes on. If you unplug it, it (obviously) shuts off. No temperature control. By placing a sensor in the hallway and plugging the A/C unit into a smart outlet, I can automatically or manually control the A/C without having to manually plug it in or unplug it.

When I come into my apartment front door after dark, I can't see a thing. But the same sensor that controls the A/C also has a motion sensor and turns on the light if it is dark and motion is sensed. Does nothing if the room is already lit.

When I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, RGB strip lights under my bed light up to cause a glow on the floor that lets me find my way to bathroom in the dark and without blinding me or waking me up. They turn off automatically when I return to bed.

These are just a handful of problems I solved through smart technology. I love it!

[Steelcitygamer8]

I currently don't have any smart home tech in use because I'm limited by budget and the fact that I'm living with my sister though mostly that is a budget limitation as she worries about the electric cost. I have a lot of different plans like I want to run Home Assistant so nothing gets sent out for data mining. A big thing I want is a NVR so my cameras aren't sending the video to peepingtom.com (that's what I call the servers the companies send your video to because that in and of it's self is and invasion of privacy but to make it worse people have been found to be watch people's videos at most if not all of those companies).

[Jeff_T]

I missed this topic when it was originally posted, it's definitely something that interests me.

Post number 4 lists an interesting variety of smart home tech, I have had wireless electrical receptacles, wireless ovens, wireless thermostats, tv's and mostly I use 3 google mini's that I use to broadcast between rooms, set timers and check weather and other pieces of information.

@Steelcitygamer8 I agree with having all your security video on a local server and I have been looking at ditching Ring and using a eufy system with their Homebase 3 but like you I have to weigh up the expense. Anker sell refurbished systems on ebay for a reasonable price. With regard to Home Assistant please post anything you have, even the simple stuff. It is something I have not messed with but often read articles especially where an ESP32 is used.

[Chris Savage]

Post number 4 lists an interesting variety of smart home tech, I have had wireless electrical receptacles, wireless ovens, wireless thermostats, tv's and mostly I use 3 google mini's that I use to broadcast between rooms, set timers and check weather and other pieces of information.

Jeff, we have a Google Home in every room. Google Home Max in my workshop and the living room. When my wife is cooking / baking, she sets the timer on the stove. When I am cooking, I set my timers on Google, which also allows multiple timers, great for when you have two things in the oven on different cooking times.

My wife loves playing music on these devices. I ask a lot of questions sometimes when something comes up that I don't know about, or we need to know if something is open, etc. We're always asking the weather, though it's not always right. In fact, every once in a while, it gives us the weather for LA or something. My Google calendar is linked, so I am informed of events as well as reminders I set for myself as things come up.

I am going to start a new thread and post some screenshots of my complete Smart Home setup. This is just the apps that control things, I do not currently have my Hubitat set up, although there are some automations set up in the existing apps.