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    Home Unlabelled Home Automation Building new house, looking for some advice on replacement tech from the current house.

    Home Automation Building new house, looking for some advice on replacement tech from the current house.

    December 23, 2020

    Home Automation Building new house, looking for some advice on replacement tech from the current house.

    Building new house, looking for some advice on replacement tech from the current house.

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 05:01 PM PST

    Signed on the dotted line yesterday to build a new house, so figured a perfect time to fix the mistakes of my current house and hoping for opinions of others too.

    1) I use home assistant as my home automation hub, I love it and would never change :)

    2) Using an aeotec z-wave stick with home assistant to hook up to switches. I had originally bought 2 leviton switches on sale (a dimmer and a regular switch) the dimmer never worked the best, and even though the LED lights i had were supposed to be dimmable even when at 100% I heard a hum. The regular switch has worked ok functionally but has often had polling issues and when manually using the switch often led to home assistant not updating. I also have numerous GE z-wave switches from ~3-4 years ago, most the older version and 1-2 of the newer serial number. Thing is 2 of my switches in the last 3 months have shit the bed so while I have been very satisfied with them i'm worried the rest are going to be on the way out too. So any advice on z-wave switches would be appreciated.

    3) Currently have an ecobee (I think ecobee 3), strongly considering switching to a Nest at the new house. I am in pretty deep with google home mini/hubs so the Nest fits in better with those and most of the ecobee features I haven't utilized very much. Remote sensors were the big thing but it is my understanding Nest has those now (can Nest be configured to prioritize a specific sensor at certain times? want to make sure the kid's room is comfortable at night). I work from home so for the last 2 years I don't think we've had it configured for "away" once.

    4) Currently have a ring doorbell, I hate it and everything about ring. Thinking Nest Hello due to wanting 24/7 recording (even if it isn't long term storage i've learned from my surveillance system that you can't trust motion sensing for recording, only for even identification). Would be willing to consider another vendor, but again with being invested in google ecosystem that seems to be the best choice.

    5) Alarm system- I have abode and regret getting it more than any decision i've made the last year or two. Numerous problems with it, its support is terrible, and the benefit of it (integration of sensors with home assistant) i've found no personal uses for. Plan to go the simplisafe route, figure I want an alarm system to just be an alarm system with no other involvement with the rest of my ecosystem.

    6) May update my unifi ac LR access point to a new wifi 6 AP but, not something that i need to plan out today.

    7) Anyone know any home assistant compatible blinds I could look into. Considered the ikea blinds, but the roller style blinds don't look the best, and all other options seem to be too painful for my wallet.

    Any tips or suggestions i'd always be interested in :)

    submitted by /u/dfpw
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    Has anyone strated using wyze robo vaccum? What's your comment?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 03:23 PM PST

    I gonna ask on r/wyzecam as well, but this being a biggest community thought of checking thoughts here as well.

    So can you share your review on it, I am especially interested in integration with some kind of home automation platform. I am positive wyze will never release any addons for local control, so cloud is ok. Any luck on it?

    submitted by /u/youmeiknow
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    MyQ - get notification when garage door is open for too long?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 07:18 PM PST

    I have a MyQ garage opener, I'd like to get a notification (preferably email or text) if it is open for more that 30 minutes. What is the easiest way to do that? Our house is generally Alexa-based but we also have google assistant on our phones if that matters. I can write code if needed but I feel there must be an easier way...

    submitted by /u/nickbir
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    How do you plan ahead for "after you" ? Smart homes past their creator?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 06:57 AM PST

    Hopefully this doesn't sad or anything, just thinking ahead.

    But we talk about a lot on this sub about WAF "Wife Approval Factor". But what WOHOF? "Wife On Her Own Factor"?

    How do you plan ahead for your smart home when you the creator are not there to manage it? Do you teach others to manage it for you? Or does all that hard work just become obsolete and the new "owners" just flip the actual light switch?

    Or is better option to make a smart home but not that smart (ex. use motion sensor light switches and fixtures vs. motion sensor + smart light)?

    Appreciate any thoughts!

    submitted by /u/CaptainMidwest
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    Wemos D1 Mini build to cook a Ham using PromQL

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 09:12 AM PST

    Connecting a Hue bridge to an Access point?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 03:02 PM PST

    I'm hoping to get some help with my Hue Bridge to my access point.

    I have my netgear FVS336G router in my basement and turned my Netgear Nighthawk RAX35 into an access point upstairs. I'd like to connect my bridge to the access point upstairs (via ethernet cable) but, when I do so, I cannot connect to the internet. When I connect the bridge to the router, everything works fine.

    Is there a solution for this? I'm assuming that this can be solved by reconfiguring the route but I'm not experienced enough.

    ​

    Edit: I have a cat 6 cable running from my modem, to my basement router to the WAN port of the access point. I then have a cat 6 running from my access point to the hue bridge.

    submitted by /u/ticktockaudemars
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    Using SMS with automations

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 12:39 PM PST

    Hi

    My home heating system works via the mobile app or SMS, no API available and I have one or two legacy items outdoors that have sim card slots and it would be nice to add a bit of automation.

    I though of twillo and other gateways for automation but I have a 4g wireless modem (Alcatel Link Zone) that handles SMS also and I often just plug it into my pfsense gateway via USB to use as backup internet. The plan includes unlimited SMS.

    I was wondering if anyone had any experience turing a 4g modem like that into a local SMS gateway or maybe plugging into my automation setup directly (home assistant).

    Sorry, to add a bit more. I like to have the 4g modem plugged into my pfsense box as it provides failover for a poor internet connection so was wondering if there was something that could leverage the dongle itself without being directly connected to it via USB.

    submitted by /u/feighery
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    Flic wrong order

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 04:10 PM PST

    Hello all, I recently bought the Flic Mega kit ( 15 flic buttons+ flic hub LR + flic ir). I was pretty excited for it to arrive only to see that my package only contained 6 flic buttons, the flic hub LR and the flic ir accesory. I contacted support but they haven't responded yet. It's been a couple of days. Has anybody had something similar happen to you and is the Flic support team any good?

    submitted by /u/Simossie
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    Whole-house current data logging

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 08:23 AM PST

    I'm looking into whole-house current monitoring and need some suggestions on where to look next. The main problem I want to solve is determining if it makes sense to switch to time-of-use billing.

    Requirements:

    • Works with a single-phase 3-wire 200A breaker panel.
    • Measure and log whole-house usage with at least per-hour granularity (to determine if TOU billing makes financial sense).
    • Remote (LAN, not WAN) access.

    Nice to have:

    • Separate out kWh draw from at least 1 arbitrary circuit breaker (specifically to measure cost of charging my EV).

    Non-requirements:

    • A prepackaged devices or pretty UIs. I'm fine with hacking something together with an RPi and an RS-232 port (or along those lines) if the price is right.
    • DIY installation. I'm going to have an electrician on site in the next few months anyways, and I don't mind forking over some money to make sure that I don't electrocute myself working with 240v power.

    So far, I've investigated the device offered by sense.com and it seems appealing. It's actually a really nice price point (I can get a $40 discount on it, as well) compared to some other datalogging current clamps I've found, but it concerns me that they're slurping data off to "the cloud" (AWS) when this feels like something that should be a local-only solution. I also wonder about data ex-filtration and device usefulness if the company behind the device goes defunct.

    Anyone been down this road before and have suggestions on how to solve this?

    submitted by /u/falconindy
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    Does my holy grail recessed light exist?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 11:51 AM PST

    Moving into a new house and I have 50 recessed pot lights I'd like to swap out for LED.

    I'm looking for a very bright (1500+lumen? that would be awesome), High CRI, dimmable, temp adjustable (remotely?) light to use and control with HA.

    Does such a beast exist?

    submitted by /u/The_Snot_Rocket
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    Logitech Harmony Hub, Apple TV, and bluetooth connectivity

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 07:59 PM PST

    I'm having a problem getting the Apple TV connected via Bluetooth to my Harmony Hub. Following the instructions in the Harmony docs for this, I've opened the "Settings > Enable Text Entry" section of my iPhone Harmony.app, and selected my "Watch Apple TV" activity there.

    Unfortunately, it does not show the Apple TV as the included device for which Bluetooth connectivity is available; it only lists my LG TV?? I've also tried creating a new Activity with only my Apple TV 4 in it, and that testing-activity doesn't even show up in the "Enable Text Entry" section of the app at all.

    Has anybody dealt with this? I'd really like access to the power/sleep functionality for my Apple TV. /=

    submitted by /u/elliottcable
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    Any fun ways to automate "Santa Coming" for Christmas? Anyone do anything fun for Christmas?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 06:51 AM PST

    My daughter is approaching 3 years old. Trying to start getting her interested in Christmas and Santa starting this year and more every year going forward. We have a finished attic with tall ceilings so I was thinking about just hiding a bluetooth speaker in the peak somewhere and find audio of bells, reindeer feet on the roof, etc. Kind of goes against the part where they are supposed to be sleeping but figured I could do it before bed or in the morning or something.

    Does anyone use smart home devices or their automation expertise for something similarly fun?

    submitted by /u/ReneRobert
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    "Smart" Light Bulb to send me Notification?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 07:04 PM PST

    Was hoping to get some ideas from everyone. I live next to a private, community water tank owned by a group of us neighbors. It fills with well water. There is a float system within the tank. If the tank ever gets too low on water, the float is activated and it turns on a light on the outside of the tank. The problem is that if nobody sees or pays attention to the light, we might not realize that there is a problem with the well system. The light obviously is powered, but there is no other service to the area (e.g., telephone line, ethernet, cable, etc.).

    I was thinking that perhaps we could use some sort of "smart" light bulb in place of the current one and that maybe this smart light bulb could be connected to wifi from one of the 3 homes that is close by and that the smart light bulb could send a notification (maybe through an app to a cell phone) to one or more of the neighbors when the float is activated by a low water level and the light is powered on. Any thoughts?

    submitted by /u/uofawildcats
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    What's the difference between Inovelli Red and Black Series?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 06:43 PM PST

    Is it that red does not require a neutral wire and black does?

    submitted by /u/purpledust
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    Where to start exploring for lights, blinds and thermostat?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 10:39 AM PST

    Disclaimer: you don't need to explain in details; if you throw me some links where I can start educating myself will be welcome as well.

    Hello good people! So, I've signed my debt for the next 30 years and to make it a bit more comfortable, I wish to go smart in certain aspects. What I wish to have manageable via app and also programmable are:
    - lights (switches, not bulbs)
    - blinds (so far I only know about the IKEA ones)
    - thermostat (as the summers here are short, no AC - but in few years, who knows)

    Is there a provider on the market that would cover all solutions? It would be nice to be able to manage it all from one app, even if it is (in worst case scenario (Google).

    I'll allow myself to elaborate a bit more my ideas:
    1. Lights
    - motion sensor in hall
    - ability to manage all lights via app and physical switch
    - ability to program on/off based on time (would calendar be also possibility)
    2. Blinds
    - ability to program based on time (is weather an option?)
    - would be nice if they have a physical remote control
    3. Thermostat
    - one programmable central unit and
    - I think 6 radiators

    I'm based in Europe (fairly close to Germany) if it means anything in the age of internet shopping.

    submitted by /u/clioopen
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    Shelly or Sonoff switches with aluminum wiring

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 09:23 AM PST

    Location: Colorado, USA

    I'm looking at adding smart capabilities to our existing light switches and was looking at Sonoff and Shelly as possibilities. The problem is that, due to properly mitigated aluminum wiring in part of the house combined with small steel boxes, a lot of the light switch boxes don't have much room in them. On top of that, most of the boxes don't have a neutral wire in them and my desire to ever fish Romex again is exactly zero. Wiring in the house is half 12awg aluminum Romex and half 14awg copper Romex probably due to previous renovations but I choose to go with lazy asshole builders that had some left over aluminum wire when they built the house because it makes me feel better to have someone to curse at.

    I know the Shelly 1L is an option but I would still probably run into space issues unless the Shelly will accept 12awg aluminum wire + noalox then I could ditch 2 of the 3 wire nuts and that might free up enough room. Which brings me to my questions:

    1. Can I use the types of switches in junction boxes in my attic? The boxes already exist, I would just pop the switch in/add a second junction box next to it.

    2. How often do they fail/need to be accessed?

    3. I've never measure the temperature in the attic during the summer but we have that murder Sun here in Denver, because we're closer to it, but these junction boxes would be buried in insulation, would there be a temperature concern?

    4. Or should I try to rip the old boxes out and put a nice, deep old works box? The only problem I have with this is I've never tried to remove a new works box before and I would prefer to avoid drywalling since every wall is textured (probably to cover the shitty drywalling that had been done) and it's impossible to match.

    submitted by /u/SpaceCadetRick
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    LG ThinQ updated

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 05:42 PM PST

    Hey guys, my LG ThinQ app (Android) updated a couple of days ago and suddenly I cannot control my AC anymore (Dual Inverter Voice).

    It seems they removed this feature which was the main point of the app. Now when I open the AC all I can do is turn it on/off, not change its mode, temperature, etc

    The screen is not glitched or misformated so it doesnt look like a bug, it legit seems like an "update". Anyone experiencing the same issue?

    This is my first post here, hope I made it right. Thanks

    submitted by /u/hellishsinx
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    Thermia heatpump automation options?

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 12:57 PM PST

    Any color changing LED strip lights that can be switched

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 12:32 PM PST

    I have existing under cabinet lights that i would like to have color changing/dimming. Problem is all the ones i have seen basically require constant power and then are switched via an app or voice control. I have a physical wall switch that i would like to continue to be able to use but also have the ability to change colors via an app if possible.

    Does anyone know of any that wont totally freak out when turned off via wall switch? I dont want it to basically reset every time i kill the power to it. I'd like it to retain its current color setting. I understand that this product likely does not exist but figured I'd ask before giving up.

    Thanks.

    submitted by /u/captainwizeazz
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    Smart Apartment Tour: Starting from Scratch

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 11:32 AM PST

    For those of you that live in an apartment or a small area, here are some ideas for home automation from "Smart Home Solver":

    https://youtu.be/3Hz5-QMDQ_w

    submitted by /u/RScottyL
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    Home Assistant Blueprints - Beginner's Guide

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 11:02 AM PST

    Smart hesting options/ setups for electric heaters.

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 09:38 AM PST

    So I just moved into a new house & its way of heating is through "night storage electric heaters" which are individually programmable (they are mounted to the walls and look like typical radiators).

    We are going to replace them with new electric heaters (typically central heating is not an option) & I wanted this to be my first step in the smart heating side of home automation.

    I currently use alexa & Philip's hue lights & I am a software engineer by trade so I'm not too afraid to get stuck into APIs and backend work. However the outcome needs to be useable by my wife, my young children, & guests.

    So I'm looking for specific advice for products for heaters & general advice for taking home automation to the next level?

    submitted by /u/The_Cryo_Wolf
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    Pin code stopped working on Yale Assure Lock SL

    Posted: 22 Dec 2020 07:54 AM PST

    I have a Yale Assure SL with the August connect module. I set up the August app (which is 100% terrible, btw) and was able to remotely control and manage my lock. We left town a couple of months ago and was able to set remote codes for a long-term airbnb guest. Everything was working fine until a couple of days ago, when the airbnb guest said that his pin no longer works. I was able to remotely unlock the door for him, so we know that the connect module still works. However, when I try to update his PIN through the August app, it always gives me an error. When I try to add a new user with a new PIN, the app seems to accept the new user but the guest still says the new PIN doesn't work.

    Has anyone else had a similar issue? Anyone have tips to remotely "reset" without being physically there?

    submitted by /u/vtrac
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