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    Tuesday, February 23, 2021

    Home Unlabelled Home Automation Moved into a new house and the previous owners had ADT installed. I’m assuming I would have to call them to be able to use this sensor?

    Home Automation Moved into a new house and the previous owners had ADT installed. I’m assuming I would have to call them to be able to use this sensor?

    February 23, 2021

    Home Automation Moved into a new house and the previous owners had ADT installed. I’m assuming I would have to call them to be able to use this sensor?

    Moved into a new house and the previous owners had ADT installed. I’m assuming I would have to call them to be able to use this sensor?

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 03:55 PM PST

    Automation and control on Mars

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 04:56 AM PST

    If we all think that home automation and control can be difficult at times, spare a thought for NASA and their Mars Perseverance rover.

    What totally knocked me out was that the Mars Ingenuity helicopter communicates with the rover using Zigbee, the same protocol that many home automation devices use - Philips Hue, Smartthings, Amazon Echo etc..

    Well, if it's good enough for NASA.....

    submitted by /u/Breezeoffthewater
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    Fix for GE 12727 / Jasco ZW4003 switch failures

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:59 AM PST

    These Z-Wave switches all seem to fail eventually with varying symptoms such as repeated clicking, physical switch stops working, or fails to respond/communicate to base. I've seen various posts in r/homeautomation and r/SmartThings about these devices failing and the consensus was to throw them away. I personally had four that failed with these symptoms and had replaced them with the newer equivalent with dimmer and air gap.

    However, I found a relatively recent post by gwbluenose on the SmartThings forums that identified the failed component: electrolytic capacitor C7, 10µF, 25v). If you're handy with a soldering iron, these can be fixed with a bit of work. I have successfully repaired all four of my switches by replacing this capacitor. These must have been of lower quality (they tested at about 7µF) and, presumably, replacing them will give the device a new, long life.

    This is a fairly common capacitor which I found by scrounging in various defunct electronics I have around, but can also be acquired from Radio Shack, Fry's, Mouser, DigiKey, or even Amazon. A 35v or larger will work, as long as you can fit it. The process involves separating the "radio" board from the "terminal" board of the switch's innards to get to the solder side of the capacitor, then unsoldering and replacing it. You'll also need a special screwdriver bit to open it up.

    1. Turn off the appropriate circuit breaker and remove the switch from the wall. DO NOT perform this repair on a live circuit!
    2. Slightly loosen all five wiring terminals.
    3. Remove the two screws on the rear using the special bit, remove the face and pull out the circuit assembly. Set aside the wiring terminal lugs.
    4. Remove the two screws on the back side of the top board which holds the plastic face and set aside the two button springs.
    5. Unsolder the large conductor between the two boards as well as the 6-pin conductor connecting them, both done on the "radio" board. Using solder wick or or a solder sucker would be ideal, but I was able to able to do it by first separating the large conductor and then using a large solder blob over all 6 pins of the other conductors, after which I cleaned the through-holes by heating a hole and then quickly blowing through it while removing the soldering iron.
    6. After separating the boards, unsolder the capacitor C7 which is the smallest capacitor next to the inductor. I found it easiest to carefully pry and remove (aka rip) the capacitor straight upward off of the board leaving two leads which can be removed individually with small pliers or tweezers while heating the solder. Again, heat solder and blow through the hole to clear solder.
    7. Solder in a new capacitor. Be sure to mind the polarity; the white stripe of the capacitor should match that shown on the board or toward the inner portion of the board.
    8. Remainder of assembly is reverse procedure.
    9. Reseat the "radio" board onto the conductors of the "terminal" board while ensuring the white spacer is in place next to the large conductor. Solder each of the seven leads.
    10. Reattach the plastic face after placing the two springs back on the buttons.
    11. Insert the assembly back into the housing. This should be done with terminal lugs sitting loosely in their proper places in the housing. This can be a bit tricky but you'll figure it out if you've made it this far.
    12. Place the ground lug back on the bracket of the metal front, then slide it onto housing and reattach the two machine screws.
    13. Enjoy the $35-40 you just saved.
    submitted by /u/piranhaphish
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    Equipment for Home assistant

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 04:02 PM PST

    Hi!

    I am using Philips Hue lights currently, but when i change apartment in a month id like to use another lamp aswell without having to sell a kidney to buy their filament bulbs.

    My first plan was to use telldus, but after reading here a bit i found out about Home assistant and i already have a rasperry Pi waiting for something to do.

    Is it possible to control both my hue and non Hue bulbs with Home assistant? If yes, what would i need to buy to do so?

    Edit: The other lamp uses good old lightbulbs so i was considering something like a Nexa dimmer (z-wave)

    submitted by /u/suflix
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    I am looking for beta testers in Bangalore for an exciting Smart Switch/Socket Product. Is anybody interested? (Paid or Free)

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:58 PM PST

    My approach to a status/indicator light for outdoor gates, without having to DIY

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 06:03 PM PST

    My approach to a status/indicator light for outdoor gates, without having to DIY

    We've had this problem for a while: we have a fence for the dogs, and every now and then someone leaves a gate open. Usually it's a delivery person leaving it wide open :( but sometimes it's a landscaper, or some other contractor, or even us not latching a gate properly and it's harder to spot. So what we needed was a warning light, hooked up to door sensors for the gates. Something that wouldn't be super-noticeable when it's off, or take up a bunch of floor, table, or wall space.

    TL;DR version

    This is what I ended up creating.

    When the light is on, check the gates before letting the dogs out.

    The light is a Zigbee-controlled LED light strip in an aluminum channel above the door trim, with power wired up the right side of the trim. The gates sensors are simple Z-Wave door sensors placed in waterproof boxes, with more powerful, waterproof magnets to do the contact closure. I still need to clean up the wire down the right side of the trim, but by and large, this works great with only minimal IoT junk showing. I am considering moving the controller down to the baseboard trim, using white heat-shrink tubing to help hide the control wires, now that I have something that I know works.

    The long version

    I'm posting this because I see other people have had this problem, or pieces of it, such as this person, and this person, and this person...

    Turns out, this is not a very easy problem to solve using off-the-shelf products. I could have whipped something up with maybe Arduino but I really wanted to stick with ready-made stuff that would just work, and use Z-Wave and/or Zigbee to hook into my existing home automation setup.

    The first problem was the gate sensor. For wireless products, the list in the U.S. is pretty short. There's this contract strip, and that's pretty much it. And it has several problems, one of which being "install on non-metal surface" (the gate to our front porch is metal), another being the disposable nature of it, and the other other being it just doesn't work very well. So that wouldn't do. I thought about wired sensors, but running wires to all four gates just didn't seem very appealing, and turns out it doesn't really give you more options, since most items on that front seem to be proprietary. Or visibly ugly hunks of metal designed for, say, garage doors.

    What I ended up doing was using this Z-Wave door sensor which uses a lithium battery, and putting it in a waterproof box (I don't have a 3-D printer, so I had to buy a box with ears and holes for mounting). It's actually too short for the sensor, but that problem was solved by taking a Dremel to the plastic around the door sensor. It's also too wide, but I decided to live with that.

    The sensor could go in a box, but there were not "small" box options for the magnet, so I needed a magnet that was waterproof. I went with these epoxy-coated magnets, which are pricey but also pretty powerful: they work with a gap of over 1", which is important for three of our gates. But maybe too powerful for the gate at the front porch, so I am considering swapping it out for one or two these. To mount the magnets, I took an epoxy coated L-bracket, screwed it into the fence and just stuck the magnet on it.

    Next was the warning light. It needed to be in an obvious place, but I wanted it to be somewhat ubiquitous. A lamp would work, but it seemed silly to buy a lamp that would take up table or floor space that would only be used for this purpose. Doing double-duty with a smart bulb in an existing lamp would work (with the appropriate logic to handle the various state permutations), but we really wanted the light at the front door so we wouldn't miss it. And then it hit me: the door trim. The people who built our house used a wide, fancy door trim, and what would work would be an LED strip above the trim, mounted in a slim, aluminum channel. When off, it's barely noticeable. When on, we have a clear warning right where we needed it.

    I went with a cheap RGBW light strip and this Zigbee controller. We already have Hue lights, so the Hue Bridge served as the coordinator, and it only took minimal logic in openHAB: turn on red light when any gate opens, turn off light only when all gates are closed. And I have other colors to draw on if I need other warnings in the future.

    submitted by /u/SkySchemer
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    Automated Blinds

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:22 PM PST

    I'm looking for a specific kind of blind my parter wants but I want to automate it.

    Its the kind that you just lift or pull to open or close. No string or beads etc. But I'm having no luck finding any.

    Does anyone have any recommendations?

    submitted by /u/linkheroz
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    Home Automation on a Tablet

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 04:37 PM PST

    Hey! Can anyone guide me on how to set up and run ActionTiles or other alternatives on a Fire 10 HD tablet for all my home gadgets?

    Thank you!

    submitted by /u/ProbBansal
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    Dimmable LEDs still making a buzzing sound with Feit Electric Dimmer

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 07:50 AM PST

    My light fixtures have these MaxLite dimmable LEDs. Yesterday, I bought and hooked up this Feit Smart Dimmer and noticed that the bulbs were buzzing. There is no buzzing at 100%, but anything below causes the buzzing. The bulb's data sheet shows that it's compatible with the CL-type dimmers, but I can't find the type of the Feit dimmer. Any ideas on why this combination is making the buzzing sound? Do I need to switch to one of the other Lutron/Leviton dimmers?

    I was thinking of getting brighter bulbs anyways so I might try different bulbs next, hoping that I don't have to spend the time removing the dimmer.

    submitted by /u/usrlocalopt
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    Installed a security cam; what’s this chirping sound?

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 12:41 PM PST

    I'm a new homeowner here lurking and learning and I've come across a chirping sound that I'm hoping to get some insight on.

    I just replaced an outdoor light fixture with a Netatmo Presence. The camera works, connection to my network is fine, but the only thing that doesn't work is the floodlight. At the same time there is this consistent chirping: 15 sec video here (Ignore the actual bird chirping.)

    What's the meaning of the chirping? Is it related to the floodlight not working? Could it not be supplying enough power? For context, the home was built in 1941. Thanks for any help!

    submitted by /u/rynocerosss
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    Circuit Power Monitoring Solutions

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 06:07 AM PST

    So, we're looking into solutions for monitoring power at the circuit breaker so we can see what/where's drawing power and anything we can do to fix that.

    Some light google/amazon searching led me to this:

    https://www.amazon.com/Empori.../dp/B08G37ML2R/ref=sr_1_5...

    The only thing I wasn't sure about if this was a closed system. I'd really like to integrate it with HomeAssistant, but that's not 100% required. I'm more worried that they'd start charging after 6 months or something for monitoring.

    Another thing that was recommended elsewhere was:

    https://stuff.iotawatt.com/?v=7516fd43adaa

    This seems like what I want, but honestly I'm a busy person with 2 small kids and a full time job, I don't have time to tinker with influxDB dashboards and custom scripts.

    So, I guess i'm looking for something like that "SmartThings" or "hubitat" style solutions, where unit is pretty much plug and play, easy to navigate and understand, but you can also dig in deep if you want.

    ​

    Any recommendations or thoughts?

    submitted by /u/kaizokudave
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    Mini Split AC controller recommendations?

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 07:44 PM PST

    First time homeowner, new house has a mini split system 3 indoor Fujitsu units that I want to control and 1 I don't care about controlling this way

    I'm looking for something that's stable, reliable, feature rich and a good mobile app

    I've seen a handful I'm just curious about overall concensus on what's out there and trying to get as many opinions as possible

    submitted by /u/strongstyle718
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    Controlling Hue Bulbs via Alexa — SmartThings vs. Hue Skill Performance Difference?

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 08:04 AM PST

    Previously I had both the Hue and SmartThings skills set up. For the most part, I have groups of Hue bulbs — Kitchen Table lights, Fireplace lights, etc. — grouped within the Hue app and available to Alexa both within their groups and individually. When telling Alexa to "Turn on the Fireplace lights", the two bulbs would fade on simultaneously. However, the downside was that every bulb would appear twice in the device list, once via the Hue skill and once via the SmartThings skill.

    This wasn't a huge deal, but it was mildly annoying, so tonight I went ahead and disabled the Hue skill and removed all the duplicates, thinking it would make things cleaner with no loss to functionality. While I do have the same lighting groups created in SmartThings, those don't show up in the Alexa device list, so I then re-created those groups in Alexa. Now that I've done all that, however, I'm finding that the performance is much worse: when I say "turn on the fireplace lights", the two bulbs appear to fade on independent of each other rather than together, which is pretty annoying.

    Did I just make the wrong call here? Should I go back to the way it was, or is there some way for me to optimize the SmartThings skill/integration to function more effectively? Alternately, I suppose I could go the other way and enable the Hue skill while disabling the SmartThings skill?

    submitted by /u/fezziks_human
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    DVRLite

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 04:36 AM PST

    I've been using Zoneminder as an NVR to record from my reolink cameras but the poor performance meant I had to record the streams at low resolutions and frame rates and it didn't scale well to multiple cameras. What I really wanted was something with low overhead, primarily by offloading the motion detection to the camera.

    So I decided to build my own solution and thought i'd share it here in case it's useful to anyone else. It uses onvif and should be compatible with any onvif device that supports motion detection events. It's low overhead because it doesn't decode or transcode the video stream, it just writes it to disc.

    I still have a few features I want to add but I've been using it instead of zoneminder for a while now. You can find the source, windows and linux binaries here - https://github.com/thesombrerokid/dvrlite

    submitted by /u/TheSombreroKid
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    Empora Vue Gen 2 - Main and Sub panel monitoring

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 08:21 AM PST

    I'm in the US and have a main panel on the outside of house where the main service lines come in. This panel has 50amp breakers for my water well pump and the AC/Heater. It also feeds a sub-panel in the interior of the garage. The outside panel and the sub-panel do not share a wall and are a significant distance apart. Is it possible to use more than one monitor and have them all linked to one account with a combined dataset? I'd like to monitor all the circuits on the interior sub-panel as well as the well and AC/Heater circuits on the exterior panel. Would there be any benefit to also monitoring the incoming service lines into the panel? All I could think is that it would act as a checksum agains the reported usage, but not sure if that would be true or not.

    submitted by /u/whoisdatis
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    iOtty smart light switch to control an existing smart plug?

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 12:53 PM PST

    Hi everyone,

    I have some built-in LED lights in our bookshelves that are connected to a Kasa smart plug, which I turn on and off with voice commands. However, my wife has decided she wants to add an extra light switch for them across the other side of the room where the main light switch is, and she wants the iOtty switch due to the aesthetics of it. It's programmable for Google Assistant, but the question is, does anyone know if you can program the smart switch functionality to turn on & off my smart plug? Keen to know before I drop $$ on it.

    Thanks

    submitted by /u/adamb0mbNZ
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    Any comparable wifi outdoor cameras comparable to Wyze?

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:33 AM PST

    I've been a long term Wyze customer and have been experiencing difficulty to get some of the cams to consistently work. Error after error and I don't have time for their slow tech support.

    submitted by /u/knockknock619
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    Shelly Wi-Fi Motion Sensor

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 03:13 PM PST

    It's still on pre-order in the US, so I cannot buy and test it yet. However I have seen a few YouTube vids about it. It seems like it's a nice sensor and I would like to put it to use. But... Does anyone know if it will work with Smartlife app directly or will I need to use Alexa to communicate between my Smartlife items and the Shelly Motion Sensor?

    submitted by /u/jayste4
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    Can't reliably control bulb in ceiling fan fixure (BT/Zigbee)

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 07:38 AM PST

    options to retrofit blinds and make them smart

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 11:17 AM PST

    I'm renting a place that doesn't have any smart blinds, I've found this from mysmartblinds which allows you retrofit your blinds to tilt them open and close. https://www.tiltsmarthome.com/collections/all/products/mysmartblinds-automation-kit

    Was wondering if there was anything out there less intrusive that can achieve the similar process. I would like to automate some of the blinds in the rental property I'm in to use that as temperature control and brightness through the day. maybe something that works on the string itself.

    which I can remove quickly when I move out without trying to take apart the blinds in the property.

    submitted by /u/fsolo23
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    New Home Build - Setting Up for the Future

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:04 AM PST

    Hello Everyone,

    I am currently in the design phase for a new home build. I am working with an architect, construction manager, and landscape architect. We plan to demo the existing house in May, beginning construction shortly thereafter.

    The house will be modern in aesthetic (open concept, flat roof, lots of windows). I was hoping to get some help with regards to home automation. The construction manager works with a few local home automation consultants but we don't have the budget to complete everything initially. I was hoping to offer some recommendations to the builder that will set me up for years to come when I can add incrementally to my setup.

    I would say that I have mildly above average technological knowledge and comfort. I don't have a lot of extra time though so after the initial setup I can't see myself spending a lot of time tinkering.

    A few features that I know I will want from the get go:

    - Smart thermostat (house will have radiant floor heating)
    - Smart doorbell
    - Security system with a few cameras
    - Automatic blinds for the ground level
    - Controllable garage door

    A few features that I could see myself wanting in the future:

    - Controllable lighting (indoors)
    - Controllable lighting (outdoors)
    - Smart irrigation
    - Possibly the ability to turn a few appliances on and off

    I don't have a strong allegiance to any particular platform at the moment. We have a few Google smart speakers but that's it. I do use Google quite a bit for email/calendar/online storage however.

    I have been reading a bit on Smartthings and think that I could handle setting up it up.

    I am looking for any advice that people might have. What I like about Smarthings is the fact that I won't have to switch between a bunch of apps. I'd rather have a centralized control center. A few specific questions:

    - Should I have the builder put in smart bulbs (like Hue)?
    - Should I have the builder put in smart light switches?
    - Should I have the builder put in smart outlets?

    Thanks a lot everyone! Happy to expand if needed.

    submitted by /u/JBCheeseburger
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    Help with Shelly 1 as momentary light switch with IKEA smart bulbs

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 11:05 AM PST

    Hi everyone,

    Please feel free to correct any wrong wordings that I might have used, since this is not my native language.

    I want to use IKEA smart bulbs with combination with „dumb" light switches. I have Shelly 1 devices which I think should work. In my example the light switch (two of them) is a kind of push switch (when you push it, it pops back again and the light is turned off or on). It think this is called a momentary switch? And I have two of them, one at either end of the stairs, though in reality only one end is ever pushed (going down to the cellar, and coming back up).

    Can someone point me to a correct wiring diagram and tell me the proper Shelly 1 configuration (power on default mode, and button type) for this scenario?

    I've used Shelly1 (and RGBW) for other purposes, but never for a light switch but I should be able to figure it out with a proper diagram.

    any help is appreciated.

    submitted by /u/pay85
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    3 Way Smart Switch Not Fully Working

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 01:59 PM PST

    I want to install Kasa Smart HS210 KIT 3 Way Smart Switch in my downstairs to control a hallway light.

    ​

    Here is the existing setup:

    • On one X side: just 1 light switch A that control hallway light
    • One other Y side: 3-gang electrical box with switch B that control hallway light and switch C and D that control other lights

    ​

    I only installed Smart Switch for switch B. There is a neutral wire on this side. B has 2 black wires, 1 red wire, 1 ground wire and 1 green wire (neutral) connected to it.

    ​

    However after I did this, the following issues occur:

    • When I turn on switch B, I can use switch A to turn on or off hallway light
    • When I turn off switch B, then switch A just does not work
    • When I turn on switch A, I can use switch B to turn on or off hallway light
    • When I turn off swtech A, then switch B just does not work

    ​

    I looked into switch A and I do not think I see any neutral wire. It is a 3 way switch with 2 black wires, 1 red wire and 1 ground wire connected to it.

    ​

    Any idea what is wrong?

    I have installed 3 Way Smart Switches in 4 other places in my house and they are all fully working. In all those cases I replaced 1 switch per set to save on cost.

    submitted by /u/aznBottle
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    Need recommendation for robotic vacuum

    Posted: 22 Feb 2021 01:09 PM PST

    I have up to $1000 to spend on a vacuum. I have a shorthaired dog and 2 short haired cats. The first floor of my house is about 1200 sqft. It is mostly hardwood with a section of tile and some area rugs that are low pile. I was looking at some of the roombas with the clean base where it empties into it like the Roomba i7+. Does anyone have something they like?

    submitted by /u/Homer69
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