Anyone use automation?

[labonbjones]

I have a Ring doorbell and floodlight and would like to take my home lighting automation to another level.

What does your home automation look like?

Do you use Ring?

 

[75gmck25]

I don't have an answer to your question, but do have a couple of general suggestions.

Different automation systems use different protocols and devices, and this means one system may not play well with another. Try to find a product (or family of products ) that provides the full range of the capabilites you believe you want (temp sensor, water sensor, alarm, cameras, web access, cloud backup, etc.), because mixing and matching sensors and systems can be very frustrating. Be careful with buying a product at Costco or Walmart (or other big box) just because it seems like a very good deal for what it provides, because it might not be easy to expand the system.

Also remember that home automation systems are just small computers, and they change and upgrade over a relatively short period of time. Even if you make the best choices now, you may be paying for upgrades or updates within a couple of years. In most cases a home automation system is not a simple "appliance" that works for 10 years without any additional cost.

Bruce

 

[Bad Habit]

Have been using Smartthings at our second home for a while now, nothing too extreme. Have the water heater, well pump, thermostat set up so I can turn off/on remotely. So far works like a charm. Water sensors spread around to alert to any leaks. I have exterior outlets set to turn on at certain temp points for heat trace in the gutters so they don't freeze up. Outside sensor batteries don't last, cold just knocks them out, so until I come up with a better solution, I just keep throwing batteries at them. Can even remotely lock/unlock the front door too.

It uses both Zigbee and Z-Wave protocols so can directly connect to a variety of devices. Some devices require their own gateway (Lutron Casetta, etc), but most are easy to integrate into the ecosystem.

 

[yeldogt]

Have been using Smartthings at our second home for a while now, nothing too extreme. Have the water heater, well pump, thermostat set up so I can turn off/on remotely. So far works like a charm. Water sensors spread around to alert to any leaks. I have exterior outlets set to turn on at certain temp points for heat trace in the gutters so they don't freeze up. Outside sensor batteries don't last, cold just knocks them out, so until I come up with a better solution, I just keep throwing batteries at them. Can even remotely lock/unlock the front door too.

It uses both Zigbee and Z-Wave protocols so can directly connect to a variety of devices. Some devices require their own gateway (Lutron Casetta, etc), but most are easy to integrate into the ecosystem.

what do you use for high amp on/off?

 

[Bad Habit]

I found a 2 pole contactor that was controlled by a typical Smartthings switch. It had a small control transformer to provide the 120v for the switch to control the coil. It was all packaged in a small enclosure. Pretty clean little setup and has been really reliable, have one for the well pump/controller and 1 for the water heater.

 

[jeffmoss26]

in commercial applications, yes. You can do a lot with some relays!

 

[Denwood]

I've used automation extensively at home and for my commercial building. Vera, Smarthings, Hue and Hubitat (new). Window automation for HVAC, garage door automation with relays, DCS security integration blah blah. My home has about 140 devices all in.

For lighting, just go with HUE and their motion sensors. They are more expensive, however they are the only system I can recommend 100% for reliability. I am liking Hubitat right now for a general automation hub as they do 100% local control...no cloud processing, however the 140 aforementioned devices are all currently under SmartThings. Of all the systems I've worked with, Hue is the only one I've had zero issues with. I've gradually moved all of my lighting to Hue, and anything left (zigbee bulbs) are on Zwave wall switches.

I don't use any Ring products, however they integrate fine with Smarthings and Hubitat. Automation is a rabbit hole so best idea to start with a clear idea of your end goal. If your setup is flaky (like using non Hue lights!) your wife acceptance factor will be low.

 

[Git]

To me, Home Automation is a lot like deciding on which cordless tools you want to buy because for the most part your buying into a 'platform' and you need to see what is available on that platform...

I got started out years ago using X10 and then migrated to Z-Wave which I have been very pleased with. My first Z wave device was about 15 years ago, we have a recirculator pump on our water heater and we didn't want it run all the time so a simple Z Wave appliance device allowed us to turn it on and off by some simple hand held remotes we kept in the bathrooms and kitchen

Now I have about 60 different devices that control lights, whole house fans, door locks, my air compressor - I even have a Z Wave 'zapper' type mouse trap that I stick up in the attic. When it kills a mouse, it sends me an email. Z wave with decent automation software can do a lot of things.

Examples, we usually run our whole house fans at night, but I have a Z wave event that will check the outside temperature and if it is above a certain setting, it will shut the fans off. Now if we want hot water before taking a shower or washing the dishes, we just say 'Alexa, Hot Water On' and the recirculator pump will start and automatically shut off 5 minutes later. I have a water shut off valve on our main water line and several leak detectors throughout the house (kitchen sink, washer/dryer, water heater, etc) A couple of months ago our garbage disposal started dripping water through the bottom and needed to be replaced. The sensor tripped, shut off the main water line and sent me an email. The sensor caught it before any damage was done. Lastly I have some Z-Wave, Decora Style switches. They can actually detect how many times you press the 'on' or 'off' paddle and that can be used to trigger other devices. Press the kitchen light switch ON 3 times, and it turns on other lights, or control any other of my Z Wave devices

Personally, I would avoid a proprietary system like Ring or something that uses WIFI. Z-Wave is an open standard and a Z-Wave device should work with almost any Z-Wave type software. Each 'hardwired' Z-wave device works as a repeater, the more devices you have the better the system works.

And yes, it is rabbit hole

 

[Bad Habit]

Hadn't heard of Hubitat before, really like the idea of local control and being able to back up to a PC. While our internet connection there is getting better, it's still flakey and even tops out over 3mb on a good day .

You are right about this stuff being a rabbit hole, now I'm headed down another one...

 

[jlv03]

I've had Wink for 6 years now. I've tolerated it, but mostly because it was free. They started charging a monthly fee recently, which I've been paying. Mostly because I just don't have the time and desire to switch, but a little bit for payback for the years of free service.

Home automation is a bit of a mess. I was really hoping the automation hubs (Wink, Smart Things, Hubitat, Vera, Home Assistant) would keep competition alive and the technology moving forward. However I fear Google, Amazon, and Apple will more or less force everything to be cloud and Wi-Fi.

 

[matt_i]

I have prewired for Automation Direct PLC. Would like to upgrade to one that can send me SMS Text messages.

Its not traditional but the processor is pretty solid and if you can dream up the conditions you can make it happen.

 

[Denwood]

Hadn't heard of Hubitat before, really like the idea of local control and being able to back up to a PC. While our internet connection there is getting better, it's still flakey and even tops out over 3mb on a good day .

You are right about this stuff being a rabbit hole, now I'm headed down another one...

One of the guys who developed "Rules Machine" for Smarthings started his own company...hence Hubitat. From what I can see, he took everything that was a weakness of ST and implemented what I consider to be a better version.

1. It does need any cloud access.
2. It can be locally secured.
3. A decent logic engine (Like Core or Webcore on ST) is built in.
4. It's fast.
5. You can back up and restore...a major, major step over ST!
6. You can connect multiple hubs so extend your zigbee and zwave network over LAN.

Think of it as Vera with a much better interface.

 

[Bad Habit]

How is it for remote access? Doing a quick once over it doesn't seem to have an easy way to remotely access and trigger events. It's accessed via a local webpage on the device so I guess you could do some port direction to it so you could access it from outside the local network. While I prefer to keep all the processing local, I do need to trigger events remotely. Just want my cake and to eat it too..

 

[Denwood]

Bad, you can have your cake Hubitat can be accessed directly from it's internal web page (for remote, you'd need to forward a port on your router) for full programming etc.

or

They do have a smartphone app which will give you remote access (no router config required) to your dashboards, with basic functions etc. In other words, you can configure multiple dashboards (awesome!) at home using the web based full interface, which can then be accessed by the smartphone app remotely to trigger devices, monitor events etc. ... if you wanted to do that manually. I prefer this as programming complex automations via your smartphone is no fun. The app would be required if you're using geofencing to drive events based on your family's presence (or not) using their smartphones.

Anyone who has been using SmartThings for some time will see that the Hubitat folks took all the complaints and designed a "better" product in my opinion.

 

[Bad Habit]

Thanks! Well, this may be yet another project to delve into (and get part way..look a squirrel!)

 

[jismay]

I've been slowly setting up HomeAssistant for the last 2 years or so.
I started with Insteon smart switches, outlets, and computer "modem" device.

I DID have to jump through some hoops to get the insteon integrations in HomeAssistant working as I wanted, but thats the price of rolling it yourself.

I have since added a Garage Door controller from Insteon.

I also have an AcuRite weather station that is integrated into my setup, as well as an "OpenSprinkler" device which is likewise integrated.

I have also managed to integrate my Ring and Arlo devices, but being cloud-based they are a bit annoying and flaky to get properly integrated. Also, if/when I lose Internet access my cameras won't "work" anymore while my lights, etc still will.

I then progressed to a Zwave hub device to integrate with door open/close sensors from monoprice. A little fiddly to setup the first time, but now that its working its easy.

My biggest regret though is going with a honeywell WiFi thermostat instead of getting the Insteon thermostat.

The honeywell works just fine, and the integration works, allows me to change set points, fan, etc.
The main problem is that honeywell gates API access to their web interface, so I can only poll the thermostat temperature every 5 minutes or so. As a result I am unable to get real-time temperature and status readings from the downstairs thermostat.

 

[iced98lx]

Hubitat user here, looking forward to redeploying in the new house.