PaunchyPirate
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I'll admit I've always been a bit of a gadget guy and that hasn't changed in my retirement.
The last few weeks, I've been adding to my home security and automation gadgetry. I live by myself (with a cat) in a modest sized mid-60s ranch home. I am an Apple user and mostly use the Apple Home and HomeKit devices when I can. Here's what I've got working currently around the house:
Indoor wired security cameras - 4 Eufy cameras that activate and record motion to the Apple cloud. These turn on automatically when I leave the house. One of these is pointed at the cat's Litter-Robot so that I can monitor all is well when I'm on vacations. 1 Ring camera that is in the Den, but points outside at the sliding doors to my deck. This was an extra camera I had, so I decided to put it here as added protection in case someone tries to come in the back doors of the house. 2 Ring cameras in the basement, mostly to try and detect water gushing out of a pipe if possible. These 3 Ring cameras are always armed and ready to capture movement.
Outdoor battery security cameras - 3 Ring cameras that are mounted on the side of the house and capturing/recording movement at the garage door, back corner of the house, and the deck out back. These are all armed full time to capture any movement.
I also have a battery-powered Ring Doorbell Camera on the front door. This detects people and packages that have been left by the door. This is linked to an interior door chime. The door chime also goes off anytime it detects movement on any of the interior or exterior Ring cameras.
I use the Apple Home app notifications to my phone for the indoor cameras and I use the Ring App notifications to my phone for the outdoor cameras.
I recently purchased a new EcoBee Smart Thermostat and hooked it into my Apple Home environment. While the thermostat is "smart", I don't use its internal features for schedules and energy savings, etc. Instead, I create automations in the Apple Home app. For winter, the app will automatically lower the heat in my house when I leave home and will raise it back to my desired temperature when I arrive back home. I also have it automatically go into cooler night mode at 9pm every night via the Home App. The EcoBee came with one room sensor in addition to the sensor in the thermostat itself. I placed that in my office, which is notoriously colder than other rooms in the winter. I also added 2 more sensors, one for my bedroom and one for the den. I'm hoping that over time, these sensors will help the EcoBee "learn" (as it's supposed to do) what rooms I'm actually located in and maybe keep them at the desired temperature a little better. So far, after a week with these sensors, I'm not sure they are helping with uneven heating at all. We will see if that changes.
The room sensors also can be used for home automation -- if movement/occupancy is detected (or not), do something with another device. More on that later.
I also now have 8 smart power outlets around the house. All of these have a lamp/light plugged into it. 2 hours before sunset, all the lamps in the common areas automatically come on. 1 hour before sunset, 3 lamps in the primary and guest bedrooms come on. In my office, the lamp on my credenza comes on automatically when it detects me walking into the room. It goes off automatically about 30 minutes after the room sensor no longer detects me in the room.
I have 5 Apple HomePod speaker around the various rooms in the house. The 2 in the living room are stereo paired and set up to provide the audio for my TV when I'm using it. When I want music, I can say "Hey Siri... Amuse Me". This plays random songs from my personalized Apple Music station on all of the speakers, in all rooms. When I leave home, the music automatically stops. It automatically starts again when I return home. So I don't really have to use my voice to activate it unless I used my voice to disable it for some reason.
When I wake up in the morning (usually before sunrise here in the winter), I say "Hey Siri... Good Morning" and the common area lights come on, my bedside lamp comes on, the heat cranks up to where I want it for the day, and the music starts playing in the house.
When I get in bed at night, I say "Hey Siri... Good Night" and the bedroom lights turn off. The common area lights are hard coded to go off at 11pm, when I have a routine that runs to turn off anything that I might have been left on for one reason for another.
I have a few other automations set up that allow me to turn things off or on by voice or by pressing a button in the app - in case I want to override the automations I've built.
What's next? I've been looking into adding "smart" to my garage door opener. I think I'll do that after the New Year. I may also add some water leak detectors under the sink and maybe in the basement. I have a lot of wooden window blinds in my house. But I've rejected adding smart openers to them. I just don't see the value in doing that. I don't open/close them with enough of a pattern to make an automation do it for me. So I'll do the manual labor to do it myself. A man needs some exercise! I don't see much value in decorative smart lighting features for the wall.
What have you done to add smart devices and automations to your home? I'm always looking for new gadgets that add value to my life.
The last few weeks, I've been adding to my home security and automation gadgetry. I live by myself (with a cat) in a modest sized mid-60s ranch home. I am an Apple user and mostly use the Apple Home and HomeKit devices when I can. Here's what I've got working currently around the house:
Indoor wired security cameras - 4 Eufy cameras that activate and record motion to the Apple cloud. These turn on automatically when I leave the house. One of these is pointed at the cat's Litter-Robot so that I can monitor all is well when I'm on vacations. 1 Ring camera that is in the Den, but points outside at the sliding doors to my deck. This was an extra camera I had, so I decided to put it here as added protection in case someone tries to come in the back doors of the house. 2 Ring cameras in the basement, mostly to try and detect water gushing out of a pipe if possible. These 3 Ring cameras are always armed and ready to capture movement.
Outdoor battery security cameras - 3 Ring cameras that are mounted on the side of the house and capturing/recording movement at the garage door, back corner of the house, and the deck out back. These are all armed full time to capture any movement.
I also have a battery-powered Ring Doorbell Camera on the front door. This detects people and packages that have been left by the door. This is linked to an interior door chime. The door chime also goes off anytime it detects movement on any of the interior or exterior Ring cameras.
I use the Apple Home app notifications to my phone for the indoor cameras and I use the Ring App notifications to my phone for the outdoor cameras.
I recently purchased a new EcoBee Smart Thermostat and hooked it into my Apple Home environment. While the thermostat is "smart", I don't use its internal features for schedules and energy savings, etc. Instead, I create automations in the Apple Home app. For winter, the app will automatically lower the heat in my house when I leave home and will raise it back to my desired temperature when I arrive back home. I also have it automatically go into cooler night mode at 9pm every night via the Home App. The EcoBee came with one room sensor in addition to the sensor in the thermostat itself. I placed that in my office, which is notoriously colder than other rooms in the winter. I also added 2 more sensors, one for my bedroom and one for the den. I'm hoping that over time, these sensors will help the EcoBee "learn" (as it's supposed to do) what rooms I'm actually located in and maybe keep them at the desired temperature a little better. So far, after a week with these sensors, I'm not sure they are helping with uneven heating at all. We will see if that changes.
The room sensors also can be used for home automation -- if movement/occupancy is detected (or not), do something with another device. More on that later.
I also now have 8 smart power outlets around the house. All of these have a lamp/light plugged into it. 2 hours before sunset, all the lamps in the common areas automatically come on. 1 hour before sunset, 3 lamps in the primary and guest bedrooms come on. In my office, the lamp on my credenza comes on automatically when it detects me walking into the room. It goes off automatically about 30 minutes after the room sensor no longer detects me in the room.
I have 5 Apple HomePod speaker around the various rooms in the house. The 2 in the living room are stereo paired and set up to provide the audio for my TV when I'm using it. When I want music, I can say "Hey Siri... Amuse Me". This plays random songs from my personalized Apple Music station on all of the speakers, in all rooms. When I leave home, the music automatically stops. It automatically starts again when I return home. So I don't really have to use my voice to activate it unless I used my voice to disable it for some reason.
When I wake up in the morning (usually before sunrise here in the winter), I say "Hey Siri... Good Morning" and the common area lights come on, my bedside lamp comes on, the heat cranks up to where I want it for the day, and the music starts playing in the house.
When I get in bed at night, I say "Hey Siri... Good Night" and the bedroom lights turn off. The common area lights are hard coded to go off at 11pm, when I have a routine that runs to turn off anything that I might have been left on for one reason for another.
I have a few other automations set up that allow me to turn things off or on by voice or by pressing a button in the app - in case I want to override the automations I've built.
What's next? I've been looking into adding "smart" to my garage door opener. I think I'll do that after the New Year. I may also add some water leak detectors under the sink and maybe in the basement. I have a lot of wooden window blinds in my house. But I've rejected adding smart openers to them. I just don't see the value in doing that. I don't open/close them with enough of a pattern to make an automation do it for me. So I'll do the manual labor to do it myself. A man needs some exercise! I don't see much value in decorative smart lighting features for the wall.
What have you done to add smart devices and automations to your home? I'm always looking for new gadgets that add value to my life.
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