ls99
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- May 2, 2008
- Messages
- 6,701
I have a couple of motorized lamp timers, one dusk aneabled timer outside. Pretty smart, I think.
There is a solution, but it requires a bit of tinkering: Home Assistant. It'll natively support both Z-Wave and Zigbee devices. As you point out, these are "local" protocols which don't require that the device "phone home" to some vendor's server, or require a paid subscription.The only reason I don't have more smart devices is that I hate that there's no interoperability standard (well, there's Z-Wave and Zigbee, but I think proprietary devices are more common than those that use one of those standards).
Where can I get oneMy house is as stupid as they come. The only thing even remotely automatic/autonomous is the motion sensor on the outside garage light.
You can certainly get carried away with this stuff. It is fun to set up, but it can become a maintenance chore at some point, so I try to stick to the basics.
Where can I get one![]()
You probably don't want the bathroom motion lights too bright. My son had one in the guest bath and it would blind me so much on my post-midnight trips that we disabled it.The current house, not much. I have made cameras a hobby, and currently I have no operating cameras but have had several bird feeder and nesting bird cams over the years.
The new house will have some features.
Motion lights and fans in bathrooms.
Motion lights in carport.
Motion lights for the outside stairs and under stair and under rail illumination.
Fiber to the gate ~500' away for remote opening and a camera or two there.
I don't think we'll put cams outside the home, except for bird feeders and the like. Just fun stuff.
I'll put Smurf tube in the walls and a single drop of Cat6 in several places after we get "OK to cover".
Smurf tube:
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I'll have a pull string in there and if/when technology changes, I can drag in whatever.
The Cat 6 will be for some AP's on each level.
agreed. The motion lights are just enough for navigation, where ever I install them. There will always be switches in the wall for task lighting.You probably don't want the bathroom motion lights too bright. My son had one in the guest bath and it would blind me so much on my post-midnight trips that we disabled it.
I've used my tubes for a couple things. Nothing right now but you never know. Wifi and fire sticks eliminated the need for that wiring.
Very similar to OP and others, we have a lot of automation (including Christmas tree and outdoor Christmas lights, lol). One thing that we have installed for water leaks is a set of Yolink water sensors. We have one on each bathroom floor between the toilet & sink, one under the kitchen sink, near water heater, etc. When our dishwasher leaked while running one night a few years ago, DH got a notification pretty much immediately so no damage to the cabinetry. DH also has a Flume sensor which monitors water flow. When we're out of town he can tell that the outdoor plants are getting watered on schedule, etc.
Our neighbors had a catastrophic flood while they were out of town this fall. They did not catch it for a day and they have been going through heck getting the restoration and remodel done. So a smart water shutoff valve will be in our future as well just in case our Yolink sensors go off while we're out of town and we need to shut off water ASAP.
I was implying that our house was dumber than yours. We have a couple motion activated solar lights. No Phone, Cable or Satellite. Only WIFI is the cell hot spot for the laptop.My house is as stupid as they come. The only thing even remotely automatic/autonomous is the motion sensor on the outside garage light.