Home Automation Thread

[stomachmonkey]

Post the stuff you are putting in that makes life easier.

I’ll start.

Rachio In ground sprinkler controller. This thing is the ****. My second year with it and I can’t praise it enough. 10 minutes to replace the original unit. Programming via app is a pleasure. It’s without a doubt saved me money on my water bills. This year and last year are hotter than previous years and my bills are lower. I’m tied into a neighbors weather station so the data it recieves is as local as one could get. Recently had to get a couple of heads and a leak addressed. I was out of town but my guys showed up, called me, I told them where on the property to go then turned zones on and off from my phone so they could see the issues. Also Alexa enables so can voice control from the couch. I have a Gen 2 which currently run $150, the Gen3 is $250. The gen 2 is already awesome so I can’t imagine what more the gen 3 could offer for the extra scratch

Today was a couple of Tonbux Outdoor outlets to handle my water features and pergola lights. Each one has multiple sockets. You can control the entire unit via timers, phone app or voice control via Alexa and you can also do all that on an individual socket basis as well. I liked them so much I ordered more.

Have a bunch of enabled light switches going in next.

[island911]

I've decided to not invest my time into figuring out new subscription based, ever-changing home automation schemes. --saves me countless hours.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Post the stuff you are putting in that makes life easier.

I’ll start.

Rachio In ground sprinkler controller. This thing is the ****. My second year with it and I can’t praise it enough. 10 minutes to replace the original unit. Programming via app is a pleasure. It’s without a doubt saved me money on my water bills. This year and last year are hotter than previous years and my bills are lower. I’m tied into a neighbors weather station so the data it recieves is as local as one could get. Recently had to get a couple of heads and a leak addressed. I was out of town but my guys showed up, called me, I told them where on the property to go then turned zones on and off from my phone so they could see the issues. Also Alexa enables so can voice control from the couch. I have a Gen 2 which currently run $150, the Gen3 is $250. The gen 2 is already awesome so I can’t imagine what more the gen 3 could offer for the extra scratch

Today was a couple of Tonbux Outdoor outlets to handle my water features and pergola lights. Each one has multiple sockets. You can control the entire unit via timers, phone app or voice control via Alexa and you can also do all that on an individual socket basis as well. I liked them so much I ordered more.

Have a bunch of enabled light switches going in next.

Scott -

If your service provider wanted to service your system on their own without use of you and your smart phone - can they turn the system on and off themselves?

Or do they need you for that?

I only ask because I had a customer do that with their landscape lighting in the backyard and always found it a PITA to service their system that way because they were not always there when I was. The front yard lighting was left alone and I had no issues with servicing it.

Thanks!

[stomachmonkey]

Glen, None of it is subscription based.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Baz

Scott -

If your service provider wanted to service your system on their own without use of you and your smart phone - can they turn the system on and off themselves?

Or do they need you for that?

I only ask because I had a customer do that with their landscape lighting in the backyard and always found it a PITA to service their system that way because they were not always there when I was. The front yard lighting was left alone and I had no issues with servicing it.

Thanks!

The controller is in the garage, with the old one I would have had to have been home.

I was not expecting them to show up when they did so the convenience factor, that they popped by and neither of us missed out, is what was key there.

[porsche4life]

I have the ring alarm and doorbell cam. Been looking at getting their landscape lighting transformer so I can use the doorbell motion sensor to trigger on top of the scheduled times.


Also have the MyQ setup on my garage door opener. Have that synced to a smart switch so when you come in the house the hall lights are already on.


Need to get a few more smart switches. Also trying to decide what to put by my back gate to sense motion and trigger the lights back there to come on if anyone comes through the gate.

[island911]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Glen, None of it is subscription based.

Oops. Sorry. My bad. I didn't know your wife's name. Alexa.

PS, I like voice controlling from the couch too.

[island911]

Alright, enough joking. I'll add to the list; wireless driveway alerts. These things alert you when anyone comes on to your property. Very handy for intercepting deliveries or company before they even reach a door.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

The controller is in the garage, with the old one I would have had to have been home.

I was not expecting them to show up when they did so the convenience factor, that they popped by and neither of us missed out, is what was key there.

Gotcha.

But out of curiosity.......if your new Rachio In ground sprinkler controller was mounted outside where they could access it while you were away - would they still be able to operate your system without your smart phone assistance?

[dad911]

Originally Posted by island911

Oops. Sorry. My bad. I didn't know your wife's name. Alexa.

......

That would suck.

I met a woman named Siri a few weeks ago.... no, didn't bring it up.

[Hugh R]

Ring doorbell and spotlight cams. Great when I travel with the RV. MYQ garage door thing for Amazon to put schit in my garage.

[biosurfer1]

MyQ garage door openers on both doors, the main one synced to a couple lights insides so not so dark coming home. Also have a garage exhaust fan on a smart outlet that if the OSA temp drops below the garage, it turns on during scheduled hours.

Have a Google home mini that I barely use.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Baz

Gotcha.

But out of curiosity.......if your new Rachio In ground sprinkler controller was mounted outside where they could access it while you were away - would they still be able to operate your system without your smart phone assistance?

There is no manual interface to a Rachio.

It’s all app driven.

But, like most of these app driven devices you can share access so if you did not mind installing the app I could grant you limited to full control of the system.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

There is no manual interface to a Rachio.

It’s all app driven.

But, like most of these app driven devices you can share access so if you did not mind installing the app I could grant you limited to full control of the system.

OK got it.

Just from the perspective of an irrigation contractor, I would want to have that app, so I could operate your system on my own.

I've worked on irrigation systems where I had to turn the system on and off about 10-15 times plus switch back and forth to different zones while doing service work.

Depending on someone else to do all that for me on their phone would be a bit more involved than what I'm used to.

Not trying to be obtuse, Scott. I like the idea of having control from long distance on things but not sure what you have is ideal from a service perspective - that's all.

Edit: I should also say that smart phone technology is catching on in the irrigation business and I bet there are many irrigation contractors - especially the bigger outfits - that wouldn't give it a second thought to have your app so they could service your system when called upon to do so. I'm just not tech savvy enough for all that and actually headed into retirement anyway so my opinion probably isn't worth that much. Congrats on your new technology!

[wdfifteen]

A Bryant thermostat for my HVAC and the Chevy app for my car are the only two I have. It’s nice to be able to change the house temp without getting out of bed. When I worked it was GREAT to be able to turn on the car heat or AC from my office. Never had to get into a too hot or too cold car. But I don’t think I’ve used it since I retired 2 years ago.
I’m not looking to add any more app-based automation. I hate the hassle of “programming” stuff. I’m currently in a battle with changing all my garage door opener and entry door codes, don’t get me started on my TV remote ...

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Baz

OK got it.

Just from the perspective of an irrigation contractor, I would want to have that app, so I could operate your system on my own.

I've worked on irrigation systems where I had to turn the system on and off about 10-15 times plus switch back and forth to different zones while doing service work.

Depending on someone else to do all that for me on their phone would be a bit more involved than what I'm used to.

Not trying to be obtuse, Scott. I like the idea of having control from long distance on things but not sure what you have is ideal from a service perspective - that's all.

Edit: I should also say that smart phone technology is catching on in the irrigation business and I bet there are many irrigation contractors - especially the bigger outfits - that wouldn't give it a second thought to have your app so they could service your system when called upon to do so. I'm just not tech savvy enough for all that and actually headed into retirement anyway so my opinion probably isn't worth that much. Congrats on your new technology!

Well with either the old or new system they could have performed the service without me around.

Zone valve controls are all external and can be actuated manually at any time.

Me on the phone was actually easier since they did not have to walk all the way around the house to turn on, then go back out front to look, go back to turn off current zone and turn on new one, rinse repeat.

And I wanted to speak with them to make sure they caught every issue as a couple were not obvious.

The convenience factor is not for service, it's for me.

I got tired of having to go into the garage every time I needed to interact with the system which with the old was was actually often.

It's only when I put in the Rachio that I finally discovered why the weather sensor never seemed to work.

I'm staring at the wiring and there is one wire that looked to be wired as a loop that I could not figure out how to transfer to the Rachio so I dig up the manual for the original system, ",,,,if you are using the external weather sensor remove this loop....". When we built the house the installer never hooked up the weather sensor properly.

[mepstein]

I've had the nest thermostat for a couple years now. Love it.

[Sooner or later]

With all these time saving gadgets why do we seem to have less free time?

[Crowbob]

I have trouble with the economics of this.

How can adding stuff to your life make it easier?

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

I have trouble with the economics of this.

How can adding stuff to your life make it easier?

When things require interaction to operate what's easier, managing them all from one place or having to go physically interact with each one?