Fill my house with tech...
Discussion
Currently going through a divorce and moving out of the house my ex and I bought 10 years ago.
Been a bit of a struggle but trying to look on the bright side. Opportunity for more toys.
Few interesting threads recently on stuff like robot hoovers, mops, lawmowners, hue...
So, what's changed in the last 10 years? What is a must have, what's not quite there yet, and if you were starting from scratch what would you have?
At the minute:
Sonos (Gen 1): Love this. Some form of multi room audio is a must have.
Smart Speaker: Have Alexa in one room at the minute; feel like I should be using it more. Are the new smart speakers any match for Sonos?
Hue Lights: Love these. But what else is out there? Hue "Just Works".
Nest CH: Seems to work OK. But also 10 years old.
I never got on with Google (Alexa felt more natural). Not huge on home cinema.
House will be relatively simple 2-3 bedrooms, not spectacular by PH standards.
Been a bit of a struggle but trying to look on the bright side. Opportunity for more toys.
Few interesting threads recently on stuff like robot hoovers, mops, lawmowners, hue...
So, what's changed in the last 10 years? What is a must have, what's not quite there yet, and if you were starting from scratch what would you have?
At the minute:
Sonos (Gen 1): Love this. Some form of multi room audio is a must have.
Smart Speaker: Have Alexa in one room at the minute; feel like I should be using it more. Are the new smart speakers any match for Sonos?
Hue Lights: Love these. But what else is out there? Hue "Just Works".
Nest CH: Seems to work OK. But also 10 years old.
I never got on with Google (Alexa felt more natural). Not huge on home cinema.
House will be relatively simple 2-3 bedrooms, not spectacular by PH standards.
Smart motorised roller blinds installed on every window in the house.
Can still be used with curtains.
"Alexa, close all roller blinds"
On dark evenings in winter you don't need go round all the rooms to close the curtains.
Ours have a cassette housing so you don't see the roller blind when it is open.
Even my wife approves.
Can still be used with curtains.
"Alexa, close all roller blinds"
On dark evenings in winter you don't need go round all the rooms to close the curtains.
Ours have a cassette housing so you don't see the roller blind when it is open.
Even my wife approves.
Microwave or milliwave sensors, lights on and off as per settings, means none of us ever leave a room with lighting on if unattended.. walk out light off, walk back in, lights on again.
Alexa for routines, want a different set of lights on for reading, working, TV etc, set up the routine and away you go.. only the lights you need..
Alexa for routines, want a different set of lights on for reading, working, TV etc, set up the routine and away you go.. only the lights you need..
Actual said:
Smart motorised roller blinds installed on every window in the house.
Can still be used with curtains.
"Alexa, close all roller blinds"
On dark evenings in winter you don't need go round all the rooms to close the curtains.
Ours have a cassette housing so you don't see the roller blind when it is open.
Even my wife approves.
Yep did this in a few rooms in my last house, brilliant. Can set Alexa routines. Alexa, start the evening. Curtains close, lamp comes on TV and AV amp turn on. Can still be used with curtains.
"Alexa, close all roller blinds"
On dark evenings in winter you don't need go round all the rooms to close the curtains.
Ours have a cassette housing so you don't see the roller blind when it is open.
Even my wife approves.
Currently in rented aslo following divorce but when I buy somewhere anything that can automated and motorised will be.
te and stuff
The OP is about to disappear down a rabbit hole, do not do it!
Save yourself from the insanity and death by AA batteries.
If it is too late then I would judge things on how much time they actually save you allowing you to do something more interesting instead.
I think the most useful items I have are the smart heating system and the security camera, everything else is a pain in the preverbial.
Save yourself from the insanity and death by AA batteries.
If it is too late then I would judge things on how much time they actually save you allowing you to do something more interesting instead.
I think the most useful items I have are the smart heating system and the security camera, everything else is a pain in the preverbial.
Neptune188 said:
House will be relatively simple 2-3 bedrooms, not spectacular by PH standards.
Everything is now streamed everywhere, WiFi is OK, but if you can get everyone hardwired with data cables. You can than game, watch, listen to what ever you want in any room, on pretty much any device.Scabutz said:
Ooof. That makes my pants tingle, and have you used a label printer to label up the components? You and I could be good friends.
Sorry about that. If nothing else always label the plugs.For central heating I have Tado which is a thermostat on every radiator so a big improvement on Nest. I don't recommend Tado because it must have a working broadband connection at all times so if your broadband is down Tado is not smart.
To go cheap I would recommend IKEA and they now have an impressive amount of smart kit with nice new stuff just this month and it is really cheap and no quibble if you take it back within 1 year.
All my smart kit works together using Amazon Alexa and with a little bit of IFTTT.
Timothy Bucktu said:
Home Assistant!
It's a rabbit hole, but huge fun. It ties in all the thing already mentioned into one management interface. Alexa, Hue, IKEA, Tuya etc etc all work great.
Oh definitely this. Home Assistant is the key to an endless technology wonderland.It's a rabbit hole, but huge fun. It ties in all the thing already mentioned into one management interface. Alexa, Hue, IKEA, Tuya etc etc all work great.
I'm away tonight and I can see my blinds have were closed automatically at sunset, the heating is off, and various lights are simulating somebody being home (one has an animated routine that mimics the light of a TV).
Meanwhile, I can see on my cameras that the cars are ok and the robot mower is looking after my lawn.
It basically let's you create the home of the future that you might have imagined when you were a kid.
My tip would be to avoid smart devices that need an internet connection/remote server to function. They can be a bit laggy, and obviously won't work if your broadband goes down or there's a server problem.
I've got a few smart lamps controlled by motion sensors. Tried Shelly and Switchbot sensors, which both work via "the cloud". Invariably took a second or three to actually turn on the lights.
Swapped to Tapo, which uses a smart hub for local control. No delay.
Stick to one or two brands if you can, to minimise the number of apps you have to mess around with when the automation doesn't work. It was a proper pain when Alexa went down for an hour 2 nights ago.
I've got a few smart lamps controlled by motion sensors. Tried Shelly and Switchbot sensors, which both work via "the cloud". Invariably took a second or three to actually turn on the lights.
Swapped to Tapo, which uses a smart hub for local control. No delay.
Stick to one or two brands if you can, to minimise the number of apps you have to mess around with when the automation doesn't work. It was a proper pain when Alexa went down for an hour 2 nights ago.
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