If you have ever been irritated by someone leaving lights on, a door being locked or unlocked when it shouldn’t be, tired of the thermostat being changed or having to stand at the wall programming it, or are you trying to program your sprinklers? Then you can now find easy solutions to these everyday problems. Home automation doesn’t always have to be overwhelming or involve computer integrated home devices and can involve something as simple as a motion activated outdoor light. Some of my most favorite smart home devices are simple motion activated lights!

I became interested in smart home tech back in 2011 after several arguments with my husband over him leaving lights on and having to repeatedly ask for the thermostat to be changed. I have been patiently waiting for the smart home arena to settle down and for the dust to clear before making the larger plunge of integrating larger systems into our home. It seems to have paid off with the advancing technology of Amazon echo and Apple Homekit which have quickly made the home hub a thing of the past. What originally stopped me from having more smart home devices was that they all seemed to work with different hubs. The hubs are additional devices that are used to communicate the technology signal from the device to your phone or computer. They also streamline the ease of use and programming of your devices into one central app on your phone. However not all technology is supported by rival companies and therefore I have refrained from buying into the home hub networking!

Where to Start 

I started out small and the first smart home purchase I made was for a smart thermostat, filtrate, and I was liberated. I bought this thermostat when I was renting a house and I was freed from the confinement of standing at the wall desperately trying to push tiny little buttons all in an effort to set an ever confusing system to run heat. The ease and convenience of programming my thermostat from the comfort of my couch hooked me and I have never looked back.

I started with a few key elements

• Thermostat
• Door Locks
• Irrigation
• Halo Smart Smoke Alarm- On its way~ 
• Lighting

Honeywell Vision PRO 8000 7 Day Programmable TH8321R1001

Do not Reccomend Buying- Fail

The honeywell thermostat was installed after we upgraded to a whole house humidifier.

The Bad

The thermostat is lacking in app features and doesn’t allow the user to set vacation or away mode from the phone app. You can only program vacation and away mode from the wall mounted unit therefore making this a horrible product to be used in a second home or Airbnb home. The thermostat requires the use of a Honeywell hub, which to me was infuriating to have to purchase and run an extra piece of equipment. We experienced that the app would continuously drop and not reconnect after power outages and requires you to physically be present at the thermostat to reconnect it.

Ecobee 4 $249.00 + 2 motion sensors $79.00 $330.00 separate or $313.00 on the Ecobee website All for $150

++++ I highly recommend this product

For starters my filtrete thermostat fried after an electrical shortage. I bought the Ecobee 4 after first checking for local rebates of energy efficient products. This was installed into our house not running a humidifying system and we will be looking to see if it is compatible with a whole house humidifier. It happen to be a big sale weekend due to Earth Day and I was able to get the latest and greatest smart thermostat plus two additional free motion sensors for a total of 4 motions sensors with my local rebate of $100 bringing my total cost to $150.00

Draw Backs

1. This thermostat is voice operable and doesn’t make a lot of sense if it is in the hallway and out of reach of regular use.

   • I have been using Alexa voice control for almost two years now and I constantly have trouble with her not hearing my commands clearly. I would encourage using voice commands in the rooms they will most frequently be used. So i would plan on installing an alexa capable light switch in the kitchen to use for cooking timers and grocery lists.

2. Out of the box there weren’t a lot of instructions telling me that I needed to download the Alexa app in order to fully utilize the voice command function. I had mistakingly assumed that I would be able to use the voice command via the Ecobee app. Admittedly this was my first Alexa enabled smart device.

3. Alexa will randomly initiate when you are watching movies or listening to music.

4. The app is cumbersome and difficult to program temperature settings compared to the Filtrete app.

5. It requires two separate apps one for Alexa and one for the thermostat its self.

6. I thought I would be able to use the included motion sensors to trigger smart lights with, IFTTT in alexa or homekit but that isn’t an option. Most companies make you buy their motion sensors to trigger their lights and so forth.

7. After setting up Alexa I was plagued with an irritating random beeping which I later found out was due to a preset internal alexa setting that constantly beeps at you telling you there is a notification for your review. However I wasn’t ever able to view the notification from the ecobee wall unit or from the alexa app and voice control was useless. Please see my other blog on how to disable to Ecobee4 beeping.

The Good

1.  The thermostat was ideal for us since we didn’t already have a home hub or home voice automation like the Aamazon Echo or Smart Things Hub.

2. My thermostat is located within eyesight of the kitchen which means I can use the voice activated Alexa to keep timers going for me while I cook and I can keep a running grocery list, the problem is remembering I have a grocery list on Alexa. After two years of use I solely rely on my Alexa app for grocery shoppings lists.

3. The thermostat has an internal motion and temperature sensor meaning you get 2 sensors when you first buy it. However if your thermostat is mounted in a hallway than this sensor is seemingly wasted on tracking temperatures in a hallway vs an actively used living space like your living room or kitchen.

4. Thermostat can operate whole house humidifier systems!!!

My Rachio smart irrigation controller allowed me to set up a local weather gauge to it for accurate temperature and rain sensing. I wish the Ecobee would allow me to integrate that information into it.

Door Locks Dana Lock vs August lock

This piece of tech isn’t as vital and was more of a splurge than a necessity for me. I often found myself without my keys if I wasn’t the one driving and then having to stand and wait to be let in the house. So I chose an automated lock that wouldn’t stand out by alerting people to the fact that I was using a smart lock. If you look at the Kwikiset smart lock it is a dead give away that someone is using a smart lock with a bright blue light on your deadbolt.

 

Dana Lock 

I have the first generation dana lock and I have been an early supporter and user of the Dana Lock since it came out because it supports blue tooth and Z-wave technology which meant I could use it straight out of the box without a hub. When I ordered my original Dana Lock it was a direct order from Denmark for $250+. Now that was a hard jagged price to swallow but the convenience of it has been worth it. Not to mention that we locked ourselves out of the house (firmware update faulty issues, all my fault) and not even a professional lock smith could break through the Dana Lock to get us inside the house! We ended up having to get in through a different door that didn’t have the Dana Lock on it.

The Good

• Z-wave and blue tooth technology
• CR123 Batteries
• No hub required
• It works straight out of the box no hub required
• If hooked up to a hub it can be controlled from long distances

The Bad

• The Dana Lock was a nightmare to install and I vowed to never remove it unless I was selling the house. After the 4+ hour install we lost about 90% manual function to the lock on our door and it’s best to use the phone to lock it.
• Does not work with Homekit The Dana Lock V3 will work with Homekit $274.99
• If someone manually unlocked the door it wouldn’t register in the electronic tracking system.
• During the setting of your lock mechanism it can often sound as if the gears are over grinding.
• The original app product no longer works with apple IOS 11 and newer and requires a secondary third party app to run.

From what I can see Homekit does not work with the first generation Dana Lock but Alexa can be programmed with it through the use of a hub (Smartthings or wink)

Trade In Program

Dana Lock is offering an exchange program to upgrade to their latest and greatest version at a reduced cost. I am not a fan of the oldest Dana Lock app and hope that they improved it over the years. I miss the older simple easy to use app that had better features like showing you when the door is locked or unlocked which the app no longer does. However it serves its purpose and I am content with its function for now.

August Lock $259.00

I should say that I haven’t used the August lock but it seems to be the american clone of the Dana Lock. The August lock requires the use of, you guessed it, a hub!!! Which is another item clogging up your wall outlets and router. The last thing I want is another device that needs to be powered, which to me defeats the purpose of the energy efficiency of these devices. The advantage is that the current version of the August Lock runs on four AAA batteries and works with Homekit.

Irrigation Controlers

Rachio

 

Rachio has released a new system that has a mainline water automatic sensor and shut off. This means that if there is a water leak in your irrigation or H2O mainline then you will be notified and can automatically close the valve to that controller until the issue is resolved. Unfortunately this new tech doesn’t retrofit to their 1st or 2nd generation controllers.

I have used the original older model and newer Rachio yard and sprinkler controller in two houses now and I highly recommend it. Installation is easy and the unit is affordable however the newer app is less intuitive and can be a little cumbersome to use. Trying to figure out how to trigger one zone at a time used to be a lot easier in the older app. I love being able to stand outside and check each zone to make sure no sprinkler heads have blown and are working. I also love being able to receive notifications when the watering has been delayed due to rain. Honestly for anyone who loves knowing how much water they have used over the season this will track it and so much more!

Ligthing

Outdoor Lights

You could sink a lot of money into smart controlled outdoor light bulbs or you can make a one time purchase on a motion activated light fixture that will automatically turn its self on and off. Or you can wire a motion sensor to your existing outdoor lights.

 

 

 

Indoor Lights

1. Lutron Maestro Sensor Switch.

My favorite automated indoor light isn’t some high tech app controlled light. It is a reliable, consistant Lutron Maestro Sensor Switch. It comes in two varieties for single pole and double pole switches and I am using both. I have installed these into my hallway and laundry rooms at two different houses. I don’t suggest installing them in a hallway that is frequently used at night time near where you sleep as pets will easily trigger these sensors.

Smart Bulbs 

I had finally been shocked by my lamps and light switches enough times that I became scared to go near the switches. It was finally time to buy into the smart light home automation but where would I start?

TP-Link Smart Bulbs vs Phillips Hue Smart Bulbs

Why I didn’t choose the Phillips Hue

• Requires use of a hub
• price ranges from $70-$150.00 for a starter kit
• Had equally relevant negative reviews as many other smart lights on the market

If I were going to automate more than 4 lamps in my house then I would have gone with the Phillips Hue as the cost of the smart light bulbs are more affordable than the TP-Link and you have more programming options such as setting your lights to trigger with your morning alarm and setting up a vacation timer.

Why I chose the TP-Link Smart Bulb

• No Hub Required
• Only automating four lamps
• Works with my Ecobee 4 Alexa voice control

I bought four smart bulbs on the after Thanksgiving Amazon shopping extravaganza sale. I bought the LB120 for $25.00 normally $35.00 and I bought three LB110 light bulbs for $19.99 each and normally they are $25.00. I used my points applied to my Amazon purchase and it knocked off a total of $21.00. For under $90.00 I am hub free and can control my lamps that are most frequently used and not fear receiving an electric shock  from static electricity.

PROS:

I have been using my TP-Link lights for over two weeks now and I love the voice command through alexa Ecobee 4 that allows me to say “alexa turn on Movie time” and she auto regulates the lights to dim to our pre-set lighting. The light bulbs are easily manageable in either the native Kasa app or the Alexa app. Your password for your router is permanently saved in the kasa app in the event of a power outage so that re-connection of the bulbs is seamless. All of the features that were only available when using a hub like smart things is now readily available in the TP-Link Smart Bulbs.

Update: 8/5/18: Eight months later of continuous use of these lights and things have been amazing and easy. I haven’t had any issues and I love having the voice command lights. Sometimes there are glitches but that is usually only with Alexa and I have to go into the Kasa App to control the lights.

Next on the agenda is to set up my bedroom lamps to turn on 10 minutes before my alarm for work goes off!i

Partial Success!!!

This actually worked using the native Kasa app however there were some draw backs.

1. Limited usability. You can only make a reoccurring schedule for one light at a time and not an entire scene/group of lights.
2. Limited Scheduling. You only have the option to set one timer for Sunday-Saturday and you cant deviate. I would like to have a month calendar where I can set up what days I will be waking up to have my lights go off on those days only.

As a nurse my schedule changes from week to week and I would like an app that would allow me access to set up the variable timers based on my monthly schedule.

Ceiling Light and fan control

You can buy in wall smart switch control to operate your standard ceiling light. I ultimately want to have full control over my ceiling fan and light fixtures through my Alexa. So watch for this upgrade in a later project.

SEE MY POST ON http://diysoldier.com/hampton-bay-smart-ceiling-fan-and-light-control/

I have successfully installed two ceiling fan light controllers that work with amazon.

The available options on the market right now are the Hunter, Insteon and King devices

 

My current plan is to attempt and locate and purchase option #3. an MR 101W receiver. I will do a separate write up on the install and use. update 1/12/18 I have not been able to locate the tech to install into my fan canopies so this project is on hold.

Simple Connect Programmable Control with On/Off Remote $59.99 through home depot.1.

Hunter

This option is the simplest version available but does not seem to rate very high among the reviews on amazon and home depot. It require the use of a hub to be plugged into an outlet in order to transmit the blue tooth signal to your phone.

2. INSTEON CEILING FAN AND LIGHT CONTROLLER, FIXTURE MODULE (DUAL-BAND)

$79.99 + $149.99 Insteon Home Hub

 

This system is more expensive and limiting in the respect that the Insteon Hub is only compatible with other Insteon products so unless you plan on outfitting your home completely with insteon only products then this option may not be the best for you.

The final solution is all DIY 

3. Option A

No Hub Required

MR101W Reciever
Power	AC120V/60HZ
Load	Light: 100W(Max.) Fan : 1.2A(Max.)
Frequency	304MHz
Function	Light: On/Off or Dimmer, Fan : Hi, Med, Low, Lowest, Off. Fan and Light Schedule Setting : Any real time to start and end. Group Control. Remote Control outside your home. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control support. IFTTT Services support.
Compatible Model	TR262A
Assembled Individual Product Dim	121 x 58 x 26
Specializing in selling	YES
Safety Approval	UL, FCC pending
Remote distance	12m
NOTED	Wi-Fi AP needed in home

 

4. Option B

You will need to have either a wink or smart things hub for this Zigbee receiver to work with this option

Model	MR101Z
Power	AC120V 60Hz
Load	Light: 190W (Maximum) Fan : 1.25A (Maximum)
Frequency	Both of 2.4GHz and 304.25MHz
Function	Light: On/Off or Dimmer (Dimmer only for Tungsten) 190W power limited funtion Fan : Hi, Med, Low, Off Mobile app available for smart devices on Google Play (Android) and the App Store (Apple devices)
Assembled Individual Product Dim	121 x 58 x 27
Specializing in selling	YES
Safety Approval	FCC/UL
Remote distance	12m
NOTED	Wink hub (sold separately) required for Wink app functionality.

 

call the King of Fan manufacturer customer service phone number at 800-749-3267
King of Fans
Model #43260 (reference)
UPC code 82392 43260
Receiver MR101Z (J)
**Remote Control TR227A (K)

 

Next to come are in wall smart switches…