Smart Home Automation

To jump into the deep end of home automation or not?! I was an early adopter of all things home automated and this is what I have learned in the 11 years of running home automation in my home.

#1. Less is More

My absolute favorite smart home devices are the ones that don’t require any user interface. I have installed motion sensing light switches and fixtures wherever possible both indoor and outdoor. The best light sensors are ones that automatically sense your movements in the room and remain switched on until you leave. For instance of what not to do, we bought a smart utility ceiling light from Costco and it is horrible because if you are sitting on the floor then it can’t detect your presence and auto turns off. Another bad feature is that it auto turns on from the vibrations in the ceiling as it is installed in the basement.

#2. Outdated Software or Tech

I now have multiple very expensive non functioning smart devices. My Halo NOAA smoke detectors stopped working after the company went bankrupt. My Danalock aka August lock is no longer supported by the company which stopped putting out firmware updates in an effort to force customers to buy the latest model. so now my door lock isn’t recognized by the app whatsoever, my smoke detectors only function as a night light, and after awhile this tech builds up as junk more than anything useful.

#3. Growing Pains

I finally made the plunge and bought a Smartthings hub in order to prolong the inevitable death of my Halo smart detectors and to install the Hampton Bay Zigbee smart controller. However now a year later and Smartthings hub no longer supports the halo smoke detector and has slowly stopped supporting the Fan and light controllers. Thankfully the ST community found a work around solution but unfortunately the ST company had no intentions of fixing their software incompatibility issue.

Conclusion

Recently I was debating installing a whole house smart water shut off valve but then I came full circle when I realized that less is more because the software could stop being updated and the business could go bankrupt. So I decided to install a good old fashion hand shut off valve and no smart components needed. However I am looking at all viable options for integrating smart tech into my manual gas fireplace if it allows me to retain the use of my thermostat controller. I have learned that with smart home automation there always needs to be a fail safe manual over ride back up for when the tech , power, software, or batteries die.

Smart home devices include;

  • Rachio Sprinkler
  • Smart outlets
  • Kasa light bulbs
  • Hampton Bay Zigbee fan and light controllers
  • Ecobee thermostat with Alexa integration
  • Arlo Cameras
  • PetSafe cat feederLitter Robot Open Air
  • SureFlap pet door
  • Multiple motion activated wall sensing light switches
 

RIP Devices

  1. Halo smoke detectors (company went out of business)
  2. Dana lock (company stopped supporting software updates)
  3. Filtrete Thermostat (burnt out in a power surge and became outdated)
  4. CHIP Computer air printer mod (company went out of business)