Smart Home- what to package? What talks to each other?

REDLYNER

REDLYNER

Mall Crawling Race Rig
Joined
Oct 31, 2008
Location
Mountain Island
Its time to update a few things in my home, so I believe now would be a good time to go smart. Actually, my wife is telling me it’s time... so there’s that ;).

I currently need a doorbell, so I figured I would start with one of the smart doorbell systems (Ring, etc). But what I want to avoid is having 4 or 5 different Apps to control everything.

So my question is, has anyone drilled down the options to see what works best together?

We have Amazon Prime, not sure if that matters though. Currently do not have an Echo or Alexa.

I’m thinking:

-Smart Doorbell
-Thermostat
-Garage door
-External cameras (3 or 4)
-Internal cameras (prob 2)

What else would go well with that list? Anyone gone to a full smart home? Lessons learned?
 
The Nest thermostat is pretty much the brains of some systems and supposedly can hook lights, cameras, etc to them and control them from one app on your phone if you want.


You can even get a smoke detector to work with your Nest and it can alert you if there is an issue and also turn off your HVAC and other stuff if there are issues. There are quite a few things out there that work with Nest that you can integrate, including Google home.
 
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Smart wife?
 
X2 on the Nest. We have one Nest thermostat and one Nest Camera. Uses the same app. Will be adding an additional thermostat and more cameras pretty soon. Very easy to set up, literally plug in, connect to Wi-Fi and you are good to go.
 
I use a samsung smart things hub and amazon alexa. Works with plenty of stuff and easy to do. My 100 dollar honeywell wifi thermostat works as good as a nest and can do everything it can do.
 
I have a few Nest smoke detectors. Work great, good at rejecting false positives from that piece of food stuck on the stove burner, etc. Don't think I need a smart thermostat so probably don't need any more stuff.
The smoke detector will tell me when my house is on fire, anywhere in the world. Good for when you're not at home and don't have much ability to do anything when your house is on fire. :D
 
I use smart things by Samsung, Amazon echo and all zwave stuff, but lately smart things has been giving lots of issues losing connection with it's server I guess. Look into "openhab" it's where I'll be going next. I would stay away from painting yourself into a corner by using a proprietary brand that only connects to it's own shit. Zwave is by far the most versatile and prolific, I would start there.
 
shawn said:
BTDT, don't waste your money. Set the thermostat at a comfortable temperature and leave it there.
Click to expand...


Using that same argument...

A 480dpi tv is just fine and anything above that is just a waste of $ and not economical for what you get. It's just a sales gimmick.

Black is black is black, right? :D
 
shawn said:
BTDT, don't waste your money. Set the thermostat at a comfortable temperature and leave it there.
Click to expand...

This

Our vendors have installed every programmable, smart, Nest t-stat they've ever come up with. The biggest money saver to date (since our office was founded in 1964) has been the good old honeywell

honeywell-thermostat.jpg
 
rockcity said:
Using that same argument...

A 480dpi tv is just fine and anything above that is just a waste of $ and not economical for what you get. It's just a sales gimmick.

Black is black is black, right? :D
Click to expand...

Not at all. Maintaining a constant temperature, and not attempting to cut back during unoccupied times not only saves energy, but also saves maintenance.
 
CasterTroy said:
This

Our vendors have installed every programmable, smart, Nest t-stat they've ever come up with. The biggest money saver to date (since our office was founded in 1964) has been the good old honeywell

honeywell-thermostat.jpg
Click to expand...



But can your thermostat opens the garage door or see who is ringing the door bell via your phone when you are on vacation? :)
 
rockcity said:
But can your thermostat opens the garage door or see who is ringing the door bell via your phone when you are on vacation? :)
Click to expand...

Nope...but any good hacker can see yours if you go that route and they choose to pursue it.

Anything YOU can see from your phone can be seen by anyone with the fortitude to attempt it. Remember, "the cloud" is simply someone ELSE'S computer/server
 
CasterTroy said:
Not at all. Maintaining a constant temperature, and not attempting to cut back during unoccupied times not only saves energy, but also saves maintenance.
Click to expand...



Jay didn't say anything about saving energy. He wanted the house to be smart. An old thermostat can't do that, hence the suggestion of a Nest, etc. you can still use the Nest like an old thermostat if you want but with added benefit of linking cameras, lights, smoke detector, garage door opener, etc to it. all while having an app to look at energy use real time on your phone.
 
CasterTroy said:
Nope...but any good hacker can see yours if you go that route and they choose to pursue it.

Anything YOU can see from your phone can be seen by anyone with the fortitude to attempt it. Remember, "the cloud" is simply someone ELSE'S computer/server
Click to expand...


I don't disagree.
 
rockcity said:
Jay didn't say anything about saving energy.
Click to expand...
I was agreeing with Shawn that it was a waste of money, and NOT a gimmick, while also including the fact that it IS in fact a waste of energy to ramp your systems based on unoccupied times, AND adding the paranoia of big brother. And no, while Jay never asked for all that, he DID ask for lessons learned. So I offered the lessons learned thru first hand experience., while also giving him information to consider as an argument NOT to go "smart" (so he can spend that money elsewhere and have backing to justify his argument :D)
 
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CasterTroy said:
This

Our vendors have installed every programmable, smart, Nest t-stat they've ever come up with. The biggest money saver to date (since our office was founded in 1964) has been the good old honeywell

honeywell-thermostat.jpg
Click to expand...


What works at your office really doesn't apply to someone's home, I'm not saying to go out and spend $300 on a thermostat but the logic of leaving the heat on all day in even a moderately well insulated house is the same logic used by people that spout the "leaving florescent bulbs on uses less energy than turning them on and off". It's been disproven time and again.
If you are technology averse that's fine but to claim that running a blower and compressor for 10 hours more a day is cheaper and better for the system is silly.
 
CasterTroy said:
This

Our vendors have installed every programmable, smart, Nest t-stat they've ever come up with. The biggest money saver to date (since our office was founded in 1964) has been the good old honeywell

honeywell-thermostat.jpg
Click to expand...



Reminds me.... a buddy of mine does IT for a large car dealership network. They installed programmable thermostats in all of the buildings so that he could monitor them remotely. He set them to the exact temperature that they buildings were prior on the Honeywell manual thermostats. All the sudden he gets a bunch of service tickets from women that say it's too cold or too hot. He checks and verifies that the digital therms are working properly and auxiliary temp sensors verify. He keeps getting service tickets from the same women day after day. He finally goes back to those offices, pulls the Honeywell manual therms out of his scrap drawer and sticks up them to the wall with double faced tape. The women just walk over to the thermostat and adjust them. No more service tickets now that they have a dummy thermostat to adjust when they feel cold or hot.
 
The train is moving towards a smart home. Once the wife makes up her mind it basically becomes my job to find the right fit, bang for the buck, user friendly, etc etc options available.

Good info. I didn’t mention energy savings as a priority because I am assuming it will be a byproduct of the equipment being installed- regardless of the brand (Nest, Honeywell).
 
We have seen our energy bill drop since moving to the Nest system. Yes, there are differences in the homes so that does play a role. It's nice to be able to heat/cool the house remotely especially on very cold/very hot days and be able to yell at the dogs to get off the couch through the camera.
 
ManglerYJ said:
He finally goes back to those offices, pulls the Honeywell manual therms out of his scrap drawer and sticks up them to the wall with double faced tape. The women just walk over to the thermostat and adjust them. No more service tickets now that they have a dummy thermostat to adjust when they feel cold or hot.
Click to expand...

For (most) school systems we have a section in the specs for controls that specifically locks out the user (i.e. teacher) for anything greater than 2 degrees below or above "setpoint". Regardless of how much they move the thermostat. It can be over-ridden of course, but you have to have access to the controls sequence software. But teachers are usually passified by "thinking" they have control.
 
REDLYNER said:
The train is moving towards a smart home. Once the wife makes up her mind it basically becomes my job to find the right fit, bang for the buck, user friendly, etc etc options available.

Good info. I didn’t mention energy savings as a priority because I am assuming it will be a byproduct of the equipment being installed- regardless of the brand (Nest, Honeywell).
Click to expand...

Be prepared for a bunch of shit that doesn't work, then does, then doesn't, then gets a firmware update and does again, then gets discontinued by the manufacturer and quits completely, etc.

I mean, Nest bought competitors and then shut down their products.

I've been round and round on this stuff, and basically dropped a bunch of money on a bunch of gimmicky shit that doesn't do what it's supposed to do.
 
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