Home Automation

[dsad1]

Curious if anyone on here is into home automation, and what you are using.

I was on smartthings for a while, but now fully on homeseer and haven't looked back.

I use it with Hue, myq, google, amazon, ecobee, doorbird, life360, sonos, harmony, life360, and blue iris. House has motion, open/close. temperture, and lux sensors everywhere triggering different things all the time.


Would like to know what others are using and how they are enjoying it.

[Grumpy Old Man]

I have some Sono's speakers on my covered front porch and back deck above the hot tub. I use a Nest thermostat and Nest smoke detectors. I won't be getting any of that shit that listens to me, Alexa etc. I have a friend into it and it's a bit creepy, both his love of it and the fact that it's always listening. I know that law firms are forbidding them in their offices for security reasons. I'm not paranoid, but I seriously suggest that everyone who's thinking about it think long and hard about what you bring into your home.

[dsad1]

Originally Posted by Grumpy Old Man

I have some Sono's speakers on my covered front porch and back deck above the hot tub. I use a Nest thermostat and Nest smoke detectors. I won't be getting any of that shit that listens to me, Alexa etc. I have a friend into it and it's a bit creepy, both his love of it and the fact that it's always listening. I know that law firms are forbidding them in their offices for security reasons. I'm not paranoid, but I seriously suggest that everyone who's thinking about it think long and hard about what you bring into your home.

It's technically not always listening, you have to trigger it to listen. At least that is what they say, are they lying to us? Very possible. But at the same time your phone, your tv, your computer, you car, can always be listening as well.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Originally Posted by dsad1

It's technically not always listening, you have to trigger it to listen. At least that is what they say, are they lying to us? Very possible. But at the same time your phone, your tv, your computer, you car, can always be listening as well.

Sorry, I don't trust Google or any of the others for that matter. I don't have hey Siri turned on, and fact only use Siri when I'm drinking and want to be an Ass.....try it sometime, Hey Siri, Google gay midget porn.....always good for a laugh.

I don't have a "smart tv" so it isn't listening, see Google porn. I don't think my computer is listening to me, I know my kids don't. Anyway, I know for a fact that Law Firms won't have Alexa in their offices. Just my paranoid 2 cents.....and remember, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean you're not being followed.

[dsad1]

Originally Posted by Grumpy Old Man

Sorry, I don't trust Google or any of the others for that matter. I don't have hey Siri turned on, and fact only use Siri when I'm drinking and want to be an Ass.....try it sometime, Hey Siri, Google gay midget porn.....always good for a laugh.

I don't have a "smart tv" so it isn't listening, see Google porn. I don't think my computer is listening to me, I know my kids don't. Anyway, I know for a fact that Law Firms won't have Alexa in their offices. Just my paranoid 2 cents.....and remember, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean you're not being followed.

I don't think your paranoid, I mostly agree. I myself have given up though, google knows more about me than I do. I decided at this point I might as well enjoy the convenience and not worry about it as much. Maybe deep down it also makes me a better person because I question if someone is always watching me.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Originally Posted by dsad1

I don't think your paranoid, I mostly agree. I myself have given up though, google knows more about me than I do. I decided at this point I might as well enjoy the convenience and not worry about it as much. Maybe deep down it also makes me a better person because I question if someone is always watching me.

Oh, you're being watched my friend.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Grumpy Old Man

Sorry, I don't trust Google or any of the others for that matter. I don't have hey Siri turned on, and fact only use Siri when I'm drinking and want to be an Ass.....try it sometime, Hey Siri, Google gay midget porn.....always good for a laugh.

I don't have a "smart tv" so it isn't listening, see Google porn. I don't think my computer is listening to me, I know my kids don't. Anyway, I know for a fact that Law Firms won't have Alexa in their offices. Just my paranoid 2 cents.....and remember, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean you're not being followed.

And who do you think owns Nest?......Google. I sparingly allow these cloud based systems into my home.

[Railgun]

Originally Posted by dsad1

It's technically not always listening, you have to trigger it to listen. At least that is what they say, are they lying to us? Very possible. But at the same time your phone, your tv, your computer, you car, can always be listening as well.

Technically, it IS always listening. How else can it pick up the trigger word to respond.

Additionally, there have been a few published criminal cases were an Echo has been involved that had audio to either work for and/or against those involved.

That said, I could care less what they hear. I'm not chopping anyone up so...

Back to the main question at hand, I've started to look into OpenHAB to roll everything together. I don't have a lot but would like to add a bit more. Some Hue lights, some Wiz lights, and a harmony hub.

[zx10guy]

Nest users should take note:

https://www.cnet.com/news/google-cal...hone-an-error/

[Clark_Kent]

Unfortunately, I use the individual apps to control all of my products (Nest, Vivint, MyQ, Rainbird, Bose, Sonos, Leviton, etc.). I searched extensively for a single source home automation solution or hub but I couldn't find one to my liking. My issue is Homeseer, Intuity, Wink, and others do not support all products on the market so you're pushed into products you either don't want or like for the sake of having them all "connected". Perhaps something exists but I gave up looking some time ago and my current setup works just fine.

[dsad1]

Originally Posted by Clark_Kent

Unfortunately, I use the individual apps to control all of my products (Nest, Vivint, MyQ, Rainbird, Bose, Sonos, Leviton, etc.). I searched extensively for a single source home automation solution or hub but I couldn't find one to my liking. My issue is Homeseer, Intuity, Wink, and others do not support all products on the market so you're pushed into products you either don't want or like for the sake of having them all "connected". Perhaps something exists but I gave up looking some time ago and my current setup works just fine.

Out of the above, I think vivint would be the only one not supported by homeseer or smartthings.

[Clark_Kent]

Originally Posted by dsad1

Out of the above, I think vivint would be the only one not supported by homeseer or smartthings.

The Nest Lock by Yale is likely not supported either. I haven't found one that supports it. Some of these hubs support some of the Nest products but not all. The last I checked you had to perform some workaround for the Nest cameras to work with SmartThings. I wasn't interested in a hack to make it work. If something comes up with seamless integration, I'll jump on it. Until then, I'll control everything by the individual apps.

[Our03z4]

Originally Posted by Clark_Kent

Unfortunately, I use the individual apps to control all of my products (Nest, Vivint, MyQ, Rainbird, Bose, Sonos, Leviton, etc.). I searched extensively for a single source home automation solution or hub but I couldn't find one to my liking. My issue is Homeseer, Intuity, Wink, and others do not support all products on the market so you're pushed into products you either don't want or like for the sake of having them all "connected". Perhaps something exists but I gave up looking some time ago and my current setup works just fine.

You should think about ditching that rainbird and get the hunter hydrawise. Instead of only being able to access it locally you can access any where. Also has leak detection and uses weather instead of just a rain sensor, this allows it to be proactive instead of reactive.

[Clark_Kent]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

You should think about ditching that rainbird and get the hunter hydrawise. Instead of only being able to access it locally you can access any where. Also has leak detection and uses weather instead of just a rain sensor, this allows it to be proactive instead of reactive.

Thank you for the tip but I'm not interested as it works extremely well for what I need it to do. The Hydrawise may very well be better but the Rainbird system I have has smart integration as well. I can access it anywhere in the world via the app to start, stop, modify zones, modify/set run programs, etc.

[RoarinRow]

Question for me is what home automation do I don't have. I have/had most all the popular home automation products. I would say my most used are:

- Nest Indoor and Outdoor cameras and Hello Doorbell
- Nest Thermostat and Smoke detectors
- August Smart Locks with bridge
- Alexa in home and cars
- Automatic OBDC adapter which integrates with IFTT apps - https://ifttt.com/
- Philips Hue with bridge
- IFTT automation integration
- Wink Hub with connection to lights, Wemo outlets, Chamberlain garage, etc.

With Alexa I basically control all my other remaining home automation products with voice commands and so do my kids.

Stuff I set and forget:
- Rachio Sprinkler System
- ECOVAC

What I don't have is Google Home or Alexa Show.