Smart home

I feel I am smarter then the "smart devices" and the marketing companies push to sell stuff in exchange for my money.
I know I am, especially thermostats, no thank you.
I dont need smart lighting. I do have 4 security cameras and a DB cam but that is security.

Really the only smart devices we find useful are the two robotic vacuums, more so the newer one which sends my wife a text message when "she" is done.

Im not anti tech by any means but, not sure why so much "smart" devices for doing stuff that isnt smart.
 
Not a smart home. All our thermostats are analog. Being home 100% of the time, not really much of a drawback here...

One thing I dislike is learning how something works, getting it set up, using it for a few years, and then having to figure it out all over again. I suspect these devices are better than that, but I have my concerns all the same.

I picked up some cheapie wireless security camera, so I could look at the driveway (no visibility from inside). Worked ok for a few months, then it lost the password on my smartphone--I guess it wanted me to log back in, or maybe I power cycled my phone? Can't find the password, usually I write these things down--shame on me. Meanwhile I've had my smartphone with Tracfone for years, and downloaded their app to monitor when it becomes inactive. Every six months or so it wants me to log-in again, usually when I'm at the store thinking about if I need to buy another card or not, and it's too much of a pain to enter in the (random) password into the app. Shame on them.
 
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Oildudeny said:
how many bitog members using a smart home?

I gave it a try had a nest thermostat that came with one of those Google pod speakers.. ordered a 2nd and had those smart plug adapters that a lamp could be plugged into. Also had a wemo switch with a schedule turning on and off my garage lights.

There was something that made me not comfortable with the entire smart home set-up... having my Gmail account giving access to these various applications.

I was bugged that I had a wake up schedule for the thermostat to a set temp at 6am... well I have a Samsung phone and somehow the nest picked up on my phone alarm at 5:30-5:45 depending on me snoozing the alarm... the schedule i set in the nest app never changed but that thermostat started putting my furnace on between 5:30 & 5:45.

Long story short... I'm back to a wall timer for the garage lights, turning my lamps on and off manually and stuck up a simple programmable thermostat.
Click to expand...
The reason it started early at that time is because they are smart enough to know how long it will take to get the temperature to your setting at 6am. In other words it starts heating at 5.30 - 5:45 to get the temp to your setting by 6. I have Ecobee and it starts at different times depending on how far off the temperature is from the setting.
 
tmorris1 said:
The reason it started early at that time is because they are smart enough to know how long it will take to get the temperature to your setting at 6am. In other words it starts heating at 5.30 - 5:45 to get the temp to your setting by 6. I have Ecobee and it starts at different times depending on how far off the temperature is from the setting.
Click to expand...
my old lux thermostat worked just fine and put back is doing just fine. i ought to leave well enough alone
 
Oildudeny said:
my old lux thermostat worked just fine and put back is doing just fine. i ought to leave well enough alone
Click to expand...
I kind of agree, but the thing I like about the Ecobee is when we are gone for the weekend I can kick the AC or heat on with my phone while we are on our way home. They are a little easier to program than a normal programmable thermostat for people that are gone certain times of the day. etc.
 
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does ecobee have geo referencing where it will determine how far you are based on your mobile device location?

and kick up the ac/heat as needed.
 
Oildudeny said:
does ecobee have geo referencing where it will determine how far you are based on your mobile device location?

and kick up the ac/heat as needed.
Click to expand...
On Android, it appears to be built-in (?) or native to the ecobee app. Looks like on iOS you have to use it along with HomeKit. I don't use HomeKit and don't remember why now.... I want to say because my smart switches and outlets don't work with it.

Only time I could see this being useful is if you leave or return outside your normal schedule (schedule being how you've programmed the ecobee). ecobee has "home" and "away" settings and I'm guessing when enabled, you can have your "Comfort Settings" turned on or off (I have things like "Home", "Away", "Sleep", and so on). Problem is if others are home, you probably don't need these to kick in.

Along the lines of geo-fencing, we went to Florida last winter and put the ecobee in "Vacation" mode. In our case, it maintained the temperature at 62º F. On the way home, once we passed maybe Lexington KY, we bumped the temperature up to 64-65º and let it settle (I don't like the furnace or AC running non-stop for a long time trying to reach a temperature). Once we reached Cincinnati, bumped it to 67-68º. When we got home and walked in, the house was comfortable... ;)
 
tmorris1 said:
The reason it started early at that time is because they are smart enough to know how long it will take to get the temperature to your setting at 6am. In other words it starts heating at 5.30 - 5:45 to get the temp to your setting by 6.
Click to expand...
Many non-smart, but programmable thermostats operate this way too. Depends how people interpret their programmed settings. Do you mean "turn the heat up to 68ºF at 6am" or "have the house at 68º F at 6am" ? That can be two different things.
 
Mine's semi-smart. Most of the house lights are hooked to Amazon Alexa. Some on timers, others turn on and off when you tell it to. Thermostat is a very simple electronic programmable, as I like it to to start cooling down when I go to bed and I like the furnace to come on about 5 minutes before I get up. 8 Arlo cameras keep an eye on everything inside and out.
 
Hall said:
Many non-smart, but programmable thermostats operate this way too. Depends how people interpret their programmed settings. Do you mean "turn the heat up to 68ºF at 6am" or "have the house at 68º F at 6am" ? That can be two different things.
Click to expand...
My ecobee works like the latter. If you have a setting of 68 degrees at 6 am, it will have the house at 68 degrees at 6 am, so depending on the temp inside and outside it will start heating or cooling sometime before 6am.
 
Hall said:
On Android, it appears to be built-in (?) or native to the ecobee app. Looks like on iOS you have to use it along with HomeKit. I don't use HomeKit and don't remember why now.... I want to say because my smart switches and outlets don't work with it.

Only time I could see this being useful is if you leave or return outside your normal schedule (schedule being how you've programmed the ecobee). ecobee has "home" and "away" settings and I'm guessing when enabled, you can have your "Comfort Settings" turned on or off (I have things like "Home", "Away", "Sleep", and so on). Problem is if others are home, you probably don't need these to kick in.

Along the lines of geo-fencing, we went to Florida last winter and put the ecobee in "Vacation" mode. In our case, it maintained the temperature at 62º F. On the way home, once we passed maybe Lexington KY, we bumped the temperature up to 64-65º and let it settle (I don't like the furnace or AC running non-stop for a long time trying to reach a temperature). Once we reached Cincinnati, bumped it to 67-68º. When we got home and walked in, the house was comfortable... ;)
Click to expand...
Not sure about the app, but Ecobee has remote temp sensors that also have a sensor that can tell if there are people present in the room or not. You can set it up to use that information to determine if you are home or not and change the comfort schedule based on that,
 
The main thermostat itself has a sensor too. My wife works 12s though, for example, and could be in bed but the ecobee thinks no one is home and adjust the temperature. She can adjust it from our bed, using her phone though ! Another great ability they offer ! 😁
 
As a Millennial, I'm the outcast when it comes to my refusal to have IOT devices in my house. I will not have an Alexa, Google home, whatever in this house. I have two IOT devices: a Nest smoke detector and an Ecobee thermostat. I have those for specific reasons: I like that the Nest alerts my phone when there's a smoke/fire situation at the house and I like the Ecobee due to my ability to change temps on the go.

Past that, I'm good. I have no ambition to have a Ring doorbell, or Nest cam's all over my house, or "smart" light switches. When I want light, I turn it on. We rarely use lights in the house anyways, outside of small lamps. The main room that uses lights is the kitchen, in which I installed a Lutron motion sensing switch/dimmer. Works great: you walk in, the lights turn on. You walk out, there's a programmable delay until they turn off.

Those big companies can keep their toys, I'm too connected as-is.
 
In general if a product has "smart" in its name or description it's no sale as far as I'm concerned.
 
I have Samsung SmartThings hub, some lights and many sensors. Nothing is voice activated. I like the outdoor lights to go on at dusk and have the system know when dusk is each day. I have a similar setup in a retirement home and will get notified if there is a water leak or high RH in crawl space.

My thermostat is a Trane and provides a lot of info about the heat pump. Its programmable and WIFI. Not sure I need to replace it with a Nest.
 
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PandaBear said:
I wouldn't say no sales to me, but I do know if it says SMART it can crash once in a while.
Click to expand...
Pretty much anything short of an old Honeywell mercury thermostat has a microcontroller that can crash, not as likely, but they can.
 
I've struggled to understand at what point you genuinely have a "smart home." I have 2 WiFi thermostats, 2 garage door openers, deadbolt, irrigation controller, leak detector, security system, doorbell, washer and dryer. No smart lights, Alexa speakers, etc...so maybe?
 
tbm5690 said:
I've struggled to understand at what point you genuinely have a "smart home." I have 2 WiFi thermostats, 2 garage door openers, deadbolt, irrigation controller, leak detector, security system, doorbell, washer and dryer. No smart lights, Alexa speakers, etc...so maybe?
Click to expand...
You need something to tie all that stuff together. Must have separate apps for everything?
 
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