Home Automation and Security Systems

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Home Automation and Security Systems

Chef Boyardeez Nuts: Sep 9, 2011; The more you kick against the pricks, the more you suffer.

Any recommendations on decent cloud bullshit? I'm starting from scratch here.

As to why we don't get out? The goal is intimidation. They're all loving cowards and if they come for us I'll be damned if we give them the satisfaction. I've already got window screamers on the windows and doors, what I want is the ability to get individual clips of anyone who steps off the sidewalk so I can swear out complaints.

# ? Jun 5, 2021 06:00

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# ? May 11, 2024 18:34

Pilfered Pallbearers: Aug 2, 2007

Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:

Any recommendations on decent cloud bullshit? I'm starting from scratch here.

As to why we don't get out? The goal is intimidation. They're all loving cowards and if they come for us I'll be damned if we give them the satisfaction. I've already got window screamers on the windows and doors, what I want is the ability to get individual clips of anyone who steps off the sidewalk so I can swear out complaints.

Frankly dude, unless you're going to have significant law enforcement protection it's not worth it.

Right wing violence is getting scary and poo poo. GTFO.

# ? Jun 5, 2021 06:08

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:

Any recommendations on decent cloud bullshit? I'm starting from scratch here.

As to why we don't get out? The goal is intimidation. They're all loving cowards and if they come for us I'll be damned if we give them the satisfaction. I've already got window screamers on the windows and doors, what I want is the ability to get individual clips of anyone who steps off the sidewalk so I can swear out complaints.

Ring. Or whatever.

And if you're worried enough to need this I'm not sure how to respond to....whatever this is that you're talking about. If you are in enough jeopardy to ask about this question you need to just leave. Unless you are trying to entice a confrontation. But I'm going to guess you aren't so.....what else do you think you would get out of this situation? And then think about if it's worth the potential cost. And I'm not talking about money.

# ? Jun 5, 2021 06:15

Chef Boyardeez Nuts: Sep 9, 2011; The more you kick against the pricks, the more you suffer.

without doxxing myself too much, these assholes do this constantly to local judges and politicians. We're possibly going to come into the crosshairs soon. They announce their terrorism in advance and there is always a police presence.

# ? Jun 5, 2021 06:22

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:

without doxxing myself too much, these assholes do this constantly to local judges and politicians. We're possibly going to come into the crosshairs soon. They announce their terrorism in advance and there is always a police presence.

My opinion hasn't changed. Leave.

I've been well trained to defend myself and others. I'm equipped to do so very well if need be. You know what I would do in your situation? Leave.

You got a heads up. Take that as luck.

Leave.

# ? Jun 5, 2021 06:26

Chef Boyardeez Nuts: Sep 9, 2011; The more you kick against the pricks, the more you suffer.

I'd have to leave my wife behind, she'd absolutely take a bullet on principle, generally, and several on the principle of "gently caress these assholes" in particular.

But hey, thanks for the advice. I'll look into Ring.

# ? Jun 5, 2021 06:30

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

Best of luck.

# ? Jun 5, 2021 06:33

BigFactory: Sep 17, 2002

Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:

I'd have to leave my wife behind, she'd absolutely take a bullet on principle, generally, and several on the principle of "gently caress these assholes" in particular.

But hey, thanks for the advice. I'll look into Ring.

Another suggestion would be to talk to a local (or maybe branch out a little farther than local) private investigator. They might have a recommendation of a combination of automated and live surveillance that could be a lot more effective than a couple of Rings. Even talking to a security guard company might be worthwhile. Having a security company do a few drive-bys in the off hours when you�re not home is not expensive if this is a short term problem. And if things get heated up you already have a relationship with them and they could switch to putting a car in front of your house.

I think a couple of ring cameras is a cheap solution to a different problem. Even real security cameras might not be what you�re looking for unless you�re paying to have them actively monitored, which is $$$.

# ? Jun 5, 2021 12:48

devmd01: Mar 7, 2006; Elektronik
Supersonik

E: never mind, poor form considering

# ? Jun 5, 2021 13:10

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Is there such thing as simple, small smart plug that also has a separate small button? What I mean is, a lot of the available small smart plugs I find work the way you�d expect � plug into socket, you say �Hey _____, turn this thing on� and it does it. But I�m wondering if there�s something that has that functionality, but also a remote or separate button of some sort that can do that same thing, turn the device (via the smart plug) on and off.

# ? Jun 6, 2021 02:46

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

LODGE NORTH posted:

Is there such thing as simple, small smart plug that also has a separate small button? What I mean is, a lot of the available small smart plugs I find work the way you�d expect � plug into socket, you say �Hey _____, turn this thing on� and it does it. But I�m wondering if there�s something that has that functionality, but also a remote or separate button of some sort that can do that same thing, turn the device (via the smart plug) on and off.

I looked for something like this a while back. The best solution I could find was this Aqara button. The description says you need the Aqara hub, but it works just fine with any Zigbee-compatible hub and can control a smart switch or bulb directly.

For mine, a single tap toggles my bedroom lamp, and a double tap turns off all the lights in the house.

# ? Jun 6, 2021 02:53

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

LODGE NORTH posted:

Is there such thing as simple, small smart plug that also has a separate small button? What I mean is, a lot of the available small smart plugs I find work the way you�d expect � plug into socket, you say �Hey _____, turn this thing on� and it does it. But I�m wondering if there�s something that has that functionality, but also a remote or separate button of some sort that can do that same thing, turn the device (via the smart plug) on and off.

I've got a shitload of these for inside:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DD7KL3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And one of these outside:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VFQBBJS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Both zwave, both working great on home assistant.

# ? Jun 6, 2021 02:58

Alarbus: Mar 31, 2010

The Kasa (TP Link) ones have a button on them. They're wifi though, not zwave/zigbee.

# ? Jun 7, 2021 00:11

devmd01: Mar 7, 2006; Elektronik
Supersonik

My driveway camera died so I thought I would try out a reolink given the price point. About 45 mins worth of work to drill a new hole, reterminate the Ethernet, set a reservation in the private camera vlan, and get it added/configured in Milestone.

# ? Jun 7, 2021 00:42

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

devmd01 posted:

private camera vlan

This is key with reolink. Man do they reach out to a bunch of random IPs, many in china. None of those are allowed to talk to the internet on my network.

In fact, I should make a script that just blocked any IP they ever try to get to from anything right at the edge.

# ? Jun 7, 2021 00:47

devmd01: Mar 7, 2006; Elektronik
Supersonik

oh I�m well aware, I have some older Hikvisions covering the back. I didn�t even give them an opportunity to talk back once I factory reset them, straight into the private vlan on the switch. The only thing that can talk to them is the secondary NIC on the vlan for the camera VM.

devmd01 fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Jun 7, 2021

# ? Jun 7, 2021 01:44

Henrik Zetterberg: Dec 7, 2007

Ring flood light cam for $180, normally $250. Lowest price seen by CCC. And if you have Ring Protect Plus (the $100/year unlimited cam plan), it automatically knocks 10% off, which I didn�t know til checkout.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0727XJQLD/

https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B0727XJQLD

# ? Jun 19, 2021 22:07

Henrik Zetterberg: Dec 7, 2007

The iRobot Braava jet m6 is $300 on prime day. Is this thing any good, or does it chew through expensive cleaner solution and mopping pads like crazy? We have nothing but hard wood and tile floor downstairs and mopping it all on a regular basis sucks rear end. We have the roomba i8+ and it does a great job, but with kids, everything gets sticky.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08TN2GC94

# ? Jun 21, 2021 16:16

DaveSauce: Feb 15, 2004; Oh, how awkward.

We just got that about 2 months ago (they had a mother's day sale so we bought it in a combo with the s9+, not regretting it yet). Been mopping maybe 1x/week on the hardwoods and it does a good job... better than we do, at least.

We've used about 5oz of fluid so far to mop on the order of 1,100 sq ft (still has half a tank left, so that'd probably get us another 200 sq ft). This is using the default spray setting, you can use more or less cleaner optionally. You don't have to use cleaner, you can use water only, but they're very specific in that you must use THEIR cleaner... apparently other cleaners, even stuff like Bona, will eat at the seals, which causes a leak and will in fact damage the internals. This is per reddit, so take it with a grain of salt, but it sounds like their warranty techs know how to figure out if you used an unauthorized cleaner.

Mopping pads are theoretically use-and-toss, but they sell cloth reusable pads that are machine washable (air dry).

Only major gripe so far is that it has to make itself a different map. Ours mapped things slightly askew for some reason, so it runs at a slight angle to the walls. It doesn't share data with the existing robots, so you need to send it out on its own mapping runs. That's kind of a function of its abilities... rugs and thresholds cause it grief that the vacuum can normally navigate without issue, so it needs its own map to avoid those. It can get over some thresholds, especially if you tell it where they are on the map, but honestly it's a good thing that it can't get on to low rugs so you don't need to program it to avoid mopping them.

# ? Jun 21, 2021 16:38

Murgos: Oct 21, 2010

Normally, I have the Eufy cameras just silently put notifications into the notification center (because 30 messages a day about my kids playing in the yard isn't where I am at) but I am going to be doing some travelling soon and want it to give me more forceful notifications while I am gone. I.e. banners and lock screen, maybe even a noise.

I see the homebase has an 'away' option, can I set that to change the notification style when I turn it on? Or, do I just need to do it manually thought the settings?

# ? Jun 21, 2021 16:59

Henrik Zetterberg: Dec 7, 2007

DaveSauce posted:

We just got that about 2 months ago (they had a mother's day sale so we bought it in a combo with the s9+, not regretting it yet). Been mopping maybe 1x/week on the hardwoods and it does a good job... better than we do, at least.

We've used about 5oz of fluid so far to mop on the order of 1,100 sq ft (still has half a tank left, so that'd probably get us another 200 sq ft). This is using the default spray setting, you can use more or less cleaner optionally. You don't have to use cleaner, you can use water only, but they're very specific in that you must use THEIR cleaner... apparently other cleaners, even stuff like Bona, will eat at the seals, which causes a leak and will in fact damage the internals. This is per reddit, so take it with a grain of salt, but it sounds like their warranty techs know how to figure out if you used an unauthorized cleaner.

Mopping pads are theoretically use-and-toss, but they sell cloth reusable pads that are machine washable (air dry).

Only major gripe so far is that it has to make itself a different map. Ours mapped things slightly askew for some reason, so it runs at a slight angle to the walls. It doesn't share data with the existing robots, so you need to send it out on its own mapping runs. That's kind of a function of its abilities... rugs and thresholds cause it grief that the vacuum can normally navigate without issue, so it needs its own map to avoid those. It can get over some thresholds, especially if you tell it where they are on the map, but honestly it's a good thing that it can't get on to low rugs so you don't need to program it to avoid mopping them.

Awesome thanks! Yeah I saw the washable pads which seemed a bit more palatable than buying a new one each time. The Amazon reviews mention the transition thing as well, which we do have some between tile and hard wood. It would be a bummer if it can�t make it over them, but I suppose I could just return it if that�s the case.

I�m sure their cleaner is overpriced for what it is, but looking at Amazon prices, it doesn�t seem TOO outrageous, especially at the rates you�ve been using it. I think I�ll give it a shot. Thanks for the info!

# ? Jun 21, 2021 17:24

Henrik Zetterberg: Dec 7, 2007

Lutron Caseta 2-dimmer kit for $132:

https://slickdeals.net/share/iphone_app/t/15117169
https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B01M3XJUAD

# ? Jun 22, 2021 20:07

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

HomeAssistant question.

I want to have something in my lovelace dashboard to turn on a smart plug that then stays on for 60 minutes and then turns itself off again and do this every time.

I can figure out how to automate one to come on at a set time per day and stay on for 60 min, but for some reason can't get my head around how to set it up by me pressing a button. Kinda new to HA still so probably just missing something super obvious.

This setup is to turn on a pump from a rainwater barrel to my drip irrigation system in the garden. Needs to be manual because I want to visually inspect the amount of water before turning the pump on so it doesn't run dry and destroy the pump.

# ? Jun 23, 2021 11:31

DaveSauce: Feb 15, 2004; Oh, how awkward.

Maybe this helps:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/easiest-way-to-trigger-an-automation-with-one-tap-from-lovelace/108564

Alternatively, using the device's "ON" state as your trigger might work? Lovelace should already have a toggle switch for the plug, so I think you could just make an automation using "outlet = on" as the trigger and then for the actions you'd set a 60 minute delay and then turn the pump off.

Here's something to that effect:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/turn-on-rf-outlet-for-one-hour-help-please/29126/3

code:

  - id: heater
    alias: 'Heater'
    trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: switch.heater
      to: 'on'
    action:
    - delay: '1:00:00'
    - service: switch.turn_off
      entity_id: switch.heater

The benefit of this approach is it ALWAYS turns it off after 60 minutes. So whether you trigger it from lovelace or some other method, once it's been on for 60 minutes it'll turn off. (edit: I see this as a benefit, since the concern is running the pump dry. You might consider this a bug since it'd be hard to manually override) (edit again: another bug would be if you turned it off manually, then back on before the 1 hour delay, I don't know how that behavior works... not sure if it re-triggers and starts 1 hour, or if the original 1 hour controls).

That said, IMO use a sump pump float switch as a backup. I've had issues with delay timers in automations not following through and turning things off properly. A sump pump float switch should cut off power to the pump once it gets low, so at minimum you won't trash the pump because HA poo poo the bed.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Jun 23, 2021

# ? Jun 23, 2021 12:49

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

DaveSauce posted:

Maybe this helps:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/easiest-way-to-trigger-an-automation-with-one-tap-from-lovelace/108564

Alternatively, using the device's "ON" state as your trigger might work? Lovelace should already have a toggle switch for the plug, so I think you could just make an automation using "outlet = on" as the trigger and then for the actions you'd set a 60 minute delay and then turn the pump off.

Here's something to that effect:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/turn-on-rf-outlet-for-one-hour-help-please/29126/3
code:
  - id: heater
    alias: 'Heater'
    trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: switch.heater
      to: 'on'
    action:
    - delay: '1:00:00'
    - service: switch.turn_off
      entity_id: switch.heater
The benefit of this approach is it ALWAYS turns it off after 60 minutes. So whether you trigger it from lovelace or some other method, once it's been on for 60 minutes it'll turn off. (edit: I see this as a benefit, since the concern is running the pump dry. You might consider this a bug since it'd be hard to manually override) (edit again: another bug would be if you turned it off manually, then back on before the 1 hour delay, I don't know how that behavior works... not sure if it re-triggers and starts 1 hour, or if the original 1 hour controls).

That said, IMO use a sump pump float switch as a backup. I've had issues with delay timers in automations not following through and turning things off properly. A sump pump float switch should cut off power to the pump once it gets low, so at minimum you won't trash the pump because HA poo poo the bed.

Thanks a lot, I will try this out.

Eventually the plan is to have some sort of sensor in the barrel to set up as a condition for a timed automation, ie, every day at 5:00am if the sensor is floated then turn plug on for 1hr kind of deal.

However I haven't even looked into options for a float sensor / how to get one set up in the barrel yet. Eventually I'll get there but for now just wanted to have something I can set and forget for starters.

# ? Jun 23, 2021 13:56

DaveSauce: Feb 15, 2004; Oh, how awkward.

An emergency shut off sensor is definitely your best interest. If you don't have 60 minutes worth of water in the barrel, you're going to run the pump dry. One day in the future the barrel inlet will get clogged, or you'll forget to disable the automation during a drought or something.

Sump pump float switches are cheap and easily available and specifically designed to switch motor loads. As long as your rain barrel has a big enough diameter, it should be ideal.

Here's a random option from googling:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Piggy-Back-Float-Switch-for-Sump-and-Sewage-Pumps-EBFSWPB/205618058

And the manual:

https://images.thdstatic.com/catalog/pdfImages/c4/c49f88c4-159b-4636-b13d-a9ba0ff8a875.pdf

Just about anything from your local LowesDepot should work.

Only issue is you won't get feedback from it so you won't really know the true status, but IMO it's most useful as a hardwired failsafe. Maybe if your smart plug has current sensing you can check if the pump actually turned on? Otherwise you'd need to buy a level sensor (I think SparkFun has cheap capacitive liquid level sensors) and then somehow tie it back to HA.

edit: you could probably also wire the float switch separately as a physical input to something, rather than being inline with the pump. So you'd use it now as a hardwired shutoff, and once you find a way to wire a switch back to HA you can just use it in that capacity.

edit again: one caveat I just thought of... the style of float switch I linked above is assuming that the pump starts when it floats. So it's not necessarily designed to stay in the up position for extended periods of time. Worse, if you tether it such that it shuts the pump off when the water is low, it might end up staying submerged for most of its life. Not sure it's going to be happy about that...

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Jun 23, 2021

# ? Jun 23, 2021 14:26

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

DaveSauce posted:

An emergency shut off sensor is definitely your best interest. If you don't have 60 minutes worth of water in the barrel, you're going to run the pump dry. One day in the future the barrel inlet will get clogged, or you'll forget to disable the automation during a drought or something.

Sump pump float switches are cheap and easily available and specifically designed to switch motor loads. As long as your rain barrel has a big enough diameter, it should be ideal.

Here's a random option from googling:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Piggy-Back-Float-Switch-for-Sump-and-Sewage-Pumps-EBFSWPB/205618058

And the manual:

https://images.thdstatic.com/catalog/pdfImages/c4/c49f88c4-159b-4636-b13d-a9ba0ff8a875.pdf

Just about anything from your local LowesDepot should work.

Only issue is you won't get feedback from it so you won't really know the true status, but IMO it's most useful as a hardwired failsafe. Maybe if your smart plug has current sensing you can check if the pump actually turned on? Otherwise you'd need to buy a level sensor (I think SparkFun has cheap capacitive liquid level sensors) and then somehow tie it back to HA.

edit: you could probably also wire the float switch separately as a physical input to something, rather than being inline with the pump. So you'd use it now as a hardwired shutoff, and once you find a way to wire a switch back to HA you can just use it in that capacity.

edit again: one caveat I just thought of... the style of float switch I linked above is assuming that the pump starts when it floats. So it's not necessarily designed to stay in the up position for extended periods of time. Worse, if you tether it such that it shuts the pump off when the water is low, it might end up staying submerged for most of its life. Not sure it's going to be happy about that...

Having it start on float is fine I believe. In this configuration I have the smart plug at the outlet, then an extension cord to the sump switch above and the pump powered from that. If the smart plug turns on at a specified time for 1 hr then the only way the pump comes on is if the sump switch is floating.

Given that the sump switch seems to just be a ball bearing rolling between contacts on the float but not on the hang, I doubt there would be much issue with it floating for a long time while largely unpowered. Any reason that would be a problem you can think of? Not seeing one myself on 1st glance.

# ? Jun 23, 2021 15:37

Binary Badger: Oct 11, 2005; Trolling Link for a decade

Welp, when Wyze decides it's got enough chips to upgrade the Wyze Cam Pan to the V3 camera technology (better night vision, clarity) I'm going to sell off/donate the Eufy version.

Why, you ask? Because the Eufy AI is mega retarded; it can't tell the difference between tree shadows and actual living people.

The end result is that I spend ten minutes doing nothing but deleting false positives daily on the Eufy and relying on the Wyze to actually tell me what the poo poo is going on.

Right now, the only edge that the Eufy has is that it takes better stills/video, but it needs work badly on its AI.

Wyze had a fallout with their third party AI vendor, and had recently switched to an in-house AI that they spent the better part of the pandemic tweaking.

At first it was super-stupid and recorded at the drop of a hat, but now it has become quite dependable / intelligent / reliable, much more so than Eufy, who appears to be trying to fix their AI but falling on their face repeatedly while doing it. The Eufy AI also can't seem to admit that sun glare is not a valid trigger, but the Wyze does just fine.

# ? Jun 23, 2021 15:45

DaveSauce: Feb 15, 2004; Oh, how awkward.

That Works posted:

Having it start on float is fine I believe. In this configuration I have the smart plug at the outlet, then an extension cord to the sump switch above and the pump powered from that. If the smart plug turns on at a specified time for 1 hr then the only way the pump comes on is if the sump switch is floating.

Given that the sump switch seems to just be a ball bearing rolling between contacts on the float but not on the hang, I doubt there would be much issue with it floating for a long time while largely unpowered. Any reason that would be a problem you can think of? Not seeing one myself on 1st glance.

I think the logic will work out in general. May not be what it's intended for, but it can be made to work. The float switch will be on all the time except when the level gets too low. Since the float switch isn't generally switching the load, it should last quite a while in that respect.

The issue I'm thinking of, however, is that the float will actually be submerged. Not just floating on the surface like it would in a sump, but in my head it'd need to be tethered low enough in the barrel where it's likely that it'll be fully under water for the majority of its life. I have no idea if they're designed to be submerged for long periods or not. It's one thing to be exposed to water or occasionally submerged, but it's another for that float to be just submerged continually and only dry when you run the barrel down.

That said, they're usually cheap enough where as long as it's a "every few years" replacement type thing then it's probably not as big of a deal.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Jun 23, 2021

# ? Jun 23, 2021 16:01

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

DaveSauce posted:

I think the logic will work out in general. May not be what it's intended for, but it can be made to work. The float switch will be on all the time except when the level gets too low. Since the float switch isn't generally switching the load, it should last quite a while in that respect.

The issue I'm thinking of, however, is that the float will actually be submerged. Not just floating on the surface like it would in a sump, but in my head it'd need to be tethered low enough in the barrel where it's likely that it'll be fully under water for the majority of its life. I have no idea if they're designed to be submerged for long periods or not. It's one thing to be exposed to water or occasionally submerged, but it's another for that float to be just submerged continually and only dry when you run the barrel down.

That said, they're usually cheap enough where as long as it's a "every few years" replacement type thing then it's probably not as big of a deal.

Yeah the float switch costs as much as the pump does so even if it only lasts 3-4yrs I don't feel too bad about it. We only run the whole system for about 4-5 months of the year anyway and the entire system is only powered 1h per day, so maybe only 120h of total powered time per year.

I didn't know these kind of float switches even existed so this helps a ton. I was trying to figure out how to construct some kind of sensor that was a lot dumber/complicated than this. Thanks.

That Works fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Jun 23, 2021

# ? Jun 23, 2021 17:14

MeKeV: Aug 10, 2010

I've never had much luck with the action: -delay automations for only having a switch on for a certain length of time.
On the other hand, despite the lack of activity in it's thread, this blueprint has been flawless for me for months now. https://community.home-assistant.io/t/switch-allowance/256624

I think all it actually does is just orders the delay in the automation slightly differently, so the blueprint might be easily omitted. Though I haven't looked at it too much.
Rather than [trigger at switch on -> wait time -> action off], I think it does [trigger when switch has been on for X time -> action Off]

# ? Jun 24, 2021 14:14

Gyshall: Feb 24, 2009; Had a couple of drinks.
Saw a couple of things.

What are you goons doing for smart buttons? I have a new home and just installed a Phyn water sensor under my main kitchen sink, which is great.

However, there is only one outlet under the sink and it is controlled by a switch (same one the disposal is on) - which is OK because it's a pain in the rear end for the switch to turn on the disposal (we have to bend down/open cabinets instead of it being on the wall).

I'd like to add a smart switch and a smart button to control it, something with high Wife Acceptance Factor would be great. I have a few Wyze and smart outlets but the button space looks interesting, to say the least.

Is flic good? I'm running Home Assistant and saw the integration, looks nice.

# ? Jun 26, 2021 14:20

WhiteHowler: Apr 3, 2001; I'M HUGE!

Gyshall posted:

What are you goons doing for smart buttons? I have a new home and just installed a Phyn water sensor under my main kitchen sink, which is great.

However, there is only one outlet under the sink and it is controlled by a switch (same one the disposal is on) - which is OK because it's a pain in the rear end for the switch to turn on the disposal (we have to bend down/open cabinets instead of it being on the wall).

I'd like to add a smart switch and a smart button to control it, something with high Wife Acceptance Factor would be great. I have a few Wyze and smart outlets but the button space looks interesting, to say the least.

Is flic good? I'm running Home Assistant and saw the integration, looks nice.

I've been using this Aqara button in places where I need a standalone smart button:

https://www.amazon.com/Aqara-WXKG11LM-Switch-Wireless-Remote/dp/B07D19YXND/

It has three control triggers: press, double-press, and long press -- so you could also have it control the kitchen lights or whatever.

Ignore what the description says about needing the Aqara hub; it's standard Zigbee and works fine with my third-party Zigbee/Z-wave USB stick.

# ? Jun 26, 2021 14:39

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

Gyshall posted:

However, there is only one outlet under the sink and it is controlled by a switch (same one the disposal is on) - which is OK because it's a pain in the rear end for the switch to turn on the disposal (we have to bend down/open cabinets instead of it being on the wall).

You should install a proper vacuum switch: https://www.homedepot.com/p/InSinkE...rc=ds&gclsrc=ds not battery powered home automation things.

# ? Jun 26, 2021 15:16

Murgos: Oct 21, 2010

Murgos posted:

Normally, I have the Eufy cameras just silently put notifications into the notification center (because 30 messages a day about my kids playing in the yard isn't where I am at) but I am going to be doing some travelling soon and want it to give me more forceful notifications while I am gone. I.e. banners and lock screen, maybe even a noise.

I see the homebase has an 'away' option, can I set that to change the notification style when I turn it on? Or, do I just need to do it manually thought the settings?

Turns out that without the kids and friends my alerts go from 50+ a day to just one when the Mail man comes so pretty manageable without any special notification settings.

# ? Jun 26, 2021 15:57

Gyshall: Feb 24, 2009; Had a couple of drinks.
Saw a couple of things.

Motronic posted:

You should install a proper vacuum switch: https://www.homedepot.com/p/InSinkE...rc=ds&gclsrc=ds not battery powered home automation things.

This would require me to drill into my counter, correct? Not thrilled but I'll check with the wife.

Thanks.

# ? Jun 26, 2021 16:01

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

Gyshall posted:

This would require me to drill into my counter, correct? Not thrilled but I'll check with the wife.

Thanks.

Depends on what you have - I went from a single hole faucet with a hole for a sprayer and a hole for a soap dispenser to a single hole faucet with a pull down sprayer, so I had an extra hole there. I've seen some sinks/counters where there are spare holes plugged, etc.

Bottom line, disposals should be on vac switches or similar for safety reasons, but accomplishing this in a way that requires your home automation to be running and batteries to be charged just to use it is solving the problem the wrong way in my opinion.

# ? Jun 26, 2021 16:06

FISHMANPET: Mar 3, 2007; Sweet 'N Sour
Can't
Melt
Steel Beams

What benefit does that provide over a regular switch? I assumed you had to hold the button to run the disposal but reading the comments it appears it's a "toggle" similar to a normal light switch.

# ? Jun 26, 2021 16:42

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

FISHMANPET posted:

What benefit does that provide over a regular switch? I assumed you had to hold the button to run the disposal but reading the comments it appears it's a "toggle" similar to a normal light switch.

The benefit it it's electrically non-conductive. And yes, they're toggles.

# ? Jun 26, 2021 16:52

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# ? May 11, 2024 18:34

smackfu: Jun 7, 2004

We have one of those keypads next to our garage door that lets you open it without a remote. I would love to have one that worked like a smart lock and I could just hold my phone up to it to unlock.

This doesn�t exist right?

# ? Jun 27, 2021 13:52

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Home Automation and Security Systems

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