Home Automation and Security Systems

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

Wanderless: Apr 30, 2009

Are the Caseta switches the ones that you can have the buttons on the front decoupled from the switch? I remember talk about something that supported it, but my search fu is weak.

I�m finally getting ready to make the switch from my SmartThings setup to Home Assistant and there are a few automations I�d love to be able to do to fix the baffling switch layout in my house at that point.

# ? Mar 18, 2022 05:35

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# ? May 22, 2024 14:38

Henrik Zetterberg: Dec 7, 2007

Now that I have some ceiling fans on Caseta controls, is there a HomeKit-compatible temperature sensor I can use to say �if temp > x� then turn fan on� in the home app? Or would I need something like HA for that?

# ? Mar 18, 2022 06:48

Thwomp: Apr 10, 2003; BA-DUHHH; Grimey Drawer

Both ecobee�s sensors and Hue�s motion detector (which has a temp sensor) (so any HomeKit capable temp sensor) can be used to create an Automation in the Home app like that.

# ? Mar 18, 2022 14:54

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

I'm moving into my first owned condo in about a month. I've never really paid a lot of attention to smart home stuff because I was living in a 1960s built rented apartment and I didn't even have thermostat control in my own unit. I do heavily use 6-8 smart plugs (like the ones that sit between the device's power cord and the wall outlet) but that's about it.

Are smart home things worthwhile? My place was renovated in 2015 and is pretty modern as far as condos go in my area but nothing 'smart' was built in. I wouldn't need any security stuff or automation really but this is as far as I can tell also the smart home thread. I've heard of nest thermostats which I think aren't even around anymore, not sure if that world is worth hopping into.

I guess I'm not really sure what I'm asking besides to try to figure out if there are certain ecosystems of products in this space that are huge goon favorites that I would benefit by installing and getting used to from the beginning and not trying to shoehorn into my daily life in a few years.

# ? Mar 20, 2022 13:39

FCKGW: May 21, 2006

Gyshall posted:

Can someone ELI5 these for me? They look super nifty, do I understand correctly that I'd cut whatever length of wire is bulk and could couple the Caseta switches with these? I'm not sure I understand exactly.

They just replace standard wire nuts for connecting wire together. The benefit of the Wagos is that, for cramped boxes, they allow the wire to be spread out a bit and make a flatter junction which makes cramming the larger smart switches in much easier.

Since they're quick connect it's also a lot easier for switching wire out in the future. I swapped 5 ceiling fan switches with fat smart ones and rewired all those boxes with Wagos as I went, much easier to work with with limited space.

# ? Mar 20, 2022 14:50

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

VelociBacon posted:

Are smart home things worthwhile?

While there are some practical applications, most of us got into home automation/smart home gear because it's "neat".

A smart thermostat can save you some money. Remote-readable door, gate, and moisture sensors can give you peace of mind while you're away from home.

But honestly, I think most of us do this because we like playing with the pretty lights. It's fun to be able to give Google a voice command to set all of my house's lights and security system to "bedtime mode", but is it appreciably improving my life? Not really. It's just... cool.

If you're looking for a cost-benefit analysis, then no, I don't think home automation is "worth it" for most people. If you want a fun, nerdy project that will very make certain specific things marginally easier, and impress your friends when they come over, then yeah, :getin:

Regarding your question about environments, it depends on how much power and integration you need, and whether you're in the Android or iOS ecosystem. For maximum flexibility and compatibility, go with Home Assistant and Zigbee and/or Zwave devices. It can be a real pain to set up initially, but it's infinitely expandable and integrates with most modern devices. If you only want to dabble and don't care about unifying everything into one dashboard, you can just piece together components that will work with your mobile OS of choice. Hue bulbs and switches, a Ring doorbell/camera, and a smart thermostat (yes, Nest still exists)? Most things should work with your iPhone or Android device out of the box; they just won't be integrated into a central system.

I'll mention that a new unified standard called Matter is -- theoretically -- coming in late 2022, and it's supported by all of the major tech companies. But widespread availability of compatible devices will lag months or years after that, so if you're getting set up soon, I wouldn't wait. Your old stuff will still work even after Matter is here.

# ? Mar 20, 2022 14:53

fletcher: Jun 27, 2003; ken park is my favorite movie; Cybernetic Crumb

VelociBacon posted:

I'm moving into my first owned condo in about a month. I've never really paid a lot of attention to smart home stuff because I was living in a 1960s built rented apartment and I didn't even have thermostat control in my own unit. I do heavily use 6-8 smart plugs (like the ones that sit between the device's power cord and the wall outlet) but that's about it.

Are smart home things worthwhile? My place was renovated in 2015 and is pretty modern as far as condos go in my area but nothing 'smart' was built in. I wouldn't need any security stuff or automation really but this is as far as I can tell also the smart home thread. I've heard of nest thermostats which I think aren't even around anymore, not sure if that world is worth hopping into.

I guess I'm not really sure what I'm asking besides to try to figure out if there are certain ecosystems of products in this space that are huge goon favorites that I would benefit by installing and getting used to from the beginning and not trying to shoehorn into my daily life in a few years.

Smart home devices are not must haves but it's one of those things that once you get used to having it's pretty drat convenient. Doors automatically unlocking when you come home, "Alexa open the garage door" while you are tying your shoes, voice control of every single light switch and ceiling fan and even the gas fireplace, and then adding automation with Home Assistant like turning on certain lights if the garage door opens after the sun goes down. Those are some of my most used ones at least. Next I want to do smart smoke alarms. Nest thermostats are very much a thing still as well. So I'd say it's worthwhile overall. I started out with a couple outlets like you have and things snowballed from there, now there's like 100 devices on my wifi network.

WhiteHowler posted:

But honestly, I think most of us do this because we like playing with the pretty lights. It's fun to be able to give Google a voice command to set all of my house's lights and security system to "bedtime mode", but is it appreciably improving my life? Not really. It's just... cool.

If you're looking for a cost-benefit analysis, then no, I don't think home automation is "worth it" for most people. If you want a fun, nerdy project that will very make certain specific things marginally easier, and impress your friends when they come over, then yeah,

These are definitely relevant aspects for me as well

fletcher fucked around with this message at 15:02 on Mar 20, 2022

# ? Mar 20, 2022 15:00

FCKGW: May 21, 2006

I will say the one that thing that has been absolutely "worth it" for me is the Ecobee thermostat with remote sensors. I put one in all the bedrooms and main living rooms. It gives me more precise control over the A/C during the day and when sleeping at night. I can tell the thermostat to only take the temps of the bedrooms and ignore the other rooms and not to bother cooling as long as it's comfortable where we sleep.

# ? Mar 20, 2022 15:05

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

FCKGW posted:

I will say the one that thing that has been absolutely "worth it" for me is the Ecobee thermostat with remote sensors. I put one in all the bedrooms and main living rooms. It gives me more precise control over the A/C during the day and when sleeping at night. I can tell the thermostat to only take the temps of the bedrooms and ignore the other rooms and not to bother cooling as long as it's comfortable where we sleep.

How hard was the Ecobee to install and set up? Do you have it integrated with any other HA stuff?

My upstairs (dumb) thermostat is on its last legs -- the button contacts wore away so it's difficult or impossible to turn the temperature up or down. It's also enormous, so when I remove it I think there's going to be a giant hole in the wall that these tiny smart thermostats won't be able to cover. Dreading that.

# ? Mar 20, 2022 15:32

skipdogg: Nov 29, 2004; Resident SRT-4 Expert

VelociBacon posted:

I guess I'm not really sure what I'm asking besides to try to figure out if there are certain ecosystems of products in this space that are huge goon favorites that I would benefit by installing and getting used to from the beginning and not trying to shoehorn into my daily life in a few years.

I have a total mismash of various smart home stuff from a bunch of different vendors, and use Amazon Alexa to control it all. I have a few things on Z-Wave via Samsung SmartThings (GE light switches, and an outdoor switch), Wifi switches and outlets (Tp-link, WeMO), a Bond for IR/RF only things (led strip, ceiling fans), and all the other Wifi/smart home stuff (TV, soundbar, garage opener, alarm panel, etc) and Alexa fronts it all. I'm sure other peoples setups are much cleaner and better put together, but ultimately what I have works for what I want. I have 2 Ecobee's as well, but we never change the temperature unless we're on vacation, so I use them for the remote sensors mostly.

I have a bunch of routines setup in Alexa and they make life easier (read: I don't have to get off the couch or handle a dozen remote controls or go to a dozen apps in my phone).

I've had no issues with any of the smart home stuff I've bought. Even the cheap 5 dollar wifi walmart light bulbs work fine. I just front all of it with Amazon Alexa and don't really think about it after that.

WhiteHowler posted:

How hard was the Ecobee to install and set up? Do you have it integrated with any other HA stuff?

My upstairs (dumb) thermostat is on its last legs -- the button contacts wore away so it's difficult or impossible to turn the temperature up or down. It's also enormous, so when I remove it I think there's going to be a giant hole in the wall that these tiny smart thermostats won't be able to cover. Dreading that.

The Ecobee installs like any other thermostat, the only thing that might be different is if you don't have a c-wire you have to use the power extender kit that comes with it. The ecobee also comes with a trim plate that can help cover larger holes if needed.

skipdogg fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Mar 20, 2022

# ? Mar 20, 2022 17:15

Endymion FRS MK1: Oct 29, 2011; I don't know what this thing is, and I don't care. I'm just tired of seeing your stupid newbie av from 2011.

skipdogg posted:

The Ecobee installs like any other thermostat, the only thing that might be different is if you don't have a c-wire you have to use the power extender kit that comes with it. The ecobee also comes with a trim plate that can help cover larger holes if needed.

Is that power extender required? I was thinking about replacing my Nest with an Ecobee at some point as I�m gradually moving from Google to HomeKit and I don�t have a c-wire. My Nest has worked flawlessly without it

# ? Mar 20, 2022 17:40

Dark Knight: Dec 13, 2008

Wanderless posted:

Are the Caseta switches the ones that you can have the buttons on the front decoupled from the switch? I remember talk about something that supported it, but my search fu is weak.

I’m finally getting ready to make the switch from my SmartThings setup to Home Assistant and there are a few automations I’d love to be able to do to fix the baffling switch layout in my house at that point.

Inovelli was the big one to allow decoupling buttons from what the switch is doing, however you can't buy them right now due to supply chain constraints. Some new Zooz switches can do it too.

Caseta is widely praised due to their reliability but I find the physical design pretty dated and many newer brands of switches are just as reliable and much more customizable.

# ? Mar 20, 2022 17:40

FCKGW: May 21, 2006

WhiteHowler posted:

How hard was the Ecobee to install and set up? Do you have it integrated with any other HA stuff?

My upstairs (dumb) thermostat is on its last legs -- the button contacts wore away so it's difficult or impossible to turn the temperature up or down. It's also enormous, so when I remove it I think there's going to be a giant hole in the wall that these tiny smart thermostats won't be able to cover. Dreading that.

Wasn't harder to install than any other thermostat. The remote sensors use their own communication protocol so once they're powered on they get a popup on the thermostat to pair and you're done. The physical thermostat and the app UI are the same so that's nice for remembering where certain functions are.

I haven't done any HA stuff yet but I just got smart switches in for my ceiling fan so the plan is to have the temp sensors control when to turn them on and off.

# ? Mar 20, 2022 18:11

Three Olives: Apr 10, 2005; Don't forget Hitler's contributions to medicine.

Dark Knight posted:

Inovelli was the big one to allow decoupling buttons from what the switch is doing, however you can't buy them right now due to supply chain constraints. Some new Zooz switches can do it too.

Caseta is widely praised due to their reliability but I find the physical design pretty dated and many newer brands of switches are just as reliable and much more customizable.

Caseta is widely praised because they are really the only option if you don't have a neutral wire. C has a no neutral model , but I ended up spending hundreds of dollars installing and then ripping them out because of reliability issues.

WhiteHowler posted:

While there are some practical applications, most of us got into home automation/smart home gear because it's "neat".

Disagree, I find it incredibly practical, but I think it depends on how you use your home and how far you lean into it. Half-assing it is going to be a poor experience, however, we literally have every device within reason connected down to our water fountains and fans, so setting a "scene" means controlling upwards of 20 devices. When I want to dim the lights in the house for a peaceful evening, I don't want to adjust the dimmers on 20 lights one at a time.

But again, lean in, we have 8 smart displays and another 4 smart speakers, just saying "Three Olive's Bedtime" means controlling around 15 light switches and 3 fans.

Three Olives fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Mar 20, 2022

# ? Mar 20, 2022 20:49

Hed: Mar 31, 2004; Fun Shoe

I need help understanding a HomeAssistant automations concept or knowing what to search for.

I have one automation called "entry door opening" that sends an alert when an exterior door is opening. I set the triggers for the automation to be any one of our 4 entry doors moving to open state. But, I quickly run into a logic flaw the way I'm implementing. I have IF statements that check which one is in the on state to configure the message... but if one of the earlier doors in the check is open then it will give a message! For example, if the kitchen sliding door is already open because the weather is nice, if I open the basement sliding door for any reason I'll get a message that the kitchen is open.

Is there any way to reference the triggering event? Alternatively I could break this out into 4 separate automations, but I figure there's got to be a better way than that.

code:

alias: 'Notify: Entry Door Opening'
description: ''
trigger:
  - type: opened
    platform: device
    device_id: a87465729c1544df26614779104d175e
    entity_id: binary_sensor.lumi_lumi_sensor_magnet_aq2_7afee507_on_off
    domain: binary_sensor
  - type: opened
    platform: device
    device_id: f2e6d41cebd301ef4e75ee83555267f9
    entity_id: binary_sensor.lumi_lumi_sensor_magnet_aq2_on_off
    domain: binary_sensor
  - type: opened
    platform: device
    device_id: 32c6192a28ef80fd5f7ff150cc713017
    entity_id: binary_sensor.lumi_lumi_sensor_magnet_aq2_8628ed07_on_off
    domain: binary_sensor
  - type: opened
    platform: device
    device_id: 44db5732d8aeb03add6450215a31d40a
    entity_id: binary_sensor.lumi_lumi_sensor_magnet_aq2_5418ed07_on_off
    domain: binary_sensor
condition: []
action:
  - service: notify.notify
    data:
      message: >-
        The{% if
        is_state('binary_sensor.lumi_lumi_sensor_magnet_aq2_7afee507_on_off',
        'on') %} Front Door {% elif
        is_state('binary_sensor.lumi_lumi_sensor_magnet_aq2_on_off', 'on') %}
        Garage Entry Door {% elif
        is_state('binary_sensor.lumi_lumi_sensor_magnet_aq2_8628ed07_on_off',
        'on') %} Kitchen Sliding Door {% elif
        is_state('binary_sensor.lumi_lumi_sensor_magnet_aq2_5418ed07_on_off',
        'on') %} Basement Sliding Door {% else %} Unknown Door {% endif %}is
        open!
      title: Exterior Door Opened
mode: single

# ? Mar 22, 2022 01:10

Kalman: Jan 17, 2010

I think you�re looking for the trigger event variables. https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/automation/templating/

# ? Mar 22, 2022 01:20

KS: Jun 10, 2003; Outrageous Lumpwad

KS posted:

Leviton just refreshed their line too, they're not even in stores yet but orderable direct. I have a bunch on the way: 6 dimmers, 1 dimmer remote, 13 switches, 4 switch remotes.

Long overdue trip report on the Decora Smart Gen 2 line: they suck. Do not buy them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUZDHsGUSuQ

# ? Mar 22, 2022 03:59

Henrik Zetterberg: Dec 7, 2007

I�ve got some outdoor Sonance speakers above my pool outside, connected via a Sonos Amp. I see Lutron makes a Sonos audio control, but it mentions nothing of being able to be used outside, which I assume it�s not water resistant whatsoever. Is there any Lutron audio control switch that is? Or any other brand that can control Sonos devices? It�s pretty annoying having to keep a phone by the pool if I want to change volume or play/pause.

# ? Mar 22, 2022 04:13

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

Anyone know where to find a good guide to VLANs for home automation stuff?

It's something I have a vague awareness of but have yet to implement. What I guess I don't know is what a good strategy, and what I need to be aware of ahead of time in order to make sure I don't disable a device that relies on cloud connections or something.

Google is somewhat helpful, but there are tons of videos... videos are great sometimes, but I just want to read something and maybe some pictures/diagrams would be nice. I don't need to hear someone narrate for 20 minutes something that I can read in 5.

# ? Mar 25, 2022 16:59

Endymion FRS MK1: Oct 29, 2011; I don't know what this thing is, and I don't care. I'm just tired of seeing your stupid newbie av from 2011.

I�m in the process of moving from Google Home to HomeKit. I have a Nest thermostat and want to get something native to HomeKit. My two current options are the Ecobee3 Lite and the Emerson Sensi Touch. I normally do not use schedules. Really the only �smart� feature I use is presence detection. Do either of these support detecting when I�m away from the home to adjust up or down? Which one would you recommend?

# ? Mar 25, 2022 19:18

Senturion: Jul 29, 2013

Three Olives posted:

Caseta is widely praised because they are really the only option if you don't have a neutral wire. C has a no neutral model , but I ended up spending hundreds of dollars installing and then ripping them out because of reliability issues.

Just FYI, Inovelli's dimmers and their upcoming 2-in-1 switch support non-neutral setups also. Like Dark Knight said though, they had their inventory bought out and supply constraints mean they don't have ETAs for getting more in-stock due to lead times going through the roof. Best bet would be their new switch when it gets released.

# ? Mar 26, 2022 15:36

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

Is there any benefit to the Nest thermostats if you live with other people? 3 of us (2 adults) in an apartment, we work from home so there won't be any "turn my heat on when I come home" stuff.

# ? Mar 26, 2022 19:06

Hed: Mar 31, 2004; Fun Shoe

Kalman posted:

I think you�re looking for the trigger event variables. https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/automation/templating/

Thank you! I got it down to one line now.

# ? Mar 26, 2022 19:59

Three Olives: Apr 10, 2005; Don't forget Hitler's contributions to medicine.

VelociBacon posted:

Is there any benefit to the Nest thermostats if you live with other people? 3 of us (2 adults) in an apartment, we work from home so there won't be any "turn my heat on when I come home" stuff.

It's pretty and I love that it can be set to both heat and cool automatically. We live in north Texas so it is not uncommon that we will have to heat the house at night and cool it during the day.

Honestly, it just looks really nice in the hallway, oh, and basically everything of any significance, down to the water fountains, are integrated into Google Home and our 8 Google touch screen displays, so it's nice that it is natively integrated into that.

# ? Mar 27, 2022 02:40

Hed: Mar 31, 2004; Fun Shoe

Does anyone have hue lights but on their HomeAssistant only?

I have HA with both a ZigBee stick and the hue hub integrations but hue got a new Terms of Service and it�s a good inflection point.

I�m not sure what I would lose going to full HA. Automations are easy to migrate but not sure scene selection� I rarely change color except for gimmicks like red and green lamps for Christmas. Would doing that through Apple HomeKit selection or HA itself be that difficult? The rest of the time I just modify brightness.

# ? Mar 27, 2022 15:05

Gerdalti: May 24, 2003; SPOON!

I have some hue stuff and have dropped the bridge completely. It works fine with HASS.
You don't get the premade scenes from hue, but oh well.

# ? Mar 27, 2022 15:13

Cornjob: Jun 12, 2007; NOT AN ACTOR

VelociBacon posted:

I'm moving into my first owned condo in about a month. I've never really paid a lot of attention to smart home stuff because I was living in a 1960s built rented apartment and I didn't even have thermostat control in my own unit. I do heavily use 6-8 smart plugs (like the ones that sit between the device's power cord and the wall outlet) but that's about it.

Are smart home things worthwhile? My place was renovated in 2015 and is pretty modern as far as condos go in my area but nothing 'smart' was built in. I wouldn't need any security stuff or automation really but this is as far as I can tell also the smart home thread. I've heard of nest thermostats which I think aren't even around anymore, not sure if that world is worth hopping into.

I guess I'm not really sure what I'm asking besides to try to figure out if there are certain ecosystems of products in this space that are huge goon favorites that I would benefit by installing and getting used to from the beginning and not trying to shoehorn into my daily life in a few years.

In my case i have a 44 year old house that needed new switches and outlets, as many of the existing ones were original and very worn. The cost to put in smart switches was about $10-12 per switch, as opposed to about $5-7 for regular decora. Switches in my house was very wierd, due to a 20 year old remodel, and i had multiple switch locations for multiple rooms. I tried a few different brands and found that Kasa gave me what i wanted, for the most reasonable price. Can now turn on all the kitchen lights with one switch if needed.

Programming one switch to group multiple switches together, multiple presets, homekit and alexa integration, and a nice tactile feel.

It also has the ability to control the fade/on off times, which is seems like a silly feature to care about, but its really nice.

# ? Mar 27, 2022 21:41

Mercurius: May 4, 2004; Amp it up.

Hed posted:

Does anyone have hue lights but on their HomeAssistant only?

I have HA with both a ZigBee stick and the hue hub integrations but hue got a new Terms of Service and it�s a good inflection point.

I�m not sure what I would lose going to full HA. Automations are easy to migrate but not sure scene selection� I rarely change color except for gimmicks like red and green lamps for Christmas. Would doing that through Apple HomeKit selection or HA itself be that difficult? The rest of the time I just modify brightness.

I�ve got mostly Hue lights that I use almost entirely through HomeKit (although I�m using the Hue bridge rather than HA with a ZigBee stick) and they work fine. They support all the normal stuff that HomeKit lights do so the only things I use the Hue stuff for is a few specialised scenes off HueLabs.

# ? Mar 27, 2022 21:49

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

Three Olives posted:

It's pretty and I love that it can be set to both heat and cool automatically. We live in north Texas so it is not uncommon that we will have to heat the house at night and cool it during the day.

Honestly, it just looks really nice in the hallway, oh, and basically everything of any significance, down to the water fountains, are integrated into Google Home and our 8 Google touch screen displays, so it's nice that it is natively integrated into that.

Cornjob posted:

In my case i have a 44 year old house that needed new switches and outlets, as many of the existing ones were original and very worn. The cost to put in smart switches was about $10-12 per switch, as opposed to about $5-7 for regular decora. Switches in my house was very wierd, due to a 20 year old remodel, and i had multiple switch locations for multiple rooms. I tried a few different brands and found that Kasa gave me what i wanted, for the most reasonable price. Can now turn on all the kitchen lights with one switch if needed.

Programming one switch to group multiple switches together, multiple presets, homekit and alexa integration, and a nice tactile feel.

It also has the ability to control the fade/on off times, which is seems like a silly feature to care about, but its really nice.

Thanks to both of you. I'll probably get the Nest thermostats but there are like 3 thermostats (for electric baseboard heaters) plus a switch for a fireplace, plus also one or two of those humidity-controlled switches for bathroom fans (you set a relative humidity you want and it runs the fan until the humidity drops to that level).

Any cool smart home stuff for those humidity ...switches? Or the fireplace (just a normal switch I guess)?

Does phillips hue stuff talk to Google Home?

# ? Mar 27, 2022 23:29

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

VelociBacon posted:

Thanks to both of you. I'll probably get the Nest thermostats but there are like 3 thermostats (for electric baseboard heaters) plus a switch for a fireplace, plus also one or two of those humidity-controlled switches for bathroom fans (you set a relative humidity you want and it runs the fan until the humidity drops to that level).

Any cool smart home stuff for those humidity ...switches? Or the fireplace (just a normal switch I guess)?

Does phillips hue stuff talk to Google Home?

Electric baseboard is gonna be a whole other thing, and nest isn't gonna do it, at least not on its own.

Fireplace should be a standard 120v light switch, that's easy enough.

And really really think about why you want to do something with a perfect standalone already-automated thing like a humidity controlled bathroom fan. Ask yourself how you will make this better. And if you come up with some way to do that ask if you can make it nearly as trouble free and reliable as that simple thing that is already there.

# ? Mar 27, 2022 23:33

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

Motronic posted:

Electric baseboard is gonna be a whole other thing, and nest isn't gonna do it, at least not on its own.

Fireplace should be a standard 120v light switch, that's easy enough.

And really really think about why you want to do something with a perfect standalone already-automated thing like a humidity controlled bathroom fan. Ask yourself how you will make this better. And if you come up with some way to do that ask if you can make it nearly as trouble free and reliable as that simple thing that is already there.

Why can't a Nest do an electric baseboard? It's just "if the temp at this device gets below [x] turn the heat on"?

And yeah fair enough about the humidity thing. I haven't moved in yet so I dunno how well it works but I just figured if I'm stepping slightly into this it makes sense to have everything/as much as possible on it.

e: Forgot to mention the humidity switching thing is a really ugly original to 1999 yellowed plastic thing on the wall so I'd like to replace it if only for that reason. This is going to be a place I live for probably the rest of my life.

VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Mar 28, 2022

# ? Mar 27, 2022 23:58

Hed: Mar 31, 2004; Fun Shoe

I really like this for electric baseboard heat.

https://shop-us.getmysa.com/products/mysa-baseboard

# ? Mar 28, 2022 00:04

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

Hed posted:

I really like this for electric baseboard heat.

https://shop-us.getmysa.com/products/mysa-baseboard

Thanks, what do you like about it compared to the Nest?

e: or is it just the fact that it's like 1/2 the price and electric baseboards have multiple thermostats per home?

VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Mar 28, 2022

# ? Mar 28, 2022 00:07

RIP Paul Walker: Feb 26, 2004

VelociBacon posted:

Thanks, what do you like about it compared to the Nest?

e: or is it just the fact that it's like 1/2 the price and electric baseboards have multiple thermostats per home?

Nest (and most other thermostats) can�t control line-level voltages that baseboard heater thermostats control. Regular thermostats use low-amp low-voltage signals to control relays and poo poo that your HVAC unit contains.

# ? Mar 28, 2022 00:19

SpaceCadetBob: Dec 27, 2012

RIP Paul Walker posted:

Nest (and most other thermostats) can�t control line-level voltages that baseboard heater thermostats control. Regular thermostats use low-amp low-voltage signals to control relays and poo poo that your HVAC unit contains.

This. A electric baseboard thermostat is just a light switch with a thermometer attached. The full current that heats the baseboard up has to travel through the thermostat, and thats just now how nest, ecobee, and similar models work.

Pretty cool to see there even is a smart device for this application at all. I had no idea they even existed.

# ? Mar 28, 2022 00:24

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

SpaceCadetBob posted:

This. A electric baseboard thermostat is just a light switch with a thermometer attached. The full current that heats the baseboard up has to travel through the thermostat, and thats just now how nest, ecobee, and similar models work.

Pretty cool to see there even is a smart device for this application at all. I had no idea they even existed.

RIP Paul Walker posted:

Nest (and most other thermostats) can�t control line-level voltages that baseboard heater thermostats control. Regular thermostats use low-amp low-voltage signals to control relays and poo poo that your HVAC unit contains.

Thank you both. That makes sense and it's absolutely wild to me that they don't have it behind a relay still. I guess there's a relay in the switch itself that's controlled by the movement of mercury or something in the original thermostats.

# ? Mar 28, 2022 00:28

Kalman: Jan 17, 2010

VelociBacon posted:

Why can't a Nest do an electric baseboard? It's just "if the temp at this device gets below [x] turn the heat on"?

And yeah fair enough about the humidity thing. I haven't moved in yet so I dunno how well it works but I just figured if I'm stepping slightly into this it makes sense to have everything/as much as possible on it.

e: Forgot to mention the humidity switching thing is a really ugly original to 1999 yellowed plastic thing on the wall so I'd like to replace it if only for that reason. This is going to be a place I live for probably the rest of my life.

Electric baseboards are typically controlled by line voltage (120/240V); ordinary gas furnaces or hot water radiant heaters are controlled by low voltage (24V) control.

Nest doesn't support 120/240V control.

# ? Mar 28, 2022 00:51

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

SpaceCadetBob posted:

This. A electric baseboard thermostat is just a light switch with a thermometer attached.

It's more/worse than that. Baseboard electric heat is usually 240v so it's not a "regular" light switch that could handle it. You need a 2 pole switch. With a thermostat.

You can absolutely make a nest do this (and I have) with a 24VAC transformer and a contactor. It's not something I'm going to suggest here. In my case I was controlling a circulator pump for radiant heat but it's exactly the same concept.

VelociBacon posted:

e: Forgot to mention the humidity switching thing is a really ugly original to 1999 yellowed plastic thing on the wall so I'd like to replace it if only for that reason. This is going to be a place I live for probably the rest of my life.

Replace it with something modern and self contained. I simply can't think of any reason your fan switch needs to be smarter than "humidity good enough to not rot our my drywall? I'll turn off now."

I don't even have that in my bathrooms. I have these: https://store.leviton.com/collectio...ant=18215996547

Motronic fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Mar 28, 2022

# ? Mar 28, 2022 00:53

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

Motronic posted:

It's more/worse than that. Baseboard electric heat is usually 240v so it's not a "regular" light switch that could handle it. You need a 2 pole switch. With a thermostat.

You can absolutely make a nest do this (and I have) with a 24VAC transformer and a contactor. It's not something I'm going to suggest here. In my case I was controlling a circulator pump for radiant heat but it's exactly the same concept.

Replace it with something modern and self contained. I simply can't think of any reason your fan switch needs to be smarter than "humidity good enough to not rot our my drywall? I'll turn off now."

I don't even have that in my bathrooms. I have these: https://store.leviton.com/collectio...ant=18215996547

Thanks, and thanks re: the plumbing in the other thread.

The things aren't even IN the bathrooms, they're like in the hallway outside the bathroom so I don't know for sure but I assume it's sensing the humidity in the hallway right outside the bathroom and not the bathroom itself. As you mentioned it's just to protect the structure.

# ? Mar 28, 2022 03:50

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# ? May 22, 2024 14:38

Three Olives: Apr 10, 2005; Don't forget Hitler's contributions to medicine.

Actually, the Nest can support baseboard heat:

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9256498?hl=en-GB

Only in Europe though.

# ? Mar 28, 2022 20:51

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