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If you're looking for temp readings away from your thermostat why not get an ecobee 3?
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Jun 26, 2016 23:02
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My apartment is so old I think I need to call an electrician to confirm neutral wire and that the grounding at the junction box is adequate.
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Jun 30, 2016 05:48
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Three Olives posted:So after thinking about it for years I decided to start automating my house so I purchased two Wink relays because it looks like they work well with Amazon, Nest, ITTT, Harmony and have added support for Fitbit and Uber. It looks like a great product. Plus for $75 each it also works as a smart switch so you are basically only paying $45 over a name brand ZWave switch anyways. I've started toying with the home automation stuff, bought the Hue lights on sale because they look cool and tie into Alexa which already is tied into my Harmony, Sonos and Ecobee3 thermostat. I've realized I needed to stop and plan everything a lot more because the IoT is an absolute loving mess beyond this. What's your goal? How big is your place, what are you tying in? Surveillance, garage door control, pool control, sprinklers, security/deadbolt, lights, sound, motion sensors, window sensors, drape control, etc? Does Alexa support interest you at all? Does your wiring have a neutral wire in your wall, so you can run things like dimmers, etc. Are you planning on running complex scripts? What I've always heard about the Wink system is that the compatibility is mixed and the advanced features are lacking. Z-wave especially. But its' cool because you can stroll down to Home Depot and just pick up poo poo vs having to order online. Bulbs are useful in a few situations -- when a light is not controlled by a switch on a wall (I have a ton of these lamps in my house) or in situations where a neutral wire isn't present which limits the ability to install dimmer switches. Cheap bulbs are cool but they're cheap -- sometimes the dimming isn't as effective and if you want any sort of color temperature (or color) control you're going to have to control that at the bulb level. You can do some really cool things with things with detailed customization at the bulb level but you're basically right. Replacing and programming switches makes usability a lot better. A guest or significant other isn't going to go to an app to adjust poo poo, they're going to go to the wall because that's where lights are controlled. I have no idea what you're basing your "seems a tad excessive" on other than hopes and dreams, which don't seem to match reality. I haven't seen many sales at Home Depot but you can use 10% off coupon on a few of these switches. $30 for a z-wave dimmer at Home Depot seems right to me. My plans won't mesh with yours due to you being far more price motivated than I am but I'd be more than willing to share my work in progress plan for my apartment if it'd be useful. I was planning on an effort post into this thread once it's fleshed out a bit more. sellouts fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Jul 17, 2016 |
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Jul 17, 2016 18:58
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Yeah it sounds good for your usage then So of the 9 dimmers to control the open floor plan living room lighting, 2 of them will be Wink Relays and the rest will be z-wave dimmers to control those individual lights if wanted? For me, I'm not into having touch screens attached to walls. I am afraid that the interface would become slow and guests/wife wouldn't scroll through the options. I'm looking at 8 panel switches from Insteon to control various scenes/lighting and then individual dimmer switches that make sense and off/on switches for lighting that I can't move to LED. Would love to hear how it works out for you!
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Jul 17, 2016 23:07
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Why are you calling an uber from your wall or am I misunderstanding something Also at that cost you could get indigo domotics pro, USB modems, a slew of insteon dimmers and 6/8 button scene controllers to cover your numerous switches and go to loving town doing whatever you want. sellouts fucked around with this message at 08:36 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jul 22, 2016 08:34
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I just went crazy and replaced like half the switches in my house with insteon dimmer switches and keypads with indigo domotics running it all. God drat it's cool and if I ever figure it out I should do an effort post.
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Aug 4, 2016 08:12
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....but you have to have your phone on you to call the uber back to your house, so why not just use that vs hovering around a wall watching a display? You're describing the use case for home automation, I get it. Hue does the location sensing for the lights, nothing is unique. If there are no limitations within the set up you chose for your needs then awesome. But you mentioned immediately that you were disappointed. My point was that for that much there are other solutions, just not ones that will let you call uber from a wall.
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Aug 4, 2016 19:55
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Guitarchitect posted:So, I'm looking at some home automation stuff again... it seems like the following are good options: I'm in the middle of a lot of this and you should probably plan out a bit more exactly what you want to make sure it's all covered and that it does it well. If you're looking at interfacing with a bunch of standards, Indigo Domotics is a piece of software that'll let you use Z-wave, Insteon, X-10 and a bunch of poo poo via plugins like Ecobee, Sonos, Harmony, Philips Hue, etc. I've been really happy with it but it requires a ton of setup. I've wired my switches 2 weeks ago and I'm still programming aspects of them (largely because I'm trying to use the Hue lights due to liking them the most and I went a bit overkill on the 6 and 8 button controllers) How are you handling the physical switches or are these lights exclusively ones that you don't ever want to control? I chose Insteon for a few reasons, switches and their reliability even with the hub being down being one big reason.
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Aug 8, 2016 07:17
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You can get them both working with the software I mentioned, I am almost sure of it. I shouldn't really scare you. The software comes with a 30 day free trial. Getting outside lights on a schedule was a 2 minute thing. I just have complexity dealing with the hue color bulbs and wanting them to do very specific things for a variety of conditions. sellouts fucked around with this message at 08:07 on Aug 9, 2016 |
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Aug 9, 2016 07:20
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Full disclaimer: I am relatively new to this and have programmed the lights in 2 of the 5 rooms. So someone may snipe in and tell me I'm wrong. But this is what I've found along with talking with a smart home installer who pulled some wire for me. You'll either need new physical switches or you'll need to never use the power switches on the wall and the bulbs need to be wifi enabled. Power has to be kept on so the lightbulb can respond to turn on or the switch must be smart to be able to be remote controlled on and off the actual power load. How many switches control these lights? Do you have a neutral wire at all of the switches for this light? Most new switches require one. A third option is that you could inline a dimmer between the light and the switch. Not sure you'll want to do that with a rental.
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Aug 11, 2016 16:42
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Boris Galerkin posted:The hallway I'm talking about has one switch controlling one light. I need a physical switch because I don't ever want this to happen: Sorry. I am confused. What does motion detector have to do with the light switch? Why would you ever want to cut power to a motion detector? An insteon switch can be programmed to do whatever. But to control the light you either need to control it via the load (power) or via wifi (requires bulb to have constant power.) The controller isn't controlling a dumb bulb directly. BigFactory posted:I have a wink hub and some wifi bulbs. The non-smart wall switches will turn the lights on and off, but if they're off you can't turn them on with the app. So basically you can always use them as dumb lights, but the switch has to be on to use them as smart bulbs. Yeah, exactly
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Aug 12, 2016 02:37
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Three Olives posted:This conversation is 100% the reason why I went with Wink Relays and smart dimmers instead of an Insteon system and/or smart bulbs. When I have house guests over I want them to be able to work my lights without downloading an app or rebooting my computer because it locked up or figuring out why a loving light switch doesn't work. Come into my home and there is a screen with two buttons that will operate the lights that you expect them to work and giant buttons show up saying All Lights On, All Lights Off, Dim, I'm sure even my dumbest friend can come to my place drunk at 2 AM and figure out how to work my lights. Every single light works without an app. You come home, you hit the on switch, they come on. No app, no reboot, no sync, no nothing. And if the insteon system goes down they function as normal lights operated by a switch. Now if you want to do cool poo poo there's an 8 button panel located in high traffic areas with buttons clearly labeled. But by no means is it required. That's not how insteon works. It's incredibly simple physical switches that can be programmed to do whatever you want at whatever complexity. The on/off function is obvious and the dimming function is intuitive at a physical switch level which is functional without relying on a server or a character of programming. Example: credenza light is a smart bulb because that outlet isn't controlled by a wall switch. If you didn't know where the clearly labeled programmable switch is you can turn it off then on with the switch on the lamp itself and it'll light up and turn off as normal. With a lamp that isn't controlled by a switch how would that work in your situation without a smart bulb? The dining room light is a dumb regular switch (no neutral wire) that's always on to provide power to the color changing smart bulb. If you didn't use the clearly marked button for it at all entries to the living / dining room and you toggled that switch, it would come on and off like a normal light. Super easy. sellouts fucked around with this message at 07:40 on Aug 12, 2016 |
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Aug 12, 2016 07:12
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Definitely a bit of a gimmick. I got them super cheap on Prime Day with the Alexa discount, but I do change the color temp often throughout the day. I will probably upgrade to white ambiance color changing bulbs in the rest of the living room lamps. I also have a nightlight setting that when everything is off between 1030 and sunrise when motion is sensed (it ignores the cat) it turns on a nightlight setting which is 1% brightness of a reddish color. That uses rgb mode and is great, but not for full price of bulbs. I don't blast it to make my house look like a club but some of the colors are great for a chill movie or when I am working late.
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Aug 12, 2016 16:24
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poo poo man, I love this stuff too but most satistfying project of your life? Guess I should have went with Wink  Great to hear that it's working for you now. When it's all done you should do an effort post to lay out the costs, what you'd do differently, limitations, etc sellouts fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Aug 16, 2016 04:28
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Just busting your balls man, I hear ya. I love just walking to the bedroom and with one button killing the tv and all lights on in the rest of the house. And having remote control from the couch. It owns and I love it. Especially in a rent controlled 1950s apartment. Makes everything feel just a little bit modern.
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Aug 17, 2016 03:52
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As long as you don't care about turning them on with voice, just use a hue. If you care about turning them on it's more complex because if the switch is turned off the bulb won't respond.
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Sep 16, 2016 22:40
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Kalman posted:Or get a switch guard and a Hue wall switch and then it isn't an issue. I don't really consider covering up a switch and mounting something right next to it on the wall an acceptably elegant solution.
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Sep 17, 2016 02:53
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For what it's worth there's no opening up walls in any of these situations. Even if you don't have a neutral wire it's pretty easy to pull one from a light usually. You can't get insteon at Home Depot but my switches and controllers have been awesome. Indigo domotics is a great piece of software and the plugin system hasn't treated me wrong.
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Sep 17, 2016 07:19
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Three Olives posted:A room lit by less than 2 bulbs? Totally. My bathroom, my hallway both have one light for starters. Both of which benefit from being smart for nightlight purposes alone, yet less the bathroom being a light that, for whatever reason, I forget to turn off. I'm in agreement with you but weren't you also upset that you couldn't order uber from your wall switch? That's an equally silly use case to others.
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Sep 17, 2016 22:14
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"We" What wired smart switch doesn't work in that way? And how does that pass regulation in regards to controlling electrical load? A list of those should appear in the OP as that's pretty dangerous. Hues are great. They have great application in varied electrical situations, the software is super easy to use, the bulbs are easily found, i find them to be high quality, they require no electrical knowledge for those that cannot modify their place or aren't sure they want to commit, and there are ways that an adult of average cognitive ability without a smartphone could walk into a room and figure it out intuitively. There are also a lot of options that aren't hue that are just as good or possibly better!
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Sep 18, 2016 00:10
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I've mentioned it before but my Insteon setup is bulletproof because I use Indigo Domotics instead of the indigo hub. Benefits that apply to a few recent posts: Also uses zwave and other protocols GUI setup, but also allows for python coding for near infinite flexibility Great scheduling Easy device discovery, doesn't require writing down each Insteon address Rich plugin system to allow usage of Ecobee, Harmony Hub, Hue etc. Nice iOS app allowing for remote access and control. So it uses a power line modem to communicate and the switches are both rf / powerline. It lets me do cool stuff like adjust light temp based on time to/from sunrise and sunset, reset light brightness at 6am so the evening settings don't carry over and have multi control panels to advise if lights are on in rooms and the ability to shut them off from a single control panel at the door. I also tie in a few to trigger lights on the switch panel by the door to advise if a window is left open and it prevents the air con from being turned on. It errs on the side of complex but doesn't lock you into a single ecosystem of products and will let you go crazy if you want.
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Nov 14, 2016 22:36
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I can use python scripts to control my hue bulbs with indigo domotics
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Dec 4, 2016 04:09
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smackfu posted:Has anyone ever seen a light setup like in future movies, where local motion sensors turn on only the closest light and it just fades in? So as you walk around your house it subtly lights up and goes dark. I'm pretty sure you can easily do this via Indigo Domotics and motion sensors. When hallway motion sensor is triggered: If time = between 12 midnight and sunrise and hallway light status = off, trigger hallway light on with brightness = 5 and temp = some number I forget. In 10 seconds: set brightness to 0 (off). Or something along those lines.
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Dec 18, 2016 03:24
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housefly posted:Is it really that hard to explain it though? I have a lot of non-techie friends of various ages and they get that they can say "Alexa turn on living room" and the living room lights will come on. It's not rocket science. It kind of sucks that you have to explain anything vs having a button on the wall labeled appropriately. And it's cool when you want the group to turn on, but harder to know the trigger for a specific light (Is it light over couch? couch light? couch lamp? etc). Three Olives posted:Dimming no, color changing? I mean really, do you need color changing? I absolutely love the ability to change color temperature automatically and it's kind of bullshit to question others to further your methodology. But I also make sure that my neutral-wired switches are smart and able to control my smart bulbs via software. Also, those neutral wired switches can control multiple smart bulbs now which is also cool and good. So you're not wrong. Everything has a purpose and if you dabble with a couple of smart bulbs to dip your toe in, it's not like you are wasting a ton of money or won't be able to use them in some way. (Or, sell them to me) sellouts fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Dec 23, 2016 |
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Dec 23, 2016 08:02
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Subjunctive posted:I have to confess that I don't label my light switches. I do have smart switches though, so there are still options for those trapped in the prison of the physical. I only label mine with the Insteon 50 button set: http://www.smarthome.com/insteon-2401bt50-popular-50-button-set-for-keypadlinc-white.html. I could custom etch them but I can get the point across for most of them. My indigo domotics system ties in Insteon buttons to speak to the Hue hub via a plugin: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewtopic.php?t=9065. This lets me use variables for color temperature and execute commands via python scripts.
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Dec 24, 2016 06:35
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Sounds totally applicable for Joe Average if they don't have a neutral wire. The extra feature is ease of use for those setups without neutral wires.
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Dec 28, 2016 01:40
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Or you can use indigo domotics as the brains behind the 6 or 8 button insteon switches that control individual lights. So the load to the switch or lamp is always on. Insteon panel sets the smart bulb to on or off depending on button state. The bulb remembers its previous state because it hasn't truly lost power and the app can save each variable (and modify it if you want) and load it into the light when you tell it to power on. You can also use the indigo app or even the hue app and the software will sync the wall panel state to the bulb state. If your wall switch has a neutral, wire it up. But if yo want color changing or don't have a neutral as long as there's a neutral somewhere in the room you can use a 6 or 8 button panel, label appropriately, and control from there sellouts fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Dec 28, 2016 |
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Dec 28, 2016 04:53
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Most homes actually don't require a C wire for the Nest. But I chose the ecobee because I didn't want to risk it. The ecobee came with an adapter so I didn't need to run a separate c wire and I installed it in like 10 minutes. It works with everything and I like the multi room sensors. Battery in the remote sensor lasts 3 years. sellouts fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Dec 30, 2016 |
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Dec 30, 2016 20:24
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Hed posted:That was kind of my point. I get that smart switches are great because physical controls are infinitely better than pulling out a smartphone but I would still like some way to signal to my bulb what color to be. The only "solutions" I've seen are the hue Tap, which I don't consider acceptable for a real setup. So really it sounds like there's no good way to have physical controls with presets for color or whatever and a colorized light bulb. Indigo Domotics and Insteon 8 panel switch will do this. Edit: or 6 panel switch. Or any Insteon switch really. sellouts fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Dec 31, 2016 |
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Dec 31, 2016 18:22
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Goddamnit you're going to make me effort post how to do it with my setup, aren't you all.
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Jan 1, 2017 04:34
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emocrat posted:For a more specific question, does any other company make anything comparable to Insteons 6 and 8 button smart switches? Those seem like a really nice implementation for easy scene selection and control without having to mess with my phone or voice, but form what I can tell Insteon is a closed system and no on else can talk to their stuff. Is that right? What do people suggest? I use this to make my Insteon stuff work without an Insteon hub. https://www.indigodomo.com/ It's what TraderStav is talking about. I use Insteon plugs and switches where it makes sense. An ecobee for thermostat. Harmony for electronics control. Philips Hue for the smart / color bulbs. Sonos plugin as well. All tied together with this software. It's solid. If the inlaws ever arent here for a weekend (or I don't travel for work), I was going to do an effortpost showing how to use an Insteon panel to control and set scenes with Philips Hue bulbs. sellouts fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Jan 7, 2017 |
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Jan 7, 2017 04:00
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I am 100% satisfied. I run a Mac mini for Plex so it's already running and it's plugged into my power supply. The USB/power line modem works very well. My missed button presses are probably less than 1% and when I press again, it always works. The scheduled tasks always run, so my porch light comes on and off at sunset and sunrise. It lets me use python to write a few very basic scripts to manipulate the hues specifically. So I can do things like store the brightness, colors and color temps in variables so I can reset them in the morning and adjust the color temps during the day. If I were better at python I could probably do more. And if I don't want to it's about 15 seconds to set up a hue to turn on or off via a button on a panel. It lets me use Insteon, which is my preferred switch due to the 6 and 8 button panels. Which gives me a ton of options to control the lights that are not on wall switches, and have 2 "control panels" in my apt to control lights at a room level. Great for going to bed or going out when I can see if I forget to turn something off in each room. The plugin system hasn't failed me yet. Harmony, hue, sonos. The remote access is cool but very do it myself and I hated it so am in process of redoing it. Accessing every light remotely via app is neat. But a gimmick. Eventually I will get to the point where I put in motion detectors to set up the hues to turn on to 1% brightness in the room with motion as a nightlight. But for now I have 2 rooms to finish setting up and I am pulling a neutral wire into my kitchen because I need to wire the ballast at the switch level.
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Jan 7, 2017 07:33
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emocrat posted:Cool, Will do. The reason I'm gravitating towards Insteon, is that as far as I can tell, its got the best setup for keeping control off the smartphone. I really really want to avoid getting to a place where I have to pull out my phone to perform any operation that isn't very complex. I also want complete functionality for a guest and all. I have my setup going and dont have the app even setup.
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Jan 11, 2017 02:42
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jonathan posted:Sonos is currently a dead end but I believe they're attempting to expand their compatibility with other systems. There is limited Google Play Music casting functionality. Not sure what you are trying to do but http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewtopic.php?f=142&t=8683&sid=bc7ac06cf70e7d27c66b7130743fa91c
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Feb 1, 2017 17:24
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My hues go pretty drat dim when I adjust them by single percentages?
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Feb 9, 2017 17:01
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Responsiveness when the switch is powered off is a big one.
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Feb 10, 2017 14:43
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emocrat posted:I think I follow what you are saying, but, can you control the actual color from a switch? Or is the set up: works like a normal light/bulb from the switch, move to smartphone for more advanced features like color? Yes. Jesus Christ I need to do the effort post to show you how it can be done. jonathan posted:I can't see anyone using colour functions from a wall very often unless you're trying to host EDM parties in your living room to get into the pants of doped up 16 year olds. The colour temp you choose is a set and forget kind of thing, and any sort of automated colour temp change would be scripted through the software. Color temp changes through the day. You're right on the scripting times to match color temp. The switch changing colors is a pretty limited use case. Double tapping the light switch to go half brightness at night could be useful? I use a redder color at night as part of a simulated nightlight but I use an app because I don't need it for guests to be able to control from a wall.
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Feb 10, 2017 18:50
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StabbinHobo posted:The only product i've been able to find that seems like it would work is this: http://www.smarthome.com/switchlinc-dimmer-insteon-2477d-remote-control-dimmer-dual-band-white.html I use this switch and I don't use the Insteon hub I use Indigo Domotics software on a Mac mini. I don't control via Alexa but looks like it's possible? https://github.com/IndigoDomotics/alexa-hue-bridge/blob/master/README.md The software works with no problems once you get it set up. But the setup can have you in the weeds if you're not comfortable.
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Apr 4, 2017 15:44
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Thermopyle posted:This is basically what I expected. I bet that the control interface isn't all that great. My expectation was that it'll be laggy, use poor screen tech (like resistive panels or TN panels or whatever), and will require their people to maintain it and make changes. I was hoping I was wrong. Check indigo domotics. No lag with anything and can use python for scripting if you need it
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Jul 13, 2017 09:37
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