Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

[That One Guy /sarcasm]

on the consumer market end id say the potential is equivalent to the folks
that advertise assembling your cheap furniture and whatnot from walmart for
you. Just technical labor, not worth the liability to sell the consumer
grade gear, leave the support between the consumer and the manufacturer.

i just had to set up a honeywell leak monitor for one of our customers to
monitor their sump pump. Honeywell makes rock solid gear, but UI is not
their forte, this thing is junk. It requires a phone app, it has no
physical interface, just a multicolored LED, you connect via bluetooth,
then set up the wifi. you can only set it to check in 1,2, or 3 times a
day. if the sensor is tripped, it wakes up, connects to the wifi, and
alerts your app. This assumes that after power failure and enough time
elapsing for your basement to fill enough to trigger it that you had enough
battery on your router and modem to alert your app that hopefully is still
on your phone from when you replaced it with the newest toy...too much
liability in all that nonsense from consumer grade gear

On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 12:32 PM, Zach Underwood 
wrote:

> I have looked at http://www.networktechinc.com/enviro-monitor.html for a
> ubnt mfi replacement when I build my new place.
>
> On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 1:29 PM, Sterling Jacobson 
> wrote:
>
>> I have the following in my house:
>>
>>
>>
>> Sense monitor on my main inside breaker.
>>
>> https://sense.com/
>>
>>
>>
>> Great idea, but it’s not smart enough to detect most of my stuff and
>> there appears to be no manual way to tell it anything.
>>
>> So it’s just kind of sitting there until they upgrade it to ‘useful’
>> state for me.
>>
>> I heard they just implemented IFTTT so it might make more ‘sense’ in the
>> near future, lol
>>
>>
>>
>> UBNT mFi
>>
>> I have a few cameras and mPort senseors along with mPower plugs of the
>> single/3 and 8 port variety in my house.
>>
>> I use these all the time to shut down the TV and Xbox on my kids.
>>
>> They can also report on power usage and have their own rule based set.
>>
>> But it appears to be abandoned by UBNT and it’s near impossible to find
>> mPorts.
>>
>> I’m looking for a good replacement for these, any suggestions??
>>
>>
>>
>> Alexa by Amazon
>>
>> I have it connected to a few things in my home.
>>
>> My wife and kids use it for music, but the speaker kind of sucks.
>>
>> I feel like we don’t really have the hang of it yet.
>>
>> And it’s not so great that my kids can control it.
>>
>>
>>
>> A few ZWave/Zigby Kwickset door deadbolt locks.
>>
>> I had a Vera to talk to these, but took it out because it sucked.
>>
>> I’ll probably hook these up to a Wink 2 when I get one later this month.
>>
>> These are perfect for outside high traffic doors, and my home office.
>>
>> The kids can get in with the code and lock it with a touch of a button.
>>
>> No more keys.
>>
>>
>>
>> Ecovent
>>
>> https://www.ecoventsystems.com/
>>
>> I have replaced most of my vents in my 3100 sqr foot home with these and
>> their controllers.
>>
>> It’s the closest thing I have found to a commercial HVAC damper system.
>>
>> The App is ok, and it has for sure evened out the temperatures in my
>> rooms/house.
>>
>> But they don’t make a 6” round one that I need for three bathrooms, and
>> those are still way off temp.
>>
>> And they can only do so much if your HVAC is totally screwed up like mine
>> is.
>>
>>
>>
>> Chamberlain garage door control/monitor
>>
>> I absolutely needed this to be able to tell when my kids keep leaving my
>> garage open for hours.
>>
>> I can remotely shut it and open it too.
>>
>> But there doesn’t seem to be any provision to tell it to automatically
>> shut the door after ten minutes.
>>
>> If someone has figured that out, let me know because the kids keeps
>> leaving it open.
>>
>>
>>
>> Harmony remote with Zigby/ZWave adapter
>>
>> Frankly I don’t use this at all.
>>
>> But I did program it at one time to switch my AV stuff on/off etc.
>>
>> It was slow to respond and often got in a bad ‘state’ because it doesn’t
>> know the actual ON/OFF status of the devices.
>>
>>
>>
>> Nest HVAC control and smoke detector
>>
>> I do love this device, and it integrates with my Ecovent system directly
>>
>> So I occasionally manually adjust the main temperature on it.
>>
>> But most of the time I just control it through the Ecovent App now.
>>
>> The smoke detector is cool too and integrates well with the Nest.
>>
>> But I didn’t bother replacing the rest of the detectors, just one in the
>> main hallway.
>>
>>
>>
>> Rachio sprinkler controller
>>
>> I got a good discount on this and a quick rebate check from UT state
>> water conservation as well.
>>
>> It was a breeze to replace my two existing Rainbird controllers for the
>> extended version of this.
>>
>> The app and control are awesome.
>>
>> It almost immediately killed my lawn though.
>>
>> The basic setup did not work right and I still don’t understand 

Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

[Paul Stewart]

Weird … I find Vera one of the best I’ve used in a long time…. Wink was a lot 
of grief for me back in time – there’s a new model out recently but their 
support wasn’t great …

 

Alexa – relaly like them for voice commands but yeah the speaker on them sucks 
badly … Sonos 5 for that kind of stuff J

 

 

 

From: Af <af-boun...@afmug.com> on behalf of Sterling Jacobson 
<sterl...@avative.net>
Reply-To: <af@afmug.com>
Date: Monday, January 9, 2017 at 1:29 PM
To: "af@afmug.com" <af@afmug.com>
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

 

I have the following in my house:

 

Sense monitor on my main inside breaker.

https://sense.com/

 

Great idea, but it’s not smart enough to detect most of my stuff and there 
appears to be no manual way to tell it anything.

So it’s just kind of sitting there until they upgrade it to ‘useful’ state for 
me.

I heard they just implemented IFTTT so it might make more ‘sense’ in the near 
future, lol

 

UBNT mFi

I have a few cameras and mPort senseors along with mPower plugs of the single/3 
and 8 port variety in my house.

I use these all the time to shut down the TV and Xbox on my kids.

They can also report on power usage and have their own rule based set.

But it appears to be abandoned by UBNT and it’s near impossible to find mPorts.

I’m looking for a good replacement for these, any suggestions??

 

Alexa by Amazon

I have it connected to a few things in my home.

My wife and kids use it for music, but the speaker kind of sucks.

I feel like we don’t really have the hang of it yet.

And it’s not so great that my kids can control it.

 

A few ZWave/Zigby Kwickset door deadbolt locks.

I had a Vera to talk to these, but took it out because it sucked.

I’ll probably hook these up to a Wink 2 when I get one later this month.

These are perfect for outside high traffic doors, and my home office.

The kids can get in with the code and lock it with a touch of a button.

No more keys.

 

Ecovent

https://www.ecoventsystems.com/

I have replaced most of my vents in my 3100 sqr foot home with these and their 
controllers.

It’s the closest thing I have found to a commercial HVAC damper system.

The App is ok, and it has for sure evened out the temperatures in my 
rooms/house.

But they don’t make a 6” round one that I need for three bathrooms, and those 
are still way off temp.

And they can only do so much if your HVAC is totally screwed up like mine is.

 

Chamberlain garage door control/monitor

I absolutely needed this to be able to tell when my kids keep leaving my garage 
open for hours.

I can remotely shut it and open it too.

But there doesn’t seem to be any provision to tell it to automatically shut the 
door after ten minutes.

If someone has figured that out, let me know because the kids keeps leaving it 
open.

 

Harmony remote with Zigby/ZWave adapter

Frankly I don’t use this at all.

But I did program it at one time to switch my AV stuff on/off etc.

It was slow to respond and often got in a bad ‘state’ because it doesn’t know 
the actual ON/OFF status of the devices.

 

Nest HVAC control and smoke detector

I do love this device, and it integrates with my Ecovent system directly

So I occasionally manually adjust the main temperature on it.

But most of the time I just control it through the Ecovent App now.

The smoke detector is cool too and integrates well with the Nest.

But I didn’t bother replacing the rest of the detectors, just one in the main 
hallway.

 

Rachio sprinkler controller

I got a good discount on this and a quick rebate check from UT state water 
conservation as well.

It was a breeze to replace my two existing Rainbird controllers for the 
extended version of this.

The app and control are awesome.

It almost immediately killed my lawn though.

The basic setup did not work right and I still don’t understand how to program 
it for my lawn conditions.

My wife was super pissed off that our lawn was almost perpetually yellow.

So this spring I’ve got my work cut out for me in re-programming the lawn 
‘type’ and conditions so it works better.

It has a hookup for a rain sensor which I bought this winter and will use with 
it.

It also has the ability to hook up a main water flow device which I am planning 
to do to cross check my city water meter on our secondary water usage.

 

I have one of those timer light switches in my kids bathroom that turns the 
fan/lights off after five minutes.

But they keep pressing the buttons on it for longer times, like 60 minutes for 
a bath, so I still have to go check sometimes.

 

I replaced most of the 65/75 W lightbulbs in my house with those cheap 
non-dimming LED lights.

My power for lights being on all the time went way down, so I think it’s a good 
investment.

Also, just the ease of not having to replace light bulbs all over the house 
every year was well worth it already.

 

On the home wireless front, I just installed the UBNT Amplifi.

It did imp

Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

[Sterling Jacobson]

That’s probably more reliable, but way more expensive than UBNT.

I use the mFi stuff at all my sites for door open/close temp and power 
monitoring.
I’ve had mPorts die all the time, and temp sensors need calibration.
They all go to a controller on VM and I was using windows which sucked.
Once I moved that to linux my controller is running MUCH better.
But now that it’s not being updated I need a replacement that is not much more 
expensive.


From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of Zach Underwood
Sent: Monday, January 9, 2017 11:33 AM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

I have looked at http://www.networktechinc.com/enviro-monitor.html for a ubnt 
mfi replacement when I build my new place.

On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 1:29 PM, Sterling Jacobson 
<sterl...@avative.net<mailto:sterl...@avative.net>> wrote:
I have the following in my house:

Sense monitor on my main inside breaker.
https://sense.com/

Great idea, but it’s not smart enough to detect most of my stuff and there 
appears to be no manual way to tell it anything.
So it’s just kind of sitting there until they upgrade it to ‘useful’ state for 
me.
I heard they just implemented IFTTT so it might make more ‘sense’ in the near 
future, lol

UBNT mFi
I have a few cameras and mPort senseors along with mPower plugs of the single/3 
and 8 port variety in my house.
I use these all the time to shut down the TV and Xbox on my kids.
They can also report on power usage and have their own rule based set.
But it appears to be abandoned by UBNT and it’s near impossible to find mPorts.
I’m looking for a good replacement for these, any suggestions??

Alexa by Amazon
I have it connected to a few things in my home.
My wife and kids use it for music, but the speaker kind of sucks.
I feel like we don’t really have the hang of it yet.
And it’s not so great that my kids can control it.

A few ZWave/Zigby Kwickset door deadbolt locks.
I had a Vera to talk to these, but took it out because it sucked.
I’ll probably hook these up to a Wink 2 when I get one later this month.
These are perfect for outside high traffic doors, and my home office.
The kids can get in with the code and lock it with a touch of a button.
No more keys.

Ecovent
https://www.ecoventsystems.com/
I have replaced most of my vents in my 3100 sqr foot home with these and their 
controllers.
It’s the closest thing I have found to a commercial HVAC damper system.
The App is ok, and it has for sure evened out the temperatures in my 
rooms/house.
But they don’t make a 6” round one that I need for three bathrooms, and those 
are still way off temp.
And they can only do so much if your HVAC is totally screwed up like mine is.

Chamberlain garage door control/monitor
I absolutely needed this to be able to tell when my kids keep leaving my garage 
open for hours.
I can remotely shut it and open it too.
But there doesn’t seem to be any provision to tell it to automatically shut the 
door after ten minutes.
If someone has figured that out, let me know because the kids keeps leaving it 
open.

Harmony remote with Zigby/ZWave adapter
Frankly I don’t use this at all.
But I did program it at one time to switch my AV stuff on/off etc.
It was slow to respond and often got in a bad ‘state’ because it doesn’t know 
the actual ON/OFF status of the devices.

Nest HVAC control and smoke detector
I do love this device, and it integrates with my Ecovent system directly
So I occasionally manually adjust the main temperature on it.
But most of the time I just control it through the Ecovent App now.
The smoke detector is cool too and integrates well with the Nest.
But I didn’t bother replacing the rest of the detectors, just one in the main 
hallway.

Rachio sprinkler controller
I got a good discount on this and a quick rebate check from UT state water 
conservation as well.
It was a breeze to replace my two existing Rainbird controllers for the 
extended version of this.
The app and control are awesome.
It almost immediately killed my lawn though.
The basic setup did not work right and I still don’t understand how to program 
it for my lawn conditions.
My wife was super pissed off that our lawn was almost perpetually yellow.
So this spring I’ve got my work cut out for me in re-programming the lawn 
‘type’ and conditions so it works better.
It has a hookup for a rain sensor which I bought this winter and will use with 
it.
It also has the ability to hook up a main water flow device which I am planning 
to do to cross check my city water meter on our secondary water usage.

I have one of those timer light switches in my kids bathroom that turns the 
fan/lights off after five minutes.
But they keep pressing the buttons on it for longer times, like 60 minutes for 
a bath, so I still have to go check sometimes.

I replaced most of the 65/75 W lightbulbs in my house with those cheap 
non-dimming LED lights.
My power for lights being on all the time went way down, so I think it’s a good 
investment

Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

[Zach Underwood]

I have looked at http://www.networktechinc.com/enviro-monitor.html for a
ubnt mfi replacement when I build my new place.

On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 1:29 PM, Sterling Jacobson 
wrote:

> I have the following in my house:
>
>
>
> Sense monitor on my main inside breaker.
>
> https://sense.com/
>
>
>
> Great idea, but it’s not smart enough to detect most of my stuff and there
> appears to be no manual way to tell it anything.
>
> So it’s just kind of sitting there until they upgrade it to ‘useful’ state
> for me.
>
> I heard they just implemented IFTTT so it might make more ‘sense’ in the
> near future, lol
>
>
>
> UBNT mFi
>
> I have a few cameras and mPort senseors along with mPower plugs of the
> single/3 and 8 port variety in my house.
>
> I use these all the time to shut down the TV and Xbox on my kids.
>
> They can also report on power usage and have their own rule based set.
>
> But it appears to be abandoned by UBNT and it’s near impossible to find
> mPorts.
>
> I’m looking for a good replacement for these, any suggestions??
>
>
>
> Alexa by Amazon
>
> I have it connected to a few things in my home.
>
> My wife and kids use it for music, but the speaker kind of sucks.
>
> I feel like we don’t really have the hang of it yet.
>
> And it’s not so great that my kids can control it.
>
>
>
> A few ZWave/Zigby Kwickset door deadbolt locks.
>
> I had a Vera to talk to these, but took it out because it sucked.
>
> I’ll probably hook these up to a Wink 2 when I get one later this month.
>
> These are perfect for outside high traffic doors, and my home office.
>
> The kids can get in with the code and lock it with a touch of a button.
>
> No more keys.
>
>
>
> Ecovent
>
> https://www.ecoventsystems.com/
>
> I have replaced most of my vents in my 3100 sqr foot home with these and
> their controllers.
>
> It’s the closest thing I have found to a commercial HVAC damper system.
>
> The App is ok, and it has for sure evened out the temperatures in my
> rooms/house.
>
> But they don’t make a 6” round one that I need for three bathrooms, and
> those are still way off temp.
>
> And they can only do so much if your HVAC is totally screwed up like mine
> is.
>
>
>
> Chamberlain garage door control/monitor
>
> I absolutely needed this to be able to tell when my kids keep leaving my
> garage open for hours.
>
> I can remotely shut it and open it too.
>
> But there doesn’t seem to be any provision to tell it to automatically
> shut the door after ten minutes.
>
> If someone has figured that out, let me know because the kids keeps
> leaving it open.
>
>
>
> Harmony remote with Zigby/ZWave adapter
>
> Frankly I don’t use this at all.
>
> But I did program it at one time to switch my AV stuff on/off etc.
>
> It was slow to respond and often got in a bad ‘state’ because it doesn’t
> know the actual ON/OFF status of the devices.
>
>
>
> Nest HVAC control and smoke detector
>
> I do love this device, and it integrates with my Ecovent system directly
>
> So I occasionally manually adjust the main temperature on it.
>
> But most of the time I just control it through the Ecovent App now.
>
> The smoke detector is cool too and integrates well with the Nest.
>
> But I didn’t bother replacing the rest of the detectors, just one in the
> main hallway.
>
>
>
> Rachio sprinkler controller
>
> I got a good discount on this and a quick rebate check from UT state water
> conservation as well.
>
> It was a breeze to replace my two existing Rainbird controllers for the
> extended version of this.
>
> The app and control are awesome.
>
> It almost immediately killed my lawn though.
>
> The basic setup did not work right and I still don’t understand how to
> program it for my lawn conditions.
>
> My wife was super pissed off that our lawn was almost perpetually yellow.
>
> So this spring I’ve got my work cut out for me in re-programming the lawn
> ‘type’ and conditions so it works better.
>
> It has a hookup for a rain sensor which I bought this winter and will use
> with it.
>
> It also has the ability to hook up a main water flow device which I am
> planning to do to cross check my city water meter on our secondary water
> usage.
>
>
>
> I have one of those timer light switches in my kids bathroom that turns
> the fan/lights off after five minutes.
>
> But they keep pressing the buttons on it for longer times, like 60 minutes
> for a bath, so I still have to go check sometimes.
>
>
>
> I replaced most of the 65/75 W lightbulbs in my house with those cheap
> non-dimming LED lights.
>
> My power for lights being on all the time went way down, so I think it’s a
> good investment.
>
> Also, just the ease of not having to replace light bulbs all over the
> house every year was well worth it already.
>
>
>
> On the home wireless front, I just installed the UBNT Amplifi.
>
> It did improve coverage, but it cut my total speeds down by 1/5 on the
> high end 5GHz remote room wifi.
>
> So in a sense it works better than my spaceship 

Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

[Sterling Jacobson]

I have the following in my house:

Sense monitor on my main inside breaker.
https://sense.com/

Great idea, but it’s not smart enough to detect most of my stuff and there 
appears to be no manual way to tell it anything.
So it’s just kind of sitting there until they upgrade it to ‘useful’ state for 
me.
I heard they just implemented IFTTT so it might make more ‘sense’ in the near 
future, lol

UBNT mFi
I have a few cameras and mPort senseors along with mPower plugs of the single/3 
and 8 port variety in my house.
I use these all the time to shut down the TV and Xbox on my kids.
They can also report on power usage and have their own rule based set.
But it appears to be abandoned by UBNT and it’s near impossible to find mPorts.
I’m looking for a good replacement for these, any suggestions??

Alexa by Amazon
I have it connected to a few things in my home.
My wife and kids use it for music, but the speaker kind of sucks.
I feel like we don’t really have the hang of it yet.
And it’s not so great that my kids can control it.

A few ZWave/Zigby Kwickset door deadbolt locks.
I had a Vera to talk to these, but took it out because it sucked.
I’ll probably hook these up to a Wink 2 when I get one later this month.
These are perfect for outside high traffic doors, and my home office.
The kids can get in with the code and lock it with a touch of a button.
No more keys.

Ecovent
https://www.ecoventsystems.com/
I have replaced most of my vents in my 3100 sqr foot home with these and their 
controllers.
It’s the closest thing I have found to a commercial HVAC damper system.
The App is ok, and it has for sure evened out the temperatures in my 
rooms/house.
But they don’t make a 6” round one that I need for three bathrooms, and those 
are still way off temp.
And they can only do so much if your HVAC is totally screwed up like mine is.

Chamberlain garage door control/monitor
I absolutely needed this to be able to tell when my kids keep leaving my garage 
open for hours.
I can remotely shut it and open it too.
But there doesn’t seem to be any provision to tell it to automatically shut the 
door after ten minutes.
If someone has figured that out, let me know because the kids keeps leaving it 
open.

Harmony remote with Zigby/ZWave adapter
Frankly I don’t use this at all.
But I did program it at one time to switch my AV stuff on/off etc.
It was slow to respond and often got in a bad ‘state’ because it doesn’t know 
the actual ON/OFF status of the devices.

Nest HVAC control and smoke detector
I do love this device, and it integrates with my Ecovent system directly
So I occasionally manually adjust the main temperature on it.
But most of the time I just control it through the Ecovent App now.
The smoke detector is cool too and integrates well with the Nest.
But I didn’t bother replacing the rest of the detectors, just one in the main 
hallway.

Rachio sprinkler controller
I got a good discount on this and a quick rebate check from UT state water 
conservation as well.
It was a breeze to replace my two existing Rainbird controllers for the 
extended version of this.
The app and control are awesome.
It almost immediately killed my lawn though.
The basic setup did not work right and I still don’t understand how to program 
it for my lawn conditions.
My wife was super pissed off that our lawn was almost perpetually yellow.
So this spring I’ve got my work cut out for me in re-programming the lawn 
‘type’ and conditions so it works better.
It has a hookup for a rain sensor which I bought this winter and will use with 
it.
It also has the ability to hook up a main water flow device which I am planning 
to do to cross check my city water meter on our secondary water usage.

I have one of those timer light switches in my kids bathroom that turns the 
fan/lights off after five minutes.
But they keep pressing the buttons on it for longer times, like 60 minutes for 
a bath, so I still have to go check sometimes.

I replaced most of the 65/75 W lightbulbs in my house with those cheap 
non-dimming LED lights.
My power for lights being on all the time went way down, so I think it’s a good 
investment.
Also, just the ease of not having to replace light bulbs all over the house 
every year was well worth it already.

On the home wireless front, I just installed the UBNT Amplifi.
It did improve coverage, but it cut my total speeds down by 1/5 on the high end 
5GHz remote room wifi.
So in a sense it works better than my spaceship ASUS router, in filing in the 
dead spots.
But it is slower. The interface/app can shut down any device separately, so 
that is the feature I used the most.
But it really dumbs things down in the app for control and you can’t really 
change much.

Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

[Sterling Jacobson]

I think there is money to be made, but in the data end.

I have a project I’ve been trying to pitch to Vivint and property management 
companies.

Install a bunch of sensors and controllers, collect and sell the data.

I think that’s what sold NEST, was their data collection, not really so much 
their device, though I do like it.

Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

[Tyler Treat]

I've got several Wink things, and they seem to work ok.  I had issues for a 
while with GE Link bulbs dropping connection to the hub but that seems to be 
resolved.  They need a non-cutesy hub that I can stick in the rack and feed 
Ethernet to that will just work.  Too much shit is wifi only these days.  Maybe 
could have a sort of mesh repeater to get to far corners of the house if needed.
WeMo used to be ultra crap, now it's just sorta crap.
And everyone seems to be in a mad dash to integrate with Nest(Google) so they 
don't get left behind or to get on the radar for acquisition

Food for thought- try to go for the smart switches rather than smart bulbs.  
I've got a dozen or so GE link bulbs and then my kids (...and wife) just wind 
up randomly shutting off the switch and they don't automate.  A smart switch 
would at least return to the state programmed at scheduled time.

___
Mangled by my iPhone.
___
Tyler Treat
Corn Belt Technologies, Inc.

tyler.tr...@cornbelttech.com
___


On May 29, 2016, at 8:06 PM, Josh Luthman 
> wrote:


Tried Wink.  Neat but anything but simple/turnkey.

Josh Luthman
Office: 937-552-2340
Direct: 937-552-2343
1100 Wayne St
Suite 1337
Troy, OH 45373

On May 29, 2016 8:59 PM, "Jason McKemie" 
> 
wrote:
Is anyone out there doing anything with installation / sales on home automation 
gear? What equipment have you had luck with?

Re: [AFMUG] Home automation

[Josh Luthman]

Tried Wink.  Neat but anything but simple/turnkey.

Josh Luthman
Office: 937-552-2340
Direct: 937-552-2343
1100 Wayne St
Suite 1337
Troy, OH 45373
On May 29, 2016 8:59 PM, "Jason McKemie" 
wrote:

> Is anyone out there doing anything with installation / sales on home
> automation gear? What equipment have you had luck with?