home automation hardware/software

[Ommadawn]

Neil - do you have any recommendations for light dimmer switches which can be controlled by Echo. I have multi bulb fittings in a number of rooms and replacing each bulb with smart bulbs would cost too much. 

[eFestivals]

38 minutes ago, Ommadawn said:

Neil - do you have any recommendations for light dimmer switches which can be controlled by Echo. I have multi bulb fittings in a number of rooms and replacing each bulb with smart bulbs would cost too much. 

I don't have a specific hardware suggestion, sorry.

Do you have a neutral wire at the switch? It makes a big difference to what you can consider, as there's a lot bigger choice of stuff that wants a neutral wire (almost nothing that'll work without one, i think).

My bruv works for one of the bigger German home-auto manufacturers, and chatting with him at xmas he reckoned the best kit people in the UK should buy for easilest setup/integration/range of devices, etc is the LightwaveRF stuff (that's not who he works for, btw). Not sure if that helps, or not ... I've not tried any of  their stuff so don't know myself.

[eFestivals]

finally got round to fitting a few more things yesterday, where I've had the bits for ages.

Have just 'upgraded' the front-room lights, so that there's a working wall-switch plus remote control &/or automation (via openhab). 

And in the garden, the fence is 8ft tall, but fixed onto a low-ish wall, so there's about 3ft of wall below the fence, with the fence protruding and a gap behind it. I fixed colour-changing leds up behind the gap so they shine down the wall - and it looks stunning-effective (the wife reckons it looks a bit pub-garden, but loves it all the same).

Annoyingly, the kit that works my office blinds have died so I've had to order another, even tho another one might also have a short life.

In the longer term i'm going to try and build a more substantial blind system from electronics hobby kit. I reckon a first one can be built for less than £40, and then further ones for about £20.

[eFestivals]

The problem with smart home kit is the price. To get the most-efficient heating set-up, I need a temperature sensor in every room. Sensors tend to cost around £50. So i've gone the full nerd, and decided to make my own.

For less than £50 I've bought the bits to make 2 (just takes a few minutes to make one) , plus an electronics (arduino) starter kit which has loads of bits and pieces I can use for other stuff (window blinds is what i have in mind).

 

[eFestivals]

On 2/20/2018 at 7:27 AM, eFestivals said:

To get the most-efficient heating set-up, I need a temperature sensor in every room. Sensors tend to cost around £50. So i've gone the full nerd, and decided to make my own.

making an accurate sensor is easy.

What I've discovered is that putting the kit in a box so that it looks nice, while it still sensing temperatures accurately is much less easy. There's heat being created by the main electronics that affects the sensor.

Probably the only realistic way to sort this is 3d print my own enclosures, while separating the sensor from the main board ... so I've given up on this for the moment.

 

On 2/20/2018 at 7:27 AM, eFestivals said:

other stuff (window blinds is what i have in mind).

I was doing some research on this this morning and stumbled across a "make your own motorised blinds" kit for about $40 (dependent on options), where everything has been prettied-up and parts 3d printed to make it easy it fit and to look good, and with a set of youtube videos.
https://www.mksmarthouse.com/shop/Blinds-Control-p93393095

Seemed too much of a no-brainer, so I've ordered one. I guess it'll be about a month before it arrives & I have a chance to fit it.

[eFestivals]

On 3/17/2018 at 11:21 AM, eFestivals said:

making an accurate sensor is easy.

What I've discovered is that putting the kit in a box so that it looks nice, while it still sensing temperatures accurately is much less easy. There's heat being created by the main electronics that affects the sensor.

Probably the only realistic way to sort this is 3d print my own enclosures, while separating the sensor from the main board ... so I've given up on this for the moment.

as a easy short-term solution for this, I've added an offset of 1.9C into the sensor unit's software, so that they under-report what the actual sensor is saying.

As they're in a some rooms where the temperature is never going to vary by much and not used for anything critical, that'll hopefully do. 

[Ommadawn]

I've now taken the first tentative steps in this area. I've already got a an Echo so decided to try and link some stuff up to that. I've purchased some smart bulbs and switches which arrived yesterday. I'm really pleased with the bulbs. I bought Electriq ones which were about a third of the cost of Philips Hue (although may only last a third of the time of course). They were easy to set up using their app and once set up, I was able to link to the Echo via the same app (again very straightforward). Same with the  plug sockets. Will be fitting the light switches over the weekend.

Hardest part is convincing the missus that's it's all a good idea . I still have some work to do on that score.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Ommadawn

[eFestivals]

4 minutes ago, Ommadawn said:

I'm really pleased with the bulbs. I bought Electriq ones which were about a third of the cost of Philips Hue (although may only last a third of the time of course).

I've got WeMo bulbs, and they're a bit shit, often disappearing or not responding to smart control. They use zigbee for communication, which by all accounts is about the worst way of doing things ... tho I might see an improvement if I added more bulbs (I'm only using 2), as that would probably make the zigbee network communicate a bit better.

I believe Philips Hue also uses zigbee (I might be wrong), but from everything I've read of them they're superior to what I have. I wish i'd paid the little extra for them when I was starting out on smart stuff.

But ... I quickly came to the conclusion that smart bulbs aren't actually a great idea anyway. Far better is to have standard bulbs, and to use smart wall switches so you get the benefit of a normal switch and smart control.

(The problem with that angle is that you need a neutral at the wall switch in most instances, which isn't how electrics tend to be done in the UK.)

 

13 minutes ago, Ommadawn said:

Hardest part is convincing the missus that's it's all a good idea . I still have some work to do on that score.

The PAF - 'partner acceptance factor' - is a bit of a thing in the smart home world. 

My better half moans about a lot of what i've done .. but then also moans if her decorative lights aren't turned on automatically for her each evening. 

She still says she'll leave me () if I automate the front room curtains - so i've kept away from those - but she rather adores the robot vac I bought, and also likes what's she named Dave (which is a Nest thermostat for the heating [tho we use very little of the smart features, it's mostly just a timer & room thermostat]).

She's also coming round a little without knowing it, because she's now got an expectation of the automated stuff working as it does do.

I suggest you try and think of what you can do which will appeal to her.

 

22 minutes ago, Ommadawn said:

I was able to link to the Echo via the same app (again very straightforward). Same with the  plug sockets. Will be fitting the light switches over the weekend.

The echo is great, it works very well.

Tho at some point I reckon you'll want greater automated control and a more joined-up system than echo & the various phone apps are able to give you. And as you're buying a variety of different kit, you'll need some software that is able to control all of the various different bits of kit.

That means you don't really want to get tempted by a all-in-one branded system (such as smartthings), and instead want to look at something like openHAB or Domoticz.

FYI: openHAB is probably the better system overall, but it's also much more techie and less user-friendly than Domoticz (tho the user-friendliness is improving). These are both free, btw.

[Ommadawn]

3 hours ago, eFestivals said:

I suggest you try and think of what you can do which will appeal to her.

Hmmm - what can I get her that would make her happy and that I could control as a smart device

[eFestivals]

10 minutes ago, Ommadawn said:

Hmmm - what can I get her that would make her happy and that I could control as a smart device

lol - yep, you can get them too.

[eFestivals]

On 3/17/2018 at 11:21 AM, eFestivals said:

I was doing some research on this this morning and stumbled across a "make your own motorised blinds" kit for about $40 (dependent on options), where everything has been prettied-up and parts 3d printed to make it easy it fit and to look good, and with a set of youtube videos.
https://www.mksmarthouse.com/shop/Blinds-Control-p93393095

Seemed too much of a no-brainer, so I've ordered one. I guess it'll be about a month before it arrives & I have a chance to fit it.

this arrived last week and I fitted it at the weekend.

I got stung an extra £16 in customs duty.

It's got a bit of a design flaw as the plastic adapter that goes between the motor and the blinds shaft isn't really strong enough to turn the blind. So I bought a servo coupler and a 5.5mm socket on a hexagonal shaft and used those, and they work perfectly.

For the price and lack of having to sort everything from scratch yourself, this kit is easy to set-up and fit, as well as excellent value. It's by far the best cheapie blinds solution I've found.

[eFestivals]

Upgraded to the last version (v2.3) of openHAB last night, which was painless. openHAB now supports a stupidly big range of devices from just about every manufacturer you can think of, enabling them all to interact and work together.

https://www.openhab.org/addons/

I'm about done on things for the house &/or the wife doesn't want me to do what I've thought of, so the next projects I have for it are for efestivals. First on the list is to try and get openHAB to do some auto-tweeting when there's new content published.

[eFestivals]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

First on the list is to try and get openHAB to do some auto-tweeting when there's new content published.

doing a test tweet and a test DM was very easy.

Now I need to write the stuff to detect when a tweet should be made and what it should say.

[eFestivals]

On 11/10/2017 at 7:13 AM, eFestivals said:

I've successfully 'tagged' the wife, using an iTag bluetooth keyring (£3!, and it doesn't need constant charging) and a small script I wrote - so now the system knows when she's home.

This did work, but the iTag was problematic because it was too easy to accidentally 'press' the button when it was in a bag which turned it off.

So now i'm trying the same thing with a 'Tile' which is a more-expensive version of the same thing, and hopefully won't have the same problems. Fingers crossed.

[eFestivals]

I recently moved openHAB off my NAS and onto a low-power linux server, and with a more powerful CPU it runs much better. Another advantage is that I can now properly use openHAB's bluetooth features.

So I bought a new toy, a bluetooth 'Flower Care' sensor - that I've set-up to email the step-daughter when the plant needs watering.

[eFestivals]

my back-garden weather station is currently saying it's -23.4°C outside. 

I think it might be broken.  

[fred quimby]

4 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

my back-garden weather station is currently saying it's -23.4°C outside. 

I think it might be broken.  

Or you have moved and have not realise yet

[eFestivals]

I haven't added much to my set-up in the last year or so, as I've mostly run out of things I can do. Shame I haven't got a lawn cos I'd buy a robot lawnmower.  

I've just got some kit to put an alarm on the back door so I'm currently setting that up, and i plan to get more thermostatic radiator valves before winter so I can make much-more efficient use of the heating when I'm working.

Three years on from when I started this my best buys are the Xiaomi vacuum cleaner I bought from china (£230 - bargain!) which I've got set-up to only come out when step-daughter is out of the house (detected by her mobile phone), and the thing I started wanting to do - which was automated blinds for my office to keep the sun out of my eyes when working (£45 plus the blinds).

And having tried just about every communications technology going - wifi, zigbee, and z-wave - I only buy z-wave now. It's more expensive than the others but the reliability is superb; all of the others drop off-line now and then which defeats the automation purpose.

[fred quimby]

11 hours ago, eFestivals said:

 

Three years on from when I started this my best buys are the Xiaomi vacuum cleaner I bought from china (£230 - bargain!) which I've got set-up to only come out when step-daughter is out of the house (detected by her mobile phone), and the thing I started wanting to do - which was automated blinds for my office to keep the sun out of my eyes when working (£45 plus the blinds).

 

Why was the step daughter an issue (too lazy to read) I am interested in the vacuum cleaner so will look into that one and do some saving.

The blinds still make me laugh. 

Lawn mower I would love, although might be turning more to plants anyway. My problem is that the ground is so lumpy/undulating it would not work out

 

In fact I am now going to research the vacuum cleaner a lot more

 Some good looking models out there. Maybe back for advice. Just not sure the dog would like it ?

Edited July 23, 2019 by fred quimby

[eFestivals]

9 hours ago, fred quimby said:

Why was the step daughter an issue (too lazy to read) I am interested in the vacuum cleaner so will look into that one and do some saving

the step-daughter works irregular hours. She might work every day one week and just a day or two the next week - so the robot vac has been set-up* to work every day if she's out, but if she's in then it'll only work after 3 days.

The robot vac takes around an hour to do its stuff, and can be a bit noisy and annoying while it does.

(* the control is done within openHAB which controls all my smart home stuff. You can't do things this clever with just the app for any smart home device).

 

Quote

In fact I am now going to research the vacuum cleaner a lot more

 Some good looking models out there. Maybe back for advice. Just not sure the dog would like it ?

The vac I've got is this one, which is currently available at £277 on amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xiaomi-Cleaner-Guidance-Powerful-Planning/dp/B01MU4WAUI/ref=asc_df_B01MU4WAUI/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=214496216811&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15359694738623346598&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045632&hvtargid=pla-391093445506&psc=1

That's the v1 model the same as I have. I bought it cos the reviews were great, that said it was as good as the expensive brands (£800-ish at the time).

I was a bit worried it might die/break after a bit, tho I've just checked back in this topic and seen it's exactly 2 years ago I got the vac - so it's pretty robust.

There's a v2 model which has been out for a year or so, which costs £377. I presume it's better tho i don't know. 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/cleaner-generations-Mopping-sweeping-function/dp/B07BF6V374/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Xiaomi+vacuum&qid=1563947666&s=gateway&sr=8-2

If you buy one, do NOT buy one that works randomly. You need to get one that maps where it's been and where it still needs to hoover (which these ones do).

[fred quimby]

Brilliant. Thanks for the advice. Will be investigating this 

[eFestivals]

On 7/23/2019 at 9:35 PM, fred quimby said:

The blinds still make me laugh. 

the blinds have just died.  

So I've just ordered another kit as a replacement, because they've worked really well.

[The Nal]

2 hours ago, eFestivals said:

the blinds have just died.  

As did one of mine during the week. The inside of the roller twisted and broke. Shoddy stuff.

[fred quimby]

3 hours ago, eFestivals said:

the blinds have just died.  

 

Bloody Covid

Have now got a new boiler with Google nest and have Alexa also (Although switching accounts has stopped working) so may well venture into some automation at some point

[eFestivals]

I've had google nest for a few years, although control it with openHAB so have built-in stuff like a 15 minutes heating boost at the press of a button, as well as the normal control & scheduling stuff.

I've run out of new things to automate.