# Home Automation



## monty

Anyone else really into home automation? Here is the setup I have.

It is all run off of a $35 raspberry pi running a software called Home Assistant. Home Assistant is an open source automation software that supports a crazy number of products (over 700). Home Assistant is a platform that allows you to control and interconnect all of your different devices all in one program. So I don't have to open one app to change the temperature, and another to turn on the irrigation system.

Devices I currently have setup:

Various indoor and outdoor light switches

Ceiling fans

Two thermostats, one for each zone

Temperature, motion, and light sensors

Smoke detectors

TVs and speakers

Family member phones for location and presence detection

Rachio irrigation control!!! Just got it so not setup on HA yet

I've got automations setup to control lights and temperature when I'm home, away, or asleep and lots of other stuff too.


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## g-man

I'm using smartthings hub. I've connected the rachio, but don't use it.


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## chrismar

I dabble in home automation as well.

I currently have:

* Samsung SmartThings
* An amazon echo (downstairs) and dot (upstairs). 
* Two ecobee thermostats.
* A few z-wave light switches (mostly on lights the wife/kids leave on habitually).
* A z-wave thermometer in my pool so I don't have to go check the floater (the plan is to eventually get this hooked up with Alexa so I can ask "Alexa, what's the pool temperature?")
* My LiftMaster garage door has MyQ.
* Rachio

I also have a couple honeywell "smart" (not zigbee/zwave) switches that have astronomical timers in them to turn on my porch lights at sunset.

I think that's it. Just about everything is hooked up to ST and Alexa, except for the Rachio. I don't want the kids to be watering stuff all willy nilly.


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## Richard Slater

I've done a fair bit of home automation:

17x Philips Hue Lamps
9x Philips Hue Dimmers
2x Philips Hue Taps
2x Amazon Echo (1x Dot and 1x Echo)
3x Nest Protect (2x Wired, 1x Battery)
1x Raspberry Pi - custom IR interface for the Hue's for my daughter
2x Wemo Insight Switch
1x TP-Link Switch

Looking at automating the blinds and installing a Nest thermostat within the next couple of years.


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## kds

I'm interested to hear what others are doing with their setup.

I have:
- Ecobee3
- Wink Hub (original)
- 3x Schlage Connect deadbolts (I want to swap these for the Sense version so I can have HomeKit compatibility)
- 3x Kidde battery-operated smoke/CO2 detectors
- Ring doorbell
- Foscam IP camera in the garage

Although I don't consider this to be home automation because it's not tied into anything (yet), I do also have a Davis Vantage Vue weather station.

Also just like Richard I have non-smart Honeywell switches that turn the outside lights on and off and dusk and dawn. Those things are awesome.

I want to add HomeKit-enabled shades to the mix, mostly because I'm irritated when the girlfriend won't close the blinds at night. I'm also waiting on better smoke detectors to hit the market. I had a false alarm last week when I was on a trip and I didn't even get a push notification on my phone from the Wink app to let me know the alarms were sounding. I'd also like to do more home surveillance, but I just have to figure out how to get power to where I need it outside.


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## g-man

All I want now is an alert when the softener needs more salt. All the solutions I find are too complex.

#firstworldproblems


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## monty

kds said:


> I'm interested to hear what others are doing with their setup.


Getting all of these devices to work together in ways that require less operation from you is when you take it to the next level. That is where Home Assistant shines.

Here are a few examples:

When my garage motion light is triggered,
it also turns on the light above my door for 5 minutes allowing me to see to unlock and open the door.

House automatically triggers "sleep mode"(changes to temperature, but could include turning off lights and locking doors) at 11pm. However, if I plug my phone in, while I'm at home, after 9pm, and my phone is face down, sleep mode will trigger at that time

Rachio can activate if smoke detectors alarm

Lights dim in TV room when a video is played over the Chromecast

Google home reminds me to take out the trash on trash day, but only if I'm home.

If temperature in baby room is different than thermostat set point by 3 degrees, adjust thermostat


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## monty

g-man said:


> All I want now is an alert when the softener needs more salt. All the solutions I find are too complex.
> 
> #firstworldproblems


Does your softener have a display? I haven't used it but I've read about a home Assistant plugin that can read text displays from a camera feed.


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## kds

I have a Synoloy NAS so Home Assistant would be a natural fit, but I decided as a New Year's resolution that I don't want to spend a ton of time hacking things together. Plus, it needs to be something intuitive and not cumbersome in order for the girlfriend to adopt it, so I opted to move to HomeKit.


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## monty

I wouldn't call it hacking it together, but it does have a learning curve. It's getting easier and easier to use and learn every release. you can now create automations right in the UI.

The wife/girlfriend acceptance is big. I try to make some things easier for her with the system. Like a button on her night stand that turns the bedroom light off.


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## Gibby

I use a Vera hub.

~ 1 Ring doorbell
~ 12 Zwave Switches
~ 6 Zwave bulbs
~ 3 Echos
~ Custom built DSC security alarm that integrates
~ 2 Schlage Zwave Locks
~ 2 Zwave Thermostats
~ 1 Zwave garage door opener(need to get 1 more)
~ 2 Zwave motion/light sensors
~ 10 HD cameras (only have put 1 up since we moved into our new house though)

I have mine setup to do stuff like, if a proper code is put in the door to unlock the house, use the same code to disarm the security system. If distress code is used to open door, send distress code to alarm monitoring company.

Zwave switch on the sealed gas fireplace. If fireplace is on and no motion detected in that room for >10 minutes, turn of fireplace. If temperature is >74 turn off fireplace. If security system armed, turn off fireplace.

Turn on certain lights when motion is detected inside the house and light level below XXX amount.

Turn on garage lights when light level is below XXX and a garage door is opened.

Turn on all outside lights at dusk and off at dawn.

Turn on/off my sons lizard and snake lights based on a schedule.

Turn on/off their access to TV's, gaming consoles on school nights at a certain time.

Send push alerts to my wife and my phones on certain events/openings/closings.


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## gijoe4500

I need to expand my setup a little more. It is definitely lagging behind where I wanted it to be when I started installing things. I haven't done much with it in a while.

I'm running:
-MiCasaVerde Vera 3 hub
-Yale z-wave deadbolt
-Google Nest thermostat
-Generic z-wave garage door tilt sensor
-3 inline 120v z-wave power switches that aren't being used anymore.

I had one on the amplifier for the subwoofer, but since I swapped out the fan in it for a quieter one, I just leave the amp on all the time now.

I need to sit down, figure out what all else I would want to incorporate into this, and make it happen.


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## Gibby

Forgot to add that I use BlueIris for my security cameras, what I like about it is you can add overlays. I add the outdoor temp, the wind speed, status of the security system and also it will add an overlay for when a window or door is open.


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## Rackhouse Mayor

monty said:


> Rachio can activate if smoke detectors alarm


I just envision a bunch of pissed off firefighters getting pelted with a lawn sprinkler as they try to put out a burning house.


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## jayhawk

How secure is all that stuff...running off your consumer grade netgear (like) router?


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## kaptain_zero

It is NOT secure, unless you make it secure. The best information I found was on the podcast "Security Now" with Steve Gibson. 3 separate routers can be used to create 2 networks, one for IOT devices and the other for your computers, tablets, servers and such. There were some routers that could do the job by themselves, but if I am not mistaken, they have since been compromised/hacked and may not offer the security once thought.

There was just a CBC Market Place episode on the toob regarding IOT security, I'll link to the YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P0rSnt2HSU


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## dfw_pilot

An old computer/mac mini can be used as a bastion server that will do much better than a consumer router.

ETA: Link


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## kaptain_zero

As dfw-pilot suggests, an older computer can be used with pfsense software to create a router. However, it's not for people who prefer to just pay and pray.

I have not built my own as my provider insists on a custom box to handle our TV/Internet service, but then again, I don't have IOT devices.... I just don't see the point, but I'm an old fuddy duddy who needs the walk from the easy chair to the thermostat on the wall.

https://www.pfsense.org/ <-- commercial products.

https://www.pfsense.org/download/ <-- Opensource community software for download


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## NewLawnJon

Anyone other than me using HomeKit for automation?

At the moment I have 3 AppleTvs and a HomePod acting as hubs with a wireless mesh system so I can have good connectivity to all my lights, locks, thermostats, and other devices.


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## jimbeckel

I am running control 4 for my automation tied into my security system. I have a copy of the home edition software which allows me to program "if this then that" scenarios. It isa pretty rbust system. I have three separate rooms with tv's that are tied in as well as all of my lighting, dimmers and scenes. I'm not sure I will use this company in my next house, I want more control over adding hardware and control 4 has the user locked down tight. That is the biggest drawback to control 4.


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## kds

NewLawnJon said:


> Anyone other than me using HomeKit for automation?
> 
> At the moment I have 3 AppleTvs and a HomePod acting as hubs with a wireless mesh system so I can have good connectivity to all my lights, locks, thermostats, and other devices.


I have some HomeKit things, mostly my ecobee and a ceiling fan. I'd like to do more, but it seems everyone is developing products for Alexa and Google and HomeKit is getting left behind.

I have some things on my Wink hub that I'd like to expose via Homebridge (smoke detectors and Schlage locks). I tried installing it on Windows but I gave up. I plan on putting it on a Raspberry Pi eventually.

Going forward, I think anything I introduce to my smart home will have to be compatible with HomeKit (or Homebridge), Wink, and/or SmartThings. I'm afraid HomeKit is going to be too far behind to catch back up.


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## LouisvilleGrubber

AM I the only one running Insteon? Incredibly reliable technology. No Wifi - both RF and home wiring are used to communicate (each device is a repeater), but the hardware is a little flimsy and expensive in my opinion. I have 50+ devices.


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## NewLawnJon

kds said:


> I have some HomeKit things, mostly my ecobee and a ceiling fan. I'd like to do more, but it seems everyone is developing products for Alexa and Google and HomeKit is getting left behind.
> 
> I have some things on my Wink hub that I'd like to expose via Homebridge (smoke detectors and Schlage locks). I tried installing it on Windows but I gave up. I plan on putting it on a Raspberry Pi eventually.
> 
> Going forward, I think anything I introduce to my smart home will have to be compatible with HomeKit (or Homebridge), Wink, and/or SmartThings. I'm afraid HomeKit is going to be too far behind to catch back up.


I agree that it looks like HomeKit is behind compared to Google/Alexa platforms, but at the same time most of the products exclusive to those platforms are made by Google/Amazon.

I am hoping that Apple starts to manufacture their own pieces as I would like to see a HomeKit compatible doorbell. My biggest concern with smart home technology is that many of them use hubs with proprietary technology that gets bought and then the hubs get disabled (Revolv is an example of this).


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## unclebucks06

monty said:


> kds said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm interested to hear what others are doing with their setup.
> 
> 
> 
> Getting all of these devices to work together in ways that require less operation from you is when you take it to the next level. That is where Home Assistant shines.
> 
> Here are a few examples:
> 
> When my garage motion light is triggered,
> it also turns on the light above my door for 5 minutes allowing me to see to unlock and open the door.
> 
> House automatically triggers "sleep mode"(changes to temperature, but could include turning off lights and locking doors) at 11pm. However, if I plug my phone in, while I'm at home, after 9pm, and my phone is face down, sleep mode will trigger at that time
> 
> Rachio can activate if smoke detectors alarm
> 
> Lights dim in TV room when a video is played over the Chromecast
> 
> Google home reminds me to take out the trash on trash day, but only if I'm home.
> 
> If temperature in baby room is different than thermostat set point by 3 degrees, adjust thermostat
Click to expand...

Smartthings can do that as well.


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## Austinite

I use Google Home for automation. It manages...

- All Lights (Phillips Hue color bulbs and various LED accent lighting)
- Door Locks (locks and gives status of each door)
- Window and door sensors. (gives open/closed status)
- Refrigerator (Tells me if door is left open and can display inside cameras on any TV)
- Alarm System (arm only and gives status)
- A/C Units (Change mode, fan on/off, change temp)
- Nest Cameras (Can display any of my 11 cameras on any TV)
- Garage Doors (open/close/status)
- TV's (turns on/off, pause & play, play specific show using specific service, controls volume, changes channels)
- Music (plays whatever anywhere in the house, controls ONKYO receiver in home theater room also)
- Auto Sync - just say "Sync Philips Hue, or Sync Nest, or Sync everything) so it adapts to any changes I make on other apps.
- Window Shades (this is being installed next month)

I'm trying to find a way to get my RainBird sprinkler system to work with it. have it on wifi but it doesn't communicate with Google.


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## Ware

Austinite said:


> I'm trying to find a way to get my RainBird sprinkler system to work with it. have it on wifi but it doesn't communicate with Google.


Switch to Rachio?


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## Austinite

Ware said:


> Austinite said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm trying to find a way to get my RainBird sprinkler system to work with it. have it on wifi but it doesn't communicate with Google.
> 
> 
> 
> Switch to Rachio?
Click to expand...

That looks awesome, never heard of it. The only thing that I dont like is that its app only, no master controls. But still, very slick.


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## Ware

Austinite said:


> That looks awesome, never heard of it. The only thing that I dont like is that its app only, no master controls. But still, very slick.


There is a big Rachio following here at TLF. Here are a couple threads about them:

Rachio Gen 2
Rachio Gen 3​
Of course once you have a controller that can utilize weather data from your microclimate to make watering decisions, you'll want to invest in your own PWS.

Welcome to the rabbit hole. :lol:


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## Austinite

excellent. Sounds like a fun spring project! Thanks man!


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## marshtj

I'm thinking of adding a wifi controller to my Rheem gas water heater. Has anyone used one of these yet? Curious about the functionality and experience.


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## Shuffinator

monty said:


> Anyone else really into home automation? Here is the setup I have.
> 
> It is all run off of a $35 raspberry pi running a software called Home Assistant. Home Assistant is an open source automation software that supports a crazy number of products (over 700). Home Assistant is a platform that allows you to control and interconnect all of your different devices all in one program. So I don't have to open one app to change the temperature, and another to turn on the irrigation system.
> 
> Devices I currently have setup:
> 
> Various indoor and outdoor light switches
> 
> Ceiling fans
> 
> Two thermostats, one for each zone
> 
> Temperature, motion, and light sensors
> 
> Smoke detectors
> 
> TVs and speakers
> 
> Family member phones for location and presence detection
> 
> Rachio irrigation control!!! Just got it so not setup on HA yet
> 
> I've got automations setup to control lights and temperature when I'm home, away, or asleep and lots of other stuff too.


My wife and I are closing on our first house next week and I am very interested in HA. I have heard good and bad things on home assistant. I am not a computer nerd by any means, but I know my way around a computer. How user friendly is home assistant for an average joe?


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## kds

@Shuffinator I hear it's gotten better. I just upgraded my Synology NAS and it can run Docker so I'm going to give it a go, replacing my Wink hub. I'll be getting my Z-Wave stick later this week... I'll check back in once I get some time to get it going.


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## Shuffinator

kds said:


> @Shuffinator I hear it's gotten better. I just upgraded my Synology NAS and it can run Docker so I'm going to give it a go, replacing my Wink hub. I'll be getting my Z-Wave stick later this week... I'll check back in once I get some time to get it going.


Ive been doing some research this evening... just bought a Pi and an SD so Im going to learn a new hobby...

So far I've got a nest thermostat that is staying with the house and im wanting to get some Hue lights so we will see how it all goes.


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## Austinite

Anyone using Google Home with Rachio sprinkler system? I just ordered the rachio 3, and really hoping it works well with Google as it claims.


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## g-man

@Austinite I have both and smart thing. Rachio just works fine using the app to select zones and duration to each. Ive never being inside the house near a Google home device when I need to trigger the sprinklers.


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## Hexadecimal 00FF00

Austinite said:


> Anyone using Google Home with Rachio sprinkler system? I just ordered the rachio 3, and really hoping it works well with Google as it claims.


@Austinite

Not sure what that's needed for. The Rachio works very well on its own. The few times I've needed to interface with it I used the [Android] app or the web interface. That's only been a handful of times since I got it in July 2014.

Though to explore functionality I added my Rachio to my Home Assistant.


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## Austinite

@g-man @Hexadecimal 00FF00

Thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated .


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## mak474

Just my Ecobee 4 for now. I have 4 sensors placed throughout the house. 
This past winter on a day when we had single digit temps my Ecobee emailed me the following,
"There may be a problem with the Furnace. For the past 2 hours the thermostat has been calling for heat, but the room temperature has decreased by 3.0F."

I had just got to work so I, hopped in the car and headed back home, an hour drive each way btw. Turned out the thermocouple was bad. So I found a supply store that had one in stock, swapped it out and was back to work by 11am lol. It would have been a very cold night had I got home at 6pm to find that out.

We do have a hand full of cameras, Canary and Zmodo.


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## wafflesngravy

I love my ecobee! Best part about it is using the master bedroom sensor only during night mode. I don't have to worry about our nightly exercise heating up the room! 

My house is pretty automated at this point. Our weekly schedules don't change so I use timers vs geo-location and it works fine for us. I've got some pretty neat stuff setup tho. For example, we have echos through out the house so the bedroom one is the alarm clock. I also have a server that manages the timers on all the switches so it also turns on the bedroom lights with a slow fade on while the alarm is going off. I then have it set to turn on the bathroom lights automatically when it's time to get ready for work. This signals to us that we better get moving. One of the coolest features I have is the bathroom light/fan combo. When the server sees a bathroom light come on it waits 3 minutes, if after 3 mins the light is still on it automatically turns the bathroom exhaust fan on. Then when the light is turned off, it keeps the exhaust fan running for 20 minutes before shutting off. Perfect if you have kids that never turn the fan on when they shower.


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## Austinite

I got Rachio to work on google home by voice command. Works great. Here is a video of my setup...

https://youtu.be/q--X0CHEe-I


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