Smart home automation

3 years ago

Hi,

We are renovating our house and will be re-wiring the whole house. Its small 3.5 bed house and would like to introduce some automation particularly for wifi/ data ports throughout. The dilemma we have is whether to hardwire the rest of the automation. As a minimum we want the ground floor lights, heating, sonos speakers and ring system to be managed via one place. We are getting confusing advise and a degree of upselling to use lutron system throughout and use of pico or control 4 panel. From reading up, I think google hive or apple home kits can achieve this automation hub and the hive panel and our phone can serve as the one stop shop to control these.

Has anyone got a hardwired automation system or a google hive/ homekit? What's your experience like? What are the limitations to these plug and play automation systems like google or apple?

Any advise will be really helpful!

My wishlist is for automation is:

- As you enter the house, the lights come on, being able to control lights on the ground floor via app/ipad

- Can control sonos speakers (independent ones not in ceiling) via app/ipad

- Be able to view who is at the door and connect to camera overseeing back garden

- Control heating thermostat

-Ensure internet data points available in multiple places in the house.

Thanks!

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Comments (7)

User
3 years ago
I have Hive heating controls, Philips Hue light bulbs, Ring doorbell and indoor camera, Google Nest smoke detectors. All apart from smoke detectors can be controlled by my Amazon Echo/Alexa smart speakers or app.
S Housemad
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks Sarah,does it it all connect intuitively? My fear is they drop connections often or it doesn’t quite recognise a room...have you faced any issues with them?

Do you have a mains switch for the bulbs for a room in addition to the smart bulbs? Just wondering how practical this is on a day to day basis.
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User
3 years ago
I haven't experienced any issues with dropped connections. Yes, I think you still need light switches with smart light bulbs. The switch is left in the on position to supply the power, and the light controlled with your voice or app. PIR sensors can also be used to switch the light on and off. I have one to control my outside lights, so they come on when motion is detected. I also had an indoor one in my hallway and had to keep telling Alexa to switch the lights off. To be honest, I prefer to use the lightswitch myself. She sometimes got confused between 'all' and 'hall'. The outside one is very useful though. My Ring doorbell is also very helpful for letting me know when I've got post in my wall mounted postbox. Connectivity is very easy since the app can find new compatible devices.
Mat SP
3 years ago
I use voice or my phone to control all of my main lights except for the bathroom which is more practical to just use the mains switch! I also have a few little hue dimmer switches sitting around for the bedroom. I use Tado for heating (UFH and smart TRVs), Sonos for music and Ring for Doorbell. It all works as expected. Ring needs it's own app but there are workarounds to bring it into apples Home app for a unified experience.

Going forward I'm sticking to HomeKit compatible devices.
Angie
3 years ago
Our heating is Hive controlled and we have a smart watering system but I forget it’s name. The watering system came into its own when we spent 4 weeks in the States a couple of years ago and were growing flowers for our son’s wedding. Amazing to be able to turn the water on and off from the other side of the Atlantic! And it told us when the weather at home was wet, suggesting we might like to turn it off for a while. Very clever stuff.
The Hive system is very easy. Good to be able to turn it on a you travel back from somewhere (when we could travel...) and easy to turn rads on/off/up/down as needed. Most of our rads have Hive TRVs on and we only heat a few rooms most of the time.
We’ve not yet branched into other smart solutions but I’m sure that will follow in due course.
Not had any connectivity issues with either, just a couple of little devices which sit on top of the piano by the router, neatly hidden behind pictures.
Chris Jones
3 years ago
Currently using Amazon Echo // Alexa and compatible devices without issue, just check that they are supported.

For my lights everything is Philips Hue, a little expensive but these work flawlessly via voice control, iPhone/iPad app and I also have the Philips light switches in some rooms (blanking plates to cover main switches in others).

For home security I have the Ring alarm and doorbell set (new ones are due this month to replace the first generation so you might get a good deal on the previous generation). Everything just works flawlessly with my Echo Show and iPhone/iPad.

For my heating I have Hive, again no issues, app and voice controlled, everything works as it should.

I also have an Amazon // App controlled Smart Hoover/Mop, can’t recall the model but once it plots the rooms it’s easy to control via voice or app. There is a higher end model where it empties itself but I don’t have that one.

Finally I have Sonos + Alexa setup in the house, using a mix of Echo, Sonos and IKEA speakers around the home, this did take some setting up (mainly because I’m mixing multiple ecosystems) but now I’ve got past the initial teething problems and familiarised myself with the way it all works adding additional speakers or zones is a breeze.
Alz0 Torren
last year
last modified: last year
Having internet data points available in multiple places is a really cool thing. I would say go with the option that feels best for you and fits your budget. If you're tech-savvy and don't mind tinkering with settings, the Google or Apple option might be best. If you want a more hands-off, professionally installed system, go for the hardwired option. Good luck with your project! And if you're looking for a physical security system, you might want to check out https://ohholding.com.ua/en/fizicheskaya-okhrana/telohranitel - they're known for their great service and affordable prices.

Smart home automation

Comments (7)

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S Housemad
Original Author

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Mat SP

Angie

Chris Jones

Alz0 Torren

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Smart home automation

Comments (7)

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S HousemadOriginal Author

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Mat SP

Angie

Chris Jones

Alz0 Torren

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S Housemad
Original Author