Home Automation - What is gimmicky, versus really useful

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Home Automation - What is gimmicky, versus really useful

Eitsop

584 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 153

ID Verified

#289457 7-Sep-2021 13:39

I am looking at doing some home automation.. but really only want to do useful things

eg Shelly 1L on my HWC to turn off between 7am and 9pm weekdays.. and if Flick goes back to spot prices.. bit more logic.

What else is really useful?

[Mod Edit | Amended subject for clarity]

1 | 2

6099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1465

Trusted

#2773710 7-Sep-2021 14:47

Turn lights on when an outside door is opened and it's night time.

Turn on outside lights when alarm arm or disarmed and might (ie someone is leaving or have just got home)

Random automatic lamps turn on and off when in "holiday" mode to simulate someone home

Also useful is subjective.

Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight

SumnerBoy

2079 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 306

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2773723 7-Sep-2021 15:14

When I started I had a similar thought - what can I do that will actually be useful?

What I found is that as I integrated more and more things with my automation system (in my case openHAB) I began to see areas I could automate that had never even occurred to me before.

It is hard to give specifics, I have so many little rules all over the place that I often forget about until they are needed.

Good example is my EV, I have an alert set at 8pm to remind me if the car battery is < 25% and it is not plugged in. Basically saying, the battery is low and you haven't plugged it in yet.

Little things like this are not hard to do, but they really are very useful IMO.

Another one I find extremely useful is I get a notification if the garage door has been left open for 10 mins. This has saved me on a number of occasions when we have rushed out the door and forgotten to shut the door. I am now using the Smart NORA integration with NodeRED which lets me add actions to my notifications, so now I get a "The garage door is still open" notification and a little "Close" action at the bottom I can click to instantly close the door.

It really is something that evolves over time, but the key is to have as many things integrated as possible, and a flexible system for writing rules which can link all those devices.

eluSiveNZ

192 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 42

#2773729 7-Sep-2021 15:16

A Shelley 1L is rated for 1000W - is your HWC less than this?

timbosan

2199 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 294

Subscriber

#2773735 7-Sep-2021 15:21

Having your Philips Hue lights all turn on and go red when your Nest Protect detects smoke (well, it used to work like that until Google broke the API around a year ago and still haven't fixed it.)

Having an internal security camera in the basement that both sends a video notification when it detects movement and also turns on the lights.

Having the lights come on at sundown (not just a specific time) - I find this really useful. Next on that list will be closing blinds around the same time.

Also in you have any sort of accessibility needs then automation can be so so useful, and making devices voice controlled can really help with things are hard to reach, or on the other side of the house, etc.

Maybe not so useful - having the kettle boil when your morning alarm goes off ( this on my todo list).

elbrownos

109 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 40

#2773749 7-Sep-2021 15:43

eluSiveNZ:

A Shelley 1L is rated for 1000W - is your HWC less than this?

I have a Sonoff TH16 on my HWC, it's rated for 16A whereas my HWC is 8.3A.

davidcole

6099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1465

Trusted

#2773761 7-Sep-2021 16:03

timbosan:

Having the lights come on at sundown (not just a specific time) - I find this really useful. Next on that list will be closing blinds around the same time.

I do mine an hour before....but I should also tie it in to luminescence since some days are darker than others.

Great (now) that you can notice it coming on later and later.

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

gregmcc

2173 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 836

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2773771 7-Sep-2021 16:25

timbosan:

Maybe not so useful - having the kettle boil when your morning alarm goes off ( this on my todo list).

I got my kettle set to start at my wakeup time on weekdays, set thru a google routine, very handy

MuzaNZ

45 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 36

ID Verified

#2773772 7-Sep-2021 16:26

I've setup the hot water and heat pump at our bach to automatically turn off when the house is vacant, and automatically turn on when someone arrives.

Had an electrician install some contractors in the switch board to properly control power, and the PAI integration with home assistant to detect when someones there.

Also sends notifications when the alarm goes off or a door is open, plus we can remotely control the garage door, HWC, etc.

morrisk

367 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 161

Lifetime subscriber

#2773775 7-Sep-2021 16:30

I have my home heating - 3 electric panels - controlled using the Shelly 1 together with an ecobee thermostat with 2 remote sensors. This is all tied together with a Hoobs raspberry pi and Home+ app.

I have the heating come on at 6am and turn off at 10.30pm There are 3 different areas that I have different temperature settings for and they change at 5pm so that the house is warmer in the evening. Also the system turns off all heating if everybody leaves the house and turns it on again when someone comes back home.

The heating is controlled to +/-0.1C.

Have had this running for the first time this winter and it has been very good.

Also have various table lamps, the electric blanket, TV, HiFi system, Home pods and window roller blinds all running under the Home+ app and also accessible through Apple Home. The blinds go up at sunrise in living rooms and down 30 minutes after sunset.

Has been a learning curve over the last 12 months with continual tweaking and amending but for now I think i have all working as a way that is useful and I think I would find it strange to have to go back to turning heaters on and off or put blinds up and down.

xontech

268 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 56

#2773785 7-Sep-2021 16:54

A few things going on, all via Home Assistant integrations
Sonos comes on in the morning when the alarm detects movement in a room
Dishwasher turns on to run either when we have a free hour of power or our solar batteries are at a certain level.
Get notification if certain windows or doors are open when setting the alarm
Notification when when washing maching or dryer is finished.
Use a smart plug and temp sensor to turn a oil heater on and off based on room temp
Open and close garage doors via HA app on phone.
Turn off select things when alarm set
Trackers based off of phones, most importantly notification when the wife gets home
Centralised control/access/visibility of many things - heat pumps, security cameras, solar, some switches, temp sensors, sonos etc

aspett

126 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 47

#2773786 7-Sep-2021 16:59

A few small things make a big difference:

Buttons at front door and bedsides to turn on & off all lights
Robot vacuum
Automating heating to turn on/off at ideal times
Coffee machine turning on in the morning

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

Eitsop

584 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 153

ID Verified

#2773792 7-Sep-2021 17:05

eluSiveNZ: A Shelley 1L is rated for 1000W - is your HWC less than this?

Arrggh! I thought was 20amp.. what can I now use it for ?

mdooher

Hmm, what to write...
1443 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 910

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2773794 7-Sep-2021 17:08

best thing is electric blinds/curtains and locks.... all blinds come down at sunset unless they cover a door and the house is not armed etc

one i have only used once is...

in the event of a fire alarm at night.

1 all lights on

2 unlock all doors

3 all door blinds up

4 all window blinds up (all of that takes about 1min)

5 cut mains power

that sort of thing

Matthew

shk292

2916 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2040

Lifetime subscriber

#2773795 7-Sep-2021 17:12

I recently bought some Sensibo controllers to automatically turn heat pumps on and off according to time and also if temp drops below a threshold. They work very well. I know you can do timer control with the supplied remotes, but it is not very user-friendly, whereas the Sensibo app makes it much easier. They also integrate with Google Home

Ge0rge

2114 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2060

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2773797 7-Sep-2021 17:18

SumnerBoy:

Another one I find extremely useful is I get a notification if the garage door has been left open for 10 mins. This has saved me on a number of occasions when we have rushed out the door and forgotten to shut the door. I am now using the Smart NORA integration with NodeRED which lets me add actions to my notifications, so now I get a "The garage door is still open" notification and a little "Close" action at the bottom I can click to instantly close the door.

How are you detecting if the door is open or closed? I have the doors tied in to HA with a Shelly 1 for open / close, but haven't sorted out knowing the state of the door at any one time yet.

1 | 2