Smart Homes

Thought I would update this for any others interested in a Smart Home.

So we have the Hub in the kitchen (that serves the main living area too. Mounted on a 3D printed support under the cabinets),
Mini's in the "office", master and in the hallway.
Nest Thermostat in the hall.
Phillips white bulbs in "office" and living room.
Smart outlets in the master (2) that control two 3 bulb lamps
A Night Owl Doorbell at front door (chosen for price, 1020 image and not needing a paid subscription service for retaining video but available)

Pending:
Another doorbell on the side entrance for a better view of visitors approaching.
Roomba. I have always wanted one and now the NCS is onboard for a particular variety. It too works with the Google assistant.

Not likely:
A camera anywhere IN the house.
Coloured lamps. I see no purpose except for limiting blue light at night.

3D help:
Printed the mount for the Hub. It swivels and gets it off the counter space.
Printed a mount for the hall mini that makes it fit into controlled compact area at the plug that looks clean
A simple wall mount for the "office" mini that gets it out of the way for better sound and response.

Thoughts so far:
We are liking it.
I have a couple routines like "I'm home" and "good morning" to turn on / off lights and play news, commute traffic etc.
Set up speaker groups to play music or something else in the entire house or a portion when desired.
At first it is a little strange to have to tell Google to turn on/ off lights but it is easy after a few times.  We can turn off the lights before leaving a room or from any other location since at least one of the speakers will pick it up.  I like being able to dim some of the lights on request. We can also do any of this from our phones.
A key part of the lighting was found to be to leave something connected to the light switch for that flipping the switch habit and non-verbal action with results. When using the smart lighting (bulb or plug) I made that the primary lighting source.

I was thinking the thermostat needed to be replaced due to some erratic actions. Decided to go all in on the smart home with a Nest thermostat. It has worked great fixing my concerns and learning when I am gone based on motion sensing and phone location.

Using the doorbell has been if nothing else, FUN. The one I decided to use is hooked to the doorbell wires for power so there is no battery and it operates the mechanical bell in the house. viVideo is recorded on a micro sd card. It will do continuous or motion activated up to 128 GB
Just looking at the front yard and the occasional package drop off is interesting. Passing cars set off the motion detector especially at night even on the lowest setting. The "someone has rung your doorbell" alert is lost among other alerts of motion so I miss the rings but then I would not have been home for those that I miss anyway. Two way communication is possible with the Night Owl bell if you catch it. I did have an issue with it losing connection to the router after about a week. Made connection with the phone intermittent. I did a factory reset that seems to have solved the issue for now.




The hall speaker with 3D printed mount


The Hub 3D printed under cabinet mount swiveled


Normal use position for Hub.


The less attractive "office" wall mount (and assistant controlled lamp)

I'm vastly invested into home automation. I'm using the Samsung SmartThings platform with a v2 hub. I have light switches, light bulbs, thermostat, cameras, motion sensors, water sensors, main water valve, and the list goes on and on. I only use Alexa to turn on/off something really, other than playing music requests for the kids. I "arm" the house when our phones leave the area and have my Roomba only run when we're gone. I'm also using secondary apps to run all sorts of automations based on time, locations, sunset, etc.

I can go on and on about this topic. If you'd like to know more and hear some specific examples of what I'm doing.

My current project is to automate the watering of the garden, based on both the actual moisture and the water forecast.

Unfortunately, I find it easier to understand more than most of the cache puzzles in there area. You guys are too rough for myself and 4 yr old son.

Light switches are ok but that's where I started because it's quite simple and it's nice to know if anything is on when you're gone. I do have the kids' playroom on a smart switch and motion sensor. When it detects motion it turns on and turns off when there isn't motion. I don't have to be that parents always nagging the kids ti turn off the lights.

As for things that actually get used it's probably hard to say. I tried to make it so that I didn't push anything or have to act differently to use it. For example, I put a switch and contact sensor in the laundry room. Now the light turns on like the fridge would. Open the door and the light comes on. Nothing fancy but it works and is simple. I put a contact sensor on my mail box and I get a push notification on my phone and have my Alexa's announce the mails here.

I was skeptical about installing the door locks but then realized how often we would ask each other, are the doors locked? I have a routine setup to run when there's no motion for x minutes to lock the doors, close there garage, turn of lights, turn on cameras. This gives us some peace of mind.

The main secondary apps I'm using are IFTTT and webcore. These are both logic based apps that triggers actions like I mentioned above.

I try to drive all my house decisions based on my and my wife's phone locations. So if we're home things happen, else wait until we're gone.

For some fun, google "Smartthings" and something you don't like doing and I would bet there is someone out there who already figured it out.

Here's a link as well for some ideas.
thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Quick_Browse_the_Community-Created_SmartApps_Forum_Section#Quick_Browse_Links_for_Project_Reports.2FQuestions

I see one problem so far with my NightOwl doorbell.
Connection issues.

I was having a little bit of "unable to connect" now and then when not at home and viewing from the phone which is when I want it to work more often.
I think that was solved by moving the router a little higher and a tiny bit away from other electronics (think inches here)
This seemed to have eliminated the issue.

Noticed that I was not getting the usual "motion at your front door" notifications prompted by a school bus or loud car passing by.
Looked at the doorbell which shows normal conection (the light ring around the bell button)
On the app it is not there anymore. Have to "Add a Device" which could be simple but in this case involves removing the main cover and pressing the reset button.
Due to the arrangement at the door of the doorbell this also means that I have to essentially remove the entire mechanisim to access the button.
This is a problem in it's current location if it becomes even an infrequent issue.

Fortunately, when I install the new door I plan on moving the wiring and doorbell to the exterior brick surface and off the door framing where this will be a simple yet annoying task if it re-occures.

Still considering some switches but moving toward a sensor mentioned by weh114 for the laundry area which happens to also be the usual entrance.
It would be nice not to leave the light on and have it come on upon entry as well as when the room is accessed from the kitchen to leave or for the many reasons we go there during the day. In this room it would not disturb someone sleeping or simply not wanting light should it really not be needed when entering. Not sure how this would work though. I plan to do a clean-up remodel of the room soon. You know, shelves, cabinets and the like including a new LED light fixture.

Being a COB light fixture it will not be "smart" so I am not sure at this point how to have it turn on other than perhaps with a switch that will work with the sensor.
Suggestions?

Mine is still sitting around unused.
I took it out to the Brew Shed but reception was poor so I brought it back in to rest.

I didn't like the "skills" as they usually required remembering specific commands to function that I could never recall.
Well except for the Klingon word of the day.

All this stuff has become just routine now.
Run the Roomba and Shinebot weekly when home and the Roomba when I am going to be out for a while if needed.
Being home more for Covid changed the way we use them.

The only recent addition I can think of is a simple solar light added to the Gazebo at the Metal Shed. It's not connected to anything, just a dusk to dawn light.

The Google Nest thermostat gets less usefull with someone being home all the time but changing the temp from the recliner is easy enough.

The Doorbell stays connected except when there is a power or internet failure. Reset is annoying but I have done it enough now to be a short task.
I upgraded the memory card significantly so that I have a reoord of activity over several days now before it starts recording over itself.
This came about when a traffic cone behind my vehicle parked in the street was stolen (along with the neighbors)and my recordings didn't go back quite far enough to see them take it.

The lights on our deck gazebo are on a timer and the front spotlights are on a plug opertaed by the hub from dusk to dawn

It's nice to come home in the evening and have the spotlights and gazebo already on with certain interior lights coming on upon my arrival (and turn off when I leave if I forget).

I get to see the delivery person drop kick our packages, the lights are on when I get in and the floors are clean.

There is much more that can be done but this simple basic automation is nice and has become just routine and expected.