Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 0:18:16 GMT -5
Anyone else getting into smart home fixtures/appliances? I am pretty much on the Apple ecosystem so staying with HomeKit where possible.
Currently we have a wifi enabled garage door opener where I know if it is open or not and can can open/shut it on my phone from anywhere.
We also have the Philips Hue where we can control lights (colors and brightness) in different rooms from our phone/watches with voice activation.
Also want to get the following which would also be accessible on my phone from anywhere:
1. Smart thermostat 2. Smart locks 3. Security camera 4. Carbon monoxide/smoke detector
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 9:32:38 GMT -5
Shortly after DH and I moved, we got a notice from the electric company that they'd give us a free smart thermostat in return for agreeing to let them cycle our A/C on and off during periods of peak demands. (They said this may be 2 or 3 times per season and might raise the temp 2 degrees above the selected temperature.) We were replacing our heating system at the time so it was great to get a new thermostat.
The thermostat in our previous house was so complicated to program that DH and I never messed with it; even the professionals occasionally took a second visit to get it working. This one is a breeze; DH can control it from the digital display on the unit and I have an iPhone app. I really love being able to bring the house temperature back to a comfortable level a few hours before we get home from a road trip.
We may get other Internet-bases systems but I'll always be asking, "what happens if the internet signal is lost?" (The thermostat still works.) I think they were making fun of this on YM but believe it or not, I may get a Bluetooth-enabled toothbrush to make sure I'm hitting all the important spots when I brush my teeth. I need to go through my current, Costco-sized supply of brush heads for my Sonicare first, though.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Mar 1, 2016 9:46:53 GMT -5
Not for me - I'm a Luddite at heart. I like low tech systems much better, they are more robust. My gas stove has pilot lights, not electronic ignition, so I can cook in a power failure. We've kept an old landline phone that works on line power, so it also works in a power failure, unlike modern phones (and we've had to replace them a few times).
We upgraded one mercury thermostat to programmable, and have had to replace it once, and have to replace batteries periodically. Also found that they have a stupid low temp default: if the temp of the device reaches 32, it turns off. Yeah, just when you really want the thermostat to work, it stops calling for heat. Brilliant default. Thus, we also have a woodstove, which worked wonders to heat the room and by extension the thermostat to get the boiler to heat the rest of the house (and more power failure coverage).
In the kitchen, I'm much more likely to do things by hand than by machine. I love my Swingaway manual can opener, it lasts forever. Knead dough by hand, not by Kitchenaid mixer. Slice vegetables with a mandoline, not food processor.
I have a treadle sewing machine that had had a motor retrofitted to it; I removed the motor so I could use it as intended. I have another electric sewing machine, but it is still ancient (passed down from a great aunt 20+ years ago - aunt lived to 102, and she inherited it from her older sister who died as a young adult). No plastic computerized machine - the old ones have neat attachments to do button holes and zigzag and ruffles/pleats.
The electronic stuff all requires electricity, right? What happens in a power failure? I know more people are getting whole house generators installed, but I've also heard downsides to those. One friend said hers never came on when needed, despite regular maintenance. In the Snowvember storm last year, my parents received 74" of snow, completely burying their generator so that its exhaust would be blocked, rendering it unusable. I was just following a thread on Bogleheads about generator output and uninterruptible power supply devices that wouldn't switch off backup battery - the generator output was too dirty/erratic/whatever. All sorts of elaborate schemes were suggested to get around the issue - using another inverter to clean up the output, 12 volt battery rerouting something, etc.
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Mar 1, 2016 10:21:07 GMT -5
Got AC this past summer. Had to get a new thermostat so went with a smart one. First day got a text from the wife asking if I could adjust the temperature when I got home. Texted her back two minutes later "Done". Looking to do more. Garage door is next on the list.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Mar 1, 2016 10:24:28 GMT -5
I'm in the Luddite camp as well... mostly because I'm not sure how being able to control my garage door from wherever I am improves the quality of my life... The same "quality of life" issue with controlling the lights in my house, or my thermostat, or being able to check my smoke detector/carbon monoxide detector. I do kind of like the idea of security cameras and/or a camera in the house so I can "spy on my cats". I don't have a big enough house or enough people living in my house to warrant needing to be on top of every "internal system" at a moments notice. if the 60 watt bulb in the closet burns for the 10 hours I'm away from home at work... oh well, I'll just have to scrimp and save to find that extra dime in my budget to cover the cost. I'm not so distracted by my electronic handheld devises that I "forget" to close/lock doors, turn off lights, etc when I'm home or when I leave home. I love my programmable thermostat - It was easy to set up weekday and weekend temperature changes. It's only me (and the cats) and I work 5 days a week... so I lead a fairly predictable life. For me the extra 'control' would just be something else I could waste time with, waste money (when it breaks), waste emotional energy (as it might feed some anxiety - did I leave the coffee maker on? OMG let me check... and then 20 minitues late OMG! I left the coffee maker on - let me check, repeat that over and over and over....) Now I have to rely on my 'coping skills' when I get that feeling I left the coffee maker on, I take a deep breath and remind myself I went thru the "leave the house routine and that the coffee maker is off". Once and done.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Mar 1, 2016 10:42:18 GMT -5
I bought an programmable thermostat a few years ago, and it really saved on my cooling/heating costs. Now that I work rotating shifts though, the programming doesn't work for me (M-F is set together, then Sat and Sun you can set individually). If I forget to set the temperature down to 65 when I go to bed (at 8 am when I work nights), I wake up hot and sweaty and can't sleep well. Or, I'll be at work and realize I'm heating the house all day with no one home. I've used more gas this winter, even though it's been warmer than last year, but at least the bill was only $5 more. I have money on a Home Depot gift card, I've been debating using it to get a "smart thermostat".
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simser
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Post by simser on Mar 1, 2016 10:51:43 GMT -5
I love my smart house. The thermostat I can control from my bed when I wake up at night hot/cold. I have an Amazon echo that controls my kitchen light so that I can turn that on by my voice and not have to trip through the dark... Etc. It's so incredibly different than 4 years ago when I had nothing.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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"How you win matters." Ender, Ender's Game
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 1, 2016 11:17:39 GMT -5
Scoot over Teen and Tiny. I'm joining you both on the Luddite bench. If you're into smart stuff, go for it. We all have our vices, LOL. I personally don't need that much control over an inanimate object (my house). I also like to keep things simple. But that's what works for me. I just think brain cells die when we don't use them to remember stuff like shutting off lights and closing garage doors. And since we have a finite number of brain cells and I am child of the 60s/70s/80s, I certainly don't have any brain cells to spare.
I'll just keep my house old school, thank you very much.
Now where did I put my Lehmann's catalog...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 11:43:09 GMT -5
Not worried about the power/internet going out, we plan mostly for the conveniences for the 99.9% of the time it is on. We have backup lights for those rare instances it is off and the one time it was out for days we stayed at a hotel where it was on. In a walking dead scenario we will go to Upper Michigan .
The remote garage door provides a lot of value for us as we often have various relatives/friends that visit and if they arrive when we are at work we can let them in remotely. It also comes in handy for those occasions when we forget to shut the door.
The lights are awesome because they are voice activated and it is hilarious watching the dog roam room to room chasing them going on and off.
Really interested in the thermostat because depending on the time of the year it is very difficult to program our current system to keep the air on long enough to cool the bedrooms and not make the downstairs an ice box, it requires constant adjusting. With the ecobee we are looking at having remote sensors in different areas of the house with a system that can control it.
Almost forgot but also have the Apple TV setup where we can have every speaker in the house playing the same thing, great when we have people over.
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Mar 1, 2016 11:46:28 GMT -5
I think it is really cool and was interested in X-10 when it came out. But I am way too lazy to do any of it to my house.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Mar 1, 2016 12:07:23 GMT -5
DH has been programming the lights, doors, cameras, etc. Sometimes they even work. And that would be my DH too!
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Mar 1, 2016 12:38:23 GMT -5
I can't even make my TV remote work. Two nights ago it got banished to the cabinet where all bad electronics go and I'm turning the TV on and off by hand. That will show it.
I also have to depress the garage remote a minimum of 15 times before it opens. (I've counted). It will, however, close on the very first click.
YES I replaced the batteries on both.
Apparently my electronics hate me and are screwing with me, so I don't think it's a good idea for me to be tying any of them together, or they might start colluding and then I'm screwed for sure.
(DH isn't allowed to do this, either - on his last phone, he would pocket dial me multiple times per day with the text 'I'm in a meeting.' Despite the fact that he could not actually figure out how to make his phone send this message on purpose - it only did it when it was in his pocket. I do not want the garage doors going up and down because he got up to get a cup of coffee at work.)
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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"How you win matters." Ender, Ender's Game
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Mar 1, 2016 13:41:51 GMT -5
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spartan7886
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Post by spartan7886 on Mar 1, 2016 17:35:53 GMT -5
Not for me - I'm a Luddite at heart. I like low tech systems much better, they are more robust. My gas stove has pilot lights, not electronic ignition, so I can cook in a power failure. We've kept an old landline phone that works on line power, so it also works in a power failure, unlike modern phones (and we've had to replace them a few times). My electronic ignition gas stove has been working just fine for me while having been unplugged for 7 years. The gas still comes out, you just have to use a lighter. Not exactly much of a hardship.
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Mar 2, 2016 8:43:36 GMT -5
I am the low bar for personal gadgets, so, no.
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