Interesting how DIY and automation have changed things, used to be you’d give a 
neighbor a key and pay their kid a few bucks to feed your pets and check the 
water heater.  Now that kid is unemployed and watching ISIS videos on the 
Internet in his parents basement.  Or he’s driving for Uber, until they switch 
to self-driving cars, then he’s unemployed in his parents basement doing you  
know.  Do you see how you’re contributing to the end of life as we know it?

 

 

From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Stewart
Sent: Monday, January 9, 2017 10:01 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT: Home automation

 

True and in my case it was always something I would think of when 1000 miles 
away ;)

 

From: Af <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > on behalf of 
Jaime Solorza <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Reply-To: <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Date: Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:53 AM
To: Animal Farm <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT: Home automation

 

Most water heaters have a vacation setting. 

 

On Jan 8, 2017 8:16 PM, "Jay Weekley" <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

It would be nice to turn the water heater off and keep my ac/heat on minimal 
settings while I'm away for extended periods and turn them back on a few hours 
before I get home from my phone.

Paul Stewart wrote:


Hehe… there are faucets that you can make “smart” now as well – last I looked 
they were extremely expensive though.

For practical stuff, I really like to know when bathroom lights are left on for 
extended periods of time by kids … when the garage door is left open at night 
etc…. especially with the price of electricity here (even with LED lighting) …

Also, when nobody is home for periods of time I’ll get an alert when lights are 
left on … my hot water tank is connected – it stops heating the water when 
nobody is going to be around …

Paul

*From: *Af <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > on behalf of 
Chuck McCown <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
*Reply-To: *<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
*Date: *Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 4:20 PM
*To: *<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
*Subject: *Re: [AFMUG] OT: Home automation

No, get the dog to take out the trash...

*From:*Ken Hohhof

*Sent:*Sunday, January 08, 2017 1:53 PM

*To:*[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 

*Subject:*Re: [AFMUG] OT: Home automation

I guess I have a DumbHome.

And oddly, the things I might want to check remotely don’t seem to be on the 
list.  Like did someone leave the bathroom faucet running or a burner on the 
stove lit. With  LED lights I don’t obsess that a light might be left on for 8 
hours.  And I don’t need my fridge ordering more eggs from Amazon.

The worst DIY home automation item has to be these Ring Doorbells.  For the 
time people spend dealing with their bugs, they could just hire someone to 
house sit and call them when someone is at the door.

Now if I could just get the dog to bring in my wife’s paper in the morning.

*From:*Af [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ] *On 
Behalf Of *Paul Stewart
*Sent:* Sunday, January 8, 2017 2:40 PM
*To:* [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] OT: Home automation

Look at my other posts but in short…

Ecobee3 thermostat system with remote sensors deployed on each floor in 
different areas

Zwave vents that are controlled to maintain temperature in different areas of 
the house

Light switches all GE (which do not have instant status option but that’s fine 
for me) including dimmers

Elk alarm system integrated with controller

Controller is Vera

Amazon Echo/Alexa voice control

Weiser touch screen door locks

Water sensor in basement (zwave)

Whole home energy monitor

List goes on and one J

*From: *Af <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > on behalf of 
Tushar Patel <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
*Reply-To: *<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
*Date: *Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 8:40 AM
*To: *<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
*Subject: *Re: [AFMUG] OT: Home automation

Do you have part list you used you can share?

You mentioned Zwave. What else?



Tushar


On Jan 8, 2017, at 5:58 AM, Paul Stewart <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

    My house used to run purely on Control4 system .. professionally
    installed and quite expensive.  I got sick of $125 service calls
    for rather simple stuff to be done and decided to replace it with
    a DYI system…. The Control4 system with labour and service calls
    etc set me back around $25k in total.

    Right now with the DYI system I have probably $4k invested plus my
    time … at most.  Zero monthly subscription, zero headaches …. And
    no service calls.

    The one part though that I think a lot of folks overlook (as I
    did) is working with electrical in your house … I replaced outlets
    and switches for example and the zwave stuff I used is much deeper
    than normal switches – I wish now that I had just hired an
    electrician to mess around with that stuff in particular as it’s
    not something I do every day kind of thing ….

    I know someone in my area that does home automation for a living …
    done it for years.  He is very busy … his main clients are folks
    who have cottages and wish to remotely control/monitor their
    properties especially during times they are not visiting it very
    much …

    Paul

    *From: *Af <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > on behalf 
of Joe Novak
    <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
    *Reply-To: *<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
    *Date: *Friday, January 6, 2017 at 4:13 PM
    *To: *<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
    *Subject: *Re: [AFMUG] OT: Home automation

    https://www.reddit.com/r/homeautomation/

    Just reading that a little bit may peak your interest in the DIY
    stuff. I am considering setting up a system at home.
    https://home-assistant.io/ is the software I'd like to use to run it.

    On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 1:48 PM, jay weekley
    <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

        That's what I was wondering.  I look at the stuff Lowe's and
        wonder how many people have the knowledge to set it all up but
        I have zero knowledge in the products.  Maybe it's time to
        automate my thermostat.

        On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 1:37 PM, Lewis Bergman
        <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

            There is so much do it yourself gear out there now I would
            think the only money would be in the very high end stuff.
            Things you probably have to focus as a sole business.

            On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 10:23 AM jay weekley
            <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

                Is there any real money to be made in home
                automation?  Any recurring revenue?  How about
                headaches and problems?

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