This was incredibly useful - I've bought some of these devices when Amazon was blowing them out, thinking I'd find a use for them but they ended up in a drawer. You've given some really creative tips! Thank you!
I totally agree that the user interface to home automation is not great if you don't speak YAML in your sleep while dreaming of docker configurations and transparent proxy config files. We can do so much better!
As far as your wishes -
1 Can be managed with a Shelly Dimmer
4-5 exists google "Switchmate" and "SwitchBot"
6 exists with Phillips Hue bulbs as a configuration setting, probably many other bulbs as well I'd reckon. Phillips Hue bulbs are like 2x the price, but 1/2 the headaches and great light quality imo.
Woah, didn't expect that I'd get so much utility out of this post, but it actually has some neat ideas! Love how it's almost like turning your home into a Minecraft redstone creation :)
They make exterior lights that sense when it's night so you can have that one exterior light flipped on all the time without actually being on all the time
2) relay/ power strips
At home Depot I found power strips that you plug in all your devices and then based off one device it will turn on all the others. For instance I turn on my computer and that triggers everything else plugged in to the strip to turn on. I use this in my office, entertainment system, and shop.
I wasn't quite ROTFL after reading the first few paragraphs, but I was LMAO. (I figured some retro net-speak would be appropriate for this excellent retro-tech article.)
Back in the day, I used one of those mechanical timers to turn the router off every night to keep my kids from surfing the web, thus avoiding a nightly battle trying to get them to turn in their devices in the evening.
I sympathize with the insanity of smart home ecosystems. I've found that the Kasa products by TP Link to be the only ones worth getting. While they still work off WiFi, they actually work 99% of the time and the singular app that controls all the outlets and lights doesn't feel like spyware, and they're still supporting even the oldest of their products.
Besides that, those temperature sensors seem great.
Heh-had the same reaction to the list of apps last week when trying to figure out if my nest thermostat was going to work after whatever it was that the Google was killing was dead. Capitalism according the ElfPuff company is corroding the entire smart-anything market.
You can find a diy in-wall smart switch that senses the physical switch state and has wifi/ZigBee so it's also smart (there are some under the Sonoff brand). The net effect is that you can use your existing wall switches but you can also control the same circuit via "smart".
As someone who routinely gets curious about smart homes every 6 - 8 months and then bails because it's too complicated/expensive/privacy-scary this is a banger of a list of lo-fi alternatives that actually accomplish 99% of what I'm looking for. So thanks from all of us aspiring dumb dumbs. This list is tailor made for us.
This was good and all but I can’t help but think it should have been written by grug.
In all seriousness I believe that one driving force behind all IOT hardware being awful is that Sturgeon’s Law gets to go twice: 90% of hardware is crap, and 90% of software is crap, almost independently of each other. So I stick to dumb stuff and that way I can improve my hit rate from 1% to 10%!
I'm from the Netherlands and at the "Action" they sell cheap "smart" bulbs that you can manage via Google Home. Since us Dutchies are wary of Chinese backdoors, I believe the retail store had to fix their firmware not to call home. It's rebranded Tuya stuff, but it works! I just shout "Hey Google, lights on!" or "Hey Google bedroom lights on" and I can dim them by saying "Hey Google lights x%". Having those pucks in both the livingroom and bedroom made a real difference.
> Personally, I’d never buy these, because I’m fanatical about color quality
I would love to hear more about this. I have been suspecting this makes a big difference, but I am not sure how to pick higher quality bulbs. Is CRI important?
Some great ideas here. Also would love the remote-controlled physical switch-clickers. Should be able to just pop it over a light switch.
This was incredibly useful - I've bought some of these devices when Amazon was blowing them out, thinking I'd find a use for them but they ended up in a drawer. You've given some really creative tips! Thank you!
Very informative, and good ideas, thank you!
Things should do one thing and do it well, like in Unix philosophy.
I totally agree that the user interface to home automation is not great if you don't speak YAML in your sleep while dreaming of docker configurations and transparent proxy config files. We can do so much better!
As far as your wishes -
1 Can be managed with a Shelly Dimmer
4-5 exists google "Switchmate" and "SwitchBot"
6 exists with Phillips Hue bulbs as a configuration setting, probably many other bulbs as well I'd reckon. Phillips Hue bulbs are like 2x the price, but 1/2 the headaches and great light quality imo.
Woah, didn't expect that I'd get so much utility out of this post, but it actually has some neat ideas! Love how it's almost like turning your home into a Minecraft redstone creation :)
Oh i would like to add a useful few devices:
1) daytime/nighttime sensing lights
They make exterior lights that sense when it's night so you can have that one exterior light flipped on all the time without actually being on all the time
2) relay/ power strips
At home Depot I found power strips that you plug in all your devices and then based off one device it will turn on all the others. For instance I turn on my computer and that triggers everything else plugged in to the strip to turn on. I use this in my office, entertainment system, and shop.
And a request:
Humidity based wall outlets
I wasn't quite ROTFL after reading the first few paragraphs, but I was LMAO. (I figured some retro net-speak would be appropriate for this excellent retro-tech article.)
Back in the day, I used one of those mechanical timers to turn the router off every night to keep my kids from surfing the web, thus avoiding a nightly battle trying to get them to turn in their devices in the evening.
I sympathize with the insanity of smart home ecosystems. I've found that the Kasa products by TP Link to be the only ones worth getting. While they still work off WiFi, they actually work 99% of the time and the singular app that controls all the outlets and lights doesn't feel like spyware, and they're still supporting even the oldest of their products.
Besides that, those temperature sensors seem great.
Heh-had the same reaction to the list of apps last week when trying to figure out if my nest thermostat was going to work after whatever it was that the Google was killing was dead. Capitalism according the ElfPuff company is corroding the entire smart-anything market.
You can find a diy in-wall smart switch that senses the physical switch state and has wifi/ZigBee so it's also smart (there are some under the Sonoff brand). The net effect is that you can use your existing wall switches but you can also control the same circuit via "smart".
As someone who routinely gets curious about smart homes every 6 - 8 months and then bails because it's too complicated/expensive/privacy-scary this is a banger of a list of lo-fi alternatives that actually accomplish 99% of what I'm looking for. So thanks from all of us aspiring dumb dumbs. This list is tailor made for us.
Since you opened the door … let’s talk about light quality: what are the bulbs that are worth their salt??
As I’ve rotated LEDs in for failing incandescents over the years, I’ve been unanimously underwhelmed: light quality feels thin, ghoulish, or clinical.
I’m clearly buying the wrong stuff …
This was good and all but I can’t help but think it should have been written by grug.
In all seriousness I believe that one driving force behind all IOT hardware being awful is that Sturgeon’s Law gets to go twice: 90% of hardware is crap, and 90% of software is crap, almost independently of each other. So I stick to dumb stuff and that way I can improve my hit rate from 1% to 10%!
I'm from the Netherlands and at the "Action" they sell cheap "smart" bulbs that you can manage via Google Home. Since us Dutchies are wary of Chinese backdoors, I believe the retail store had to fix their firmware not to call home. It's rebranded Tuya stuff, but it works! I just shout "Hey Google, lights on!" or "Hey Google bedroom lights on" and I can dim them by saying "Hey Google lights x%". Having those pucks in both the livingroom and bedroom made a real difference.
If you get NAND gates, you can make your house Turing complete
Great post, very entertaining, just subscribed.
> Personally, I’d never buy these, because I’m fanatical about color quality
I would love to hear more about this. I have been suspecting this makes a big difference, but I am not sure how to pick higher quality bulbs. Is CRI important?