Smart House _not

[gcode]

I am a 52-year-old man standing on a stepping stool screaming at a lightbulb because my phone can't find its Bluetooth signal.

post on X 

I can relate. I added a Netgear mesh system to my Brightspeed internet yesterday.
The wifi that came with Brightspeed wasn't doing the job.
I'm paying for 2g up and down and routinely get 2.5g up and down, but the wifi just didn't cut it.

The only "smart" item I have is a Sensi thermostat. It is a really good device, and I beleive it will save a lot of $$$ on the power and gas bills.

However,it gave me a real fight hooking it to my Brightspeed wi/fi and an even harder fight reconnecting to the Netgear Orbi wi/fi.

[YoDoug]

For few few years my kids kept losing or forgetting their house keys. So I got an electric keypad for the front door. Then I would constantly get calls saying they forgot the code or it wouldn't work, only to work fine when I got home. So eventually I got wifi controls for the front door lock and garage door. Now I can open either from my phone anywhere. The front door was horrible getting it connected. I tried for like two hours. Trying ever variation of the steps in the instructions I could think of. Eventually it worked but I can't say that I know exactly what i did or if i could reproduce it. Luckily I just keep the wifi name and password the same so it reconnects.

I also have a wifi thermostat, but it is not smart. It will let you set a schedule or control temp/settings, but it does not learn or do anything automatically. I have been thinking of getting a smart one to see if it would save some money.

As a controls engineer, If I were building a house I would put solenoid vent dampers and temperature sensors in every room of the house with individual control settings back to the furnace/ac. Let each room have a temp setting and call for it's own heat/cooling as needed. You could probably build system for $1500 bucks. With my current $300+ monthly costs it would pay for itself in a hurry.

[Bucky Cornstarch]

When we were running an Air BnB from across the country, having wifi enabled locks was essential. Not only could we unlock the doors for the tenants, but we could change the code for each occupancy.

That being said, NEVER Air BnB your house from across the country 

[SuperHoneyBadger]

As a controls engineer, If I were building a house I would put solenoid vent dampers and temperature sensors in every room of the house with individual control settings back to the furnace/ac. Let each room have a temp setting and call for it's own heat/cooling as needed.

This idea gives me PTSD from working on the electrical panels at my old boss' house. Old engineer he was, when he rebuilt his home (in the 80s) he added a low voltage solenoid breaker panel to each floor of the house, in addition to the 120v pony panels on each floor.

The idea was to use low voltage push buttons in every room of the house for the lights to control a solenoid that would open or close the circuits to the corresponding pony panel and turn on the lights or ceiling fans. So there were 1/4" round buttons where you would expect a light switch on every wall. Also there were very thin gauge wires snaking all through the ceiling back to the solenoid panel.

Got so bad eventually you'd just go to the solenoid panel and flip it manually, then go back to the room you were in.

Not at all saying that you couldn't make it work for what you are describing. If anyone could do it properly you'd be the man!

[mowens]

I would like to be able to control my lights remotely, like when I'm traveling. I guess that my journey to becoming a grumpy old fart has dampened my technical ability.

[jstell]

And the great thing about having your house lights and appliances controlled by an app on your phone is that they can be controlled by a hack on anybody else's phone too!

[mowens]

Bonus! Not only will it look like I'm home, it will look like I'm crazy and they'll leave me alone.

[TSmcam]

We built a new home nearly two years ago. I avoided wifi where possible, running about 350m of ethernet cable throughout the house.
Most appliances only have wifi and not RJ45 connections, but the TV's, media players, security cameras (including the doorbell), along with the computers and printer are ethernet. I also have the heat pump, garage door openers, and the alarm system conencted via ethernet, and this allows me to operate/control them from anywhere in the world.

I dont bother with the smart lighting, except for when we are away on holiday. I replace specific bulbs with the smart bulbs, and then switch on the vacation schedule, which is a preset schedule with lights coming on and off at different times, to mimic a day/night type cycle. It works really well and definitely gives the impression that someone is home.