So a few months back my old laptop that ran Homeseer, my home automation software, finally died. I’ve used it for quite a long time and mostly ignored it. I’ve been running Homeseer for about 13 years now and ported[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
… So after messing with the Vera for a couple of days and figuring out that I was not going to be able to get X10 working properly with my TI103 interface I broke down and ordered an Insteon PM[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
I signed up for Spotify when they first started and used it briefly. Really didn’t like it and it doesn’t offer me anything I don’t already use between Amazon Prime, Google Play Music and my 30,000 mp3 library. That[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Finally finished the move of my home automation software off of my PC on to it’s own server (actually an unused laptop.) For a while I had it running on one of my Raspberry Pi’s but unfortunately with all of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
So my thermostat crapped out yesterday after 16 years. Luckily it’s the time of year where it’s not a humongous deal. Picked up a Zwave thermostat on sale at Home Depot, which is awesome. Putting the damned thing in proved[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
SO I’m a big gadget geek. As far as phones, while there is nothing wrong with Apple products my personal preference is for Android. The platform is much more extensible and I can do 1,000 more things with my Nexus[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
So in Part I I touched on most of the hardware I’m using and some of my software. I keep coming across stuff I missed and I’ll mention some of that here. So on to how all this works together.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Just a quick and dirty demo of what I can do using the power of the Amazon Echo, IFTTT and Homeseer. There are several ways to control it. Alexa is limited to single statements and using IFTTT “triggers” and is[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
So Home Depot has been carrying GoControl Z-Wave “security” kits for a while now. They are compatible with Wink which is why I guess they decided to carry these products as Home Depot sadly decided to back Wink in their[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
I think I may have posted elsewhere that I have a Wink Connected Home Hub. Apparently they are currently beta testing a Vacation mode subscription that’s going to cost $9.99 a month. What the holy hell? If the Wink hub[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Browsing around Reddit this afternoon I ran across a relatively new product that looks to be pretty neat. It’s called DreamScreen. Basically it’s a series of LEDs that you stick on the back of your TV like you would with[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Recently I picked up an Aeon Labs Aeotec Z-Wave LED Light Bulb, Gen5 on sale from Amazon just to check out and compare to my Hue bulbs. I like Zwave as it’s generally easier to control from my HS system and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
One of my projects within my smart home is to be able to monitor home occupancy as well as specific room presence. While the two are similar they end up being very different things. Occupancy is pretty basic. For the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
IFTTT has been working with developers over the last few months to directly add integration into apps so that you can unlock and potentially activate recipes from the apps rather than the web site or the IFTTT app itself. Integrations[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
For the last few months I’ve been using the Google Pixel XL. In the past few years I have used quite a few smart phones. In reverse order my daily drivers were the Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Galaxy Note3, HTC[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
So I set up Google Home a couple of weeks ago and figured it had been up and running long enough for me to give a preliminary review. So far the WAF factor (as well as children) has been meh…[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
So I’m browsing around the other day and came across an article over at Wareable. Haven’t ever been there but I’ll probably stop back by and check it out occasionally. Anyway, the article is titled “The State of the Smart[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Recently Amazon has added smart lock capability to it’s Alexa smart home API. I’ve been patiently waiting for the fine folks at Homeseer to update their skill so that I can start doing the same without having to say “Alexa,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Updated 3/12/17 – It was mentioned that the Nest Thermostat does not work without Internet connectivity. That’s not entirely true. The thermostat does continue to function as normal, it is the remote control features that won’t work without Internet. Last[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
I’ve been a pretty loyal HomeSeer user for the last 17 years or so, ever since I got into Home Automation. While there are plenty of pros and cons about it, mainly because it’s paid and everyone wants free beer,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Unless you’re like me and spend the next 17 years picking up odd bits of equipment here and there and slowly build up your Home Automation system, one of the biggest barriers to getting introduced to Home Automation is the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
As far as home automation hubs go, the sky is the limit… as far as cost anyway. There’s a pretty large range in what they can do and it all depends on what you want to do and how technical[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Funny that I wrote about these earlier but Homecontrols is currently having a sale on a few items including Vera. You can pick up the VeraEdge for $69.95 and the VeraPlus for $119.95. That’s a $30 savings over Amazon’s price for[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
So you’ve spent all your money on a crapload of smarthome devices and don’t have anything else to spend on software, or you just like tinkering with stuff and discovering how and why they work, or maybe you’re just a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
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