Anybody doing any custom home automation?

[StayTrue76]

Self admitted geek / techie. Wondering what cool, interesting, or devious things folks have done with homegrown technology? I've used Raspberry Pis to monitor my sump pump and capture videos when motion is detected. Any other tech tinkerers out there?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Self admitted geek / techie. Wondering what cool, interesting, or devious things folks have done with homegrown technology? I've used Raspberry Pis to monitor my sump pump and capture videos when motion is detected. Any other tech tinkerers out there?

Can you help me to get my VCR to stop flashing "12:00"??

 

[Gunmetalgray]

I like blueberry pies, do Raspberry Pis taste similar?

 

[deo62]

We installed a big dog, now when a cricket chirps we are alerted.

 

[mabsimmo]

I've got a couple Raspberry Pis set up with temp and humidity sensors to monitor my basement and our outside pump house. I really want to set one up to monitor the chemical levels in my pool, but haven't gotten that adventurous yet; those various sensors cost a bit more than others.

 

[Gunmetalgray]

Anyone figure out THIS yet? >>> (annoying commercials with volume increase)


(edit, guess the reddit link is no bueno but here was the topic)

 

[xwing]

Rasberry Pi are great for IOT. HomeAssistant (alarm). OSMC (media player). But I've been lazy recently; haven't built anything new in a couple of years.

 

[K_W]

I have Philips Hue bulbs throughout, a Wemo dimmer for the porch, Ring alarm and camera, and MyQ for the garage.

I have the lights in the garage set to flash throught IFTTT whenever I open the garage, because I forget to disarm the alarm.

 

[StayTrue76]

I like blueberry pies, do Raspberry Pis taste similar?

I LOVE blueberry pies myself! I'll stick with eating blueberry and tinkering on raspberry.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Anyone figure out THIS yet? >>> (annoying commercials with volume increase)


(edit, guess the reddit link is no bueno but here was the topic)
View attachment 308105

I forget the brand now, but we used to have a TV that did this automatically. I wish they all did it!

 

[StayTrue76]

I've got a couple Raspberry Pis set up with temp and humidity sensors to monitor my basement and our outside pump house. I really want to set one up to monitor the chemical levels in my pool, but haven't gotten that adventurous yet; those various sensors cost a bit more than others.

Oh cool idea on the pool sensor. I was thinking about a remote way to open the garage door after strong authentication. It could even check if I accidentally left my garage door open and send me a text to close it or automatically close it...though I don't know how I feel about my garage door closing itself. We'll see....

 

[StayTrue76]

I have Philips Hue bulbs throughout, a Wemo dimmer for the porch, Ring alarm and camera, and MyQ for the garage.

I have the lights in the garage set to flash throught IFTTT whenever I open the garage, because I forget to disarm the alarm.

I had to pull up what the MyQ was. I was maybe going to do that with a Pi, but it's already done. May go the MyQ route after all. I have an attached garage, so an open garage is essentially leaving my front door unlocked.

 

[StayTrue76]

Can you help me to get my VCR to stop flashing "12:00"??

I don't miss that, but have an equivalent. My 12 year old sprinkler system takes like 15 minutes to setup the times, zones, days, etc. I feel it turns to the flashing VCR and says "hold my beer."

 

[StayTrue76]

Oh, the other useful thing I'm doing is monitoring my internet connection and knowing when xFinity is not keeping their end of my bandwidth bargain me:

GitHub - geerlingguy/internet-pi: Raspberry Pi config for all things Internet.

Raspberry Pi config for all things Internet. Contribute to geerlingguy/internet-pi development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[Tactically Fat]

I kind of wish I knew enough about this stuff to even begin knowing about some of this stuff. That's how far behind the curve I am.

My in-laws have basically all their house lights tied in to their Alexa. I do know that I do NOT want an Alexa (or Google) - run Smart home. UNLESS it could be run through an in-home network that doesn't have external Internet access; which I suppose is possible.

Those same in-laws even do their grocery list on their Alexa. Just tell her to add thus and such to their grocery list and she does it. They can then pull up the list when they're at the store. It's fun to add random things to it and then wait for the inevitable "did you add extra small condoms and petroleum jelly to our grocery list???" texts.

Anyhow: While I think it may be a neat thing to have and do; our house is so incredibly uncomplicated that automating things wouldn't do much for us.

 

[GTM]

I started out with Samsung SmartThings, moved to Hubitat after a year, and have now been running Home Assistant for a couple of years. Most of my light switches are smart switches. I have a Zooz dry contact relay to control my garage door. I have Zooz dimmers on some dimmable lights, and a Zooz controller for some under-the-cabinet LED strips. I have other Zooz relays on ceiling fans. I have a smart outdoor outlet to control the light in the doghouses (for heat in the winter). I have Ecobee thermostat integrated with Home Assistant.

It's a mixture of ZWave and Zigbee devices. I don't use WiFi devices for anything.

If nothing else, temperature monitoring in my freezers and refrigerators have saved me a couple of times, making the whole process worth the time and money.

 

[qwerty]

I have been using Zwave for almost 20 years now. I started with MiCasaVerde over a decade ago, but they were acquired and destroyed, so I now use Hubitat. The nice thing about Zwave and Zigbee devices is that they are not married to a particular controller, so I just moved them over, and if I grow tired of Hubitat, I can move to another controller. Hubitat integrates with MyQ, Ecobee, Google Home, and Alexa. It is not internet-dependent for it to work (although Google Home and stuff will not work), but all the local Zwave and Zigbee switches, sensors, etc, will continue to operate as needed without Internet.

I use it for opening/closing the garage door, turning on/off lights on a schedule and door open, pool pump, thermostat, UV furnace controls, leak detection, etc.

 

[schmart]

Oh cool idea on the pool sensor. I was thinking about a remote way to open the garage door after strong authentication. It could even check if I accidentally left my garage door open and send me a text to close it or automatically close it...though I don't know how I feel about my garage door closing itself. We'll see....

Chamberlain sells this exact system called MyQ. Low enough cost ($30) it wasn't worth trying to DIY it. Even cheaper than a R Pi and related sensors.
--Rick
I see I was scooped above!

 

[StayTrue76]

We installed a big dog, now when a cricket chirps we are alerted.

Growing up we had 2 little dogs with the same result. One small noise and it's barkville. Once one dog started, the other joined in. Good for detecting intruders and the random leaf that fell from the front tree.

 

[StayTrue76]

I have been using Zwave for almost 20 years now. I started with MiCasaVerde over a decade ago, but they were acquired and destroyed, so I now use Hubitat. The nice thing about Zwave and Zigbee devices is that they are not married to a particular controller, so I just moved them over, and if I grow tired of Hubitat, I can move to another controller. Hubitat integrates with MyQ, Ecobee, Google Home, and Alexa. It is not internet-dependent for it to work (although Google Home and stuff will not work), but all the local Zwave and Zigbee switches, sensors, etc, will continue to operate as needed without Internet.

I use it for opening/closing the garage door, turning on/off lights on a schedule and door open, pool pump, thermostat, UV furnace controls, leak detection, etc.

I do like the fact things work w/o internet. I did add a UPS to my router so things can communicate out if there's a power outage....but doesn't help if there's a Internet outage at my ISP. I've used Govee sensors for leaks as I got it via a good Amazon sale. It's saved my bacon once on a leaky toilet.