I was (naively, looking back) pretty bullish on smart home devices. Automating schedules, presence detection, etc. Every time I looked to invest more into it, the marketplace felt like a minefield of e(ventual)-waste and headache.
I still struggle with it. It feels like a missed opportunity these days, but I just don’t trust companies to treat me or my devices with respect. I’ve ultimately boomeranged back to “no (cloud) smart devices.”
Shelly BLU: lots of lost events. I have one on my kitchen. It mostly works to make the lights switch on when I walk in. Not always though, and when it doesn't it's a pain. It's also PIR alone, so small movements don't register. If I'm cooking, or doing the dishes, the timer runs out and switches the lights off. Getting them to switch on is a pain.
A bunch of Matter-over-Thread devices I have: hard to secure. I'll end up setting up a Thread Border Router on my IoT VLAN and get HA to connect to it, but that means yet another component to run separate from HA, which requires its own upgrade mechanism, backup, etc.
Matter-over-WiFi: haven't yet found one that would fit what I need. Will require expanding my IoT WiFi network to other parts of the house. My main APs don't serve IoT because a few tens of those would easily congest the radios, despite being very low bandwidth.
Most devices are PIR-only, or use subpar mmWave sensors, or a combination of both which tends to be hit-and-miss.
I haven't found a device that doesn't require a proprietary app for setup, which means tracking and the risk of them becoming e-waste.
I'm planning to build some out of cheap sensors from AliExpress and ESP32s but I haven't had the time and have too many other projects in flight.
Just buy Hue, problem solved - although for best results it needs custom setup which is a higher initial time investment, buth then it's set and forget.
"Just buy Hue" is a massive initial expense! Due to the fact that the previous owners of my place were the least practical people on the planet, on the ground floor alone there are 33 light spots, most GU10.
The cheapest Hue option is a 4-pack of Hue Essential for £63. That would be 9 of those for £567 in light bulbs for the ground floor alone.
Buy used! They were/are really popular so there's always a number of items selling for reasonable prices, and they don't really have perishable properties (besides power on time which is _long_).
> 33 light spots, most GU10
That's a sad situation, but even if a bit ugly - a GU10->E27 adapter cotst ~$1.
Yeah but most of them are embedded in the ceiling, so would require some sort of renovations for that. It's really baffling that they'd do this.
Thanks for the tip on second hand, I might have a look.
pkthunder · · focus · HN ↗
I still struggle with it. It feels like a missed opportunity these days, but I just don’t trust companies to treat me or my devices with respect. I’ve ultimately boomeranged back to “no (cloud) smart devices.”
cassianoleal · · focus · HN ↗
Smart light bulbs are another minefield of low-CRI, bad connectivity, worse firmwares, nerfed local featureset, etc.
24t · · focus · HN ↗
care to expand on which areas the units are lacking in? I've thought about getting presence sensors recently
cassianoleal · · focus · HN ↗
A bunch of Matter-over-Thread devices I have: hard to secure. I'll end up setting up a Thread Border Router on my IoT VLAN and get HA to connect to it, but that means yet another component to run separate from HA, which requires its own upgrade mechanism, backup, etc.
Matter-over-WiFi: haven't yet found one that would fit what I need. Will require expanding my IoT WiFi network to other parts of the house. My main APs don't serve IoT because a few tens of those would easily congest the radios, despite being very low bandwidth.
Most devices are PIR-only, or use subpar mmWave sensors, or a combination of both which tends to be hit-and-miss.
I haven't found a device that doesn't require a proprietary app for setup, which means tracking and the risk of them becoming e-waste.
I'm planning to build some out of cheap sensors from AliExpress and ESP32s but I haven't had the time and have too many other projects in flight.
poisonborz · · focus · HN ↗
Just buy Hue, problem solved - although for best results it needs custom setup which is a higher initial time investment, buth then it's set and forget.
cassianoleal · · focus · HN ↗
The cheapest Hue option is a 4-pack of Hue Essential for £63. That would be 9 of those for £567 in light bulbs for the ground floor alone.
poisonborz · · focus · HN ↗
> 33 light spots, most GU10
That's a sad situation, but even if a bit ugly - a GU10->E27 adapter cotst ~$1.
cassianoleal · · focus · HN ↗
Thanks for the tip on second hand, I might have a look.