Anyone have Smartthings with Roommates Living in the House

These might not apply to anyone here but if so, tell me/us about what items(HA) you have in your home.

Do you have any items just for security of roommates.
I have an automated door lock so I don’t have to give out keys.
I have a nest thermostat so I don’t have to worry about telling my roommates to turn up and down the heat/air to save energy(money)
Also have Hue lights and motion sensors so I don’t have to worry about telling them to turn the lights off when they leave that room.

I’m wanting to know if you have ran into any problems/issues and how you have solved the problems/issues. One of my problems/issues i have had is I don’t want to give them access to some things. For example, I don’t really want to give them a Fob.

Thanks

The next generation of SmartTiles (“V6”) will offer individual logins with more and more granular security options eventually added as a feature. That way you can give them access to specific devices and specific functionality only.

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SmartTiles FTW! :sunglasses:

I have two housemates. SmartTiles lets you customize exactly which devices they can turn on and off without giving them account level access to anything. And that’s just the older versions, I know there’s new stuff coming in the newer version.

SmartTiles is a third-party app that will run in most browsers, so you don’t have to worry about what kind of phone they have. It’s helped avoid a lot of problems. Very popular in the community.

www.smarttiles.click

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I have a downstairs tenant and an upstairs roommate, with room for one more.

The downstairs suite is separate, and the only sensor in there is an Ecobee one. The common spaces have sensors for lights, but the tenant does not enjoy these and regularly switches the lights on and off manually. They also have no presence in the house, so the Smart Home Monitor is configured to secure the Front Door and Kitchen Door against intrusion, rather than the Front Door and Back Door.

The upstairs roommate is more durable and has adapted to the use of an Aeon Mini-Mote for lights in the living room when they don’t automatically turn on at night. They also have an Arrival Sensor.

The door locks will be automated Real Soon Now[tm].
The ecobee3 works to keep the temperature normalised between the upper and lower floors.
The GE Link bulbs turn on with motion sensors.

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I am renting two of my rooms. The roommates get a PIN for both external doors which also works to arm the home using a ZigBee keypad. Beyond a few motion activated lights the roommates don’t interact with the home in any ‘smart’ ways. For obvious reasons I haven’t given them any access to the SmartThings app or a dashboard and haven’t had a reason to yet.

I forgot, we added physical switches as an alternate means of control. There are now two smart switch covers on the market-- these fit over existing light switches and have their own buttons, so you never have to worry about anyone switching off smart bulbs. At our house we more often use the Phillips hue dimmer switches with child locks on the regular switch, but it’s the same idea. :sunglasses:

Or, of course if you use smart switches and dumb bulbs, same result – – housemates and their visitors can’t mess up the automations.

BTW, at least at our house the biggest issue isn’t the housemates themselves – – it’s their friends who come over.

One possibility I thought of is water/ leak sensors for “downstairs” unit. Sounds like a totally separate apartment type set up. Depending the age of the house/ plumbing, and if the tenants leave for periods time, I am a believer in water leak sensors under sinks and toilet resevoirs. Sometimes (renters especially) would never think to look under a sink that is has been leaking until it is …too late. Just food for thought. Maybe you have great roommates who treat it like their own ?

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