Building Out My Smart Home - Any Insight Appreciated

@tgauchat I follow now (hadn’t gotten my needed dose of morning coffee fully down yet when I wrote that, but have since looked at your site and more of the community forums/threads). Essentially though, ActionTiles is going to be the smart way with ST hub and devices to give control in one easy-to-use tablet app right there at their fingertips in the home and we could set up the login access for ActionTiles to an account we control… they’d still have access to the ones we deem fit and we can then access the other ones (or allow access to those we want through sharing, like our property management team) as needed when we’re there. Am I understanding it correctly?

We’d still be configuring everything in terms of our actions and device networking through ST ourselves… and when the system goes offline for an update or unexpected outage OR should one of the devices fail to respond properly (potentially after an update), we or our PMT would go in to resolve that through ST hub and configuration there - it’d never be something our renters access (nor would I expect or want them to).

We’re located close enough and I plan to provide our PMT with what amounts to a blueprint and full understanding of the ST setup inside the home 1) so they can thoroughly cover the features and integrations with the renters so as to maximize our traffic to it in comparison to other properties in the area & 2) to ensure they are able to go on-site to fix any hiccups quickly and easily… plus be there to mollify any potentially dissatisfied folks and provide peace of mind with customer service.

If we build it out intelligently with Smart switches (yet still able to be used manually like a standard “dumb” switch) rather than Smart bulbs and provide easy access to motion sensors, alarms, and other devices that may throw a more jarring wrench into the mix during an update or outage, we should be in relatively good shape, yes? And if access to ST and the action build-out is readily accessible to our PMT, going in to address any hiccups/issues should be relatively straightforward and keep things operating the smoothest… so I’d hope.

Yup… This is a good summary! But it’s best to experiment to understand the flexibility and power of our product.

Relatively… Yes.

The edge conditions are the area of concern, not even counting actual outages or hardware failures.

  • if you have heating or AC “smart”, it ought to shutoff if no one is home - but do you choose to rely on Motion Detection and/or Presence Sensors? Should the renters come home to a freezing house because this automation failed?

  • if you have Motion Determination turn on lights, is there an easy way to disable it, in case the motion sensor is being falsely triggered or fails to report motion while occupants are relatively motionless in a room they wish to stay lit?

  • what if renters don’t want their activities monitored?

  • I always recommend having a physical key in a lockbox available in case smart lock fails.

  • etc

I don’t think most property owners put a key in a lockbox on a rental because pretty much by definition you want every renter to use a different pin code. Unless you mean just the key for the property manager, but in that case you’d usually leave it off site with the property manager. :sunglasses:

We should say that keypad smart locks will almost all still work from the keypad built into the lock even if the home automation hub is not working, but it’s worth checking each model to be sure.

@JDRoberts Any recommendations on smart lock that also has a physical keyslot in addition to the keypad?

Also, any chance you’d be available for a conversation via phone or email outside of the community forum? Would love to run down/bounce my ideas off you as well as get your (obviously knowledgeable and insightful) take on my planned build out so I know whether I’m on the right track? Don’t wanna be going down the rabbit hole or Ouroboros’ing myself with redundant/inane plans.

I’ve looked at the ST-compatible list of door locks on their site and see quite a number of options with the keyed entry as well as smart push-button or touchscreen code entry… just wondered if there’s a consensus (or your personal recommendation) on Yale vs Schlage vs Kwikset or even certain models that’re better than others. Appreciate all the input here… more than any of you may know. You’ve helped me build smarter and understand the whole layout quite a bit better than I had previously.

Schlage Connect has worked fine for me (I have 2 of them). They are a tad slow to respond to Z-Wave commands; not sure if that is a security feature or some inherent quirk. But I mostly use the keypad anyway.

And due to Z-Wave security, if you do have to remove and re-add it to the network, you may have to bring the Hub near it, since it won’t use the mesh to join. But this is likely the same with other Z-Wave locks…

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@tgauchat So this bad boy for example - Schlage Connect Camelot?

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Correct!

One hint…

Activate setup mode and join to SmartThings before you install it; however, it is important to ensure you simulate the correct direction / orientation for the bolt when you do this.

The benefit is that you can join it to your Z-Wave network closer to the Hub, rather than wherever your door is located.

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Just check the FAQs, pretty much everything is covered in those, including locks. :sunglasses:

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Yeah it’s hard enough just keeping the immediate family on-board… keeping them happy is even more difficult. I for one stopped trying to “Run” my house on ST and I would never dare use it for a rental property. ST has it’s place but not for critical or sensitive things and especially when it concerns financial gain or loss.

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How? What’s the secret?

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I don’t run ST anymore :stuck_out_tongue:

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That sums it up very truthfully and completely.