Well simplicity is key, but more often than not that doesn’t justify the cost and effort… we have all been brainwashed into spending hundreds of dollars on a system that sends a signal hundreds (thousands?) of miles over the wire to then come back home and turn a light, when you were doing that before with the hardware that was already in place…
No sir… what gets the approval is the coolness factor. You can schedule lights to go on and off when you’re home or nearing home, mess with the thermostat or monitor the house while you’re on vacation in another country – that’s the kind of stuff that gets you Carte Blanche to do “whatever you want” as long as it works.
That’s the reason I went through the house replacing switches rather than replacing bulbs, because at the end of the day “the cool stuff” happens when it’s basically transparent, or almost indistinguishable from the current (proven) setup. TCP switches and Hue bulbs are cool, but you can’t mess with them if the fixture is turned off…
I wish I was as handy as you. First time and first year of home ownership. Know nothing about switches.
Had to urgently replace my roof this weekend and since then things have gone bad. My old roof had better access to the cloud but the new heavy top of the line roof is restricting my signals to get to the clouds. Missus thinks the same. What do I do? even though the roofers said that there will much more ventilation.
Also some researches have determined the higher the altitude of your house, the better response time due to closer proximity to cloud. Not sure about that.
I’ve wanted to try integrating one of those aeon labs micro smart dimmers into the base of the lamp and installing a manual switch for a “smart lamp”. I think that would work well for family proofing
I did not mean to offend anyone. I have since changed it to Family Acceptance Factor. I only started it as WAF because I am trying to convince my Wife. Hence the WAF. So after a week fight over this I think I have to give in and give up on it. All ideas I come up with she says we can do that ourselves. I don’t want to fight anymore. It has been a time getting into the smart home environment but I have to call it. Just not working for me. So thanks for all the input.
Some people need time to adjust to technology. Eventually, they will be forced to adjust as it’s a sign of the times. Your time will come where your wife will realize it can make it easier. You might also want to use the cost savings approach with a Smart Thermostat and start with that. Nests were the first thing I got 2 years ago and haven’t looked back since.
I have tried that. She tells me that it would cost more to heat/cool the house if it has not been on or low for some period of time. I have tried everything.
LOL! I actually feel bad for @nmeyer078 because for certain things my wife also gives me a hard time, but she generally does like some of the stuff I have done. You can try the danger route with water sensors, Smoke, etc. There is clearly a benefit there.
if you can use ST to fix a problem your significant other has it can go a long way into helping acceptance. Our coat closet had a built in switch to turn the light on but it broke and the landlord wasn’t trying to fix it. I added a Link bulb and a door sensor and voila, the closet is lit again. with that and sonos weather reports working it makes things a little easier when things don’t work like some lights not turning on immediately or not turning off.
I had all kinds of data that would support automation, but none of that would help in my case. I have internal / external temperature logged to Thingspeak showing how it would take almost 2 hours to warm up the kitchen just 3 degrees when it was below 20 outside, and I used that to adjust the thermostat schedules. But that wasn’t impressive in the least.
But a simple thing like turning on the Christmas lights at sunset or monitoring when the washing machine has stopped, that carries significant weight.
The key to acceptance factor is removing friction. It’s not enough to replace your light bulbs and expect everyone to stop using the light switch and use their phones to turn the lights on and off. It needs to be frictionless, reliable, and you will need a month to break the old habits. It took my household a couple of weeks to realize that the lights will shut themselves off when you leave a room. Having the lights turn on when you enter the room helps to reinforce the habit as well. Creating very visible aha moments also helps. Have not had any problems with the people in my household manually flipping switches or even needing remotes.
Well, I guess I am the exception… I am the wife (well, if I was married) the boyfriend puts up with all of the HA that I like to do. My reasons are simple, security – we have been broken into twice in 6 years. I like knowing when a door opens in the front of the house when I am in the back (sonos speakers) or getting a message that a door has opened when I am not there (I work 60+ hours a week). I also like the reassurance factor of the outlet that the curling iron is in, has powered off when I have left home. I have turned the car around many times to go home and double check if I have turned it off. The rest just falls under the “oh that is so cool” factor
About a year ago I told my wife that the next time she forgets to lock the doors, it is doing to cost us $400.
This is how HA budget was created. I bought a hub, lock and a couple of sensors.
Then, I created an app that would send an alert if someone left the home without closing a door. After she got caught a couple of times, she now actually waits for garage door to close before she drives off.
For us, it was more of Spouse Surrender Factor rather than SAF.
Over the past months though, she is really warming up to HA, especially after I made ActiON Dashboard. Before that, she flat out refused to look at ST Mobile app.
Turning lights on arrival is also a big thing, especially in the winter months.
@625alex - I think your ActiON Dashboard has increased the xAF many fold for many people! Thanks for that!
The lights coming on when you arrive and the door unlocking has been a huge factor for our house. So much easier to get into the house with your hands full. Adding door sensors so we know when my daughter has left the door open (or she didn’t shut it all the way and it blew open) were another big win since we have cats. Christmas light automation this winter has been a bit hit as well - we have three large trees in the house that all come on when you get home.
My inlaws have also liked it. I gave them a few presence sensors and how the house recognizes when then come and go as well.
Looking at this thread, I’m getting some more ideas…like the Sonos announcement when a door is open I’m always looking for new ways to make things better.
I agree. Emphasizing safety and security is the best way to convince a sceptic because even skeptics want to feel safe an secure. My #1 hit with SO was door unlock notifications and Remind to Lock app because she likes to know when kids get back home and if they forget to lock the door. Electronic lock was the biggest hit in general because it solves the “lost or forgotten keys” problem once and for all.
security was also a big win for me. we live in philly and we don’t have bars on the ground floor so more security was definitely something we wanted. people have been breaking in the back windows of places in our neighborhood so that was where the first sensors went and that started it all.
Right now the system is for our vacation place and my wife was on board because the things I wanted to do helped her with comfort and safety. She now wants to bring it to our home and install there. We can now have the vacation place warm when we arrive that was HUGE for her and it was all she wanted. I then introduced lighting inside that could be turned on before entering the house and she loved that, safety. I put moisture sensors at key places and door sensors. She loves all of that stuff, comfort, piece of mind and safety.
Our 17 year old had a different reaction; “wait, so if I go to the lake house you will know I am there”? He has never been there but it tells us some of his future plans plans with friends without telling us. You should have seen the look on his face. Not quite acceptance from all of the family.
The best reason I gave was that it is a small investment in a toy for me to play with. Little here, little there…and when were done we’ve got something that is being touted as the next big thing at home shows/events…just look at the average ‘home theatre’ its full of this kind of stuff.
My wife is a geek…so she was on board the first time she saw a hue light bulb. But if she weren’t I would have started throwing around Victory Motorcycle brochures…all of a sudden a couple hundred bucks was cheaper and probably safer
Now that we have ours in, and its configured…its nice to know my home looks lived in when I’m not there, and when I am I’m now enjoying better light, more comfort, and I never have to walk into a dark home any more. That alone is worth the price of admission.
even though the roofers said that there will much more ventilation.
