Hello, IoT newcomer

[Christopher (Chris L)]

Hello!

I’ve been researching home automation & IoT for the past few months in search of a few solutions to problems with my home. After much cajoling and promising the world (temperature control, IP Camera, Thermostat and a few lights to start) I’ve finally acquired enough WAF (new term I learned this week!) to get a SmartThings system. I’m waiting for the v2 system before taking the plunge, but want to get as much understanding of the community and how everything works before I dive wholeheartedly into the pool.

I’ve got Foscam IP Cameras (FI9816PW) for Baby watching, I’m going to need 2 Temp/Humid sensors, a thermostat and eventually some lights. There are several other items I’m interested in getting into with automating, but starting with the necessities.

I’ve looked at the EcoBee3 unit, and it may be just out of my price range to start, but I was wondering if it is possible to use the sensors with other thermostats? I see a few threads on the EcoBee’s and plan to dive into them eventually, but 200+ posts over months will take a while to get through.

Also, is there anywhere on the site for me to understand how to go about getting apps and such? I see everyone talking about the IDE and the apps, and I’m a little lost as to what will be necessary to get off the ground.

Thanks for anyone that can help, Hopefully we’ll see a signup page soon, and a release shortly after!!!

-Chris

[JDRoberts]

Welcome to the forums!

This should help as far as where to get apps, when the IDE is used, etc.

A Short Intro to Scheduling/Device Control/Rules in SmartThings Classic

(March 2018: All of the following applies only to the SmartThings Classic app. If you purchased your hub after March 1, 2018 and are using the new “SmartThings (Samsung Connect)” app, creating rules works differently.) You’ve got your hub. You’ve got some devices. Now how do you schedule what happens when? SmartThings doesn’t have a rules engine/scheduler, so there’s no one tutorial for how to do this. But it’s an open platform, and there are about 12 different ways to set up various kinds of schedules. Some require custom code, some don’t. A “scheduler” in this context is anything that causes a networked device to perform an action, even if it’s just to toggle on or off immediately. (Network engineering definition, forgive me. ) (Note: as of April 2017, the original author of …

[JDRoberts]

As far as devices go, usually you’ll get the best responses in the forum if you limit each topic to one question, or at least one use case.

I’ve started a new linked topic for you on the question of thermostat sensors in the device category so hopefully others will respond on that topic there:

Using Ecobee Sensors with Other Thermostats?

Continuing the discussion from Hello, IoT newcomer: Hopefully others will chime in. Was there something specific about The ecobee sensors that you liked? There are a lot of different temperature sensors available that people use for zone triggers. Many motion sensors and contact sensors do double duty and have temperature reporting included. In particular, see Keep Me Cozy 2 in the official Smartapps under Green Living. It doesn’t care which device you get the temperature from. Very popular. https://community.smartthings.com/t/list-of-all-officially-published-apps-from-the-more-category-of-smart-setup-in-the-mobile-app/13673

[slagle (Tim Slagle)]

Welcome to the forums my friend!