Finally, someone who appreciates my sense of humor…
Well if you ever really, really want to piss off hubby, just get him a Harmony Ultimate Home…
Seriously, it’s the ultimate! (un-kept promise)…
5 day since smarcc posted his original message and no response from him yet. Maybe he packed up and left?
Yea, guess he went after his “to-do” list in reverse order…
Or his wife went after him with a cable cutter… 
1 Like
This husband here cries every freaking night coz of too warm a freaking down comforter and the freaking heat!!! I can’t wait for whatever that mattress cover they are talking about and a drone delivery for 3900$ and I am not kidding. Check their web site…:
Yeah going from zero to 60 devices in 2-months is a BAD idea when others live in the house. I’ve found that gradual implementation is the key to getting HA off the ground.
For me, first it was the Nest. Then a year later I got a WeMo plug. Then I got my ST kit and added a few things. I’ve also made sure EVERYTHING can be overridden if something doesn’t work. The lights in my den (where the TV is and hence where most people are throughout the day) are the central point of contention. However, everyone knows that if the lights get annoying to simply pull out the smart plugs and plug the lamps in directly.
Also, I periodically ask my wife “how is X working for you?” because if she isn’t happy with ST then my life would be hell. However, there’s some HA stuff that’s gone over VERY well:
-
Adding a motion sensor and GE Link bulbs to my laundy room. Now the lights go on automatically when her hands are full with hampers and baskets.
-
Setting the lights to come on automatically at night once the door opens after coming home. This means nobody walks into a dark house.
-
Being able to remotely control the Nest. I know this isn’t ST-related but the fact that she can make sure the house is comfortable when she gets home has been HUGE.
At the end of the day, if something doesn’t work to the level where people are upset, then I remove it or adjust it. For example I had the Ivee voice-control device and it SUCKED. After 8-months of complaints and me even growing to hate it, I returned it. I’ve also adjusted the light “turn off” delays so they go off faster or longer depending on what’s needed. The laundry room lights would turn off while we were loading the washer or dryer so I set it to a 1-min delay. That made all the difference.
At the end of the day the old saying holds true with home automation: happy wife, happy life.
PS: Get that honey do list done. She’ll be WAY more accepting of HA and ST if you get stuff crossed off that list that’s way more important than tinkering with this hobby.
1 Like
Motion Sensor in the bedroom the implications are interesting:
up=on
down=off
Adjust sensitivity and you have a strobe with sex
Motion sensor in the bedroom is probably the worst idea…
After more than 22 years of marriage, I would advise you work on your wife’s to do list first. But yes, I put a motion sensor in the doorway so if somebody gets up in the middle of the night, it turns the lights on in the kitchen. Another on the front porch turns on other lights if somebody comes to the front door. The other night, I got-up at 2:00 am, the kitchen lights did not come on and I found a frog was meeting me at the front door. Hey - it’s technology - it’s not perfect.
loved this thread. i too have issues getting family converted. at this point, its baby steps to add new devices…
This isn’t a WAF fail but an implementation failure.
You have to know your audience first, before you add automation.
What is it that NEEDS to be automated? Start there. If it doesn’t NEED to be, remove it.
Look for redundant activities…
My wife became a huge fan after a simple problem occured in the kitchen. The light switch to the pantry was on the opposite side, instead, where the light switch should have been, was the light to go up the stairs.
Her first thought was to call an electrician and have them rewire them both. Huge cost.
I put in two zigbee dimmers, rerouted the on/off and dimmer functions to each other and now the light switch near the door turns on the light to the pantry.
Next, after my kids would keep the light on in the pantry after taking stuff out (arms full, etc.) she asked if there was a way to set a timer to turn the lights off. Yup, 2nd automation step.
Then was the front door. I noticed before she let the dog out, she would turn on the light before opening the door. Bam, on door open, turn the light off and wait a few minutes and then turn the light back off.
From there, it was easy. She would find simple things, ask, and I could deliver.
Doorbell, send an alert. Play a sound on the sonos in her office, since she can’t hear the regular doorbell…
Buy in from others in the house is key to automation. Keep It Stupid Simple.
1 Like
How do you rig that up?
For me, it was already done via Control4 set up. But could easily be done in ST. Just need a contact switch to handle the doorbell. Might have to inject 24v to light up the doorbell if you have one of those.
Then its just a button devicetype in ST and program a SmartApp off of that.
Was catching grief from wife until 1 factor made all the difference. The day our sonos system announced it was turning the heating down due to the warm weather she went weak at the knees (she’s a Yorkshire girl so loves saving money) nowadays if she walks into a bathroom and the lights Dont turn on automatically she demands to know why she is reduced to having to use light switches.
1 Like