2 - Aeon Minimote
2 – iOS Devices (cameras)
8 – Lifx bulbs
1 – Nest
1 – Nest Protect
2 – Roomba 630 with Thinking Cleaner
1 – Smartsence Moisture
4 – Smartsence Multi
3 – Smartsence Presence
2 – Aeon Recessed Door Sensors
2 - Levitron VCRS2
1 - Schlage Centrury
2 - GE 45603 appliance modules
4 - GE 45609 my light switches
1 - Enerwave ZWN-333M
1 - SmartThings SmartPower Outlet
I am an owner of a 1000 sqft 2 story condo with 2 full time occupants and an occasional couch surfer. I have about 40 devices my hub is driving over wifi, zwave, and zigbee and I am currently very happy with my kickstarter funded setup.
My approach to home automation is that my home should “just work”. I only use the app for adding new hardware, checking logs and testing new smartapps and devices. The iOS app was used for 1 month for presence detection but I found it unreliable due to iOS limitations. I use the smartsence presence to detect when my roommate and I come and go. With hello/goodbye home scripts set to turn off lights, and TVs to minimize the vampire power usage when no one is home. There is also a script to set my nest thermostat into home/away mode as we come and go to lower power usage even further. With IFTTT and Manythings I have repurposed some old jailbroken iOS devices as security cameras that look like clocks and weather stations that record movement when no one is home and send me alerts. Cleaning has even been automated with 2 Roombas attached to thinkingcleaner for wifi access. These mighty little robots clean the floors everyday only when no one is home, with a weekly dump of the garbage bin my floors and carpets stay clean. There are several GE 45609 as my light switches and GE 45603 appliance modules for some left over lamps and I use double taps of the light switches to turn on/the appliance modules. In the den I have my TV and AppleTV auto power down when not in use and a metering appliance module the turns off the entire entertainment system then the power usage drops to a set level at night. There is also a fan that turns on when it is too warm and people are home. My closet doors have Aeon’s recessed door sensors to turn the lights on/off as the door opens/closes. The entryway light turns on when it detects a new presence and turns off when the door closes. In the bathroom I have the Levitron VCRS2 controlling my fan and heater light that I converted to an AirPlay speaker so I can rock out in the shower and everything in the bathroom turns off when I turn off the main light. The front and back doors and windows each have smartsence mult’s that turn off my Nest when they are open too long and monitor the temp while posting the temp changes to xively. I use the temp data to update a live wallpaper on my Mac using geek tools and then I transmit the desktop with airdisplay to a wall mounted IPad to show the internal/external temps from SmartThings. The most boring things has to be the moisture sensor sitting by my hot water heater waiting to notify me should it die in a horrible manner and my Schlage Centrury that unlocks my door on arrival and locks when the door closes.
The future:
Neurio: This device opens up some serious possibilities w/o buying a lot of little battery powered devices. My current plans are changing the color of a light bulb when; the doorbell rings, the washer/dryer/dishwasher complete their loads, when the microwave goes “ding”.
Nest: I want my Nest and SmartThings home/away to be a 2 way relationship with SmartThings setting heat/cool based on outside temps and adjusting the temp when someone sets it too high or low.
Farko Skylight: Farko makes a solar powered zwave skylight that I want to contol it’s open/close, shutter and blinds based off weather. This will be super cool if it works!
Pressure Sensors: Boldly going in spaces that motion detectors just can’t handle like under a welcome mat to turn on the entry light, under the sofa cushions to turn on the TV when I plop down and under the steps of my staircase to turn on/off a light when I traverse the stairs at night. For me theses are all places where precision is key.
Links and Thanks to the talented developers:
Neurio: https://github.com/yracine/device-type.myneurio.groovy
Nest: https://github.com/smartthings-users/device-type.nest
https://github.com/midyear66/SmartApp-Limit-Temperature-Settings
https://github.com/tslagle13/SmartThings/tree/master/Temperature-Based-Thermostat-Mode
https://github.com/NickHBailey/SmartThings-NestProtect
Levitron VCRS2: https://github.com/bdahlem/device-type.VRCS2
https://github.com/statusbits/smartthings/tree/master/Pollster
Roomba: https://github.com/sidjohn1/smartthings
Xively: https://github.com/chetstone/temperaturelogger
IOS Security Camera: Using old iPhone as a Webcam
Schlage Centrury: https://github.com/skp19/st_turn_on_when_door_unlocks