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I have a lot of smart home gear but almost no automations for this reason. I’ve never had an automation that got it right enough to keep using. Pretty much wha

I have a lot of smart home gear but almost no automations for this reason. I’ve never had an automation that got it right enough to keep using. Pretty much what remains are basic things like a text message if we left the garage door open overnight or our garden is thirsty for too long.

Semaphor 5y ago
I have a few automations, but they are also explicitly set to certain values that I chose. No ML or anything. Works pretty well for me. But then I also avoid "smart" devices that require internet connectivity.
- Taywee 5y ago
  Yeah, I feel like there is a huge missed potential for high levels of home automation that are not "smart", but rather just powerful and well-interconnected. I'd be happy to have a high level of home automation that is flexible, extensible, powerful, and just does exactly what I tell it to without having to "learn" or "guess".
  - SEJeff 5y ago
    Check out home assistant. It is also 100% open source (and the core is beautifully written and unit tested async Python)
    - lostlogin 5y ago
      Going way deep down the rabbit hole is possible with HA, and custom stuff on ESP32 or ESP8266 chips with your own sensors, relays etc is possible with ESPHome. It’s good fun and very inexpensive.
      - SEJeff 5y ago
        Indeed it is. Incredible project
      - Shish2k 5y ago
        > It’s good fun and very inexpensive. Once you have the equipment and the knowledge, it takes around $2 of electronics to turn any random simple device into a smart device. Speaking for myself at least, it took around $1000 of tools and 3 months of trial-and-error self-teaching to reach that point… Definitely good fun though :)
SavantIdiot 5y ago
Same here. I had a Nest thermostat for a while and ultimately ended up using it like a dumb thermostat with 7-day wake/work/return/sleep settings. It kinda put me off on automation. Now I have my own home-made BLE / video IoT gadgets that I manage myself. It is waaaay more coding & fiddling, but in a fun way and not a "I paid $500 for this crap" way.
- dylan604 5y ago
  Yeah, you just spent countless hours of your precious time so you have "I have no idea of the actual cost for this crap" now. ;-) I have a closet full of half, 3/4, 9/10 completed projects that were going to be so damn cool and cheaper. Be laid plans blah blah. However, with each and everyone of those not completed projects, I learned a lot and I have not regrets on any of it. I'm guessing you don't either on your IoT gadgets.
  - lnsru 5y ago
    I put 100€ tag on my hour of tinkering or hacking. That’s how I even don’t start projects without commercial intention. It would be really cool to upgrade old Geotrax trains with ESP32, but such 40 hours experiment does not pay off.
    - dylan604 5y ago
      That's sad that you feel that way. There is so much potential unknown that can be discovered in these types of projects. If you only ever do things that will make you money, well...I don't know exactly. Boring is the best I can come up with. You don't ever do things just because it might be fun? Or is it that you actually do know everything and there's no point?
      - lnsru 5y ago
        I do lots of tinkering and hacking in my day job. I rather build something using well structured Lego instruction in my spare time. I was thinking about designing my own smart home units recently, but ended up buying quality lamps with motion detectors.

Semaphor 5y ago

I have a few automations, but they are also explicitly set to certain values that I chose. No ML or anything. Works pretty well for me. But then I also avoid "smart" devices that require internet connectivity.

Taywee 5y ago
Yeah, I feel like there is a huge missed potential for high levels of home automation that are not "smart", but rather just powerful and well-interconnected. I'd be happy to have a high level of home automation that is flexible, extensible, powerful, and just does exactly what I tell it to without having to "learn" or "guess".
- SEJeff 5y ago
  Check out home assistant. It is also 100% open source (and the core is beautifully written and unit tested async Python)
  - lostlogin 5y ago
    Going way deep down the rabbit hole is possible with HA, and custom stuff on ESP32 or ESP8266 chips with your own sensors, relays etc is possible with ESPHome. It’s good fun and very inexpensive.
    - SEJeff 5y ago
      Indeed it is. Incredible project
    - Shish2k 5y ago
      > It’s good fun and very inexpensive. Once you have the equipment and the knowledge, it takes around $2 of electronics to turn any random simple device into a smart device. Speaking for myself at least, it took around $1000 of tools and 3 months of trial-and-error self-teaching to reach that point… Definitely good fun though :)

SavantIdiot 5y ago

Same here. I had a Nest thermostat for a while and ultimately ended up using it like a dumb thermostat with 7-day wake/work/return/sleep settings. It kinda put me off on automation. Now I have my own home-made BLE / video IoT gadgets that I manage myself. It is waaaay more coding & fiddling, but in a fun way and not a "I paid $500 for this crap" way.

dylan604 5y ago
Yeah, you just spent countless hours of your precious time so you have "I have no idea of the actual cost for this crap" now. ;-) I have a closet full of half, 3/4, 9/10 completed projects that were going to be so damn cool and cheaper. Be laid plans blah blah. However, with each and everyone of those not completed projects, I learned a lot and I have not regrets on any of it. I'm guessing you don't either on your IoT gadgets.
- lnsru 5y ago
  I put 100€ tag on my hour of tinkering or hacking. That’s how I even don’t start projects without commercial intention. It would be really cool to upgrade old Geotrax trains with ESP32, but such 40 hours experiment does not pay off.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    That's sad that you feel that way. There is so much potential unknown that can be discovered in these types of projects. If you only ever do things that will make you money, well...I don't know exactly. Boring is the best I can come up with. You don't ever do things just because it might be fun? Or is it that you actually do know everything and there's no point?
    - lnsru 5y ago
      I do lots of tinkering and hacking in my day job. I rather build something using well structured Lego instruction in my spare time. I was thinking about designing my own smart home units recently, but ended up buying quality lamps with motion detectors.