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Do you even need a local network? For home automation the hobby, all the complexity is a feature. Fiddling with phones, apps, watches, identities, connections,

by jmull 5y ago

Do you even need a local network? For home automation the hobby, all the complexity is a feature. Fiddling with phones, apps, watches, identities, connections, security, networks, etc. is the fun of it. Outside the hobby, though, I don't think people really want to deal with all that. Generally, home devices you might automate are things you interact with -- locally. Local controls for a local device work really well, and the simplicity is hard to beat. Home automation wants to interject poor controls between you and everything. E.g., the regular wall-mounted light switch is pretty close to an ideal design for a light.

gregmac 5y ago
> Generally, home devices you might automate are things you interact with -- locally. Local controls for a local device work really well, and the simplicity is hard to beat. Home automation wants to interject poor controls between you and everything. No it doesn't. Only shitty "smart home" stuff does that. Home automation automates things. There is no need to control, because it happens without needing to do anything. Simple example is outside lights turning on when it gets dark, though you don't need a whole system for that. More complex example is: inside lights turn on when it's dark and off at an appropriate time only if no one is home. I'm with you on the local control thing though. I use lots of scenes (one button to control multiple lights to preset levels) but they're all triggered via a button on the wall or an automation. You can control via app, but I almost never use that -- maybe if I'm on the couch and too lazy to get up to change something. Can also be set up to control remotely, but that's totally pointless with actual home automation.
- spookthesunset 5y ago
  Off topic but what are you using for the button that triggers things? "The Button" is huge when it comes to the wife approval factor (or even my approval factor). Fiddling with phones or alexa to turn on and off lights is a pain in the ass...
  - gregmac 5y ago
    Previously: Insteon KeypadLinc. Currently: Zooz ZEN32.
twobitshifter 5y ago
I have to buy a new thermostat for our house heat, or make a diy thermostat as a small project. I’m having a hard time thinking of a more minimalist design than the Honeywell round thermostat. It doesn’t need a battery, or a processor, or anything other than a spring some fluid and a dial. The dial tells you both the current temp and your setting. I have to justify adding technology to improve it in some way but it just appears to add more problems.

by jmull 5y ago

gregmac 5y ago

> Generally, home devices you might automate are things you interact with -- locally. Local controls for a local device work really well, and the simplicity is hard to beat. Home automation wants to interject poor controls between you and everything. No it doesn't. Only shitty "smart home" stuff does that. Home automation automates things. There is no need to control, because it happens without needing to do anything. Simple example is outside lights turning on when it gets dark, though you don't need a whole system for that. More complex example is: inside lights turn on when it's dark and off at an appropriate time only if no one is home. I'm with you on the local control thing though. I use lots of scenes (one button to control multiple lights to preset levels) but they're all triggered via a button on the wall or an automation. You can control via app, but I almost never use that -- maybe if I'm on the couch and too lazy to get up to change something. Can also be set up to control remotely, but that's totally pointless with actual home automation.

spookthesunset 5y ago
Off topic but what are you using for the button that triggers things? "The Button" is huge when it comes to the wife approval factor (or even my approval factor). Fiddling with phones or alexa to turn on and off lights is a pain in the ass...
- gregmac 5y ago
  Previously: Insteon KeypadLinc. Currently: Zooz ZEN32.

twobitshifter 5y ago

I have to buy a new thermostat for our house heat, or make a diy thermostat as a small project. I’m having a hard time thinking of a more minimalist design than the Honeywell round thermostat. It doesn’t need a battery, or a processor, or anything other than a spring some fluid and a dial. The dial tells you both the current temp and your setting. I have to justify adding technology to improve it in some way but it just appears to add more problems.