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> Lights and lightbulbs are maybe the biggest no-brainer thing you could automate around your home, at least in my eyes. Automate them to wake you up, turn off

> Lights and lightbulbs are maybe the biggest no-brainer thing you could automate around your home, at least in my eyes. Automate them to wake you up, turn off when you leave the house, turn on when it gets dark in the evening, when you're away, and so on Not a no-brainer to me. I installed motion-activated lights in certain rooms of my house, but they aren't connected to the network. They turn on when you get close, turn off after 15 minutes of inactivity. Seems to cover all the above use cases except using them as an alarm. I don't use an alarm anyway, so no big deal to me. In general, smart home automation always seemed like a lot of money, a lot of homework, and fairly dubious benefits to me.

modeless 4y ago
I hate those. They always turn off when I'm in the room. Then I'm waving my arms around every 15 minutes and it's more of a pain than just switching on the lights as I enter a room.
- sgt 4y ago
  That's also used at offices to encourage workers to leave at night. Why are you here at 8pm? Let's switch off the lights every 5 min unless you get up and wave your hands.
- BHSPitMonkey 4y ago
  These days you can get mmwave presence sensors which don't have the same issues motion sensors do.
  - theshrike79 4y ago
    Mmwave stuff is really expensive still, I'm waiting for them to come down to sane prices first. Top 2 would be bedroom presence (don't do stuff if someone is in the bedroom, but sleeping, can't do that with IR) and living room presence (If I'm on the couch, don't turn off stuff, I might need it).
    - 0_____0 4y ago
      Not sure of the quality but I am seeing Chinese-made mmWave presence sensors for sale for 30-45$/unit.
- quickthrowman 4y ago
  Buy dual tech occ switches with both PIR and ultrasound sensors, problem solved. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Maestro-Dual-Tech-Motion-Sensor-switch-6-Amp-Single-Pole-White-MS-A102-WH/205643008 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Maestro-Dual-Tech-Motion-...
anentropic 4y ago
I also wondered about this I was assuming most on this site would agree with the sentiment in the article But to me it seems utterly pointless - barely perceptible, or perhaps even negative utility (e.g. programmed lights automatically coming on at times when you didn't want them after all, having to faff about with apps and wifi) I just really struggle to see using a physical 'on demand' light switches as an inconvenience Just seems like gadgets for the sake of gadgets, which is fine, I understand the appeal of that

modeless 4y ago

I hate those. They always turn off when I'm in the room. Then I'm waving my arms around every 15 minutes and it's more of a pain than just switching on the lights as I enter a room.

sgt 4y ago
That's also used at offices to encourage workers to leave at night. Why are you here at 8pm? Let's switch off the lights every 5 min unless you get up and wave your hands.
BHSPitMonkey 4y ago
These days you can get mmwave presence sensors which don't have the same issues motion sensors do.
- theshrike79 4y ago
  Mmwave stuff is really expensive still, I'm waiting for them to come down to sane prices first. Top 2 would be bedroom presence (don't do stuff if someone is in the bedroom, but sleeping, can't do that with IR) and living room presence (If I'm on the couch, don't turn off stuff, I might need it).
  - 0_____0 4y ago
    Not sure of the quality but I am seeing Chinese-made mmWave presence sensors for sale for 30-45$/unit.
quickthrowman 4y ago
Buy dual tech occ switches with both PIR and ultrasound sensors, problem solved. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Maestro-Dual-Tech-Motion-Sensor-switch-6-Amp-Single-Pole-White-MS-A102-WH/205643008 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Maestro-Dual-Tech-Motion-...

anentropic 4y ago

I also wondered about this I was assuming most on this site would agree with the sentiment in the article But to me it seems utterly pointless - barely perceptible, or perhaps even negative utility (e.g. programmed lights automatically coming on at times when you didn't want them after all, having to faff about with apps and wifi) I just really struggle to see using a physical 'on demand' light switches as an inconvenience Just seems like gadgets for the sake of gadgets, which is fine, I understand the appeal of that