HBGDawg

joined 10 months ago
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Would you consider upgrading your home's window treatments into a remote control or voice control? in c/homeautomation@selfhosted.forum
[–] HBGDawg@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

I may in the future but not planning on it. I almost never raise or lower my blinds. Bedroom curtains stay shut and must in the house stay open. While automating them would serve my inner geek, it adds expense and another thing to troubleshoot when they break.

1
Why do some devices require a hub and others don't? (alien.top)
 

I am a noob to home automation but I have a few Kasa light switches that I like. The Kasa switches connect via wifi and Google is able to interact with them. I am also interested in some smartblinds (maybe Smartwings) and I notice they REQUIRE a hub. I understand they are Zigbee over wifi. Why do some devices require a hub and others don't?

1
How much debugging/maintenance for a Smart Home (alien.top)
 

So I am considering implementing a smart home solution for a new home. Smart Home seems like both a hobby and a home tool. How often do you have to troubleshoot/debug to make things work correctly? Do devices routinely not work for one reason or another? Or has the ecosystem matured enough where once you set it up, it is relatively pain free? Appreciate any feedback.

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My proposed home automation setup - thoughts/opinions greatly appreciated (alien.top)
 

So I am real new to home automation and building a new home sometime next year. After doing some research, I think I want to go with the Google universe on HA. So below is my proposed setup.

I have a few (for starters) simple needs:

Turn on/off exterior lights at dusk/dawn

Turn off TV/lights/check doors are locked/blinds down when ready for bed

Do the reverse for when I wake up

Get security/doorbell alerts

I want a single display (Google Home MAX and phone) to view my security cameras/thermostat/alerts

Remote capability to monitor/manage while I am away

So here is my proposed setup:

Google Next Hub MAX (stupid question, it says HUB so I assume I don't need a separate hub for any of the below?)

TP-Link Kasa HS220/HS200/HS103P4 switches for lights

Aqara door/window sensors (says it will integrate directly with Google Smart Home, but other places say Aqara Hub is required)

Reolink exterior cameras and doorbell along with NVR

Yale Door Lock

Someone's motorized blinds for about 1/3 of my windows (haven't figured this out yet)

How does all of this sound for a relatively simple HA solution?

I appreciate any thoughts.