Post ABqARwrupTiQICDXG4 by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
(DIR) More posts by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
(DIR) Post #ABq7uWYHSAmvCxy2cq by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:29:30Z
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@BirdDog Interesting that you should mention "smart home" technologies, as that's in part why I've been away for a while. I'm busily integrating my "smart home" system... the majority of it being lighting controls.I don't care for the voice control/"talking house" nonsense, however. I'm using Apple's Homekit as the frontend, and while I do have one of their "smart" speakers as the hub for the front end, I've put it off in a room by itself and disabled "Hey, Siri."
(DIR) Post #ABq80X4ORNVkYHqwKG by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:30:36Z
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If it's still listening, it won't hear much. đ The major challenge so far for the system is putting all the "smart" devices into their own subnet, firewalled off from the computers in the house. That, and getting things to work as intended...
(DIR) Post #ABq8iY3i7nUOMRWQds by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:38:33Z
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My nominee so far for the most useless integration of internet connectivity in an appliance so far is the "smart" refrigerator. I don't need to have realtime telemetry of my refrigerator and freezer temperatures, nor would care to adjust them remotely. And the only use case for it that seems to make any sense to me is notification if someone left the fridge or freezer door open, but even that should be a matter for conscientious personal responsibility rather than technology.
(DIR) Post #ABq9601WJpg7khgD5s by dtweete@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:42:47Z
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@darulharb My system involves smart plugs, the smartphone app, and webhooks sent to a device automation app. No Google or Apple devices. Thought about getting a Raspberry Pi to run as a local server, but haven't done that project yet.
(DIR) Post #ABq9DASTv93u8ti0lE by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:44:05Z
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One of the more interesting applications I've learned about recently is "adaptive lighting," in which lighting devices know what time of day it is, and adjust the color temperature of the light to mimic daylight, being redder at dawn and dusk. Supposedly helps with your circadian rhythms.
(DIR) Post #ABq9cd0kto67w9sfGS by dtweete@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:48:41Z
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@darulharb The open freezer door issue was a real one I tried to insure against. Kids failing to ensure a solid seal on a door that wanted to pop open, leading to spoiled meat and a basement floor covered in bloody water. Bought a sensor for my dumb freezer, but it turned out to be Bluetooth instead of wifi, which really didn't fit my grand plans. Happy for Amazon's generous return policy.
(DIR) Post #ABq9wbNwecFGgaFfHs by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:52:17Z
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@dtweete I'm very impressed with the Raspberry Pi as a platform, and as the middle hub in my setup, running Homebridge, an open source service which translates for devices not part of Apple's ecosystem so that they can show up in Homekit.And the third hub in my home automation pipeline is Hubitat, a network appliance which might ordinarily be used as a frontend hub in its own right, but which I'm primarily using for its integrated Zigbee and Z-Wave radios.
(DIR) Post #ABq9zZpct1iWjicMym by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:52:49Z
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@dtweete One nifty device I've got on order is a board from Konnected which will repurpose the sensors in the defunct hardwired alarm system which came with the house, making them wirelessly integrated with Hubitat.
(DIR) Post #ABqARwrupTiQICDXG4 by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:57:56Z
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@dtweete I've figured a way to add end-of-cylce detection to our "dumb" washer, dryer, and dishwasher, so I'll be implementing that soon. These are appliance notifications that have practical use, but I'm not going to buy new major appliances just for that (especially when I know how to "roll my own").
(DIR) Post #ABqAUHFe1AG65UQWEi by dtweete@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T02:58:23Z
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@darulharb My current hub is one of my old Android phones. Lol.
(DIR) Post #ABqAdf1F1GYGPMAEaW by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T03:00:04Z
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@dtweete I've figured a way to add end-of-cylce detection to our "dumb" washer, dryer, and dishwasher, so I'll be implementing that soon. These are appliance notifications that have practical use, but I'm not going to buy new major appliances just for that (especially when I know how to "roll my own"). Having this convenience does seem to me to be one of the "killer apps" of home automation, though.
(DIR) Post #ABqAf2G46Pumlwklzk by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T03:00:19Z
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@dtweete I've figured a way to add end-of-cycle detection to our "dumb" washer, dryer, and dishwasher, so I'll be implementing that soon. These are appliance notifications that have practical use, but I'm not going to buy new major appliances just for that (especially when I know how to "roll my own"). Having this convenience does seem to me to be one of the "killer apps" of home automation, though.
(DIR) Post #ABqAzb4SNZDCXA80Po by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T03:04:02Z
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@dtweete Well, I only decided to get the HomePod mini after trying out the Home app on my iPad as the hub. But then, I didn't want to leave it on and plugged in all the time, or limited to the subnet everything else was on, and I still wanted to be able to use it for other things. đ
(DIR) Post #ABqB1k0q6aLQqSSUk4 by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T03:04:25Z
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@dtweete Well, I only decided to get the HomePod mini after trying out the Home app on my iPad as the hub. But then, I didn't want to leave my iPad on and plugged in all the time, or limited to the subnet everything else was on, and I still wanted to be able to use it for other things. đ
(DIR) Post #ABqBqgvlK6J23VNXuK by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T03:13:38Z
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@dtweete One of the other useful automations I've thought of is triggering the Roomba robotic vacuum to only run when nobody's at home during the day. That way we don't have to put up with the noise, and having it underfoot. Fortunately, someone already wrote a nice Homebridge plugin for the Roomba which provides a virtual switch to start it (on), and to send it back to base (off).
(DIR) Post #ABqC1SCqPPI1ZdV6dU by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T03:15:34Z
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@dtweete Ah, well... time to test the "Goodnight" scene...đ´
(DIR) Post #ABqMXTGT0Z0zfH6JBA by dtweete@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T05:13:25Z
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@darulharb that's impressive. How do you detect that?
(DIR) Post #ABqkFyFlS5fLSgxbI8 by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T09:39:10Z
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@dtweete It varies by appliance make and model, and the particular circumstances of my house, where the former wired alarm systemâs control panel is right next to the washer and dryer in the laundry room. The control panel has 4 wires running to it. My old GE washer and dryer each have an LED on their front which is always lit while itâs running, and turns off when itâs done. Iâm building a box that takes advantage of the alarm system control panel wires to hook up light-triggered relays.
(DIR) Post #ABql9wTDGiEk9FwL0i by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T09:49:17Z
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@dtweete I attach a small CdS photoresistor in front of the LED, which controls a small relay, which looks to the Konnected board just like one of the security systemâs door/window contacts (normally closed when the LED is off, and opened when the LED is lit). There are little sensor boards of this kind available on Amazon for cheap. The Konnected board Iâm getting to replace the alarm systemâs main panel will sense when the relay on the sensor board opens and closes.
(DIR) Post #ABqlqNGQ2aITPTBlqK by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T09:56:57Z
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@dtweete For the dishwasher, itâs a different approach. My old dishwasher has a rotating knob style control, which turns around to an âoffâ position when the dishes are done. So my plan is to use a small wireless Zigbee contact sensor (again like youâd use on a window or door) and a high strength magnet on the âpointingâ part of the knob which will open when you turn the knob to âstartâ and rotate around to close the contact sensor when the knob reaches âoff.â
(DIR) Post #ABqmImiezWF6T0wgqm by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T10:02:05Z
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@dtweete Other people have used techniques like plugging the appliance into certain âsmartâ switches which have an energy monitoring feature, taking advantage of the fact that the running appliance uses more electricity than when itâs not running. So if you know what the usual pattern of energy draw from the appliance is, you can detect when itâs running or not running.
(DIR) Post #ABquNMayLX8oWg2mkC by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T11:32:33Z
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@dtweete I forgot to mention, the sensor boards for the washer/dryer LED detectors need 12VDC, so I found there are some small 12VDC switching power supplies used for LED lighting which are designed to fit into a wall box (like you'd use for an electrical outlet), and are hardwired to the house AC current. So I'm going to use that to supply the small amount of DC power I need for the sensors, wiring it behind the outlet that the washing machine is plugged into.
(DIR) Post #ABqurwrW4Uwdh2MllI by darulharb@social.quodverum.com
2021-09-29T11:38:05Z
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@dtweete If I wanted to, and had other wires available from the alarm control panel, I could use 12VDC from the Konnected board, which has terminals to supply 12VDC to alarm sensors like motion detectors and smoke detectors, just like the original central alarm panel did.