I enjoy home automation projects and use Home Assistant as my main hub. Curious if there’s interest in TROYPOINT covering this type of technology? Seems like there could be an overlap in these interests and if so, we could start providing guides and reviews.
Are you interested in Home Automation tutorials?
I’m not sure I would ever use it but I sure don’t want to stand in the way of progress.
Will home automation take over one day?
Absolutely, yes. I resisted smart devices for a while but since I’ve jumped on board it’s been a game changer. There are lots of simple little things that I didn’t realize were so repetitive until I went the automation route. Turning on and off Christmas lights, dimming or turning off lights when watching TV, changing the temperature of the thermostat or automatically switching from cooling to heat, opening or closing the garage door with my voice when going for a bike ride instead of having to go into the garage to push the button. Also, Amazon Prime members with compatible garage openers can have packages delivered inside their garage when they aren’t home to ensure they don’t get stolen or damaged. Oh, and grouping of lights on smart switches is also a big plus for me. I have two different zones of lights in my great room plus backlighting behind the TV and on top of the cabinets that I can turn on all at the same time through the app or with voice commands. In summary, yes, this is a great topic to add lol.
@DCT213 , i’m with ya on that, plus i count all trips to the light switch or the window to peek an see who’s wearin’ out my doorbell as part of my exercise routine…
I’d like it from the standpoint of reducing the remotes. I have a remote for the Christmas lights, one for the power blinds, one for the AC, TV, soundbar, P6L, and lights, so ya anything to make that easier.
Years ago I wired a home with x-10 modules and controllers. It was neat at the time, but I don’t see a real need for it. The “all off" command was the best part of it IMO. I am not voting on this one, but I do like to read…Merry Christmas everybody !!!
I just bought a SofaBaton X2 remote…..haven’t programmed it yet. It works with Alexa and home assist. It’s suppose to handle everything and eliminate the need for multiple remotes. Time will tell.
I would be interested in seeing more about home automation…….
Ohhhhh. Nice. I’ve heard about the Sofa Baton, so certainly looking forward to reading about your experiences, both pro and con. Now program it, give it a click, and see if your presents magically appear.
dont need remote got a wife 
Never let the wife touch the remote!! 
I remember going to the “show” and seeing that movie when it came out! Talk about ahead of its time, that one SURELY is. I wonder is this movie was an influence on the early developers of voice and smart-home automation?
I use home assistant and would welcome some guides and tutorials. I have lights and sensors but have never been able to figure out scenes and automations really. The big headache is I had this little cube microphone speaker thing and it would react to my speech but when I got the one that the pr oject put out I cant seem to get it to use the wake word at all. I would love some training!
While I perhaps chose the wrong interface (Alexa), I generally like the devices, but we have frequent power glitches here, which usually has various lights turning on when power is restored. We then have to wait until the cable modem reboots and then for Alexa to re-establish connection to the AWS servers. Then we must wait until the devices are reconnected to Alexa. This entire process can take over 10 minutes after the power returns. In the meantime, lights are on, thermostat is offline, and security cameras are useless.
Switching to another system at this point would be exceedingly troublesome and expensive. Perhaps a UPS on the modem would be a solution. At least, that’s my next step.
So…..yay on the automation, but a qualified nay on its current execution. Lesson learned and passed on.
One of those remotes from “Click" would be cool…..
I have Home Assistant Green and cannot figure it out!
I use one of the original Safabaton units, and it worked great. I never tried to pair it beyond my TV and Sound systems. I wonder if it would work on a wider group of units or if I need to upgrade. Add this to the look into it topic list. Thanks for getting me thinking.
I had never heart of SofaBaton.…it looks promising but might be a little over my pay scale trying to program it. I have a Harmony Elite and was able to program it, but this SofaBaton looks more complicated. I’ll see about it after the New Year.
I have one also…maybe its a “Yellow”, I forgot. I’m sure I could devote a whole lot of time into figuring it out, but one word that comes to mind when I first attempted it: “OVERWHELMING”. Im hopeful @TROYPOINT can get his excellent tutorial skills honed up for the new year and crank out some guides for those that wish to get into learning home automation. Heres one guys effort at it, but I prefer Troy’s style of “step by step” teaching much better.
I was skeptical at first of so called smart devices. Now ALL of my lights are controlled by Alexa and some of my plugs. Especially helpful when out of town, I can easily setup light routines both inside and outside. A security feature is that if I happen to hear something or someone outside the house at night, just say alexa all lights on and it happens. Even while driving back to the house tell Alexa to turn on a light before I arrive home. I’m sure there is plenty more that I can do with it.