SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
mpro

Any "Smart" Things in Your Build?

Mary P
8 years ago

Are you adding any "Smart" features in your build (eg. Internet controllable switches, thermostats, lights, window coverings, etc)?

I've seen several conversations on this in Houzz/GardenWeb, but most are focused on the really complex systems that I don't think are worth it, and really "overdo" the whole Smart home concept.

As I explore my smart house options, I have one guiding principal: my wife (or a visitor) shouldn't notice the difference. Meaning, if you're not using the "smart" features, it must function and look like it's non-smart counterpart. For example, smart lights should be operable by a switch without anyone noticing their smart. They shouldn't have to press a bunch of buttons looking for the correct "scene".

While we're building, I've done some testing of smart bulbs in our lamps (Hue, Cree, GE, Wink, Wemo, my "review" here) and I'm beginning to think I've got a strategy that doesn't require any special wiring, but I'm interested in what this community is doing in their builds. Doing anything special during our build to prepare a "smart home"?


Comments (48)

  • joeltpro
    8 years ago

    Oops. I posted the above from my wife's account.

  • Related Discussions

    What is the nicest thing about your man (any man in your life)

    Q

    Comments (19)
    DH-Worked hard to provide for us and appreciated the fact that I was a SAHM. He was very very involved in the kids activities and spent a lot of quality kid time with them as well as sharing care-giving duties from day one. He is generous to a fault. He can do laundry, clean the bathroom and repair or build just about anything. He cannot cook however so he is banned from the kitchen except to nuke stuff.LOL DS- #1 is he is extremely kind to women. Girls always flocked to him. For a long while he appeared to have his own harem. LOL He absolutely adores his SO and is extremely protective of her without being the least bit controlling. He is a true believer in equal rights but chivalry is his middle name. He has my back. A real tough guy with a gentle nature. D(quite likely)SIL to be- He loves my DD and shows it in every way both large and small. A hard worker who wants a family to provide for and who doesn't have the materialist expectations of his generation. He has solid values and isn't afraid to fight and work hard for what he wants. As my DD puts it... he's a combination of her brother and the best qualities of the two other main loves of her life before him without the negative ones.
    ...See More

    New Smart Meter, now things are odd

    Q

    Comments (18)
    Assuming you did your tests as described, it does appear reasonable to suspect that this could be related to the installation of the smart meter. Without getting into all the debate about smart meters, and only looking at the possible way the meter could affect something connected to your wiring, there are really just two possibilities. One, could be noise on the wiring caused by something like a poor connection in the meter base from oxidation on the socket contacts, which may just require it to be reseated. Do you have any flickering in your home lighting? Two, would be if, as weedmeister suggested, the power company is using PLC - power line carrier/communication - for the link. The are a number of communication options available that are being deployed often depending on geography, the number of meters, and the utility wiring infrastructure. The most common are RF wireless access point, RF relay network, RF mesh network. They all typically transmit in the 900-925MHz range and would not be a source of your problem. There is however PLC which is used in some areas. The data is modulated on an analog carrier between 10-500kHz over the power lines and could, although highly unusual, possibly be the cause of your problem. You said the problem does not occur on your UPS power but if is not an "always-on" UPS, the most it could be doing is using it's EMI filter to remove any interference. Your next step would probably be to call the utility company, but first you may wish to find out the type of communication method used by the smart meter to the utility in case it could be PLC related.
    ...See More

    Do you build things for your garden ?

    Q

    Comments (6)
    I agree with nhbabs - have fun playing but do pay attention to safety. Even experienced woodworkers have accidents (there are a surprising number of professional carpenters missing a finger-joint or two!) But it's definitely fun to build things for the garden. I have both built things and done the drawings so someone else could build them for me when the construction/fabrication was beyond what I could do myself, even with help. Over the years I've posted here, I've posted lots of pictures of things built for the garden. They include: The first thing I built was a planter-bench and coffee table for the patio (the basic plan for the bench is in several places on the internet, but I modified it to make one side longer so it fit the space better - and that made it look less 'stubby' too. I 'cheated' a bit since a friend's boyfriend did some of the difficult cuts (i.e. 'ripping' wider boards into narrower pieces.) We haven't bothered putting the bench out (it goes into the shed for the winter) in the last couple of summers as we now mainly just use the back porch for sitting outside. The success of the bench project encouraged me to try something else - next up was a screen for the air conditioner: Closely followed by the copper fence and gate for the end of the north alley: (The original construction drawing for the fence was done with pencil and paper - the fancy version is one I later did with CAD software for a course I was taking....) A friend helped me build it and DH and a neighbour installed it. and on and on.... :-) Once you start doing things, you quickly get hooked on it! One handy thing I've learned is that it's easiest if you prime and paint the wood pieces before you assemble the structure. Touch-up painting (if necessary) is much easier than painting the whole thing when it's outdoors. A good quality primer and two coats of paint last a long time.
    ...See More

    Any smart ideas for electrical walk-through?

    Q

    Comments (15)
    1) Recessed outlets behind furniture -- nightstands, wall-mounted TVs, fridge https://www.google.com/search?q=recessed+outlet&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAmoVChMIibiwo-H5xwIVlVqICh1vewte&biw=1333&bih=658 2) Adjustable depth outlets (the ones with a screw that you can tighten or unscrew to move the entire outlet box forward or back within the wall) in kitchen, bath, and anywhere else that would be relevant. After your walls/tile is finished, it is so easy to get the adjustable outlets to be flush with your tile/backsplash, but it so hard to get non-adjustable ones set to the right depth ahead of time (before any walls/tile are in place). 3) Two-way switches at the entrance and exit of every hallway, staircase (indoor and outdoor), and large room. 4) If you are getting dimmers, go handle some dimmers at a lighting store. Some of the controls are super annoying (the buttons, the slides controlled by a tiny nib) and some are a breeze (the slides with larger handles). Make sure you like what you're getting. You will handle these things every day. 5) Think about glare on the TV and try to provide for at least some lighting that avoids that. My husband hates the glare from our lighting on the TV so much that our entire living/dining/kitchen has to be dark when he is watching TV. I rarely am watching TV with him and do not want to do my activities in the dark. Many arguments have sprung from this. In some large rooms or rooms with several different types of lighting (like the kitchen), you might want to break up some of the lighting into different switches. Think that through. E.g., in the family room, maybe the table/floor lamps are on one switch and the overhead lighting is on a different switch. E.g. #2, we have seven can lights in our kitchen, and they are controlled by two switches -- the two cans over the sink on one switch, and the five others on the other switch. I don't ever really want dim light in the kitchen, but sometimes I am just getting a glass of water and all I really need is the sink illuminated, but I want that light to be bright. 7) If you do not already have your light fixtures chosen, quickly choose as many of them as possible. For example, one light over the bathroom mirror requires one box, but two lights over the bathroom mirror requires two separate boxes. You may think the former will be fine but then in practice down the road, you cannot find anything you like that is both pretty and bright enough in one fixture. Now you wish you could get two, and you're stuck. Place boxes with actual fixtures you already know of, like, and an can afford either purchased or in mind.
    ...See More
  • ctsnicholas
    8 years ago

    I am planning on doing a security system. Cameras, maybe alarms and locks too. I don't know...I may even buy a NEST. Other than that, I see the smart features just a way to spend more money. It's cool...but my build is done on a loan, not a savings account. :/

  • mshahmd
    8 years ago

    NEST has gotten terrible reviews from HVAC installers.

  • cpartist
    8 years ago

    MrsPete while I normally agree with you on the use of smart devices in a home, we will be installing one. Why? Because we will not be at our home for five months of the year and it is a way to check up on the house or even let in a tradesman or housekeeper when we are not home

  • joeltpro
    8 years ago

    Great point MrsPete. Might sound crazy, but I kind of agree with you (eg. I'm more interested in an a WWII era watch than a smartwatch). Where I differ with you I believe is I think they can co-exist. Your lamp for example, a "smart" bulb would function just like the bulb you have in it, turning on and off with the switch as you'd expect, but if you were headed to bed, and forgot to turn in off, you could do so from your phone. Then in the morning, just turn it on as normal. This "normal operation unless a need arises" is key to me. If I can't make that happen with a particular switch/bulb/thermostat/lock/whatever, it won't be going in my house.

  • Oaktown
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I'm with mrspete, even though we are in high-tech land and had all kinds of "solutions" pitched to us. From our point of view, the most useful things would have been be Internet control over heating and irrigation systems -- but we figured those would only be used maybe a couple of times a year. Besides, I kind of enjoy giving friends and neighbors rides to the airport, would they still ask if I didn't once in a while call them to flip the switch in the irrigation box? :-)

    I agree with you that a huge drawback to current smart systems is the typical user interface. If it takes more time and effort to figure out than the dumb solution, how is it any better? Those designers need to go back and read The Design of Everyday Things (Norman).

    (Edited:. I realized we do have some Title 24 mandated features that might be considered "smart". Outdoor lighting is on photocell, so won't come on unless it is dark outside. Our Edison base bathroom lighting fixtures are on vacancy sensors.)

  • ismaelplt
    8 years ago

    well, I think,the security system is the most important thing you should focus on when you try to design or to build a house,actually I don't care about how the house would look like,we're all agree that the design attracts people's attention and not all of us have the same view about houses design,but we're all have the same view about how the security system must to be

  • amberm145
    8 years ago

    ismaelplt, nope, I have very different views on security than most. But this is a forum where we discuss all kinds of things that people do differently. We don't have to stick to the topics we all agree on.

    Our house is wired with a hot-neutral-ground to every light. The cheap/easy way to wire up a house doesn't have all 3 wires to every device, but only 2? The neutral wire can be used for smart switches. We have a few of these in the current house. DH has programmed them for different lighting configurations. For example, in the kitchen, I push one button, and the island lights and the under cabinet lights come on. Another switch turns on the walkway lights, but at half level. I can't even tell you the brand name he's been using. But I hit a switch, I get light. Maybe it takes me a while to figure out what switch gives me which light, but that's true for any system that has multiple switches.

    We are not connected from outside the home, though. This is DH's professional area of expertise, and he's not willing to have our devices open to the internet for hacking. We can turn them off from our phones, but only if we're connected to the local wifi.

  • Troy Jassey
    8 years ago

    we just finished our build. the cost of this stuff is high. I ended up doing most of the downstairs switches as insteon switches, door open/close sensors, the doors are zwave, ecobee thermostats and I have an ISY controller for all of it. I mostly did it for the future to start to get things in that I could control due to various triggers.

    definitely a bit of work to set up, there is not a super easy way to do any of it, although it is not horrible either. I put insteon keypads (or a spot for something else int he future) in the walls by all doors, by our master bed, and in the living room. I use these to control some common scenes (bedtime, everything off and locked, general night time lighting, outside security lights etc).

    it has not been lifechanging but it has been nice, and I know down the road we will use this more and more (i.e. geofencing to alter temperature).

    upstairs I couldn't justify the money for smart switches everywhere but I wanted the ability to turn off all lights. so I had the electricians wire all the upstairs lights out of the upstairs breaker box through 2 smart switches in a closet. This does not allow for room by room control,but does allow me to remotely turn off those 2 switches to turn off all upstairs lights from a wall keypad or my phone. I love that, not having to go upstairs or fight with the kids on that at all times.

    anyway I have liked getting into it, and felt it was important to lay the groundwork (putting power in walls in spots we want controllers, etc) to allow for future growth in this space.

    I am hopeful that in a year or two we will have apple homekit integration without having to change too much of what we have in place.

  • loveumms
    8 years ago

    I think all the smart stuff is cool if your are into that stuff but it will be outdated within 10 years, especially with the speed of technology. Look at those ugly intercoms that were super popular in homes 20 years ago. They are hideous and obsolete.

    Security system with cameras, sure but all the other fancy stuff just seems overkill to me (and I'm 33, love technology)

  • Reena Heyer
    8 years ago

    We haven't built yet but are in the process of designing. I am young and very comfortable with tech but this whole smart stuff honestly didn't really make excited. We kept things very simple.

    1. Our HVAC system can be controlled from the internet (if we ever forget to turn it off)
    2. Our security system will have cameras that we can access
    3. This is not "smart," but our friends that have done it love it. There is a master switch in the master bedroom that turns off all lights in the house, and another switch that will turn on all outdoor lights and all hallway lights. We are placing a master switch turn off all lights near the garage on our way out.
    4. All our "night" lights are plugs with LEDs in the bottom. So the hallway and kids room and bathrooms have these, they are always on and I am not worried about turning it off etc
      http://www.snappower.com/

      That's it


  • mrspete
    8 years ago

    If I'm headed to the bedroom and I realize I've left a lamp burning, it'd take less effort to return to the living room and switch off the lamp than to locate my phone, open an app, and then turn off the lamp. You could argue that I might realize the lamp's still burning after I'm in bed; however, I could leave the lamp burning 24/7, probably for the rest of my life, for less than the cost of installing the smart-app to turn it off.

    Ambern145, I also have very different views on security systems.




  • mushcreek
    8 years ago

    Very low tech here. In our 60's, we just haven't embraced all of the new technology. We don't even have smart phones, or CATV! I tried a 'smart' system for our house in FL. It was TERRIBLE to program, and when it lost its programming, which seemed to happen a lot, I had to dig out the manual and go through it all over again. All this to turn off the front door light automatically. Our barn light has a photosensor to turn it on and off- fairly bullet proof.

    Our new house has basic light switches. In fact, I'm going to use push button switches in the public areas for the look. The mini split HVAC system is very high tech, and I could operate it from a smart phone, if I had one. At night, I do a sweep of the house, turning off lights and locking doors, like I have my whole life.

    Sound systems and computer stuff is all heading to wireless, so I didn't bother to wire for them. I did run cable for the TV's, as we run them off of an antenna. We haven't decided on security stuff yet. We may add some on the future- or not.


  • ctsnicholas
    8 years ago

    I am curious, those who have master switches, or switches in the bedroom to turn on outdoor lighting and or indoor lighting...how is that process done? A bunch of hot wires pigtailed to one switch? I am wanting to have a front and back porch light, but also turn them on from the bedroom if I hear any noise outside. My only thought is to have the same power running through the bedroom, like a 3 way switch works. Is that the proper way?

    Those multi-stage light switches are cool, having three different settings for multiple lights would come in handy. I am guessing once again, a lot of extra wiring to those switches.

  • mushcreek
    8 years ago

    They have wireless switches for some applications. Instead of running another wire all the way to the bedroom, the switch in the BR would just send a signal to a wireless switch nearer to the device.


  • ctsnicholas
    8 years ago

    I am not sure I would want to buy a device and rely on the wireless feature. I think I will try out a scene setting switch for the kitchen/dining/living area because that is all one large area in my house that could have options such as: Cooking, Relaxing, Dining, Watching TV that dims or turns off the lights not required to set a better atmosphere and save energy (although LED's don't use much anyway). The other thing is to turn on 3 or 4 outside lights from the Main Bedroom, for security reasons mostly it I hear a noise outside to light the place up like a Christmas tree. I think I'll just run extra wire for that, though it may be multiple switches since I will have to have front lights on one and back lights on another.

    Those who have enjoyed their smart features, did you DIY or hire it out? I would only be DIY any smart systems, so I am curious what products are recommended to the home owners themselves.

  • Troy Jassey
    8 years ago

    CTS, what we did was basically put insteon switches controlling anything we might want to 'smart' control. This satisfied my wife's need for 'normal' switches that function as expected and my desire to have smart control. The insteon switches work both over the neutral wire of the powerline and wirelessly as well so you have a double chance for consistency. So far it has worked almost perfectly, just a few hiccups with individual switches or my learning curve.


    What is nice is that now we can program any of the switches to do anything. So for example we put a 6 scene keypad by the front and back door as well as one that is by the bed. I have programmed one of the scenes to be a 'good night' scene that turns off all of the lights in the house. One is programmed as a security scene where it will turn on all the outside and porch lights for 30 minutes even though those are controlled by ~8 individual switches if not using the scene.


    So far A) I am liking it B) Not sure I like it enough for the incremental cost and C) hopeful it will be more and more useful over time as the smart home evolves

  • ontariomom
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Troy,

    Can you please show us which Insteon switches you used? Also, when you put in the 6 scene keypads in a few spots, did you still have to keep the other Insteon switches in those locations too?. In other words, did you add the 6 scene button beside the other Insteon switches or did they replace the Insteon switches in those locations. I hate the wall clutter and confusion of a bank of wall switches, and wondered if and how those scene buttons might reduce the number of switch plates needed.

  • Troy Jassey
    8 years ago

    Most of my switches are 2477d or 2477s depending on if they need to dim or not. I have one fanlinc. I have 5 keypadlinc 2334. The 3 that are by the doors I use the on off to control the porch light by that door to avoid an extra switch. The 2 that I use more as controllers, one reachable from our master bed and one in the main thoroughfare of the living room don't control anything (I just wired power to them) and I can use all 6 buttons to control whatever I want.

    For example the on off on my living room control I have set to turn on all general area and hall can lights as general night scene. Nice to do that from one switch vs 5 or 6

    I also have door sensors on all exterior doors but haven't linked that to do anything cool yet


  • ontariomom
    8 years ago

    Thanks for your info, Troy. So the one in the living room is just an extra contoller that can be programmed to control whatever lights or combo of lights in the open space you want it to? I take it you still have the regular bank of lights at every entrance/exit from these main rooms to?

    Carol

  • Troy Jassey
    8 years ago

    Yes, I could have wired it all to one spot, but it was important to my wife that she could use individual switches normally, and I didn't want to overcommit to the smart system in case something else made more sense in 10 years. I did make sure to at least get power in the walls at places I wanted controllers whether instead 2334s now or something better in the future


  • chicagoans
    8 years ago

    As mentioned above, things do get outdated quickly. We have a 4 speaker zones in the house and 1 outside that can play from multiple sources. One of the sources is a docking station built into the kitchen wall. This is about 6 1/2 years old, before Apple's new phones came out with their 'Lightning' port (the little one.) So my trusty old iPod fits in the docking station but not our iPhone 5s and 6s. And the docking station, which is inset into the wall, isn't tall enough for an iPhone with an adapter. (Luckily there's also a free-standing docking station in the FR that we can use.) Our docking station was installed in 2008 and we thought it was pretty cool, but then the Lightning port came out in 2012 and our phones no longer fit.

  • User
    8 years ago

    My house isn't smart, but I did add a couple Wemo switches to help smarten it up. I replaced the outside lights' switch with a Wemo switch ($40.) I've had it about a year without issue. We are in the country and wanted our lights to come on at night and turn off in the morning for various reasons. So, the switch is programmed to do that for us. (I probably could have accomplished this in other ways, but this worked for us.)

    I also added a Wemo Light Switch to one outlet. (Two lamps plug into the Wemo outlet, which is plugged into the normal outlet.) So, I can control those lamps from my phone and/or program them to come on at certain times. Instead of trying to find my way in the dark to the lamps in the morning, the lamps are programmed to come on when I wake up (before sunrise.) They also are on for a couple hours in the evening after sunset. It gives us nice lighting in the evenings and makes me feel like the house appears occupied, even when it is not. The bonus is that I can turn the lights on or off from my phone. Yes, it's not necessary... but it is nice. In the winter, if I'm warm under the blankets and don't want to get up...... it is appreciated. :)

  • Troy Jassey
    8 years ago

    An update. Getting an Amazon Echo connected to our home automation system has totally changed how we use it and how much I like it. TBH the first year or so, the value and usefulness wasn't in alignment with the cost and complexity.


    However once Amazon Echo provided integration with the ISY controlling my insteon and Zwave that all changed. Now I have 'scenes' that I can control just with my voice and that has made it so much nicer. Specifically now I have things like....

    "Turn on 'We're Leaving" (scene turning off lights and lock all doors

    "Turn off outside lights"

    "Turn off all lights"

    "Turn thermostat up 4 degrees"

    "Turn on TV lights" (custom scene)


    That also motivated me to get all my scenes updated and keypads by our bed and by doors programmed consistently and now I find a lot more enjoyment and use out of the automation.

  • User
    8 years ago

    My husband loves all gadgets and new tech. I am a less is better person, less to go wrong mindset. So I let him wire for a lot of things for future possible use but kept it to a minimum in the here and now.

  • arokitka
    8 years ago

    The reason I will never put any internet-connected devices in my house is because at some point, some 14 year old kid in China is going to get bored and hack into your house. Some "smart devices" receive security updates from the manufacturer, but only for a limited amount of time. When those updates stop happening, you become even more vulnerable.


    The convenience is nice, but the risk is just too high to justify, in my opinion.

  • ctsnicholas
    8 years ago

    Lol @ Arokitka.... that is true.


    Here we are a year after my build process and I ended up only running cat 6e to tv/pc locations and speaker wire in the attic and down walls to switches. No smart controllers or light fixtures fit in my budget. My goal was to avoid wireless TV and Computers if possible so that's what my Cat6 is for along with cameras. The echo is nice, but I am truly able to get up and do those functions...maybe when I am old...if I grow old...I will begin using voice command controllers...and by then I imagine they will be abundant.

  • Andy
    8 years ago

    I'm of the opinion that at any given point in time, current home automation technology will seem more expensive than it's worth, and be outdated long before it can finally obtain the usefulness that justified the cost in the first place.

    A few programmable LED bulbs so you can have fun with colors? Great. Beyond that, the ROI just plummets.

    I'm a huge geek. I love gadgets. I do not want my home to be "flaky". When I hit a button or flip a switch, the expected response should happen. The value of being able to manipulate socket state or my HVAC from my cell phone? Almost nonexistent. It's a great example of something that sounds useful in theory but in reality only gets used to justify its existence and expense.

  • Troy Jassey
    8 years ago

    I have found 3 things to be pretty great so far and expect to find more.


    1. Having a button by each of my 3 exit doors that is a goodbye button that turns off all lights, changes thermostat, and locks doors after 15 seconds. As well as doing that using only voice through the Amazon Echo.


    2. Having a button on an in-wall keypad right by our master bed that turns off all lights and locks doors as well as secondarily can simultaneously turn on all diverse outside lights (security, porch, doorway, etc). That is comforting to my wife if she hears a noise or something.


    3. Having a 'tv lights' scene in my large great room that has tons of lights and switches that sets all the great room lights to what I want for evening time.


    Probably doesn't really justify the cost, but I have really liked it and with a big house it is so nice to hit one button to turn off 40 lights instead of trudging around the house and upstairs to find all the lights my kids leave on constantly.

    My next step is to get the system connected to some other stuff (fire and water detection, sprinklers, etc) to try to get more value out of it.

  • rsc2a
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I'm in the planning stages, but I'm looking at some pretty basic "smart" things:
    Rooms where it makes sense will have motion-activated lighting (e.g. master closet, pantry, half-bath).
    Whole-home audio...except "whole-home" really means common rooms and back deck.
    Nighttime lighting (e.g. under/in-cabinet lighting, porch) that comes on at dusk and goes off at a set time)
    Blinds that open at dawn and close at dusk
    Hard-wired networking with multiple plugs in all bedrooms, family room, and living room.
    Might have security either w/ or w/o video...still thinking about this one.
    Two HVAC supplyregisters will close automatically when in heat mode (electrical closet and pantry).Oh yeah! Edit to add Roombas.

  • Troy Jassey
    8 years ago

    rsc2a - I don't consider it a 'smart thing' but a small thing we have absolutely loved involves master bath nightlight....our heat/light/vent combo unit had 2 separate lighting wires, one for 'regular' light and a second for a 'night' light. While the walls were still open we wired the 'night' light to a regular motion sensor/timer switch located in a place where it wouldn't go off if we moved in the bedroom and the door was open but would turn on as soon as somebody stepped into the bedroom. Having that soft light pop on (and off) automatically as you sleepily stumble into the bathroom in the middle of the night has been awesome!


    We also did our downstairs guest bath, and laundry/mud rooms on motion/timer lights and have liked that as well (no flipping switches when bring in armloads of groceries or remembering to turn lights on and off in these 'transient' rooms.

  • rsc2a
    8 years ago

    That's my thought on the motion-activated stuff. If there is a room where one will virtually always need a light, it doesn't make sense to have to flip a switch. After all, the only reason I'm going into my pantry is because I want something out of it. Don't plan on lounging in there. (Aside: we are also planning a swinging door on the pantry so you can push it open from either side.)

    The main reason I want to do the blinds and night-time lights is because I get tired of having to walk through the house every morning opening blinds then walk through in the evening closing them and turning on the lights we want on, then walking through them before bed (or in the morning) turning off those lights when it could easily be automated.

  • gmkdac
    8 years ago

    Troy, I am curious as to ballpark costs for the setup you did with your original build. We are firming up bids/allowances to start build and like the setup you described.

  • ctsnicholas
    8 years ago

    I'm curious if the switches are just remote or physical switches that romex run to. I can't imagine the cost of wiring a 4 way switch with that many lights so there has to be some controller. This controller will not last forever. It would then mean a newer one is needed that probably won't be compatible with the switches. That just sounds like more hassle than it's worth -- but my lighting is pretty basic through the entire house without too many different lights in each room.

  • ascorsonelli
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    We installed a Nest with our HVAC. Worked great for about a week after moving in but it always seemed pretty humid inside. Couple nights it felt HOT (it was chilly outside) yet the A/C ran almost ALL night. Called HVAC installer who replaced it with a programmable Honeywell. Working like a charm. Love the idea of a Nest, but for us it didn't work.

    Only other "smart" feature we installed is a keyless entry touchpad lock for the back door. DH hates locking doors and in our former home, just wouldn't do it. Locks it every time with the new lock!

  • Lisa G
    8 years ago

    The only 'smart' features we're including in our new build is running CAT5e to 4 different locations (family room, office, loft, master) and the central hub for the modem/router is in a hall closet with an outlet, and we've purchased an Ecobee 3 thermostat to install once we've moved in. Our garage door comes with a keypad which will be nice, but we will probably add another to the garage man door. We're in our early-mid thirties but I can't think of other smart features we'd really utilize.

  • Troy Jassey
    8 years ago

    gmdak - a couple of hundred bucks for the controllers, etc....the main expense is in the switches. Each insteon switch I put in was 40-50 bucks which is way higher than a cheapo switch and quite a bit higher than even fancy 'non-smart' dimming switches that was the big part of the expense and probably $1k more than just regular switches. We did save some money by not having to do complex 3, 4 way wiring (as you can make any switch control any combo of lights). Upstairs to save money what I did was just have the electrician wire all upstairs lights through 2 insteon switches in a closet. I don't have granular control over the upstairs lights, but I can flip those 2 off automatically from downstairs switches / keypads / Amazon echo which turns off all the upstairs lights which is really what I wanted.


    ctsnicholas - all the switches function as regular switches connected to lights regardless of being connected to the controller, so worst case scenario in 5 years I wasted $1k on prettier light switches. The only real risk would be the core insteon technology 'disappearing' with no cross functionality over whatever becomes standard. However given its prevalence and its getting connection to both google and apple technologies I am not too worried about it.


    lisa g - we have 2 ecobee 3 thermostats and love them.... they look good, do a lot of fancy stuff to save utilities, and it is neat to be able to see all the metrics online. For example we have a wood burning fireplace insert, and I was able to see how much our heat did/didn't come on when we were using our fireplace vs. when we weren't. You will love it


  • PRO
    NuBryte
    7 years ago

    We installed two of the NuBryte Touchpoints in our home and we love them so far. The motion light is my favorite feature. They have a lot of nice built in features such as a security alarm with a camera, different lighting modes, and an intercom. We went with this item because the was no "hub" involved.

  • User
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    We wired for a lot of things that may or may not be connected later (outdoor cameras is one, there are others I am sure)

    That was my husbands thing not mine. He is a gadget guy and loves new fancy stuff. Me? In a lot of ways I belong to the "more to go wrong" club. However we do have a master light switch by the bed in the master and I insisted on having my SONOS hooked up to the speaker system as I have in this house. Cannot live without my tunes throughout the house. ;-)

    Oh we do have touch pad locks on a couple of doors. But I don't think they are the ones that you can hook up to your smart phone...just the basic.

  • ctsnicholas
    7 years ago

    Hey Troy, couldn't find a way to direct message you. How are the Insteon switches? What bugs or troubles have cropped up?

    I have realized my biggest lighting problem was..... not going with better lighting. I thought I was saving money by having less lights when a fan/light combo in each room would suffice. At the time, each fixture was a dollar amount, and more debt I'd be getting into. The fans I currently have don't put out good light, at all. So, of course, I will be replacing the fans with ones that put out better light (any suggestions are welcome...I'd like to spend less than $200 per fan, if possible).


    In hindsight, the cost to install 4 can lights per room would have been SOOO worth it. I'm pretty upset with that mistake, pondering installing my own lighting or just dealing with it and supplementing the lack of light with better ceiling fan/light combos and buying decent lamps.


    With this, I have been thinking of Insteon outlets to control the auxiliary lighting I may install if I don't butcher my beautiful ceilings to install more lighting.... (I dread the attic so, so much....) I would replace each room switch with a zone switch, and then I imagine I can control insteon outlets to trigger the lights making it as easy as possible.

  • Troy Jassey
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    On the good side.... the insteon switches have been more reliable than I expected. I haven't had a single one go out in 18 months now (I have probably 30); I expected more failure. I have had 3 or 4 times an individual switch has seemed to 'die' for an unclear reason, but each time pulling the little tab in the bottom that disconnects the power and reconnect it has fixed the issue. The basically function as I expect them to. Also on the good side they seem to function well as just regular light switches which is nice (i.e. my wife doesn't harass me about the tech because she can use normally)

    On the bad side... I haven't found it to be super life changing or anything; hitting a button to shut off all lights when leaving is nice. Telling Amazon Alexa with my voice to set scenes is cool, especially when lazy on the couch. But frankly I haven't used it as much as I would have thought. I guess a lifetime of turning switches on and off gets programmed in. Looking back it is probably a worthwhile upgrade from 25-30$ /ea nice dimmers, probably not worth the upgrade from cheap $1 switches.

    The only other not so idea thing my wiring was done for old school lighting, and my switch locations hooked up the same. But I put LEDs in everywhere. So I have a lot of spots where a single dimmer controls say 6 cans, but they suck so little power that my Insteon dimmer switch doesn't have very granular control. Basically I get a little dimming on the lowest couple of settings on the switch.

    If insteon had a switch for LEDs (they might now) or if you have higher loads on your switch circuits I think you would see better results. It hasn't bothered me too much as I don't want to dim much most of my lighting is just having specific sections of light fully on or fully off.

  • freeoscar
    7 years ago

    What kind of bulbs are currently in your fans? If you have the normal incandescent screw type, have you tried putting in LED bulbs which put out more light per watt?

  • ctsnicholas
    7 years ago

    @freeoscar They are the smaller bulb base, I think they are called candelebra? I ended up buying special bulbs that were the highest wattage LED I could get. Still with such a small bulb, they don't light the room worth a damn.


    @Troy, I had an email saying you replied but don't see it here...

  • dazureus
    7 years ago

    We're having a Control4 system installed in our new home to control lights and audio in many of the rooms. All bedrooms except for the master will be on normal switches. Lighting controls will be for the master suite, great room, kitchen, foyer, dining room, and mudroom. We're also having data and A/V cable ,1 coax, 3 CAT6, , run to every room, more where the data requirements will be higher. This will handle the distributed audio and video as well as data. Since the floors and walls are ICF, we'll need a few access points for wireless both inside and outside the house. We'll have an integrated security system with appropriate camera placement around the exterior of the house, at the front of the property, and strategic break sensors. Temperature control can also be handled by the Control4 system, but we're still debating this integration.

  • mrspete
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    The convenience is nice, but the risk is just too high to justify, in my opinion.

    I don't even think it sounds more convenient. Just more money to spend, more stuff to become outdated or to break.

    I'm all about setting up your house with conveniences: Light switches on both ends of the hallway, LED lights that'll last longer ... but I just don't have a problem with turning on /dimming the lights I want for various times of day / various activities.

  • freeoscar
    7 years ago

    I used to think that smart homes was the classic 'solution to a problem that doesn't exist'. But as I've explored more, I feel there is a goal - which is to mimic that which a butler would do in order to make the home comfortable for the current activity, and running efficiently and smoothly. Ideally with as little input from the homeowner as possible - after all a good butler knows what to do without being told.

    I think we are getting close to that, though it needs a decent amount of initial setup for the 'butler' to know your desires. And the work Amazon has done with Alexa goes a very long way to making adjustments effortlessly for those other times.

    Of course, like having a butler, it's rather frivolous and unnecessary unless you have a very large home. But we all have preferences when spending on luxury items.

  • Russ Barnard
    7 years ago

    I have an old old old lamp from my grandmother too. It is plugged into a WiWo socket and if I am not at the house and I want to flip it on, I can. If I am at the house, I can do it manually.

    I have friends that go to my ranch. I added Internet because it was the best way to get a phone line out there for safety reasons....and cheaper.

    I had one of the women blame me for why her husband goes out and plays on his iphone all the time with games, when at the ranch. I said, I have the Internet and you do not see ME playing on it.


    Technology is not the problem. We can live with technology and still enjoy the old stuff and old ways of doing things. Technology only opens options, it does not limit them.



    So, yes, my entire house is wired and I have a wifi garage door opener and a wifi controllable thermostat (or will when the house is finished.. lol). Does not mean I cannot open the garage door by hand or that I cannot adjust the thermostat manually. It means if someone forgets to open or close it or set it, I can do it even at work.


    I love my open fire cooking, my 1960's stuff.. hell, I have an 8-track player.. THREE.. lol.. (my wife laughs at me for paying $1 for an 8-track player and $12 to ship it to me.. heh)....but when I want my DVD player, it's there too.

    R