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Amazon Echo FAQ

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Any fellow Irish users of this device?

It should be top of your list if you're into gadgets

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BeanFlicker

Money just gone out of my account from Amazon, nice one!!

Can't wait for this thing ha, roll on Thursday

JAMM222

will probably be friday as it will take parcel motel a while to deliver

mrcheez

BeanFlicker wrote: »

Money just gone out of my account from Amazon, nice one!!

Can't wait for this thing ha, roll on Thursday

oh yeah? Damn better top up my Revolut

Sterling nice n low now

adox

BeanFlicker wrote: »

Money just gone out of my account from Amazon, nice one!!

Can't wait for this thing ha, roll on Thursday

Just checked the tracking on mine and it has dispatch date down as the 19th so a day ahead of schedule.

Got an email saying my Dot has dispatched

Cabaal

2x more hue lights arriving this evening and dot just dispatched, wife is a big fan of hue lights and ease of use. I'm thinking of getting a sensor for them for the landing with plan of also controlling the bathroom so during the night if somebody gets up to use the loo it'll turn on the lights dimmed in the bathroom and hallway.

torrevieja

Whats the difference between the dot and the echo ?

degsie

torrevieja wrote: »

Whats the difference between the dot and the echo ?

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/136952-amazon-echo-vs-amazon-tap-vs-echo-dot-what-s-the-difference

adox

Mines on the way too.

cichlid child

Mine arrived yesterday . A bit messing around trying to download the app and then trying to get the time right but most of the issues if not all are sorted.
I only have 1 wemo switch so far.No lights are anything yet.
But I put the switch on the kettle and the wife was well impressed when she came home. I said to her if I put on the kettle will you make the tea and she agreed.
**Alexa kettle on**:D

adox

cichlid child wrote: »

Mine arrived yesterday . A bit messing around trying to download the app and then trying to get the time right but most of the issues if not all are sorted.
I only have 1 wemo switch so far.No lights are anything yet.
But I put the switch on the kettle and the wife was well impressed when she came home. I said to her if I put on the kettle will you make the tea and she agreed.
**Alexa kettle on**:D

Just on the example above with the wemo, I presume you leave the switch on the kettle switched on all the time and then the power from the plug is turned on and off?

reni10

adox wrote: »

Just on the example above with the wemo, I presume you leave the switch on the kettle switched on all the time and then the power from the plug is turned on and off?

Are there any other cheaper wifi plugs that also work with Echo?

The WeMo plugs seem very over priced!

Stoner

reni10 wrote:

Are there any other cheaper wifi plugs that also work with Echo?

Hold off for a month . I hear there's a few more Philips products ,potential November launch.!

paulbok

Stoner wrote: »

Hold off for a month . I hear there's a few more Philips products ,potential November launch.!

I'm holding off anyway until the black Friday / cyber Monday deals at the end of November, we'll hopefully some.

Philips have some new hue ceiling and wall lights (actual led lights, not just bulbs) on Amazon so could be official launch of them and others.

Would love to see a blank 1M or 2M connector for the light strips so you can run them behind presses without having to solder connections or wasting light strips or getting additional power adapters

Utah

paulbok wrote: »

I'm holding off anyway until the black Friday / cyber Monday deals at the end of November

Great thinking

Atomic Pineapple

paulbok wrote: »

I'm holding off anyway until the black Friday / cyber Monday deals at the end of November, we'll hopefully some.

Philips have some new hue ceiling and wall lights (actual led lights, not just bulbs) on Amazon so could be official launch of them and others.

Would love to see a blank 1M or 2M connector for the light strips so you can run them behind presses without having to solder connections or wasting light strips or getting additional power adapters

They'll probably release a new bridge now too seeing as I finally caved and ordered the 2.0 version, maybe they'll give the free/discounted upgrade that they did last time.

Cabaal

Anyone have one of these?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Wireless-Lighting-Dimmer-Switch/dp/B0148NMVX8/

Would the wallmount be wide enough to cover over an existing space for a normal double light switch?

I was thinking I'd take off the switch, wire everything so its always on and then cover it over with the Philips wireless dimmer

Cabaal wrote: »

2x more hue lights arriving this evening and dot just dispatched, wife is a big fan of hue lights and ease of use. I'm thinking of getting a sensor for them for the landing with plan of also controlling the bathroom so during the night if somebody gets up to use the loo it'll turn on the lights dimmed in the bathroom and hallway.

One thing to be aware of is that Hue bulbs are only rated to IP20, like most other standard LED bulbs. Bulbs directly over baths and showers are required to be IP44, which means greater waterproofness.

I only discovered this recently. The LED bulbs I had above the bath kept failing. Now I realise it was because they are only IP20 rated and I needed IP44.

I'd be very slow to put IP20 rated and very expensive Hue bulbs in a bathroom now. Would be expensive with them failing. A pity as I had exactly the same idea as you. Hopefully Philips will eventually release IP44 rated Hue bulbs eventually.

BTW I'm considering getting lightwaverf switches for the bathroom as it would put the control on the switch outside the bathroom and allow you to use IP44 lights.

Just a pity that lightwaverf seems less well integrated with other home automation technology then Hue is (Echo, Yonomi, etc.) and of course no colour ability.

paulbok wrote: »

Philips have some new hue ceiling and wall lights (actual led lights, not just bulbs) on Amazon so could be official launch of them and others.

Yup, I already pre-ordered the ceiling light for the kitchen

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

They'll probably release a new bridge now too seeing as I finally caved and ordered the 2.0 version, maybe they'll give the free/discounted upgrade that they did last time.

I can't see why they would, what would they add, the 2.0 hub does everything.

The 2.0 and 1.0 hubs are pretty much exactly the same, 2.0 just added support for Apple Homekit/Siri, which because of Apple requires a dedicated chip.

Cabaal

bk wrote: »

One thing to be aware of is that Hue bulbs are only rated to IP20, like most other standard LED bulbs. Bulbs directly over baths and showers are required to be IP44, which means greater waterproofness.

I only discovered this recently. The LED bulbs I had above the bath kept failing. Now I realise it was because they are only IP20 rated and I needed IP44.

Crap

Only thing is my light wouldn't be directly above the bath/shower, but would be in the bathroom as the main light. Might be ok if the room is vented properly?

What about using it as a outdoor light?
Rain won't get near it but you think its still likely to fail?

Cabaal wrote: »

Anyone have one of these?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Wireless-Lighting-Dimmer-Switch/dp/B0148NMVX8/

I have a few of those, they are great, highly recommended.

Cabaal wrote: »

Would the wallmount be wide enough to cover over an existing space for a normal double light switch?

No, unfortunately they are longer and narrower. I just stick mine on the wall next to the old switch.

I use one of these to cover my old double dimmer switch:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000X1DNIM/ref=pd_sim_75_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SCDBT5ZA7DMXS8FMEA8K

Advantage being you can still access the light switch and turn on and off it something in the philips system fails.

Other people just use these blanking plates to cover where the old switch was and wire it up internally like you describe:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CXNMYRY/ref=pd_sim_201_63?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VFD2P0Z756T4ERGJ6A92

These are another option for single switches:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01634O2MS/ref=pd_sim_75_73?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=77M9RF3DKMH1PQRMTH48

Cabaal wrote: »

Crap
What about using it as a outdoor light?
Rain won't get near it but you think its still likely to fail?

Philips say they aren't rated for outdoor use, but many people do use them outdoors, if they are well sheltered:

http://www.howtogeek.com/270169/can-i-use-philips-hue-bulbs-outdoors/

Personally I think they are probably ok for outdoor use if sheltered from rain. Bathrooms tend to be more trouble due to steam getting everywhere.

However please note, that is just my opinion, I'm not an electrician, no guarantees if they fail, use at your own risk.

Hopefully Philips will introduce higher rated bulbs for bathroom and outdoor use in future as there is an obvious interest in it.

cichlid child

adox wrote: »

Just on the example above with the wemo, I presume you leave the switch on the kettle switched on all the time and then the power from the plug is turned on and off?

Yes that's the way I did it.

paulbok

cichlid child wrote: »

Yes that's the way I did it.

Does the kettle not trip out when boiled?

degsie

paulbok wrote: »

Does the kettle not trip out when boiled?

I would think yes, obviously!

Gadgetman496

paulbok wrote: »

Does the kettle not trip out when boiled?

It does and you have to manually set the kettle switch but make sure the socket power is off after each boil.

Pain in the butt for something that's supposed to be automated, but what can you do?

Maybe someone will invent a special kettle for smart homes. Maybe something along the lines of a PC power switch, dunno.

degsie

Gadgetman496 wrote: »

Maybe someone will event a special kettle for smart homes. Maybe something along the lines of a PC power switch, dunno.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Smarter-iKettle-Kettle-Stainless-Steel/dp/B0179NGBT4/

Maybe Echo integration in the future...

mrcheez

Can't see the point in spending that sort of money on something that only automates 1/5 of the tea-making process.

Refilling the kettle with water, getting a cup down, putting in the tea bag, stirring the cup all still have to be done manually so you're only saving yourself the time in turning around and flipping a switch on the kettle.

Surely better off waiting until they have an all-in-one tea machine like with coffee grinders? Bonus would be if it automatically refills itself.

cichlid child

I only set it up like that yesterday for a laugh so the wife would have to make the tea.But I left it there for the evening I was surprised how quickly we made tea,put water in the kettle and turned it back to the on position -ready for the next time. The plan was to put it on to a lamp but I kinda like it on the kettle now.
It means you get up once and make your tea and fill etc. Im a lazy f*** I know.

Stoner

Gadgetman496 wrote:

Maybe someone will invent a special kettle for smart homes. Maybe something along the lines of a PC power switch, dunno.

I use the lightwaverf power socket timer for the slow cooker.

We have slow cooker meals frozen in a bag. You pop it into the slow cooker in the morning or the night before while refrigerated,

Then the timer is set to turn on at 10:00 till 17:00.

This only works with certain things. it won't work on anything with a digital start or a rotary timer.
So these are limited to on off control.

Again a simple mechanical timer would do the same job.

But I can link the smarter timer to turn off of the nest smoke detector alerts.

v10

reni10 wrote: »

Are there any other cheaper wifi plugs that also work with Echo?

The WeMo plugs seem very over priced!

I have a few WeMo but recently I've purchased a few of the TPLink Smart Plugs, cheaper and in my opinion seem more responsive than the WeMo version.

The TPLink is about ~€28 on Amazon