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Setting Up A Smart Home

OffalyMedic

Ok so we've recently renovated and moved into our house and now we are all settled in I would like to start at making it a smart home. It's only a small cottage so thinking 3 devices is all I need: 1 in the bedroom to control lights, tv and Chromecast. 1 in the Kitchen to control lights, general speaker and in future hopefully a Nest thermostat. And finally one in the sitting room to again control lights, tv and Chromecast.

Because I tend to use alot of Google apps regular i.e calander, chromcast, Gmail etc. I'm almost convinced on buying Google home.

Advice I'm looking for is would 1 home and 2 minis be enough, to little or overkill in your opinions.

Philips Hue seem to be the light bulbs to get? Need 5 of them for the three rooms so if there are others as good but cheaper I'd like to know.

Anything else I should be getting to make the process as seem less as possible. Or any other tips/tricks to use the devices for? All help appreciated!

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wexfordman2

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Ok so we've recently renovated and moved into our house and now we are all settled in I would like to start at making it a smart home. It's only a small cottage so thinking 3 devices is all I need: 1 in the bedroom to control lights, tv and Chromecast. 1 in the Kitchen to control lights, general speaker and in future hopefully a Nest thermostat. And finally one in the sitting room to again control lights, tv and Chromecast.

Because I tend to use alot of Google apps regular i.e calander, chromcast, Gmail etc. I'm almost convinced on buying Google home.

Advice I'm looking for is would 1 home and 2 minis be enough, to little or overkill in your opinions.

Philips Hue seem to be the light bulbs to get? Need 5 of them for the three rooms so if there are others as good but cheaper I'd like to know.

Anything else I should be getting to make the process as seem less as possible. Or any other tips/tricks to use the devices for? All help appreciated!

I think you are on the right path. Consider other options as well as hue though, look at smart.switches rather than smart bulbs for your main lights (your main issue here is presence of neutral in the switch or not will determine the type.of smart switch you can go for). Hue would be good for lamps, mood lighting etc.

You can also automate external lights too.

Heating, something like nest etc.

The high horse brigade

I have a Home in the kitchen and a mini in the sitting room. I'm planning on moving the mini to the bedroom and buying a Home to replace it in the sitting room as the mic on it is not as good as the Home at picking up voice when there's ambient noise.

keane2097

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I have a Home in the kitchen and a mini in the sitting room. I'm planning on moving the mini to the bedroom and buying a Home to replace it in the sitting room as the mic on it is not as good as the Home at picking up voice when there's ambient noise.

I might have to look into upgrading a couple of mini's to full homes for the same reason.

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Advice I'm looking for is would 1 home and 2 minis be enough, to little or overkill in your opinions.

That is exactly what I have in my apartment. Works well. Though the Mini in the bedroom is hooked up to high quality speakers via Chromecast Audio.

You could always get one mini and one fullsize home to try them out and then decide on the third one.

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Philips Hue seem to be the light bulbs to get? Need 5 of them for the three rooms so if there are others as good but cheaper I'd like to know.

There aren't. There are other cheaper options, but there are nowhere as good. If you can afford it, Hue are well worth. Easily the best smart system ecosystem.

Keep an eye out for sales and the upcoming Prime sales, that often brings the price down to a more reasonable level.

You don't have to get everything at once if you don't want to. You can have a plan in mind and gradually add devices/rooms as things come up in sales and money is available.

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Anything else I should be getting to make the process as seem less as possible. Or any other tips/tricks to use the devices for? All help appreciated!

It sounds like you are very much on the right track. Google Home + Hue are a good combination and a nice starting place.

In time other things to think about are Nest Protect smoke alarms, a smart alarm system, IP cameras for security.

I think a lot of us are also thinking about Google Home screens in future.

OffalyMedic

bk wrote: »

You could always get one mini and one fullsize home to try them out and then decide on the third one.

Thats a great idea!!! Thanks

bk wrote: »

Keep an eye out for sales and the upcoming Prime sales, that often brings the price down to a more reasonable level.

You don't have to get everything at once if you don't want to. You can have a plan in mind and gradually add devices/rooms as things come up in sales and money is available.

Yeah the plan in my head was to decide what i want and in what order i would like to get them and the see what i can find on primedays, cyber monday, black friday etc.

OffalyMedic

Can i put a smart plug in a socket, connect an extension lead to the smart socket and plug tv, chromcast etc into the extension?

Will i then be able to say "Hey Google, Turn on the TV"??

OffalyMedic

Also do you have to get the Philips hue bridge in order to use the light and does each room need a separate bridge?

wexfordman2

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Also do you have to get the Philips hue bridge in order to use the light and does each room need a separate bridge?

You need a bridge for Hue, but only one.

wexfordman2

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Can i put a smart plug in a socket, connect an extension lead to the smart socket and plug tv, chromcast etc into the extension?

Will i then be able to say "Hey Google, Turn on the TV"??

Thats a bit messy tbh.

Firsts off, a chromecast ideally should be on and idle all the time to my mind. You should not have to power it up before you go to use it, they are designed to be active all the time.

Having the TV plugged into a straightforward on/off plug is not really going to give you much control over your tv. It will turn it off, but then when you go to turn it on again, I would think that it jus sets it to idle. Also, I dont think powering your tv off like that is a great idea from the point of view of lifespan etc.

You can leave the CC on, and plugged in to your tv, there are ways then of getting it to turn on the tv, but it depends very much on the type of tv you have etc.

Personally, I would like to have more direct control of my tv via google etc, I can plan and control netflix on it (via CC), and thats quite good, but not fully integrated yet. I am waiting for further google inegration on that side of things.

There are also remote control systems that integrate with google, such as harmony remote etc, but I've not gone down that route yet. Again, my ideal integration is when each device talks to google over IP, its just integration is a bit hit and miss with that sort of stuff at the moment.

Smart TV's, DVR's STB's etc all have ethernet connectivity these days, and I would prefer to explore options of integrating them direct rather than through a third party device.

Others with experience of Harmony can advise you on that device, I dont have one.

listermint

Was the electrics done on the renovation and was their Neutrals dropped to the Light Switches?

There are many things you can do for very little cost without the need for Bridges or any of that.

Controlled via Google Home or Alexa or direct from the phone.

The high horse brigade

Powering off breaks smart technology, use standby

OffalyMedic

Sorry i may not have been clear enough. Our TV's are on standby always.

So in our bedroom for example we only have a single socket so there is an extension lead plugged in there (on continuously) and it runs the TV and mibox (built in CC). I though i would have to have the TV plugged into a smart-plug to start TV or put on standby with google home voice command?

Ideally I'd love to say 'hey google turn on Netflix" and the TV would start up and open netflix

The electrics were all redone in the build so live, neutral and earth coming to every switch and socket in the house. @listermint can you explain what can be done to use google home without bridges?

The high horse brigade

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Sorry i may not have been clear enough. Our TV's are on standby always.

So in our bedroom for example we only have a single socket so there is an extension lead plugged in there (on continuously) and it runs the TV and mibox (built in CC). I though i would have to have the TV plugged into a smart-plug to start TV or put on standby with google home voice command?

Ideally I'd love to say 'hey google turn on Netflix" and the TV would start up and open netflix

The electrics were all redone in the build so live, neutral and earth coming to every switch and socket in the house. @listermint can you explain what can be done to use google home without bridges?

You need a Harmony remote and hub

A few things about putting TV's etc. on a smart plug.

1) Most smart plugs would actually use more power then a TV in standby mode!

2) Most modern TV's and other electronic devices don't like being fully powered off (turning off the power) and it can lead them to being damaged.

Better option then using a smart plug, is using a Logitech Harmony remote system.

It gives you far more control over multiple devices. You can turn on the TV, change channel, change volume, etc. all by voice control. More expensive, but also gives you far more power.

listermint

bk wrote: »

A few things about putting TV's etc. on a smart plug.

1) Most smart plugs would actually use more power then a TV in standby mode!

2) Most modern TV's and other electronic devices don't like being fully powered off (turning off the power) and it can lead them to being damaged.

Better option then using a smart plug, is using a Logitech Harmony remote system.

It gives you far more control over multiple devices. You can turn on the TV, change channel, change volume, etc. all by voice control. More expensive, but also gives you far more power.

Id agree with you for the most part, But ive been turning my smart TV and Nvidia shield off for years via the power socket and it does nothing to either device. just boots straight into the Android Home screen everytime - Daily.

Zero problems with either.

Cheaper units like my SatBox dont like it because of the ROMs used for booting. But the expensive stuff is fine.

keane2097

An IR blaster like the broadlink pro is an order of magnitude cheaper than a harmony hub and remote and will do the job you are talking about with your TV/Netflix admirably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdjp6ic99S8

listermint wrote: »

Id agree with you for the most part, But ive been turning my smart TV and Nvidia shield off for years via the power socket and it does nothing to either device. just boots straight into the Android Home screen everytime - Daily.

Zero problems with either.

The issue tends to be that the electronics fail faster. It can work well for years, even with being turned on/off, but then it suddenly fails. You might not realise it failed because of that, but statistically it is more likely to fail.

Working in IT, it is very noticeable with servers. It is very noticeable that most hardware failures would occur during reboots. You'd have a server that was working away perfectly for years, need to install a patch and reboot and a motherboard would pop then, etc. Always a big pain. We'd always be crossing our fingers when you rebooted servers.

wexfordman2

bk wrote: »

The issue tends to be that the electronics fail faster. It can work well for years, even with being turned on/off, but then it suddenly fails. You might not realise it failed because of that, but statistically it is more likely to fail.

Working in IT, it is very noticeable with servers. It is very noticeable that most hardware failures would occur during reboots. You'd have a server that was working away perfectly for years, need to install a patch and reboot and a motherboard would pop then, etc. Always a big pain. We'd always be crossing our fingers when you rebooted servers.

Have to agree with the above, and give a comparison in a domestic situation

We have a faulty dishwasher recenty which used to trio the RCD frequently and the RCS would then power off. A couple evenings it would happen 3 or 4 times in a row, with the TV cycling with it.

Anyway, repairman out to fix the dishwasher, dishwasher foobar, new dishwasher, then our 3 yr old LG47 inch blew a few days later...

Convinced they were related, the TV did not like the power cycling.

One if the back LEDs was gone in it, was lucky for it repaired for fifty yoyo.

I appreciate the above could be coincidence, but I don't think so.

wexfordman2

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Sorry i may not have been clear enough. Our TV's are on standby always.

So in our bedroom for example we only have a single socket so there is an extension lead plugged in there (on continuously) and it runs the TV and mibox (built in CC). I though i would have to have the TV plugged into a smart-plug to start TV or put on standby with google home voice command?

Ideally I'd love to say 'hey google turn on Netflix" and the TV would start up and open netflix

The electrics were all redone in the build so live, neutral and earth coming to every switch and socket in the house. @listermint can you explain what can be done to use google home without bridges?

Have. a look at some z wave smart switches like fibaro. The fact that you have neutral present gives you loads of options.

In your situation I'd be looking at a mix of smart switches and hue lamps, or hue bulbs in standard table lamps.

Hubs are avoidable, but have lots of benefits as well

OffalyMedic

wexfordman2 wrote:

In your situation I'd be looking at a mix of smart switches and hue lamps, or hue bulbs in standard table lamps.

Have no lamps only ceiling lights

namloc1980

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Have no lamps only ceiling lights

I got a Hue Go for some accent/mood lighting in the living room and it's brilliant. Also put a Hue motion sensor and hue bulb in the toilet under the stairs to automate the lights. You can just tinker away with it to your own desire and budget really. Got a harmony for the TV in an Amazon black Friday sale last year for half price and got the Nest thermostat on a cheap deal with electric Ireland a few years ago. Then with IFTTT automation you can do some pretty nifty things.

OffalyMedic

Ok so here's my immediate plan and future plans can some of you home automation geniuses tell me have I covered everything

Kitchen Plans
- Google Home
- 2 ceiling lights
- Motion activation of light when front door opens
- Automation of kettle

Kitchen Shopping List
-Google Home
- 2 Philips hue bulbs
- 1 Philips hue bridge
- Philips Hue Motion sensor
- Do i need a dimmer switch or can the lights be just used using app/ voice / original switch?
- Smart Plug (suggestions welcome) or is there a smart socket that can be wired easily to fit an Irish 1 gang socket?

Bedroom Plans
-Google Mini
- Control of TV and MiBox
- 1 Ceiling Light

Shopping List
-Google Mini
- 1 Philips hue light bulb (am i right in saying bridge in kitchen will work don't need a 2nd?)
- Maybe a dimmer switch if needed?
- With TV and MiBox on standby when i ask google to play netflix TV should turn on? People have mentioned a harmony hub and remote how do these work and are they necessary in my case?

Ill also need IFTTT, Philips Hue and google home Apps?

Future Plans
Kitchen
- Strip lights on kick-board activated by motion at night (going to toilet/ getting a drink)
- Smart Doorbell / Alarm / Camera
- Smart thermostat maybe NEST

Sitting room
- 2x Ceiling Lights
- TV, CC and PS4?
- Smart Vacuum
- Strip lights in display cabinet - do these need a socket?

That's all i can think of sor now but i'm sure if i stay reading this forum and start experiencing it first hand ill be kitting out all the bathroom and guest room too

OffalyMedic wrote: »

Have no lamps only ceiling lights

If you only have ceiling lights and only 5 at that, I'd just go straight for Hue. It offers greater options and flexibility.

Smart Switches make sense when you have like ten GU10 lights connected to one switch. That would obviously be expensive with Hue and a smart switch would save some many.

But when you have just one or two lights per room, then IMO Hue wins out.

Your plan sounds very good IMO, almost exactly the same as what I have. To answer some questions:

- Smart Plug (suggestions welcome) or is there a smart socket that can be wired easily to fit an Irish 1 gang socket?

Lots of options on Amazon. TP-Link is a very solid option IMO, but a little more expensive. I haven't used them myself, but some here quiet like the Sonoff switches and they are very cheap.

Smart Sockets, the options are limited and pretty expensive, LightwaveRF Gen 2, but I'm not sure I'd bother for just the kettle when a cheap smart plug would do the job.

- Do i need a dimmer switch or can the lights be just used using app/ voice / original switch?

The lights can be controlled by voice, app and also the motion sensor.

Original light switch, not as such, well you can switch the light on/off just fine with the switch, but if you switch it off with the switch, then you can't switch it back on with voice/app/motion sensor since it has no power.

Most of us just cover up the original switch with one of various options and then either use the other control methods or use a Philips Dimmer switch in place of the light switch.

- 1 Philips hue light bulb (am i right in saying bridge in kitchen will work don't need a 2nd?)

Yes, just one hue hub will do the whole house.

- Strip lights on kick-board activated by motion at night (going to toilet/ getting a drink)

Even before you get these, you can set the main Hue bulbs to come on at a very low light level, like 2% when the motion detector detects motion after a certain hour. I do that in my hall and bathrooms, very handy.

- Maybe a dimmer switch if needed?

I find a dimmer switch handy to have in the bedroom, probably not needed for the kitchen.

- With TV and MiBox on standby when i ask google to play netflix TV should turn on? People have mentioned a harmony hub and remote how do these work and are they necessary in my case?

I don't have Netflix myself, but my understanding is it would work if you have a Chromecast and your TV can be controlled by HDMI-CEC.

A Harmony Hub is needed when you have more devices that you want to switch between and maybe an AV. It would allow you to switch between say the CC, MiBox, Satellite Box, etc. and give you overall greater control. The Harmony Elite remote can also control hue lights which is handy.

However it might be overkill for your setup. I'd say leave it on the long finger for now, look into it more and think if you will need it. For now just use the CC and see how that works for you.

- Strip lights in display cabinet - do these need a socket?

Yes

- I'll also need IFTTT, Philips Hue and google home Apps?

Definitely Google Home and Assistant Apps and Hue apps. Maybe IFTTT and Stringify for greater flexibility.

I'd also recommend iConnectHue if you have an iOS device, gives you some power user options for Hue.

OffalyMedic

So I bought a Google home mini to try out in bedroom and even though I can do very little with it I'm loving it.

So far I have it connected to my MiBox but it would allow voice activation just works as a speaker. I believe Google are starting to roll out a fix starting with nivada shield.

So as an interm fix I'm going to get a harmony hub and remote. But bar price what's the difference between the different one companion, elite and Ultimate?

Might also use the remote in sitting room for sky box, PS4 and Chromecast.

OffalyMedic

If you had to choose which would you buy :

Harmony elite and hub
Philip hue starter kit

wexfordman2

OffalyMedic wrote: »

If you had to choose which would you buy :

Harmony elite and hub
Philip hue starter kit

Hue