edit: a more succinct way of expressing my thinking is to say "the less software the better" by which which normies are are often amused.
Tech workers: The only piece of technology in my house is a printer and I keep a gun next to it so I can shoot it if it makes a noise I don't recognize.
(stolen from @PPathole on Twitter)
This is the earliest version I have found: <https://imgur.com/6wbgy2L>
Maybe that's the best option TBH.
I told my electrician to redo lighting in a more sensible and modern way but basically nothing involving smart devices -- to which he wholeheartedly agreed. There are a couple things that aren't quite convenient related to how everything is positioned and because a couple of motion detectors weren't reconnected. And I'll deal with those with unconnected devices.
So I had an opportunity to make the house "smart" and basically passed.
(Will probably add some remote monitoring over time but nothing fancy and mostly Raspberry Pi-based.)
If I had an electrician redo the wiring, I'd do the same thing without the "smart".
(He also took out a ton of knob and tube wiring which gives you some idea of when the original wiring dated to even if a lot had been incrementally upgraded over the years.)
At the time it was an upgrade from halogen bulbs, so the lights themselves have seen me through 10 years so far, way more than the old lights would have. Sadly, they're all bound to go some point soon. It has been 10 years though!
I would never enable the feature that lets you control them from out of the home though. I'm not completely sure what the purpose of that would be..
It was a great way to keep the fridge alive, the thermostat was already a replacement and it never worked properly, so that sometimes things were frozen, sometimes barely cold. ~24 years old. A new one would be more efficient, but then I woudln't be able to log when I opened the fridge anymore (only with something battery powered and long transmit intervals).
> A new one would be more efficient, but then I woudln't be able to log when I opened the fridge anymore (only with something battery powered and long transmit intervals).
Also, how did you do this? Wiring to the door switch itself or a current switch around the fridge light conductor?
But I do have Zigbee sensors and switches, all of which connect to my home server and Home Assistant. None of them see the internet. But Home Assistant is accessible from the internet through a reverse proxy from whitelisted IPs.
History students are often disappointed when they learn why the AI take-over failed. They were defeated by human resistance, which was kept alive by libraries and old paper books, and a surprising machine ally.
Books had not been replaced, because even the mightiest AI could not make printers work.
It's also not very well supported in things like homeassistant, despite what they say.
One of the overlooked features of the Apple Home app is its ability to firewall your IoT devices. If you have a compatible router:
Home Settings → Wi-Fi Network & Routers → HomeKit Accessory Security
The options are:
Restrict to Home
Automatic
No Restriction
I've found that "Restrict to Home" occasionally causes problems with older devices.
I actually have a router that supports it, but I don’t dare turn it on because I have no confidence on it continuing to exist and the migration path back off it looks like a pain.
More than once I got stuck standing outside in the rain waiting for the smart door lock to come back online after a squirrel jiggled the cable drop by running down it or some k8s pod in the cloud service got knocked over by a chaos gremlin or someone was using a vacuum cleaner that generated too much noise in the wifi spectrum or who even knows what.
Edit: I'm not talking on a day to day basis, but when I go on a trip. And I don't have a porch nor I like beer.
Amazing that some people downvote for stating the obvious, which is that you can lose some convenience. There's trade offs when you connect something to the Internet? That's also obvious.
When I get back home in the summer from a short trip away, with a toddler and a million bags it is definitely convenient for me to have a cool home and not a 40+ degrees celsius one.
My Ecobee is convenient but will probably go back to an offline model when it dies or loses support. Once I dialed in my preferred schedule, I rarely touch it except to lock a set temperature when going out of town.
so the rule stays the same with slight modification - nothing every gets connected to wifi unless you have phd in networking :)
I've had good luck with the TP-Link/Kasa/Tapo wall switches and bulbs.
Difficult if you're not there though? Whereas a smart bulb/switch can turn it on when you're not there (crime deterrence) or when you're almost home (handy in hallway with no light.)
(Niche uses, perhaps, but "I just use my hands" is reductive silliness.)
In fact you could even use an simple analog switch if you want the lights to go on at certain times. And for the hallway I would suggest the tried and true motion sensor.
Sure for really complex logic and a lot of flexibility you might want an micro controller eventually but those are truly niche uses.
"Smart" devices are insanely overengineered for the simple problems they solve and the huge problems they can cause.
By the time I'm in the dark hallway, it's a bit late. "But just add a motion sensor outside!" Yeah, except this is a block of flats and you can't add stuff to the communal areas like that.
> if you want the lights to go on at certain times
I don't. I want the lights to go on -as if we were at home-. Which is "random times depending on which room and what people are doing and if there is cooking going on and ..." Home Assistant learns from smart bulb activations and can simulate our presence effectively.
This 24 hour timer can turn on two devices (lamps) on for whatever time interval you program, it’s $12: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-15-Amp-24-Hour-Indoor-Pl...
It consists of a mechanical timer, a dial, and a relay. It plugs into a receptacle. It does not require an internet connection.
> or when you're almost home (handy in hallway with no light.)
This wall switch occupancy sensor that can switch 2A (240 watts at 120V, more than enough for one hallway) is $23, it’s a decora device so figure $2 more for a 1-gang stainless decora wall plate (or less than buck if you go with plastic!): https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Maestro-Motion-Sensor-Swi...
Wall switch occ sensors get more expensive as the current they can switch gets higher, one that can do 6A is $87: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Maestro-Dual-Tech-Motion-...
However, that much current can power (72) 10W LED recessed cans that each put out about ~1000 lumens. Or enough light for approximately 2400 square feet of interior space.
> (Niche uses, perhaps, but "I just use my hands" is reductive silliness.)
These are not niche functions, occupancy sensing and time of day scheduling are in basically every commercial lighting control system and fairly common in homes. They’re solved problems with cheap commodity devices available that don't require an internet connection.
> It consists of a mechanical timer, a dial, and a relay.
Great but it only works on fixed times. Which isn't what we want.
> This wall switch occupancy sensor
Would only work once we're inside. Which isn't what we want.
(And there's no possibility of putting one outside.)
> They’re solved problems with cheap commodity devices
For certain simplistic scenarios where things are easily installable, etc. Which is great! I'm not saying everyone should use smart things. Just pointing out, repeatedly, that the "cheap commodity devices" do not, and indeed cannot, perform the same functions as smart devices.
The switches I buy, do all of the dumb stuff, plus more - and the "plus more" parts can be quite useful.