Home Automation

[jimim]

Is habitat picking up steam? We looked into it. Vera works still also when internet is down.

 

[Dirk]

I will just have to turn off my lights like the pioneers did.

I'm laughing because I catch myself all the time, thinking which device is handiest, phone, iPad or computer, to turn off that light over there. "Shoot, my phone is just out of arm's reach. Gotta streeetch..." It no longer occurs to me that I could get up and walk over to the wall switch. Most people interpreted the movie Wall-E as an indictment of the decay of our society in general and our health in particular. I found it to be a good tutorial...

 

[Dirk]

We have a good size pergola in the back. I think i'm going metal roof it and add some zigbee or zwave lights out there with fans and audio. While the pergola does reduce some sunlight -- it's still pretty brutal during the Summer months.

Sounds like it's going to be really nice. That was one of the first things I did when I bought this house, was to apply corrugated metal roofing to the two pergola-type overhangs extending off the back of my house. Pretty inexpensive one-day project. Got the materials at Lowes.

Can someone explain to me the purpose of going to all the trouble and expense of building those and then covering them with 2x2s spaced 6" apart? Not shade. Not rain-proof. Don't get it. Now I'm comfortable under them rain or shine. No brainer...

The expensive part was the gutter and downspout. I could have used cheap-o from Lowes, but I had that done by a local gutter shop because I wanted them to match the gutters/downspouts on the house. They had the exact shape and color.

My overhangs were pretty much level. So I disconnected the posts from their footing (they had metal strong-tie brackets there, I just pulled out the nails), then I jacked up the cross beam a tiny bit, just enough to take the weight off the posts. I then cut about 1-1/2" off the bottom of the two posts and then lowered them back down to their footing, and nailed them back in. Gave me just enough pitch (1/4" per foot) so the rain runs off into the gutter. Routed the bottom of the downspout with 3" corrugated drainage pipe out to the yard. EZPZ.

 

[jimim]

I'm laughing because I catch myself all the time, thinking which device is handiest, phone, iPad or computer, to turn off that light over there. "Shoot, my phone is just out of arm's reach. Gotta streeetch..." It no longer occurs to me that I could get up and walk over to the wall switch. Most people interpreted the movie Wall-E as an indictment of the decay of our society in general and our health in particular. I found it to be a good tutorial...

View attachment 167494

I have been saying this for so many years. We r there pretty much with how Covid has pretty much made us only be able to communicate forcthe most part over video.
It’s pretty sad. I still believe our next step to the decay of society is straight up walking dead without the zombies.

 

[DAB942]

I'll join in.
I was on SmartThings for several years and OK with it. The SmartThings devices integrated and worked well for me. I also added LIFX bulbs and Wyze cams.

Then, Samsung started bullying people into a new app which I didn't like.

After much research and mulling I am switching to Hubitat. Hubitat offers local control (everything works if the internet is down) but it is more complicated and not as newbie friendly as SmartThings. It also does not work with LIFX bulbs and Wyze cams. Hubitat can be tortured into sort of working with LIFX and Wyze but it's a project.

I just continue to use the manufacturer's apps for LIFX and Wyze. I mostly use Alexa to switch things on and off anyway and if the internet goes down I will just have to turn off my lights like the pioneers did.

If you are new and want ease of use just go with SmartThings. If you like projects and already have a GitHub account you might like Hubitat.

I'm working on wyze cam integration, now. I have a dozen cams. And, they just announced V3! After I bought six outdoor cams.

 

[DAB942]

Sounds like it's going to be really nice. That was one of the first things I did when I bought this house, was to apply corrugated metal roofing to the two pergola-type overhangs extending off the back of my house. Pretty inexpensive one-day project. Got the materials at Lowes.

Can someone explain to me the purpose of going to all the trouble and expense of building those and then covering them with 2x2s spaced 6" apart? Not shade. Not rain-proof. Don't get it. Now I'm comfortable under them rain or shine. No brainer...

The expensive part was the gutter and downspout. I could have used cheap-o from Lowes, but I had that done by a local gutter shop because I wanted them to match the gutters/downspouts on the house. They had the exact shape and color.

My overhangs were pretty much level. So I disconnected the posts from their footing (they had metal strong-tie brackets there, I just pulled out the nails), then I jacked up the cross beam a tiny bit, just enough to take the weight off the posts. I then cut about 1-1/2" off the bottom of the two posts and then lowered them back down to their footing, and nailed them back in. Gave me just enough pitch (1/4" per foot) so the rain runs off into the gutter. Routed the bottom of the downspout with 3" corrugated drainage pipe out to the yard. EZPZ.

The pergola does reduce some light, unless it's directly overhead. But, not enough to sit out there in the Summer, unless you're in the pool. I have my grill island and smoker setup there too. HOT!

 

[Dirk]

The pergola does reduce some light, unless it's directly overhead. But, not enough to sit out there in the Summer, unless you're in the pool. I have my grill island and smoker setup there too. HOT!

Ha, I don't even like being in the pool in full sun. I hung a small shade sail over the pool so I could have somewhere to hide between 1-3pm!

 

[Hal3]

I'm working on wyze cam integration, now. I have a dozen cams. And, they just announced V3! After I bought six outdoor cams.

What do you want to accomplish with the integration that you can't do running the Wyze app - except not run the Wyze app?

Are you planning to use another program like Blue Iris?

I will let you be the pioneer on this!

 

[DAB942]

What do you want to accomplish with the integration that you can't do running the Wyze app - except not run the Wyze app?

Are you planning to use another program like Blue Iris?

I will let you be the pioneer on this!

I want to integrate the outdoor cams on to my mounted dashboards. I would also like to create rules if motion is sensed -- that can't happen in their current ecosystem -- I don't see that changing. The only way to do it, is with IFTTT. For the dashboard, I use TinyCam Pro as a server to use for the dashboards. I installed Bluestacks on one of my servers to run it -- Bluestacks assigns its own IP, outside of my network's subnet. Tried Nox and it wouldn't let me install TinyCam without rebuying it -- tried to rebuy and it says I already own it. I donated and recycled all my old devices. Hoping I have an old tablet I'll use as the server.

 

[Hal3]

I see. Sounds interesting.
I have read about changing the Wyze cam firmware - either the Wyze webcam firmware or something else. Is that on your agenda?

I have used Bluestacks before on Windows to run Android apps. It seemed to work very well.

I really like my Wize cams and I am in the beta test group so I will check in from time to time to see how you are doing.

Feel free to ping me if you have any breakthroughs!

 

[DAB942]

Ordered the new V3 cams. I'm laying off any other Wyze products until they open up the API or atleast support some sort of 3rd party integration. To control my cameras on/off, I've plugged them in to Zigbee or Zwave+ outlets. Certain cams turn off and on based on presence. I have TinyCam running as a server to feed to my dashboard. Working well. I have replaced some outdoor bulbs with zigbee RGB for automated seasonal colors. I haven't decided if I want to pursue permanent LEDs outside, yet. I still have some other work I need to do.