What do you guys think of the idea of smart homes? I could make a basic setup using https://home-assistant.io to control my home temperature and lighting; the tools for doing this are everywhere nowadays and implementation doesn’t seem too horrific anymore.

But setting aside what I “can” do, is this something that I “should” do? How can a person implement this without connecting any devices to the internet?

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    1 year ago

    Using home assistant since 2017. As you add stuff there’s more synergy, like a network effect. I have automations and services that:

    • Adjust the bathroom floor thermostat according to the prevailing hourly energy price

    • Adjust the colour temperature of lighting during the day so blue light is reduced in the evening, allowing natural melatonin production to function

    • Announce on a local speaker when our child gets to school in the morning using their phone location

    • Operates festive lighting in the winter with reference to sunset and sunrise

    • Turns off all lights when leaving; or sometimes if I’m feeling more paranoid

    • Replays lighting patterns from a previous week to simulate* occupation

    • Sends me an alert if motion is detected and nobody’s home

    • Turns off the picture on the TV if nobody’s in front of it for a while using a 60GHz radar sensor

    as well as a few other things. I don’t want a smart home that’s just remote operation with a phone. I want to use capabilities to automate things so I don’t need to be concerned about them.