Smart homes

[Dan]

That's the price of making the home smart to begin with. I know of a similar sized home that just for thier electronics system was $70,000 just for the system and wiring put into the walls, not including any post installation costs (like programming all the devices in the house into it etc. ((And for this house coding to get it to work for shabbos)).

Which part of spending $70K or $250K to control some lights is remotely smart?

[grodnoking]

Which part of spending $70K or $250K to control some lights is remotely smart?

These systems control everything, from TV's to AC to your window shades, and even things you didnt know can be smart.

[Dan]

These systems control everything, from TV's to AC to your window shades, and even things you didnt know can be smart.

All things that can be done with your phone for free.

[aygart]

All things that can be done with your phone for free.

That must be it. They probably only have flip phones.

[Dan]

That must be it. They probably only have flip phones.

Surely there's a heter for hefsid meruba

[yoohoo]

Spending $250K for a shabbos smart home is officially jumping the shark. I'm not even sure it's worth 1/100th of that.

money clearly wasn’t an issue...

[thaber]

Any thoughts on best smart light switches / hub for a shomer Shabos home?

@TribeTechReview are you still recommending wink hub? Or smartthings? Or just a bunch of wifi switches? I like the idea of grouping and routines, and rocker less switches.

[Medic97]

I recommend smartthings and either smart bulbs or switches depending on your needs and preferences. I have been running this setup for over 4 years.

[thaber]

I recommend smartthings and either smart bulbs or switches depending on your needs and preferences. I have been running this setup for over 4 years.

Thank you!

[Medic97]

Thank you!

My pleasure, feel free to ask any questions. I have sensors, smarts plugs, thermostat, builds, switches and more.

[Yonah]

Any thoughts on best smart light switches / hub for a shomer Shabos home?

I think that most of the answers to this question are subjective. I have personally been using Z-Wave switches for about 15 years and Wink as my hub for about 5 years, with minimal issues. (i.e. I can only think of 1-2 times in the last decade or so where something happened that my lights didn't turn on/off a scheduled on Shabbos or Yom Tov). I chose Z-Wave initially in the early 2000s (moving there from X-10 switches, which always had issues) because it was one of the first Mesh-based wireless systems that allowed you to control all of your lights with one controller. As smartphones and app-based home automation became more mainstream I upgraded to Wink, because I didn't want to completely replace my switches.

That being said, I think if I had to do it again from scratch, I'd probably chose Zigbee switches (which are slightly cheaper) and then use an Amazon Echo Plus for the hub. Yes - I know you can't use Alexa on Shabbos, but the Alexa plus has a built-in Zigbee hub that can control your devices, and while the scheduling UI might be a little Wonky, you really only need to change it around Yomim Tovim. I'd also prefer having one less device to plug in around the house.

[Medic97]

I think that most of the answers to this question are subjective. I have personally been using Z-Wave switches for about 15 years and Wink as my hub for about 5 years, with minimal issues. (i.e. I can only think of 1-2 times in the last decade or so where something happened that my lights didn't turn on/off a scheduled on Shabbos or Yom Tov). I chose Z-Wave initially in the early 2000s (moving there from X-10 switches, which always had issues) because it was one of the first Mesh-based wireless systems that allowed you to control all of your lights with one controller. As smartphones and app-based home automation became more mainstream I upgraded to Wink, because I didn't want to completely replace my switches.

That being said, I think if I had to do it again from scratch, I'd probably chose Zigbee switches (which are slightly cheaper) and then use an Amazon Echo Plus for the hub. Yes - I know you can't use Alexa on Shabbos, but the Alexa plus has a built-in Zigbee hub that can control your devices, and while the scheduling UI might be a little Wonky, you really only need to change it around Yomim Tovim. I'd also prefer having one less device to plug in around the house.

But using alexa would be so limiting, and zigbee and a smaller range than zwave. I also find that there are more zwave products than zigbee. I personally advocate for something like smartthings b/c of the flexibility on radios and customizations.

[Yonah]

Spending $250K for a shabbos smart home is officially jumping the shark. I'm not even sure it's worth 1/100th of that.

As others have pointed out this is probably a figure that includes almost all of the Electrical infrastructure in the house as well as a lot of the original electronics.

I have a lot of automation in my house which is slightly less than 1/3 of the size of the house in the article, if I add everything up - switches, thermostats, locks, hubs cameras, etc. - The current cost of an identical system would be about $2-2.5k.

[Yonah]

But using alexa would be so limiting, and zigbee and a smaller range than zwave. I also find that there are more zwave products than zigbee. I personally advocate for something like smartthings b/c of the flexibility on radios and customizations.

I guess it depends on the size of your house. I would agree that there are more z-wave compatible devices out there, but do you just want lighting (as OP originally requested) or the gantze gemainder - locks, garage doors, thermostats, etc.

I also think that you need to worry about fragmentation. If I have connected thermostats, am I going to use them with their proprietary app (a la Nest/Ecobee) or with my hub app (Wink/Smarttings).

[Medic97]

I guess it depends on the size of your house. I would agree that there are more z-wave compatible devices out there, but do you just want lighting (as OP originally requested) or the gantze gemainder - locks, garage doors, thermostats, etc.

I also think that you need to worry about fragmentation. If I have connected thermostats, am I going to use them with their proprietary app (a la Nest/Ecobee) or with my hub app (Wink/Smarttings).

Unfortunately in smart homes there is no such thing as just lighting lol. You start with one and then you expand from there. In terms of apps, I do use the ecobee app for scheduling but I set it once and forget it. I prefer having it connected to smartthings so I can use the room sensors to control my AC switches in the summer. When I look for a product I see if I can do everything within smartthings, if yes I buy it, even if I may end up using their app from time to time.

[grodnoking]

Any good smart switches for a split unit ac that is directly connected to the power supply (no plug).

[thaber]

Any good smart switches for a split unit ac that is directly connected to the power supply (no plug).

Possibly the sensibo mentioned above. Don't think anyone has actually installed it yet, but I have one in the box

[thaber]

I guess it depends on the size of your house. I would agree that there are more z-wave compatible devices out there, but do you just want lighting (as OP originally requested) or the gantze gemainder - locks, garage doors, thermostats, etc.

I also think that you need to worry about fragmentation. If I have connected thermostats, am I going to use them with their proprietary app (a la Nest/Ecobee) or with my hub app (Wink/Smarttings).

Unfortunately in smart homes there is no such thing as just lighting lol. You start with one and then you expand from there. In terms of apps, I do use the ecobee app for scheduling but I set it once and forget it. I prefer having it connected to smartthings so I can use the room sensors to control my AC switches in the summer. When I look for a product I see if I can do everything within smartthings, if yes I buy it, even if I may end up using their app from time to time.

Thank you both. I do indeed already have ecobees, cameras, entry system and alarm

[yuneeq]

Spending $250K for a shabbos smart home is officially jumping the shark. I'm not even sure it's worth 1/100th of that.

Everything mentioned can be done for a few hundred bucks.

[churnbabychurn]

Can't read the whole thread now so sorry if already discussed... - looking for a smart wifi combination lock that also has a manual shabbos combination lock.

Does such a thing exist? Any other recommended shabbos/smart locks?