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Very strange, I have no idea what advantage something like that could have. It's literally less flexible (ha!) than regular service cable. But yeah, if that's what you saw it sounds like it would be analogous to a main lug panel. More importantly, this system sounds about a million times better than Sense (what I have now) and I need to check it out. Motronic fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Mar 22, 2021 |
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Mar 22, 2021 20:42
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Motronic posted:Either way, unless you have previously been taught by someone who know what they are doing - in person - I wouldn't suggest anyone take the cover off of their panel. Regardless of the type you have there is a LOT of fault current in there. It's the only place in most people's homes where you could even possibly encounter straight-from-the-pole potential current. Can confirm. I caused an small, exciting explosion in there the other week.
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Mar 22, 2021 20:57
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I once saw the metal portion of a large screwdriver converted directly to a gas when it came into contact one of the service legs. It was quite the spectacle. Said person claimed to be an "electrician". All they where left with was the now hollow plastic handle.
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Mar 22, 2021 21:05
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hey guys stay the gently caress away from live wires tia
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Mar 23, 2021 11:54
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I’m moving into a new (to me, built 1978) home in a few months and will NOT be disconnecting my Insteon switches in my current home. I’ll have a blank slate to work with. What’s the favored product line to go with in 2021? I prefer switches that I replace and that they must operate as regular switches FIRST, and then be smart after that. No instructions on how to turn on the lights in my home. We are a very Apple family, so Homekit is preferred, but I also think it’d be good to not be locked completely into a Homekit world with no way out. I have a server that can host VMs and dockers, so not above using anything that requires a controller housed there if that’s the path. Also a UniFi home once I run networking cables before I move in. I see that Lutron recently released a new line, any feedback on those? As far as my experience with Insteon, I didn’t like that I had to jump through hoops to get it to work outside of the hub and it’s app, but once I did the work it wasn’t that bad and have even emulated a homekit environment with their switches. Greatly appreciate any input!
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Mar 31, 2021 04:33
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Leviton just refreshed their line too, they're not even in stores yet but orderable direct. I have a bunch on the way: 6 dimmers, 1 dimmer remote, 13 switches, 4 switch remotes. https://decorasmartsupport.zendesk....st-Gen-Devices- dated March 19. What held me back from them before is they had distinct SKUs for Homekit vs Amzn/Google and that's now fixed. Their strong point is they have wired remotes for 3-way control without lag, and they're <$40 each at decent quantities with toolless faceplates included. I found a LEVITON1 coupon code that knocked off another 10%. I was going to post a trip report when I get them installed, but if you're in the market and want to dive in too, figured I'd mention it. They do require neutrals, and in a 1978 home I think you need to verify you have neutrals.
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Mar 31, 2021 13:58
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KS posted:Leviton just refreshed their line too, they're not even in stores yet but orderable direct. I have a bunch on the way: 6 dimmers, 1 dimmer remote, 13 switches, 4 switch remotes. I await your report. I've held onto a bunch of old dumb switches with remotes for exactly this reason. ZP-600s, which are long obsolete and don't work with LEDs, so I have a single incan/halogen in every string. I wired my entire kitchen and dining room with them, and I love them to death, but it's time to upgrade.
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Mar 31, 2021 14:34
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KS posted:Leviton just refreshed their line too, they're not even in stores yet but orderable direct. I have a bunch on the way: 6 dimmers, 1 dimmer remote, 13 switches, 4 switch remotes. sharkytm posted:I await your report. I've held onto a bunch of old dumb switches with remotes for exactly this reason. ZP-600s, which are long obsolete and don't work with LEDs, so I have a single incan/halogen in every string. I wired my entire kitchen and dining room with them, and I love them to death, but it's time to upgrade. I completely forgot about how poorly some of my Insteon switches behave with LED lights. Also looking forward to hearing back on whether these perform better with them or not. Is there any way to identify up front if they will be? Forgot about the whole neutral thing, which I won't be able to tell until I take occupancy, so this may be a purchase that waits a few months. Shame, I love telling my ladies in various tubes to turn things on and off for me.
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Mar 31, 2021 15:57
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TraderStav posted:I’m moving into a new (to me, built 1978) home in a few months and will NOT be disconnecting my Insteon switches in my current home. I’ll have a blank slate to work with. What’s the favored product line to go with in 2021? I prefer switches that I replace and that they must operate as regular switches FIRST, and then be smart after that. No instructions on how to turn on the lights in my home. We are a very Apple family, so Homekit is preferred, but I also think it’d be good to not be locked completely into a Homekit world with no way out. Lutron Caseta -- need the hub, but absolutely will be regular switches if the WiFi goes away. I don't remember if the Pico remotes, when configured, are usable if the hub goes offline, but it's a solid, solid system. Hub doesn't need WAN to function.
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Mar 31, 2021 17:32
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I’m on a Tradfri system with Homekit now, how do other ones like Hue compare? Main pain points for tradfri is the setup can be a little annoying (especially having to hold the buttons up next to the light or hub) and the coin batteries in the remote switches go dead pretty fast. Also the RGB bulbs are never available locally at ikea for some reason. On the plus side the tradfri stuff is pretty cheap.
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Mar 31, 2021 19:02
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I got gifted a couple of smart wall outlets, and I decided to repurpose an old Raspberry Pi 3 and installed Home Assistant on it this afternoon. A few minutes later, I was cackling with glee as I flashed the floor lamp in the next room. I'd like to add more to the setup, maybe some smart bulbs, but I'm having a hard time understanding which ones I can use without having a hub. It looks like Hue no longer requires a hub, but some Google searching says that Home Assistant still can't access them without a hub? What do goons suggest for smart bulbs these days? They need to be wifi capable and accessible from whatever standards Home Assistant uses (most of them?). Dimming capability is a plus. This stuff is fun but confusing!
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Mar 31, 2021 23:38
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Why not use zwave switches/dimmers and a zwave USB stick?
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Mar 31, 2021 23:42
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Motronic posted:Why not use zwave switches/dimmers and a zwave USB stick? I don't know enough about this stuff to answer your question. I already have the Home Assistant stuff set up on my Pi, and it seems easy enough to use, so I figured the easiest route to expansion (since most of the remaining lights in my house are hardwired) would be to just grab a ton of smart bulbs.
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Mar 31, 2021 23:52
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WhiteHowler posted:I don't know enough about this stuff to answer your question. Smart bulbs kinda suck in my opinion. I like switches that work like switches if the automation isn't working/outside of the automation. I'm using a bunch of zwave Honeywell switches with a zwave USB stick and Home Assistant and I like it. I'm sure you'll get other opinions here that may fit what you're trying to accomplish better, but it's a good idea to have some sort of end goal/list of wants. Because there are a LOT of options and they don't all provide the same things.
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Mar 31, 2021 23:59
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How do those work? Like, for example, I have a ceiling light fixture in my office that I want to turn on when it starts getting dark (or better yet, it gradually gets brighter as the sun sets). I figured I'd just replace the bulbs with smart bulbs, but you have a point - I'd still want to be able to turn them on and off from a wall switch. Short of tinkering with hardwired lights and wall switches and likely electrocuting myself, what's the best solution for something like that?
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Apr 1, 2021 00:06
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WhiteHowler posted:How do those work? They replace the in-wall switch/dimmer and operate locally, plus they can receive remote commands via Z-Wave. They can also be observed via Z-Wave so they can trigger related scenes, or on some switches add custom commands like “turn off all the lights on this floor” for double-tap off. If you have a non-contact voltage tester and access to the breaker panel, it’s not hard to replace the switches safely. The hardest part is either fitting the larger switch in the box with all the wiring, or finding out that you don’t have a neutral and getting an electrician to pull one (and install the switches while they’re there because it’s 3 minutes for them to do).
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Apr 1, 2021 00:30
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Switches are much better in the case you don't want wacky colored lights or in the case of dimmer switches. Personally, I had a hard time not putting wacky colored Hue BR30s in my kitchen for the hell of it. I'll fully admit that it is annoying trying to turn them on via my Homepod Mini or my phone and realizing someone flipped the switch off though. On the other hand, I put wacky-colored Hues around my pool. I love having colored smart bulbs that I can change on the fly with different scenes. I have the transformer tapped off my pool panel 120, so there's no switch. So I do see use-cases for both, and I definitely plan on getting some Lutron Caseta switches for certain switches inside the house, but especially for the dimmable lights that we have.      
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Apr 1, 2021 00:33
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One problem if you have an older house the switch boxes can be small so it becomes a bigger job to swap in a switch which are often a bit chonky. Especially if the drywall is a hosed up older type that regular mud doesn’t ever seem to want to patch smoothly! I like smart bulbs because of the different light temperature settings and rgb options (especially great for kids rooms along with LED strips for accent lights)
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Apr 1, 2021 00:37
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That pool lighting is beautiful. Back to my original question, if I do decide to at least go partially with smart bulbs, is there a brand or model people like that don't require a proprietary hub?
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Apr 1, 2021 01:23
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WhiteHowler posted:That pool lighting is beautiful. I read good things about the Yeelights, they are wifi so don’t require a hub. Work with Homekit too!
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Apr 1, 2021 01:29
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priznat posted:I read good things about the Yeelights, they are wifi so don’t require a hub. Work with Homekit too! They recently had the local API disabled, so you have to use the cloud whatevers. Apparently Xiaomi thought it was insecure or something.
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Apr 1, 2021 01:41
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Subjunctive posted:They recently had the local API disabled, so you have to use the cloud whatevers. Apparently Xiaomi thought it was insecure or something. Annnnnnndd this is why I use zwave everything. I don't feel any particular need to IaaB my house. (Infrastructure as a Botnet)
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Apr 1, 2021 01:43
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WhiteHowler posted:That pool lighting is beautiful. Thanks! I’m pleased how it turned out. We’re getting sod laid behind the pool shortly, so it won’t look like the wasteland it does currently during the day. I might throw a couple more bollard lights around the concrete/grass border and maybe light strips (instead of the bulbs) along the bottom of the fence or something. Long term plan though once I financially recover from buying the 4 Hue outdoor lights. Just keep in mind that if you go ham with wifi-only lights, you A) rely on wifi not somehow being down when you want to turn lights on and off and B) have 100 more devices slamming your router. And yes, once you start putting a couple in, it’ll quickly turn into 100 when you realize how cool it is to have wacky sex lights in your bathroom. Because reasons.
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Apr 1, 2021 01:55
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Motronic posted:Annnnnnndd this is why I use zwave everything. Also don't need Google scraping valuable temperature and humidity data from my thermostats
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Apr 1, 2021 02:43
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Subjunctive posted:They recently had the local API disabled, so you have to use the cloud whatevers. Apparently Xiaomi thought it was insecure or something. Ugh! Welp. Thanks for that info! They seem stupidly expensive in Canada right now so I’ve been holding off on getting one but won’t now.
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Apr 1, 2021 03:33
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Motronic posted:Why not use zwave switches/dimmers and a zwave USB stick? This is my plan. I keep all my home automation stuff OFF of wifi. I plan on using Inovelli Zwave switches. They have useful configurable LEDs that I will be using to tell me lock status of the whole house from a glance.
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Apr 1, 2021 04:25
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The Inovelli red series switches are badass. And the LEDs are much easier to use now with zwaveJS in Home Assistant.
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Apr 1, 2021 05:09
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I'm in the market for a robo vac/mop - did a quick search but no live threads seem to be on this topic - any recommendations? Use case is for a vinyl tile kitchen, 2 children under 3 so food dropped on the floor and general kitchen grime. I would love to be able to set it to just run once every couple of nights and forget about it. Budget is £300-400 I'm completely baffled by brands and options, it seems to be really difficult to compare even within a single brands line up. Obviously Suez boat lol has hosed with supply, but I don't know what I want at the moment so by the time I have something chosen there might be a bit more in stock.
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Apr 1, 2021 11:11
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We have the Roomba i8 (Costco SKU) and love it. The self-emptying bin is an absolute game-changer. I have kids and don’t bother with the schedules since there’s always poo poo all over the floor. I have to do a quick general pickup before I send it on its way, so I just trigger all my runs manually. With the i8 (it’s really an i7, but came with extra stuff and a bigger battery I think), you can queue up a job and send it to specific rooms or areas instead of just blasting the whole floor every time. Every couple weeks I clean out the rollers since we accumulate a ton of long girl hair that loves to get wrapped around all the parts. Other than that, it’s generally been maintenance free since we started using it in December. Haven’t even emptied the bag in the tower once yet either, shockingly. I think I paid $550 or $600 on a Black Friday deal. I think it’s a bit above your budget, but worth at least considering for the self-emptying bin alone. Looked at the M6 mopbot, but decided it would be annoying to refill it every time. They need one that taps into a fridge water line and a periscope to dump the dirty water into the sink 
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Apr 1, 2021 15:03
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Anyone get one of those RoboRock vacumns and then root it so it runs the maps locally? https://github.com/Hypfer/Valetudo
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Apr 1, 2021 15:58
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I have a Roborock and it's great, does multiple maps with no problem. I've never rooted it since it's on an isolated network and maybe uses a kilobyte of data per cleaning. Cool project though! Mopping isn't too bad, you fill it once and let it go to town. It's not a full substitute for periodic actual mopping though sadly.
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Apr 1, 2021 17:31
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CheddarGoblin posted:The Inovelli red series switches are badass. And the LEDs are much easier to use now with zwaveJS in Home Assistant. Those actually look perfect for me with the optional passthrough mode (so I don't have to commit to all smart/dumb bulbs).
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Apr 1, 2021 18:20
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TraderStav posted:Forgot about the whole neutral thing, which I won't be able to tell until I take occupancy, so this may be a purchase that waits a few months. Shame, I love telling my ladies in various tubes to turn things on and off for me. My house is from 1984 and about half of the switches have a neutral. If they don't I've only been able to go with Lutron. They're great but expensive. If I have a neutral I like Kasa.
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Apr 1, 2021 18:26
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We have a Roborock S5 that is on its own VLAN since it kept phoning gigabytes of mapping info and our wifi credentials home to China. Very happy with it otherwise, does a great job. The only reason I'll get another one day is for self-empty.
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Apr 1, 2021 18:47
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Imagine a Robovac that emptied into a central vacuum port
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Apr 1, 2021 18:55
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Less Fat Luke posted:Imagine a Robovac that emptied into a central vacuum port “Hey that vacuum is fuckin’ my house!!”
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Apr 1, 2021 19:11
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Croatoan posted:My house is from 1984 and about half of the switches have a neutral. If they don't I've only been able to go with Lutron. They're great but expensive. If I have a neutral I like Kasa. GE makes a hub-less WiFi dimmer that doesn't require a neutral now. And Savant bought that division awhile back so they are part of a legit home automation company.
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Apr 1, 2021 19:25
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The Gunslinger posted:We have a Roborock S5 that is on its own VLAN since it kept phoning gigabytes of mapping info and our wifi credentials home to China. Very happy with it otherwise, does a great job. The only reason I'll get another one day is for self-empty. I stuck to roomba and replaced a neato with a roomba as even though you can easily replace the OS in a roborock it didn't seem worth the effort. my standalone roomba is better at mopping than the integrated ones anyway
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Apr 3, 2021 00:32
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Okay, possibly a dumb question, but if I get a Z-wave stick and connect it to Home Assistant, I should just be able to control any standard Z-wave device from HA regardless of manufacturer, right? Like, I could pick up any Z-wave compatible smart switch or bulb and it'll work?
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Apr 4, 2021 02:22
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Yeah.
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Apr 4, 2021 02:25
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