I’ve been thinking about replacing my old thermostat with a smart one, but there are way more options than I expected.

I really just want to control the temperature from my phone, set schedules and have it adjust things when nobody’s home. I don’t need a million features or another subscription just to use basic stuff.

I’ve seen people mention room sensors too, which could be useful since one side of my house always seems warmer than the other.

I’m checking the HVAC compatibility and wiring before buying anything, but after that I have no idea which one to go with.

What smart thermostat are you using? Anything you’ve had for a few years and would buy again?

Most of the mmWave presence sensors I've seen discussed here are ceiling or corner mounted for room occupancy. I'm curious how well the same idea works at desk scale.

What prompted the question is a desk device called oLand, which projects a small holographic character above a mini landscape and uses mmWave to notice when someone approaches, so it reacts without a wake word or a button.

Two things I can't tell from the spec sheet:

1. At 30 to 60 cm, does mmWave actually distinguish a person leaning in from a hand reaching for a mug, or does it fire on any motion?

2. Does having several mmWave devices in one room interfere with each other? I already run one for occupancy lighting.

If anyone has tried presence sensing at this scale, I'd like to know whether it ends up feeling responsive or just twitchy.

Hello all,

I just entered a new apartment and the previous resident has installed strip lights in the kitchen but didn't install a light switch or anything for them; instead they are controlled exclusively via plugging and unplugging a kind of microphone-like connector (which name I don't know ^^') as shown in the picture.

Opening a drawer and plugging/unplugging these lights turned out to be maddening, so I wonder whether there's a good way to turn them "smart" and allow me to control them from the phone. Since this is a rented apartment, I sadly cant just put a smart switch and keep the microphone-plug pair plugged in.

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!

#

[](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lighting/?f=flair_name%3A%22Lighting%20Control%22)

Anyone here have a WAC Colorscaping (color LED) outdoor lights?

The MyWAC app is wack. Are there any modern smart controllers I can swap the WAC controller with? I believe a I need to keep the WAC transformer, its a proprietary system. I would love something with a more reliable app and possibly connect to Smartthings? TIA!

Cześć!

Rozglądam się za kalendarzem elektronicznym na ścianę. Zbliża się rok szkolny, a że lubię testować elektronikę, to idealny argument wspierający ten rozsądny zakup.

Chciałbym, żeby kalendarz miał funkcje:

- wyświetlania/edycji wydarzeń dla wielu użytkowników we wspólnym podglądzie

- to samo z listą zadań – z naciskiem na dzieciaki, żeby ćwiczyły, co muszą codziennie robić.

Patrzyłem na rynek i jest kilka opcji, niestety niektóre z subskrypcjami. Z tych wszystkich już prawie zamówiłem Cozyla 24'', ale odbiłem się od europejskiej ceny w promocji (około 3000 PLN, w porównaniu w USA jest około 2000 PLN).

Patrzyłem również na jakieś tanie opcje, które można dostać przez Kaufland albo inny sklep online, np. Tabwee – niestety nie znalazłem żadnych dobrych recenzji tego sprzętu.

Czy używacie czegoś w tym stylu albo korzystaliście wcześniej i macie doświadczenie z takimi urządzeniami?

Polecacie coś?

Z góry dzięki za pomoc!

I have a light switch which doesn't connect to anything, in a dim stairwell. I'm thinking of putting a USB rechargeable light fitting there but instead of wiring it to the light switch and needing to redo the wall, instead changing the light switch to something which turns the light on like a remote control. The USB light (this one is a potential candidate, but it could be any) has a remote control - does anyone know how I'd turn the wall switch to transmit the on/off signal instead?

I was renting in the same spot for 8 years. My husband got me an Alexa and I started getting smart plugs and installing smart switches. I started getting dots for around the house. Put in a doorbell. Installed a smart thermostat. Got cameras to watch the animals inside and provide security outside.

We just bought a place! First thing I did was install smart locks. The smart plugs are making a easy transition. The switches are a little harder, but it will happen. The thermostat is a full no go. Because of a wiring issue I'll need all new hardware.

At what point can I say, "This is a Smart House"? Is it normal that I think the house will wind up killing my husband within 6 weeks of my own death?

When I built our house almost a decade ago, I bought two Wink smart switches for home automation.

Within a year or so, Wink went to a subscription model and I noped out of that.

Consequently, I have had these useless two-gang hardwired boxes in my walls ever since.

I'm looking for your best ideas for what to do with them. I don't have any particular specifications, ideas, or requirements. It doesn't even have to be smart home related, as long as they're useful.

TIA

I have a light switch for a light bulb that I don't really use anymore and I would like to use its switch to turn on and off the led strips without them being physically attached to each other. It would be better if it's a 2 gang switch so that I could have one for the bulb and the other for the led.

Here are the cables I have for the switch in the picture (the switch attached right now is not a smart one)

Let me preface this with: I don’t use Apple home for my smart home ecosystem. I have been using Alexa forever and way too in the financial hole with Alexa to make a switch.

However, I bought an Aqara u400 for the UWB unlocking features. I set it up and boom: thread border router required. I was under the impression that my Alexa devices that have thread enabled would work, but they don’t.

So I buy an Apple HomePod mini (cheapest supported device for the u400). Set it up, go to set the lock up in Apple home and boom again: thread border router required.

Wtf am I doing wrong here. I’m pulling my hair out because I bought a $300 lock and a $120 home pod for the UWB unlocking features and it still won’t work.

Hello again r/smarthome! I started updating people earlier this year on a uni project that I turned into a home automation company.

Some people loved the idea, some people hated it, but one thing was fairly universal, people wanted more features.

Since then, we have been working hard on new features, such as Home Assistant support, screensavers and now our beautiful new Music View. This came from customers using our lighting control buttons to control music via our Home Assistant intergration, and we wanted to make music its whole own view - so thank you to those who inspired us!

Tewke Tap can automatically detect Sonos speakers on your local network, and can be used to control them.

Everything from play/pause, skip, volume and scrubbing, to viewing your queue and selecting new songs and selecting which speakers you want it to play on.

There is also no need to connect your Sonos app to Tewke, we automatically discover what you are playing, so it works right out the box – no need to log in, scan QR codes or share data – it just works.

We are also very proud of how we have implemented our new screensaver. We use our inbuilt mm-wave doppler radar to detect if you are moving around Tewke Tap to make use of our beautiful OLED display to show you the album art in its full glory.

Most rooms in the house have two sets of lights each, and a double dimmer switch on the wall.

For convenience, I would like to have a wireless, remote dimmer switch, for example above the bed in the bedroom, or at the top and bottom of the stairs, or at the two ends of a long corridor.

There is no wiring for extra light switches, so those remote switches will need to be battery (or kinetic) operated.

Ideally I would replace the existing manual dimmer switch with a smart/matter controller, and then install one or more remote dimmer switches at various places in the room.

Could someone please point me to the right direction?

I’m looking for a smart deadbolt that won’t take up any more space than my current dumb one.

Any ideas?

The one there is a Schlage.

I was already building a video search engine and started experimenting with using the same video pipeline for real time camera feeds.

The idea is to define rules around what is happening in the video and trigger an action when the conditions are met. I can set up rules for different situations without training a new model every time, then evaluate them in real time as the video comes in.

• If a specific event happens → call a webhook / run some custom logic
• Package is left at the door → do something

Still experimenting with it and figuring out what kinds of rules are actually useful in practice. I have a rule for “person holding a pillow” right now, although I don't think anyone actually wants an alert for someone holding a pillow.

The problem is the router they provide (which we somehow cannot refuse). If you bring your own router it can be used as an upstream access point.

But this disrupts thread network in the household. There is no solution to make the router they provide, the base router for the home network, because fiddling with it is harder.

I need a bunch of smart dimmers for my house. Caseta seems like a tried and true investment. Tapo is a quarter of the price. I understand tapo relies on wifi, but that’s not a huge turnoff (if it does down I can live with dumb switches until it’s back up). Caseta switch style is more traditional stylistically. What am I not thinking about in the comparison that justifies the 4x price for Caseta? I use Alexa right now but may change in the future.

Hello, je suis nouvelle dans tout ça. J'ai récemment acheté plusieurs ampoules Ikea (Matter), ainsi que des interrupteurs Ikea. J'en suis pleinement satisfaite, mais j'aimerai y avoir accès à distance avec mon iPhone.
J'ai vu le hub Aqara M100. Est-ce qu'en configurant mes ampoules et interrupteurs dans l'application Aqara pour ensuite migrer vers l'application native HomeKit cela fonctionnera ?
J'aimerai m'assurer que tout soit compatible.

Une autre de mes craintes : Est-ce que je vais obligatoirement avoir besoin d'un HomePod, Apple Tv en plus ?

Merci !

I’m quite new to the world of smart home and I’m trying to set up an old iPad as a very basic smart home dashboard that will allow me to access Apple Home & Apple Music with nothing else really needed. The old iPad will only update to iOS version 16.7.16. Is what I want it to do possible?

Can someone please explain if I should purchase a smart lightbulb and a smart relay switch or can I just get away with buying a smart lightbulb without a smart relay switch; and in which cases would I need a smart relay switch?

Ie. If I were to get Meross with HomeKit or matter enabled connectivity.

I have both Philips hue and Ikea Home Smart. So I need to have a smart switch for my outdoor dumb lamps that are now turned off and on with a normal switch.

I'm looking in to:

Sonoff MINIR4 with thread/matter

Shelly 1 Gen3 with matter

Which one is going to work with the ikea system? Or is something else better?

My Google speakers sometimes work great but oftentimes horrendously slow with their response. It also stutters at times when it first starts to respond. Any fixes or suggestion for an upgrade?

Removed 28 WEMO single pole and 5 WEMO 3way switches. They were all replaced with Lutron Caseta. Tried other smart home integrations but got tired of some WEMO becoming unavailable at times.

Hi guys

My dads just move in to a flat and for whatever reason the hall cupboard has a light that is always on. He got an electrician to quote for adding a switch and it was over £400.

I remembered seeing Quinetic remotes a while ago. so I though of maybe setting up one of them.
I haven't looked at the light properly but it looks like one of those LED dome lights, so I'm thinking it will need to be an inline relay rather than a smart bulb.

Can anyone recommend any products that will allow a switch and relay to be paired directly without a hub? Or have any experience of the quinetic stuff?

*update 28/08

I was over at dads last night and took the light apart.
It is indeed a dome light with a PCB full of LED's

Removed the PCB which is on a sheet of aluminium. in the housing underneath it there is a 25-40v 18w led driver & a merrytek microwave motion sensor. I found a manual for the motion sensor which states that it will not work in a metal enclosure, so I assume the fact that its mounted inside the light fitting under a sheet of aluminium is probably why it never clears.

So at least I know installing a relay will be straight forward

I am not looking for any sort of camera system. We only need reliable door and window alarm sensors (preferably smart) without a monthly subscription charge.

I've heard of SimpliSafe, Yolink, Aqara, and Zigbee (apparently paired with homeassistant)

Can someone point me to a reliable system?

Hi. I am trying to tidy up some cabling for some accent lights. At the moment the stuff is all bundled up behind the TV, I was thinking of getting some kind of very basic wireless system so that I could stick it all in a box and be done with it. However, even as someone who is pretty technical, the sheer number of various protocols and standards in the automation space is a bit overwhelming.

Here's what I need right now:

• 1 channel of 240v dimming for 3 E27 LED bulbs
• 1 channel of dimming for about 3m of single channel 24v led strip doing accent lighting.

It would be nice if there was a neat little dual dimmer module I could stick on the wall, and if there was scheduling, but honestly I would also be fine if it was just a remote switch or app based.

I appreciate that there are lots of things that could be done to expand the system, but it also feels like going the full Home Assistant route to run two channels of lights is overkill. I wouldn't mind a little hub, I have a PoE switch in my TV cabinet I could hang something off, but don't really want to be spending hundreds on this. I might want to expand later but something that just works by itself is the name of the game right now.

Any suggestions gratefully received.