I’m considering getting some automated blinds or curtains of some sort, and maybe some smart locks and light switches.
So I’m kinda curious about what you 'borgs have when it comes to home automation. I could use some inspiration. Or I could just default to boring remotes for the curtains, that would also work but it’s not as fun.
Lutron … I’d go Lutron all the way if I had to do it over again. Rock solid. All wireless is over low frequency bland the hub requires a wired Ethernet connection but I’ve never ever had a problem with it. Every other brand is some form of Chinese stuff that goes offline all the time or won’t respond… needs resetting… or loses its mind during a power outage or brownouts.
That and Shelley modules for specific relay control stuff.
I use LIFX bulbs. I find them great. I was one of the original purchasers when they launched on Kickstarter about 15 years ago. I have had to replace a few over the last 18 months (ones in very high use areas). They integrate well with both Google and Alexa for voice control. I also have set routines in Alexa for them.
As far as locks go, I have a NFC reader wired into my garage roller door and use my xM1 chip to open that. Otherwise just electronic keypad locks on the front door and the passage door from the garage. Both are battery powered, so not able to pick up the xM1 unfortunately. Schlage make a good deadbolt with keypad.
I do not have blinds as yet because if I get them I would want to wire them in rather than use battery and I am being way too lazy.
There are also some good in wall switches on AliExpress which are wifi and controlled by the Smart Life app. Telu or something is the name. I use these as replacements for my ceiling fan controllers (I think they are actually designed as dimmer switches but are marketed as fan controls). They also integrate well with Google and Alexa. However they require some confidence in terms of wiring them in.
Finally smart power sockets are exceptional and will turn most things into smart appliances. In particular I have one on the point where my wife does the ironing, as she has a habit of leaving the damn thing on. I have that set up to automatically cut the power if it has been on for an hour. I am thinking of upgrading that to have a movement sensor which will cut the power after 5 or 10 minutes of no movement being detected.
It does become addictive though… I just brought a voice controlled kettle and every replacement applicable I now get, I try to make sure will work with Alexa.
I’m planning to wire everything in.
Tuya, I’ve used some of their cameras and sensors for low security applications but I’d prefer something that doesn’t depend on a chinise server.
Still, those are probably good enough for things that are not permanently installed in the walls if you keep in mind their limitations and privacy concerns.
I want to automate the blinds, doors, lights and AC. That’s more or less the order in which I want to plan things.
I agree re Chinese servers, but I figured the Tuya (thanks for the reminder!) points on myfans are not a huge security risk. I do have them on a seperate network though.
Wiring in is certainly the best option. I found once the batteries die, it usually takes me a weekto get around to replacving them, and it can quickly becom expensive.
re the aircon, a lot now have wifi modules which can be added. However I use an IR blaster to some of my older models. The advantage with that is I can also use the same IR blaster to turn the TV an set top box, etc on and off, and control volume/chage channels/etc.
Absolutely have them isolated on their own VLAN… but more than that, it’s just the design and overall performance that is also pretty garbage. They’re just unreliable. I don’t know how many times I’ve yelled at Alexa to do something only to have to run over to the device and reset it because it’s lost it’s brains.
I’m pretty close to ripping everything out and just installing Lutron stuff.
Also, side note for anybody with an older home that has not been tube wiring with no neutral. Lutron makes the only smart switch / dimmer I’ve seen that doesn’t require a neutral… it goes in line. That means your bulbs need to be dimmer safe of course, but if you don’t want to have to rip out every last inch of knob and tube wiring to get neutrals into places they are in modern wiring, it’s basically the only option I found.
This also applies to parts of the world where Romex isn’t as common. In Latin America, it’s all conduit with individual wires running inside. So you might find that some switches have a neutral available but others don’t. And adding the cable for it can be a hassle.
If anything, I hope that those are compatible with the 220v 50hz stuff… I grew up in a 120v country and I miss having something similar to the American system. 
I agree!
I have 3x of the switchbot twist blind add ons,
Tied in with Alexa for voice commands and time and condition routines
They work pretty good, few snags here and there and minor gripes but I’d buy them again
That sounds nice, and their roller shades look great as well. But I’ll also look into roller motors from other vendors.
This still amazes me. Australia is over the top when it comes to electrical wiring standards. Even the old place my grandparents had (which would have to be 80 or 90 years old) has neutral.
There is now a standard that requires flat cabling to have the neutral wire in the middle, so if it is pierced by a nail/screw, there is a good chance you will hit the neutral and not kill yourself.
Something else to note about the Tuya stuff: many of their devices are based on an ESP32 and ESP Home can be flashed into them. But some of the newer ones use realtek chips that are not supported by ESP Home.
Maybe I should rename this thread and ask the AI to move it out of the show off section. It wouldn’t be the DT forum if threads didn’t get derailed in weird ways. 
Its your thread and i can if you want, but it is still home automation related
I wasn’t expecting to be able to move it.
Sure, it’s smart home related but no one is showing off… So off to the Lounge it is. 
And I’m mostly looking into zigbee stuff now…
The less things connect to the internet the better, I think. Although I’m setting up a separate vlan regardless…
I totally get wanting to stay off the net with your stuff. Makes perfect sense.
My only experience with zigbee and similar wireless protocols is a few years old now, but it was not good. No reliable mesh networking. No self-healing networking. A lot of manual configuration. A lot of reliability issues.
It could be that zigbee has gotten better or maybe the device manufacturers are implementing it in a better way or something… I don’t know… I just remember getting frustrated and pulling all that stuff out at some point.
I’m super irritated that the digi xbee modules never became a real thing… they’re expensive as hell, but the digi-mesh protocol they run on is rock solid, self-assembling, self-healing, and multipath with AES encryption built in based on keys you can push into each module individually or configure over the air. I really like them, but as I said they are expensive and they don’t really exist in any devices… just modules that you would have to integrate into your own stuff.
I have a bunch of zigbee atuff connected to home assistant and it works reliably enough as long as i have devices like smart plugs that can do forwarding and provide communication over a wider area. However it has a major drawback in that it uses the same band as wifi. I found that out a month or so ago when i moved some stuff around in the network closet and none of my zignee stuff would work reliably. Turns out the radio was too close to my access point and they were interfering. I think z-wave is a good alternative because it runs at around 940MHz but there aren’t as many options for z-wave devices.
I spent two days pulling my hair out because of that one interference issue including flashing firmware, changing software versions and trying to find configuration issues. All i had to do in the end was move my home assistant box 6 inches and it was working again.
Edit: almost forgot to mention I live out in the country so the only wifi networks near me are my own.
That’s known as receiver desensitization:
