Smart Home Tour 2024 - Save Time and Money, Increase Comfort and Security

[@michaelsleen]

Let me know what devices or automations you’d like to learn more about. 👉 Click here to see my smart home gear: tinyurl.com/fvn5rna8

[@Charles0002]

"to save time and money". That gave me a good laugh.

[@michaelsleen]

Your mileage may vary.

[@whoswho6641]

If 3 days of time trying to get stupid tuya switch to work is saving time and money then i am Waren Buffet

[@Tabiii]

Amazing home! Thank you for the details😊 highly appreciate it❤

[@DavidSinanan]

Good job. Sweet system, that took a lot of effort to configure, wire, plan etc. Also pretty expensive all said and done. Keep up the good work. I'm researching to automate for myself. I get computers. This was one of the better breakdowns.

[@michaelsleen]

Thank you, and good luck!

[@saisusheelsunkara462]

With wifi access points, doesnt your devices have to hop between access points as you move around the house? Does each of the access point have their own SSID?

[@michaelsleen]

Most smart home devices are stationary. Really the only roaming things are phones and laptops. But they seamlessly move between access points without issue. You can create multiple SSIDs and broadcast them across all access points, or restrict an SSID to only broadcast from certain access points.

[@DanHelms-t4g]

Can you do a video on how to set up the doorbell preview on your AppleTV?

[@michaelsleen]

In brief, I added my UniFi doorbell to Home Assistant, and then I used the HomeKit Bridge integration in Home Assistant to make all of my Home Assistant devices also available in the Apple Home app. Then, the doorbell previews happened automatically on my Apple TV.

[@arsenioalmeida3954]

​@@michaelsleen This might be a good idea for a video.

[@lmorgan1509]

Love the tour and your choice of devices you automated. I was trying to avoid Ring because of them being bought by Amazon but now I want to try them out and see how it goes for me. One thing that bothered me though was the way you used the Aqara mini switch to toggle the automation in your daughter room. I would suggest to use trigger id's to utilize only one button press to toggle the automation. Other than that, everything else is awesome. I also love the way you hid a lot of your smart devices. My favorite part is the irrigation system, this is something I can't wait to have for my smart home. I plan on doing a outdoor garden with a DIY drip irrigation system that can be monitored by Home Assistant to do exactly what you are doing for those dry days.

[@michaelsleen]

Thanks for sharing! I’ve actually changed the kids room automation since I made this video, and am using trigger IDs. I dive into this in future videos.

[@lawrencelau243]

Why do you need a motion sensor and a miliwave sensor to turn on and off lights when either 1 of the device can do the job? Pls advice

[@michaelsleen]

I prefer to use PIR (motion) to turn lights on, and presence (mmWave) to turn lights off. This is because mmWave is extremely sensitive, which makes it great at knowing if a person is in the room (e.g., sitting fairly still on a chair or couch). But I wouldn't want lights turning on if a curtain moved, which could happen if lights were triggered to turn on my mmWave.

[@KeyBored101]

This was great,so many good ideas

[@michaelsleen]

Glad you think so, thanks!

[@denievankleef]

Great video! Couldn't find which irrigation system you use for the sprinklers, could you post the link?

[@michaelsleen]

Thanks! I use the Rachio 3: 8-Zone Smart Sprinkler Controller: amzn.to/44r33Hk.

[@denievankleef]

@@michaelsleen thanks, see that it is 300 euro in Europe, that's nuts...

[@michaelsleen]

@denievankleef That’s a lot. It’s currently $159 in the US, and I paid even less.

[@lawrencemanning]

Would be nice to know about two things. 1. How many sensors require batteries and is this a pain point or just minor inconvenience. 2. How robust is this setup? I know it’s difficult to quantify, but how much tinkering is needed to keep it running assuming no new requirements? Looking for an honest answer. 😊

[@michaelsleen]

1. Battery-powered devices in my current setup include Ring contact and motion sensors, Aeotec multipurpose sensor, Philips Hue motion sensors, Lutron Aurora dimmer switches, Aqara wireless mini switch, and all the smart locks. The smart locks and the Aeotec multipurpose sensor require battery changes every 6-12 months, and all the rest of those devices have batteries that last years. Most have never had a battery changed in over four years. So, a minor inconvenience at worst. 2. Assuming no new requirements, the setup is super reliable. The only time things stop working as intended are i) I introduced something new and am still testing it out, or ii) a Home Assistant update introduced a new bug. The latter is more common, though such bugs are usually fixed quickly by the developers.

[@cverlaak]

There are some alternative options to detect wether the TV is on/off. For example: Using the LG WebOS integration i can detect the source of the TV, and i can see if it is on / of. Using the unifi network integration, you can monitor your devices if they are connected to ethernet / wifi. Using this you get the device location "home" for on/connected "away" for off/disconnected". The unifi integration might be a bit slow to update the state of the device.

[@michaelsleen]

Yes, there are other ways. That’s just the way I’m doing it. Thanks for sharing!

[@simonsayshomeassistant]

Nice work mate almost 1K!

[@michaelsleen]

Thanks, Simon!

[@gerryf7015]

Love the Lutron switches, but that Aurora switch just does not fit the esthetics of their other switches. I use Inovelli smart switches instead. Available in Zigbee (mine), Z-Wave, or Thread (I think or coming soon).

[@michaelsleen]

The Lutron Aurora is certainly a different look. I don't mind as much since I like the ease of dimming with a rotary knob, but I can see how the aesthetic may be a deal breaker for some folks. Since I made this video, I've added additional switches to my home, including an Inovelli Blue Series and a Zooz ZEN32 scene controller. More on those in upcoming videos. Thanks for watching!

[@JayMartinez]

How do you hard wire your Poe cameras? I have a Unifi network. But to get a camera in my yard it’s really far from my Poe switch.

[@michaelsleen]

I dug a trench and ran PoE cable underground. Video coming on my camera setup.

[@JayMartinez]

@@michaelsleen yes please.

[@gerryf7015]

Great video Michael. On the Philips Hue adaptive lighting, are you using the HA Adaptive Lighting integration or the Hue version?

[@michaelsleen]

Thanks! I am using Adaptive Lighting in Home Assistant, which I covered in this video if helpful: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5TTZJeDbbeBaMU.

[@DennisWarner]

Great video. I have a solar edge system too and I’m very interested in how you got your inverter int Home Assistant. I don’t have any batteries for my solar but would love more info on getting all the deals you’re able to get.

[@michaelsleen]

Thanks! I’m actually working on a video right now all about my home solar system. There is a SolarEdge integration with Home Assistant: www.home-assistant.io/integrations/solaredge/

[@DennisWarner]

@@michaelsleen thanks

[@Wysp_Sedai]

I really liked the idea of the calmer game you came up with using the mmWave/Motion sensors to trigger the green/red lights. Very clever, sounds like a fun game for children. 🙂 I also would like to know how you integrated the Ring Chimes to work with the Unifi doorbell.

[@michaelsleen]

Glad you liked it! I integrate the Ring Chime with the UniFi doorbell in Home Assistant. I created an automation that when a person rings the UniFi doorbell, it plays the ding sound on the Ring Chime. In the UniFi doorbell camera settings under Internal Relay Chime you can choose None, Mechanical, or Digital. For my setup, I chose None.

[@Techlifeandmore]

A couple things: 1: I think like 90% of that stuff requires the Internet to work. 2: How did you get the UniFi Doorbell to ring on the Ring Chime? 3: Why are you using a Ring contact sensor on your laundry room door instead of one that can locally be integrated with Home Assistant? 4: I know in the previous video you stated that Kasa devices require the cloud, they actually don't, they do have a local API that someone wrote a Home Assistant add-on for. Overall though seems like you have a nice little setup going on.

[@gerryf7015]

Ring contact sensors are actually Z-Wave and can be integrated withiut a Ring hub or cloud. Very good sensors.

[@Techlifeandmore]

@@gerryf7015 I know that, but it sounded like he had the sensor connected to the Ring Alarm Base Station, which is not accessible from the local network in any way shape or form as far as I know.

[@michaelsleen]

1. I began my smart home journey a couple of years before migrating to Home Assistant. When I started out, the cloud vs. local control was not as top of mind for me. Over time as I picked up new devices, I preferred local control. But, I am generally not going to replace a device that is functioning well just to get off the cloud. 2. I integrate the Ring Chime with the UniFi doorbell in Home Assistant. I created an automation that when a person rings the UniFi doorbell, it plays the ding sound on the Ring Chime. In the UniFi doorbell camera settings under Internal Relay Chime you can choose None, Mechanical, or Digital. For my setup, I chose None. 3. Simply because when I began my smart home years ago, a Ring Alarm was one of the first things I purchased, and got several Ring Contact sensors as a result, and they work great. If starting over though, yes, I also advocate for locally-controlled devices. 4. I am not familiar with this local API -- will need to check it out, thanks!

[@Techlifeandmore]

@@michaelsleen oh I see. I didn't know that the ability to play the chime sound on the Ring chime is possible with anything other than a Ring doorbell. I take a relatively different stance on the cloud versus local control debate. Any cloud control device that's easy to replace has been replaced in our smart home. I'm not extremely bothered about the rest of the cloud-based devices, but I refuse to buy any device that can't be controlled locally, especially any device which cannot be easily removed from the home, so basically anything that is installed.

[@kingsleymichel]

Hi, how do you get the ring door sensor to perform automations?

[@Techlifeandmore]

By integrating it into your smart home system, how to do this will vary between smart home systems.

[@kingsleymichel]

@@Techlifeandmore I’m using Apple Home and Ring for the alarm system. What app or device can integrate them together? Do you have a how to video on it?

[@michaelsleen]

I integrate the Ring Chime with the UniFi doorbell using Home Assistant. I created an automation that when a person rings the UniFi doorbell, it plays the ding sound on the Ring Chime. In the UniFi doorbell camera settings under Internal Relay Chime you can choose None, Mechanical, or Digital. For my setup, I chose None. By adding the Ring Chime to Home Assistant, I can make any automation play the ding sound.

[@vegaswayne247]

I set up an Alexa routine to start my Roomba. I say "Alexa, release the Roomba" to start it

[@michaelsleen]

Nice! One of the most used voice commands in our house is, "Alexa, tell Roomba to vacuum under the kitchen counter." Super helpful!