Smart home advice.

[Rev]

My alarm system has seen better days, and instead of replacing the alarm with another closed system, I might as well go down the smart home route.

From research so far, it seems to me the starting point might be Samsung's hub, as it offers the most compatibility with other systems from reviews I've read.

I saw @TigerTedd wishing to smart home his house to poo, without going that far I'd like door contacts, motion sensors, a smoke alarm and maybe a few cameras inside and out, and maybe a few smart bulbs to come on as doors are unlocked at night etc 

I've got quite a few Sonos speakers around the house, which I've read I can set up as sirens in case of emergency, so do I even need a dedicated siren, what do others think are essentials in a smart home setup, and any expensive mistakes /pitfalls to avoid etc.

Hope to eventually automate things such as radiator valves and the like, but more focused on home security at this time.

[BaaLocks]

If you're determined to go with Samsung you could try this

 

[TigerTedd]

Interesting, home security is the least of my worries. It shouldn’t be, but it is. My wife gets really annoyed that I just wander out without locking the door. 

Having said that, we’re having a new back door installed with a Yale smart lock. I can literally text people a spare key, and only keep it active for certain times in the week, like if I had a cleaner (which I don’t). And we’ve got a ring doorbell now, which my wife wants me to pay the £2.50 a month to be able to access all the videos it takes all the time. I’m still miming and ahhing about that. When I bought it, I just wanted a fancy doorbell I could answer with my phone. Didn’t expect to be signing up to a life time subscription. But it would be a very handy first line of defence security system. 

Anyway, my first priority is heating, smart thermometers and eventually thermostats on each radiator (I’m not made of money). Although I want to eventually upgrade to Infra red heaters throughout the house, and get off gas altogether, running as much as I can through my solar panels. So I don’t want to spend a fortune on the smart heating system just to get rid of the central heating in a couple of years. 

I love the idea of lights that turn on when I enter a room. I really want to get into that. Really annoys me that the house is always dark because I can’t be bothered to turn lights on if I’m in a room for just a few moments. 

But I am fully all in on the Apple ecosystem, so I’m a big limited and have to make sure everything is compatible with home kit and hole pod. To be honest, one of the few times I regret being an Apple man. As you say, there’s so much more choice and flexibility with the Samsung system (and my new TVs likely to be Samsung too). 

[TigerTedd]

4 minutes ago, BaaLocks said:

If you're determined to go with Samsung you could try this

 

Is that a spoof. I can’t tell, because I can believe it exists, but then the video looks like it’s straight out of robocop. Just replace the Samsung logo at the end with OCP. 

Either way, I want one. 

[Rev]

6 minutes ago, BaaLocks said:

If you're determined to go with Samsung you could try this

 

I'd imagine the monthly subs on that would be nearly as much as Sky!

Want one.

[Rev]

10 minutes ago, TigerTedd said:

Interesting, home security is the least of my worries. It shouldn’t be, but it is. My wife gets really annoyed that I just wander out without locking the door. 

Having said that, we’re having a new back door installed with a Yale smart lock. I can literally text people a spare key, and only keep it active for certain times in the week, like if I had a cleaner (which I don’t). And we’ve got a ring doorbell now, which my wife wants me to pay the £2.50 a month to be able to access all the videos it takes all the time. I’m still miming and ahhing about that. When I bought it, I just wanted a fancy doorbell I could answer with my phone. Didn’t expect to be signing up to a life time subscription. But it would be a very handy first line of defence security system. 

Anyway, my first priority is heating, smart thermometers and eventually thermostats on each radiator (I’m not made of money). Although I want to eventually upgrade to Infra red heaters throughout the house, and get off gas altogether, running as much as I can through my solar panels. So I don’t want to spend a fortune on the smart heating system just to get rid of the central heating in a couple of years. 

I love the idea of lights that turn on when I enter a room. I really want to get into that. Really annoys me that the house is always dark because I can’t be bothered to turn lights on if I’m in a room for just a few moments. 

But I am fully all in on the Apple ecosystem, so I’m a big limited and have to make sure everything is compatible with home kit and hole pod. To be honest, one of the few times I regret being an Apple man. As you say, there’s so much more choice and flexibility with the Samsung system (and my new TVs likely to be Samsung too). 

In fairness, I live within the Nottingham City limits, so security may be more of a priority for me than for others. I'd lived here for all of 2 days before someone nicked my car, for instance!

We've just had a new front door fitted, and I hate it. The old one locked to the outside as soon as you pulled the door shut, but the new one is openable from the outside unless you've locked it with a key.

I do wonder if the more security you display, the more thiefs think they can make from gaining entry, and I always wonder what's to stop them nicking your doorbell, after all if you don't subscribe you won't see the footage!

[TigerTedd]

1 hour ago, reveldevil said:

In fairness, I live within the Nottingham City limits, so security may be more of a priority for me than for others. I'd lived here for all of 2 days before someone nicked my car, for instance!

We've just had a new front door fitted, and I hate it. The old one locked to the outside as soon as you pulled the door shut, but the new one is openable from the outside unless you've locked it with a key.

I do wonder if the more security you display, the more thiefs think they can make from gaining entry, and I always wonder what's to stop them nicking your doorbell, after all if you don't subscribe you won't see the footage!

You can only take the door bell off with a special screwdriver. Although I suppose a dedicated thief would just crowbar it off the wall. But they don’t know I’ve not got a subscription. 

I do recommend a smart doorbell, it’s proven really useful. We live in a theee story house, so the amount of time someone has knocked on the door, but I’ve been on the top floor changing a nappy and missed the person by the time I’ve got downstairs. Now I can just speak to them on my phone and ask the to wait a sec. or if I’m out, and someone’s got a package for me, I can tell them to go through my (usually unlocked) back door. 

And we used it to spy on the new neighbours when they first moved in. 

[Parsnip]

I don't bother with any of that. I rely solely on my reputation locally to ensure the security of my property. People round here know me and more importantly they know that messing with me is basically suicide. It's called respect and it's far more effective than any smart home hub crap.

It's the same with my radiator valves. I never need to touch 'em. My home is always warm and ambient. Why do you think that is?

Respect.

[RamNut]

3 hours ago, reveldevil said:

My alarm system has seen better days, and instead of replacing the alarm with another closed system, I might as well go down the smart home route.

From research so far, it seems to me the starting point might be Samsung's hub, as it offers the most compatibility with other systems from reviews I've read.

I saw @TigerTedd wishing to smart home his house to poo, without going that far I'd like door contacts, motion sensors, a smoke alarm and maybe a few cameras inside and out, and maybe a few smart bulbs to come on as doors are unlocked at night etc 

I've got quite a few Sonos speakers around the house, which I've read I can set up as sirens in case of emergency, so do I even need a dedicated siren, what do others think are essentials in a smart home setup, and any expensive mistakes /pitfalls to avoid etc.

Hope to eventually automate things such as radiator valves and the like, but more focused on home security at this time.

I was going to post, "just move out off nottingham" as a joke......until.......

2 hours ago, reveldevil said:

In fairness, I live within the Nottingham City limits, so security may be more of a priority for me than for others. I'd lived here for all of 2 days before someone nicked my car, for instance!

In which case......"buy a gun" might be better advice.

[TigerTedd]

7 minutes ago, RamNut said:

I was going to post, "just move out off nottingham" as a joke......until.......

In which case......"buy a gun" might be better advice.

Hence @BaaLocks suggestion starts to look more and more sensible. 

[ilkleyram]

45 minutes ago, Parsnip said:

I don't bother with any of that. I rely solely on my reputation locally to ensure the security of my property. People round here know me and more importantly they know that messing with me is basically suicide. It's called respect and it's far more effective than any smart home hub crap.

It's the same with my radiator valves. I never need to touch 'em. My home is always warm and ambient. Why do you think that is?

Respect.

Probably because Mrs Parsnip likes it that way. If she's like Mrs Ilkley that is.

[TimRam]

In addition, try a smart smoke alarm. Pings phone if out and smoke/fire is detected.

[TigerTedd]

1 hour ago, TimRam said:

In addition, try a smart smoke alarm. Pings phone if out and smoke/fire is detected.

Pair it with a smart camera, and then you can watch on as you’re home burns down. 

(In all seriousness, I wonder what my reaction would be if I was on holiday and my phone pinged to say the smoke alarm had gone off. I’m 1000 miles away, there’s not a lot I could do about it. I suppose I could ask a neighbour to pop their head in, and see if it comes back singed).

[uttoxram75]

4 hours ago, reveldevil said:

My alarm system has seen better days, and instead of replacing the alarm with another closed system, I might as well go down the smart home route.

From research so far, it seems to me the starting point might be Samsung's hub, as it offers the most compatibility with other systems from reviews I've read.

I saw @TigerTedd wishing to smart home his house to poo, without going that far I'd like door contacts, motion sensors, a smoke alarm and maybe a few cameras inside and out, and maybe a few smart bulbs to come on as doors are unlocked at night etc 

I've got quite a few Sonos speakers around the house, which I've read I can set up as sirens in case of emergency, so do I even need a dedicated siren, what do others think are essentials in a smart home setup, and any expensive mistakes /pitfalls to avoid etc.

Hope to eventually automate things such as radiator valves and the like, but more focused on home security at this time.

Me old dog barks if anyone tries the door handles.

Costs a fortune in vets fees and food though!

[froggg]

1 minute ago, uttoxram75 said:

Me old dog barks if anyone tries the door handles.

 

And then you give em the good news.

[uttoxram75]

2 minutes ago, froggg said:

And then you give em the good news.

My dog will attack if I shout "Stoke"....

[Stive Pesley]

19 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

I love the idea of lights that turn on when I enter a room. I really want to get into that.

Me too - but I'm assuming that it involves a load of rewiring, as you'd need the sensors installing as well as replacing the switches?

My problem is with lights being left on - being bothered to turn them on in the first place is not an issue my missus suffers from!

[Rev]

31 minutes ago, StivePesley said:

Me too - but I'm assuming that it involves a load of rewiring, as you'd need the sensors installing as well as replacing the switches?

My problem is with lights being left on - being bothered to turn them on in the first place is not an issue my missus suffers from!

You turn the lights on with a switch and leave it on. The battery operated sensor then sends a signal to the bulb to be on or off accordingly. Even though the switch is left on, the light turns off and consumes no power until it's next needed.

Obviously if you've got a 5 bulb light, you'd need 5 smart bulbs fitted for it to work correctly.

[Stive Pesley]

14 minutes ago, reveldevil said:

You turn the lights on with a switch and leave it on. The battery operated sensor then sends a signal to the bulb to be on or off accordingly. Even though the switch is left on, the light turns off and consumes no power until it's next needed.

Obviously if you've got a 5 bulb light, you'd need 5 smart bulbs fitted for it to work correctly.

Cheers - I will investigate!

[sage]

21 hours ago, reveldevil said:

My alarm system has seen better days, and instead of replacing the alarm with another closed system, I might as well go down the smart home route.

From research so far, it seems to me the starting point might be Samsung's hub, as it offers the most compatibility with other systems from reviews I've read.

I saw @TigerTedd wishing to smart home his house to poo, without going that far I'd like door contacts, motion sensors, a smoke alarm and maybe a few cameras inside and out, and maybe a few smart bulbs to come on as doors are unlocked at night etc 

I've got quite a few Sonos speakers around the house, which I've read I can set up as sirens in case of emergency, so do I even need a dedicated siren, what do others think are essentials in a smart home setup, and any expensive mistakes /pitfalls to avoid etc.

Hope to eventually automate things such as radiator valves and the like, but more focused on home security at this time.

You could always move from Nottingham and avoid the necessity for house alarms.