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Thread: Smart Home crap, or something. (Was: Echo.)

  1. #191
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    Speaking of, does anybody know any smart plugs that will work with Google Home and don't suck? Every one I've gotten so far worked great for a month or two, then just stopped responding. Then without paying enough attention, I just thought that the Amazon-branded ones would probably be better than most of the cheap hardware on the market, and then realized that of course it'll only work with Alexa.

  2. #192
    Director Freude am Fahren's Avatar
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    So I got the Sengled bulbs in for my ceiling lighting and they work much better than the GE ones. Integrate super easy with SmartThings and Google Home. So I returned the GE bulbs for the fans and got the Sengled versions from Best Buy. They have a bunch of their stuff on sale, so I also picked up an LED strip for my Bookshelf/Model Display Case. Also got an RGB bulb for my bedroom lamp, why not.

    So pretty much my entire house is now smart bulbs, except the kitchen. All soft white except that one RGB in the bedroom.

    I've been messing around with SmartThings some more, and creating scenes. I only just realized scenes in ST show up in Google as routines options, which makes things easier. So now I have a routine in google that triggers a scene in ST that basically secures my home, but also sets a state that triggers an automation to turn on a couple lights once in a while to make it look like I'm home Since I travel a lot, this is awesome. As soon as I pull out of the garage, I just say "Hey google, I'm leaving" or a few similar phrases, and nearly everything is done. Less to forget when I leave. All I need is a valve to turn off my water supply and a switch for my water heater

    I mocked up the strip in the bookshelf:



    Need to work on balance and hiding the strip a bit when you start to get at an angle. I'd also like to replace the doors with something frameless (at least in the middle).
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    Last edited by Freude am Fahren; November 25th, 2019 at 06:12 PM.

  3. #193
    Corvette Enthusiast Kchrpm's Avatar
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    I believe the C by GE bulbs use Bluetooth instead of WiFi.

    I have a Kasa smart plug, a Christmas gift from last year, that I use every day with a lamp in my living room. It works reliably and consistently with Google Home. I'm planning on getting another just for my Christmas tree this year.

    I have two LiFX full RGB lights: one large indoor, one smaller indoor. The large one is "paired" in the same room as the Kasa smart plug (but through me fiddling around and changing names, gets triggered with the switch via voice command when turning on the plug). Most of the rest of the fixtures in my home are multiple bulbs together, regular and smaller size, so it would become quite expensive to convert them all over. I will probably stick with this grouping for now.

    I don't really have any complicated scenes, but I still get a kick out of having voice control of a lamp that is, I believe, 40+ years old at this point.
    Get that weak shit off my track

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