Which one? My in-laws had a second home on Spring Island, then retired to live there full time, then sold it a couple of years ago to move back to their hometown of Springfield, MO. The Spring Island golf course is fantastically beautiful but I don't remember anything like this best ball tournament going on there.
Anyone have Alexa or Google Home enabled light bulbs?
Pros/cons?
I recently got a couple plugs and was debating options. I also just replaced a light bulb, first time in 4-5 years for this particular bulb. I have quite the inventory of CFLs and LEDs.
I have some home automation, but not Google or Amazon connected. A few lights and my thermostats are automated.
-jk
I've been reluctant to go with more advanced thermostats. I've got schedules programmed with my current ones and have stuck to those for the last 5-6 years. I guess it is sort of like the manual timers I just replaced with the smart plugs, those have been working fine for years but I've had a rash of failures in the last year, so the more advanced automation is merely replacing current functionality on one level.
My thermostats spend most of their time in an ordinary pre-programmed mode. What I have set up through the automation is a program that turns the fan on if the heat or ac hasn't been on in a while to mix up the air. Our basement and first floor are on the same zone, and without mixing the basement can get a lot cooler, and uncomfortably so. It's an issue in the spring and fall.
-jk
I've been reluctant to go with an Alexa or any smart-style tech in my home over fears of the Terminator scenario.Originally Posted by YmoBeThere;1352434[B
There's an EXCELLENT late X-Files episode you should watch.
Preview https://youtu.be/hhmv8ZKR6ek
The reason we don't have Alexa or smart-tech is out of concern for the tech. My fear is my bucolic existence will bore them and I fear for the psychosocial well being of the tech. Could I take it outside so it could at least see my contentious interactions with neighbors? Maybe that would hold Hal's interest.
car wash, after which I'll rediscover the color of my wife's car.
I did.
I believe mine required the 'C' wire to be hooked up - it carries power from the air handler to the thermostat. I had my HVAC tech hook it up when he did regular fall service one year, and then it was pretty simple for me to do the rest after he left.
I have a Honeywell WiFi thermostat, and I love it. I pretty much use it like a normal programmable thermostat, but when we travel (or when we [I]used/I] to travel) it was great to start adjusting the heat/air so the house was back to temperature when we arrived home. It's the little things, you know?
To a certain level, I have also. The "smart plugs" I bought are nothing more than glorified Clappers.* (I have one of those in its box in my closet. "White elephant" gift from a few years back.) I contrast this functionality with say a Nest thermostat which bills itself as having an algorithm which optimizes comfort and energy use. The "smart plugs" are programmable within Alexa as to their turn off and turn on times. You can use a schedule based on sunrise/sunset or definitive times or both. That first part is the smartest thing going on, using my lat/long with a calendar of daylight savings and sunrise/sunset times. I do this manually already and make small adjustments as we go through the year.
*I've probably made the machines mad with that statement.