Just curious if anyone else has any sort of "Smart Home" setup.

We've got a few Echo devices and a few smart bulbs and smart plugs around the house. We have a lamp on each of our nightstands with a smart bulb that we can control individually ("Alexa, turn on Justin's light") or together ("Alexa, turn on the bedroom"). We also have a lamp in our living room setup the same way. We have an Echo in our bedroom and and Echo kinda centrally located on our main floor. I just bought another Dot for the garage, mainly for the new "Drop in" feature so we can use all of our Echo's as an intercom system.

We also have a Ring doorbell and a Ring camera for our backyard, so our entire property is surveilled in case of shady activity. I'll probably add another Ring camera to our front yard that has a better view of the street at some point, but the doorbell works fine enough for now.

My next purchase will be deadbolts/door handles for our house that will integrate with Alexa and/or our phones so we can get in the house without keys.

I'm definitely going to get into it once I settle down and get a house.

I understand that it can be seen as fun or whatever, but, how much work can it be to turn on/off your lights or to lock your door?
(yes, I'm going to be the old fuddy duddy here lol)

Once we move into a bigger house, I'll be getting a few more echoes to set up the "intercom" system. Currently have 1 echo, used to basically play music (have my speakers set up through it).

CenterBHSFan;1863391 wrote:I understand that it can be seen as fun or whatever, but, how much work can it be to turn on/off your lights or to lock your door?
(yes, I'm going to be the old fuddy duddy here lol)

Its not hard, but it's a lot easier to just say it. Lol

Also helps when out of town, to be able to turn on and off lights.

But those are much more the frills. Yes, we've all lived without these devices, but that doesn't mean parts of them can't be very valuable.

Laley23;1863397 wrote:Its not hard, but it's a lot easier to just say it. Lol

Also helps when out of town, to be able to turn on and off lights.

But those are much more the frills. Yes, we've all lived without these devices, but that doesn't mean parts of them can't be very valuable.

The use of it if you're out of town is what I can definitely understand as being a benefit. But otherwise, I'm the type of person who wouldn't use it otherwise - out of sheer habit of doing it all my life, I suppose. I just wouldn't think of it at the time to use it in the manner you're supposed to. Definitely a creature of habit!

I'm not really getting all the smart home craze.

I will say the ability to change the thermostat, turn lights on/off, unlock doors and set the alarm remotely has some merit. But in all the years I've been on this earth, I've never had a problem with any of that. It's absolutely something I don't need that really doesn't make your life better - but anything to get your money.

Smart locks are pretty cool though, because letting family/friends in remotely or giving a timed digital key to a maid is definitely a winner.

gut;1863419 wrote:I'm not really getting all the smart home craze.

I will say the ability to change the thermostat, turn lights on/off, unlock doors and set the alarm remotely has some merit. But in all the years I've been on this earth, I've never had a problem with any of that. It's absolutely something I don't need that really doesn't make your life better - but anything to get your money.

Smart locks are pretty cool though, because letting family/friends in remotely or giving a timed digital key to a maid is definitely a winner.

Certain aspects of my life have gotten easier, which I equate to better. I'll agree this sort of thing isn't for everyone, I'm not going to try to setup a smart home for my grandma any time soon, but I've gotten plenty of value from our setup already and they are only going to improve upon it.

I take the transit to work so wouldn't have to carry keys regularly with a smart lock. I would like that.