Home Automation - Smartkit

gbyleveldt said:
Your home should still be able to work without internet. It’s the reason why I’ve gone to stupid lengths to avoid running Tuya on any of my devices. The above is a classic example
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And internet should always be on. My redundancy is inverter for power and LTE/Fibre.

I prefer Tuya and the planned LAN option, if it happens, will end up same as Sonoff?

Is the hacking of devices worth it? Not for me. So far never been without internet. Only irritation is DB tripping after loadshedding.

So far no issues. Was just curious if Tuya has any LAN devices as yet as in Sonoffs I can easily check.
 
gbyleveldt said:
Your home should still be able to work without internet. It’s the reason why I’ve gone to stupid lengths to avoid running Tuya on any of my devices. The above is a classic example
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Its a good practice to cut off as many IoT devices from the internet as possible anyways. Less work for your router and your light switches don't need to phone home to China.
 
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With Sonoff devices set to LAN only mode in the native software they do not send any packets to the inet. Ran a PCAP for days on my firewall to confirm this.
 
Kingskid said:
I am busy with a project that would use the konnected interface to automate a few things at home I would be grateful for the opportunity to give it a try. 8 zone IDS X-series
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Did you come right with the x series integration?
 
Yep! Just playing around with networks and cameras and switches and APs and extenders etc a hassle. Imagine adding HA to the mix !
 
Dolby said:
About 2 or 3 months ago, I started looking for (affordable) home automation for my own home and evaluated any brand and product I could get hold of. I found that many brands available locally were scattered, not actively promoted and difficult to find - although most are fantastic! I chatted to a friend regarding possibly consolidating and selling these brands in a single space ... and the smartkit idea was born.

Long story short - www.smartkit.co.za is now live

A bit more info : We'll also be doing the hobbyist-type of automation (Arduino, Pi, MQTT, senors, dev boards etc) and will have a forum/blog for the occasional updates from either us or any of the brands. Additionally, in that blog we'll put up videos up some common questions received on real word performance. For example, the two questions we've received frequently are related lag on relays ... so we took a real world video.

The site is going to dynamic and will change according to what you guys want - so, please, feel free to mail [I][email protected][/I] or PM me direct - whether product recommendations / queries / teething issues / suggestions or anything you wish.

Thanks
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Looking for advice on what to buy..

Want to start off small with the idea to expand down the line.

Current context:
- decent WiFi throughout house and external flat on property (wired Ubiquiti APs)
- Home Assistant running on a RPi
- 4K Apple TV acting as Homekit Hub
- three Amazon Echo's

Immediate need / use case:

My in-laws (85 years old) live with us in a separate flat - I need is to install something that.will allow me to control a light switch in my in-laws lounge. - they often go to bed and leave their lounge lights on and I would like to be able to switch them off remotely.

The current light switch has 3 switches that control two in the lounge (flourescents) and one porch light - I'd like to be able to control the state of all three via app on phone and/or Alexa. - ideally I'd want to drop a replacement switch into the existing switch panel.

What would you recommend given that I'll want to expand this capability to more lights down the line?
 
Issue is:

1. Do you have neutral wires?
2. Do you want click or soft touch buttons?
3. Local certified switches or overseas non-SA certified switches?

Personally prefer Tuya Smartlife controlled via Google.

But would suggest you buy Sonoff ewelink switches. You get them in 1 up to 4 gang light switches. But most require neutral.

Or consider Shelly products.

If no neutral wires, you need to consider ones that use capacitors. Or ones that dont require neutrals, not even capacitors.

But will then require a hub.

Easy and quicker but in long term more expensive, is to simply use smart bulb lights where possible.

Suggest you check out the threads and then make a decision.

Long term neutral plus smart light switch better choice.
 
Saba'a said:
Issue is:

1. Do you have neutral wires?
2. Do you want click or soft touch buttons?
3. Local certified switches or overseas non-SA certified switches?

Personally prefer Tuya Smartlife controlled via Google.

But would suggest you buy Sonoff ewelink switches. You get them in 1 up to 4 gang light switches. But most require neutral.

Or consider Shelly products.

If no neutral wires, you need to consider ones that use capacitors. Or ones that dont require neutrals, not even capacitors.

But will then require a hub.

Easy and quicker but in long term more expensive, is to simply use smart bulb lights where possible.

Suggest you check out the threads and then make a decision.

Long term neutral plus smart light switch better choice.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the above - I'll investigate the sonoff.

The choices are quite bewildering hence asking for a specific recommendation.

I thought all light switches in SA are wired for neutral? (black wire?) - I need to open that cover to check.
 
AfricanTech said:
Thanks for the above - I'll investigate the sonoff.

The choices are quite bewildering hence asking for a specific recommendation.

I thought all light switches in SA are wired for neutral? (black wire?) - I need to open that cover to check.
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Older houses the neutral and live is wired to where the light is, and only a live and earth is wired to the switch and back to the light.

Newer houses the live and neutral and earth is wired to the switch and then to the light.
 
AfricanTech said:
.
Click to expand...

@Saba'a got it pretty right with what you need to look for.

* Most IoT devices need a neutral - but there are more devices coming out which don't need the neutral. My place (around 20 years old) luckily does have a neutral cable, which made installs just that much easier.
* Touch switch vs Tactile switch's is subjective - but I prefer a relay behind a real switch of your choice. It's a like a touch LCD remote control versus a real remote ... I hate a touch remote :/
* Also with the above you can make any light switch smart and you're not limited. You can buy a switch to suit your décor.

I think on the brands, you'll also get a few preferences and there's no right answer - but I do prefer the Shelly stuff over most the other stuff I've used :

* It's a Bulgarian brand that despite being only a few years old, already has 3,000,000 devices in over 100 countries. It's actually one of the fastest growing IoT brands in the world right now.
* They have unmatched support through the community and the Shelly team. There must be a firmware update released every month adding features or enhancing something.
* They're open source, so out of the box they support things like Home Assistant with zero flashing or complexities.
* For the extra cost, you're getting a much better product than the Sonoff

As for the certifications, the main issue with a non-certified product is getting your CoC or - God forbid - a house burning down / killing someone. You're going to have a huge issue with your insurance if they ever find out that you were using non-compliant products.
 
Dolby said:
@Saba'a got it pretty right with what you need to look for.

* Most IoT devices need a neutral - but there are more devices coming out which don't need the neutral. My place (around 20 years old) luckily does have a neutral cable, which made installs just that much easier.
* Touch switch vs Tactile switch's is subjective - but I prefer a relay behind a real switch of your choice. It's a like a touch LCD remote control versus a real remote ... I hate a touch remote :/
* Also with the above you can make any light switch smart and you're not limited. You can buy a switch to suit your décor.

I think on the brands, you'll also get a few preferences and there's no right answer - but I do prefer the Shelly stuff over most the other stuff I've used :

* It's a Bulgarian brand that despite being only a few years old, already has 3,000,000 devices in over 100 countries. It's actually one of the fastest growing IoT brands in the world right now.
* They have unmatched support through the community and the Shelly team. There must be a firmware update released every month adding features or enhancing something.
* They're open source, so out of the box they support things like Home Assistant with zero flashing or complexities.
* For the extra cost, you're getting a much better product than the Sonoff

As for the certifications, the main issue with a non-certified product is getting your CoC or - God forbid - a house burning down / killing someone. You're going to have a huge issue with your insurance if they ever find out that you were using non-compliant products.
Click to expand...
On the issue of compliant products: I've asked the question before and someone gave a flippant answer regarding fires and insurance. How would an insurance company know that eg a Sonoff device is compliant?

- Is there any physical difference between one purchased locally and an imported one?
- If yes, would that still be visible after the house has burned down?
 
Dolby said:
@Saba'a got it pretty right with what you need to look for.

* Most IoT devices need a neutral - but there are more devices coming out which don't need the neutral. My place (around 20 years old) luckily does have a neutral cable, which made installs just that much easier.
* Touch switch vs Tactile switch's is subjective - but I prefer a relay behind a real switch of your choice. It's a like a touch LCD remote control versus a real remote ... I hate a touch remote :/
* Also with the above you can make any light switch smart and you're not limited. You can buy a switch to suit your décor.

I think on the brands, you'll also get a few preferences and there's no right answer - but I do prefer the Shelly stuff over most the other stuff I've used :

* It's a Bulgarian brand that despite being only a few years old, already has 3,000,000 devices in over 100 countries. It's actually one of the fastest growing IoT brands in the world right now.
* They have unmatched support through the community and the Shelly team. There must be a firmware update released every month adding features or enhancing something.
* They're open source, so out of the box they support things like Home Assistant with zero flashing or complexities.
* For the extra cost, you're getting a much better product than the Sonoff

As for the certifications, the main issue with a non-certified product is getting your CoC or - God forbid - a house burning down / killing someone. You're going to have a huge issue with your insurance if they ever find out that you were using non-compliant products.
Click to expand...
Any Shelly products that dont require neutral?
 
deesef said:
On the issue of compliant products: I've asked the question before and someone gave a flippant answer regarding fires and insurance. How would an insurance company know that eg a Sonoff device is compliant?

- Is there any physical difference between one purchased locally and an imported one?
- If yes, would that still be visible after the house has burned down?
Click to expand...

There's no physical difference .

It's the when a product is submitted to either ICASA or NRCS, the product and the importer are recorded. So the product isn't certified, but rather the combination. If you look at MikroTik there are something like 9 local distributers - and each of those 9 need to register and pay for a product to be brought in. To me, it does seem a bit of a money making scheme - but that's how it works *shrug*.

So yea, they may not be able to track where you bought your Sonoff after the house burns, but if they do track and it didn't come through the proper guys, you *may* be in trouble. It's not worth the risk to save R100.00 - as insurance will go out of the way not to pay out.
 
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