Home Automation - Smartkit

rrh said:
A colleague (in a previous life) attached a small light to his alarm system. The light - visible externally if you knew where to look - was turned on when the alarm was triggered, and could only be turned of by manually resetting the alarm.

When returning home he would look at the state of the light. If it was on he would phone the security company & arrange for them to check the property before he entered.
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I get an instant email and push bullet notification on both my and the wife's phones if the alarm is triggered. So I then already have the alarm company go check it out. I get this notification before they even call me.

The email function also have failover. If the internet is down, there is still a ctwug link which as an email server which is used as backup. The ctwug connection actually have 2 links out from my property so there is redundancy there too.
 
xrapidx said:
Most panels have that functionality. I'd be a bit concerned though if I came home and saw my alarm had been activated in my absence - and then I had to notify the security company :eek:
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Personally I agree with you.

That said, (a) this was a few years back and (b) he travelled a lot (e.g. long week-ends at Kruger) so he couldn't guarantee when the alarm had been triggered / how many times the alarm had been triggered / when the security had last visited.

And then there was the time (again, some years back) where I arrived home after a fortnight away to find that my alarm had been sounding for two days without the security company - one of the biggest in the country - having visited ...

Technology is great but sometimes one needs confirmation that boots have actually been on the ground.
 
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Anyone know of any ceiling fan controllers that can be run off a smartphone or similar? Want to put some fans on my patio, don't want to have a wall mounted controller if possible
 
Surely the sonoff basic could do that, or do you want to control the actual functions of the fan, as opposed to just on/off.
 
xrapidx said:
Surely the sonoff basic could do that, or do you want to control the actual functions of the fan, as opposed to just on/off.
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I dunno. Just at the very initial beginnings of thinking about the project at the moment, brought about by the fact that it was flipping roasting yesterday afternoon...
 
Sinbad said:
Anyone know of any ceiling fan controllers that can be run off a smartphone or similar? Want to put some fans on my patio, don't want to have a wall mounted controller if possible
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Do you want the multiple speeds or just on and off?
 
For basic on/off, Sonoff will do the job. I've got 2 running controlling fans.

If you need to control the speed then it gets a lot more complicate. You need some wifi/triac controller.
 
Sinbad said:
Would like to investigate all possibilities. Must say the Sonoff basic is priced right ;)
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If its just an on/off function then the Sonoff basic is 100% suitable, hell even something like the TH10 with temp/humidity sensor would be even better....
 
ToxicBunny said:
If its just an on/off function then the Sonoff basic is 100% suitable, hell even something like the TH10 with temp/humidity sensor would be even better....
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Interesting. But not much point turning on if it's hot when there's no one on the patio... Is there a way around that one? Proximity sensor or ifttt integration with phones or something?
 
Sinbad said:
Interesting. But not much point turning on if it's hot when there's no one on the patio... Is there a way around that one? Proximity sensor or ifttt integration with phones or something?
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Surely it would be possible to integrate a proximity sensor into the mix...
 
ToxicBunny said:
Surely it would be possible to integrate a proximity sensor into the mix...
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On the standard eWelink app / software - it'd be difficult to do because the software and rules are so basic. Perhaps IFTTT or even other firmware? I've put through a feature request that they need to make more complex rules.

I've got a PIR sensor outside (undercover) pointed at my front door and linked through to my outside light. Great - I walk up the stairs and it comes on. But my issue is that it always comes on - day or night. It's far too simply on/off the light / device.
 
Dolby said:
On the standard eWelink app / software - it'd be difficult to do because the software and rules are so basic. Perhaps IFTTT or even other firmware? I've put through a feature request that they need to make more complex rules.

I've got a PIR sensor outside (undercover) pointed at my front door and linked through to my outside light. Great - I walk up the stairs and it comes on. But my issue is that it always comes on - day or night. It's far too simply on/off the light / device.
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Why not put a cheap day/night switch into the power circuit of the light?
https://www.makro.co.za/diy/major-tech-/br-6amps-day-and-night-switch-87571EA

I know it's less "pure" but it's practical :D


I need to look into IFTTT - it does integrate with the sonoff cloud controller - maybe detect whether my phone is near the patio and turn on if that's the case - depends how accurate the ifttt gps stuff can be
 
Sinbad said:
Why not put a cheap day/night switch into the power circuit of the light?
https://www.makro.co.za/diy/major-tech-/br-6amps-day-and-night-switch-87571EA

I know it's less "pure" but it's practical :D


I need to look into IFTTT - it does integrate with the sonoff cloud controller - maybe detect whether my phone is near the patio and turn on if that's the case - depends how accurate the ifttt gps stuff can be
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That is more along the lines of what I was thinking...

The proximity sensor provides power, and then the Sonoff does the "magic"
 
Sinbad said:
Anyone know of any ceiling fan controllers that can be run off a smartphone or similar? Want to put some fans on my patio, don't want to have a wall mounted controller if possible
Click to expand...

I've got a few fans in my house controlled by remote controls. I would imagine it's RF based as the control box sits inside the ceiling. The remote lets you put the fan on "auto" and set a target temp (which it will never get to) then it will control the speed based on the diff in actual vs target. Theoretically you could get one of those fancy gateways to control the fans then.

Googling trying to find a link to the model but can't find it, but did come across some controllers you could use seperately.
 
Sinbad said:
Why not put a cheap day/night switch into the power circuit of the light?
https://www.makro.co.za/diy/major-tech-/br-6amps-day-and-night-switch-87571EA

I know it's less "pure" but it's practical :D
Click to expand...

This will probably work, although you might need to reroute to such an extend that the sensor can pick up day light sufficiently. I personally had trouble with the bulbs that detect day/night themselves -- likely due to reflections inside the light fittings.

Sinbad said:
I need to look into IFTTT - it does integrate with the sonoff cloud controller - maybe detect whether my phone is near the patio and turn on if that's the case - depends how accurate the ifttt gps stuff can be
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Won't be accurate enough. You have to give it a GEO fence and I think it is around 150m or so -- I couldn't really isolate my yard (more like a couple of houses from me and it triggers).
 
rorz0r said:
I've got a few fans in my house controlled by remote controls. I would imagine it's RF based as the control box sits inside the ceiling. The remote lets you put the fan on "auto" and set a target temp (which it will never get to) then it will control the speed based on the diff in actual vs target. Theoretically you could get one of those fancy gateways to control the fans then.

Googling trying to find a link to the model but can't find it, but did come across some controllers you could use seperately.
Click to expand...

The Sonoff RF bridge is cheap enough to purchase and try... http://www.smartkit.co.za/product-category/access-points-and-extenders/rf-bridges/
 
Here's my bridge(using a powerbank to power it)

Door sensor turns on the lamp ; PIR turns off the lamp.

[video=youtube;bZC9Qblwm3U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZC9Qblwm3U[/video]
 
Dolby said:
Here's my bridge(using a powerbank to power it)

Door sensor turns on the lamp ; PIR turns off the lamp.

[video=youtube;bZC9Qblwm3U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZC9Qblwm3U[/video]
Click to expand...

All of this Sonoff branded gear?

And can you integrate the hub with IFTTT?
 
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