• @Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Best:

    Network rack, unifi wifi, and cabling

    Home assistant

    Zigbee devices.

    Smart heating/cooling

    Automated lights

    Hacked T6Es

    Worst:

    Batteried smart blinds (with not battery level reporting)

    Bed mat sensors (some issues)

    • andrew
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      2 months ago

      Haven’t watched the video yet, but I’m a huge fan of our plug-in z-wave smart blinds. Makes getting all that extra light way easier and automatable.

      • @Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world
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        22 months ago

        In short, the issue was that the battery blinds don’t alert when they are low battery, and he didn’t think to hard-wire them in advance.

        Ones that are close enough to power, he’s run some 5v lines on an automation timer.

        • andrew
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          22 months ago

          I ordered them through Lowes and they had all sorts of options for connectivity and power, including just old school chains. Looks like they’re Bali brand.

        • @spongebue@lemmy.world
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          22 months ago

          I also got Z-wave shades from Bali when Home Depot had a 50% off custom window treatments sale. They’ve been wonderful, and integrate with Home Assistant very nicely overall. Battery lasts a long time (about 6 months of use, with a daily “round trip” and they’re still at about 60%) and status gets reported back. One piece on one shade got machined weirdly so I couldn’t use the Z-wave, and they were happy to send a replacement.

          Bali is manufactured by a company called Springs Window Fashions. Might be worth looking into them and their other brands too!

          Oh, and Home Depot has sample material books you can take home for a night to see what would work best for you.