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[Build Log] Home Automation
- Thread starter JrClocker
- Start date
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #42
Quick update on this...spoke with (well, text chatted with) tech support from SmartThings. They believe that my SmartThings hub has a manufacturing defect, and are shipping me a new one. Hopefully, this will fix the issue. If not, I will start playing around with HomeSeer.
- - - Updated - - -
Oh yeah - this home automation stuff is really my mid-life crisis!
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2012
I thought that was the Alfa Jr?Oh yeah - this home automation stuff is really my mid-life crisis!
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #44
Haven't posted in this build log in a while, but wanted to report a "success story".
About 8 years ago, I came home from work and opened my garage door. About 50% of the ceiling had come down because the drain line for the north west A/C had become clogged (even though it's serviced twice a year), the drip pan overflowed, and LOTS and LOTS of water had dripped into the ceiling. There is a shut off switch that's supposed to prevent this from happening, but they evidently don't work.
I was VERY happy that my car was not parked in the garage when the ceiling came down.
A few months back, I installed 3 water leak sensors in the house:
- under the hot water heater
- under the A/C drip pan for the north west side of the house
- under the A/C drip pan for the south east side of the house
This Saturday I was out looking at golf clubs, when I got an alert on my phone that water was detected for the south east A/C unit drip pan. I called my wife and had her look at the ceiling in the house, and she saw a small water spot. I turned off the A/C unit (again from my phone) and called my A/C guy.
The drain line on this unit had become clogged (again, serviced 2 times a year) and...again...the shutoff switch did not work. However, getting notified of a leak prevented any major water damage...just have to touch up a few ceiling spots!
For reference, 15 gallons (yes GALLONS) of water was pulled out of this A/C drip pan!
So...the Smart House saved me some $$!
----------
To date, the smart house looks like this:
- 40 smart switches (z-wave)
- 2 smart door locks (z-wave)
- 2 smart garage door openers (it's a 3 car garage, with 2 garage doors) (z-wave)
- 2 landscape RGB LED light strands (ZigBee)
- 2 RGB LED outdoor lights (ZigBee)
- 3 water leak sensors (ZigBee)
- 3 door contact sensors (ZigBee)
- 5 video cameras
- ADT Pulse as main z-wave and security/fire system
- SmartThings hub for improved automation (slave to ADT Pulse for z-wave, master for ZigBee)
- 2 Amazon Echo devices (regular "tube" style and the new Echo Show)
The 3 door contact sensors are setup as follows:
- Turn on/off walk in closet light when the door is open/closed for both wife's and my closet
- Gun Safe: alert me when the gun safe door is opened (by app notification and text notification), also alert me if the gun safe door sensor is tampered with
----------
Never, ever, going back to a "dumb house". I love the whole idea and concept of a Smart House! The technology is quickly maturing, and the prices are quickly coming down.
About 8 years ago, I came home from work and opened my garage door. About 50% of the ceiling had come down because the drain line for the north west A/C had become clogged (even though it's serviced twice a year), the drip pan overflowed, and LOTS and LOTS of water had dripped into the ceiling. There is a shut off switch that's supposed to prevent this from happening, but they evidently don't work.
I was VERY happy that my car was not parked in the garage when the ceiling came down.
A few months back, I installed 3 water leak sensors in the house:
- under the hot water heater
- under the A/C drip pan for the north west side of the house
- under the A/C drip pan for the south east side of the house
This Saturday I was out looking at golf clubs, when I got an alert on my phone that water was detected for the south east A/C unit drip pan. I called my wife and had her look at the ceiling in the house, and she saw a small water spot. I turned off the A/C unit (again from my phone) and called my A/C guy.
The drain line on this unit had become clogged (again, serviced 2 times a year) and...again...the shutoff switch did not work. However, getting notified of a leak prevented any major water damage...just have to touch up a few ceiling spots!
For reference, 15 gallons (yes GALLONS) of water was pulled out of this A/C drip pan!
So...the Smart House saved me some $$!
----------
To date, the smart house looks like this:
- 40 smart switches (z-wave)
- 2 smart door locks (z-wave)
- 2 smart garage door openers (it's a 3 car garage, with 2 garage doors) (z-wave)
- 2 landscape RGB LED light strands (ZigBee)
- 2 RGB LED outdoor lights (ZigBee)
- 3 water leak sensors (ZigBee)
- 3 door contact sensors (ZigBee)
- 5 video cameras
- ADT Pulse as main z-wave and security/fire system
- SmartThings hub for improved automation (slave to ADT Pulse for z-wave, master for ZigBee)
- 2 Amazon Echo devices (regular "tube" style and the new Echo Show)
The 3 door contact sensors are setup as follows:
- Turn on/off walk in closet light when the door is open/closed for both wife's and my closet
- Gun Safe: alert me when the gun safe door is opened (by app notification and text notification), also alert me if the gun safe door sensor is tampered with
----------
Never, ever, going back to a "dumb house". I love the whole idea and concept of a Smart House! The technology is quickly maturing, and the prices are quickly coming down.
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #45
OK - just finished some more "Geekly" additions to my smart house.
TL;DR: I used a Raspberry Pi to turn my house intercom system into a "talking" endpoint...and an AirPlay speaker...for my smart house.
-----
Background Hardware
-----
My house was built about 30 years ago, with a "state of the art" intercom system. Each bedroom, the garage, and the lanai have an intercom station. The master unit sits in the kitchen. The doorbell would ring through the intercom stations, you could talk to each from different rooms, would play AM/FM radio stations to any room, etc. Well, the power supply on this went about a year ago (just a 60 Hz buzzzzz). After searching for a replacement power supply, I gave up and had to disconnect the unit. This also disconnected my doorbell.
I was not looking forward to patching large 6 x 9" holes in each bedroom, door bell, lanai, and garage...as well as the HUGE hole for the master unit. But...I stumbled on this:
https://www.intrasonictechnology.com/home-intercom-systems/retro/retro-combination-packages/
It's a "drop in" replacement for the now 30 year old broken system. They have trim plates to keep you from doing any drywall work, a door bell unit that fits into the existing hole, and it works with the existing wiring. Phew!
Got this guy, and now my doorbell works again! The intercom system works, but I cannot find the use case (it's almost easier to text). Talk to somebody at the front door...or just talk through the door...but...
I can play AM/FM to all the rooms in the house...or select rooms. It comes with a Bluetooth adapter (you plug into the Aux input) to allow you to have the house be a speaker.
-----
I bought a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (probably WAY overkill...but they are cheap enough).
- Updated to the latest version or Raspberian
- Updated to the latest Raspberry Pi firmware (for better audio quality)
- Installed Team Viewer (want it to be headless)
- Installed VLC Media Player (for the talking smart house)
- Installed Shairport-Sync (for AirPlay functionality) (https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-airplay-receiver/amp/)
I plugged the Raspberry Pi into the Aux Input on the House Intercom system...fired up my iPhone and BAM! Airplay to the house!
- The speakers in the intercom system are NOT EVEN CLOSE to the Sonos speakers I have (not even in the same Galaxy)...but it's cool to have this feature!
As I mentioned above, I have the ADT Pulse system linked with a SmartThings (version 2) hub. With the SmartThings hub, you install the VLC Thing custom device:
https://community.smartthings.com/t/vlc-thing-a-poor-mans-sonos-version-2-0-released-12-22-2016/5433
You link the VLC Media Player in the Raspberry Pi to the VLC Thing device and....BAM! Talking smart house!
When programming through SmartThings, you simply use the Text To Speech capability:
- Type in what you want to say
- VLC Thing sends off the works, and gets back a link to an MP3
- The MP3 is inserted into the bottom of the VLC Media Player playlist
- The VLC Media Player plays the Text To Speech
So now, when the front door is unlocked, my house says "The Front Door is Unlocked". "The Front Door is Locked" when it is locked.
When my personal iPhone joins the home network, my house says "The Lord of the Manor, King of the Castle, is arriving".
I added many more Text To Speech actions to coincide with the smart house doing things. For example:
- I made a "link" from the ADT Pulse system to the SmartThings system
- This "link" is 2 relays
--- Relay 0 off, Relay 1 off: ADT Pulse system is disarmed
--- Relay 0 off, Relay 1 on: ADT Pulse system is armed away
--- Relay 0 on, Relay 1 off: ADT Pulse system is armed stay
--- Relay 0 on, Relay 1 on: ADT Pulse system is in an active alarm state (fire, burglar, etc.)
- The house now "says" when the security system is armed or disarmed
- With SmartThings knowing that the alarm system is armed/disarmed it can do "smart" stuff like:
--- Armed Stay means I am home, so motion activated lights at low dimness level
--- Armed Away means I am not home, so send me a text notification if closet doors or the gun safe open
--- etc.
As the "coolness" of a talking house was starting to "annoy" my wife (especially when my daughter would come home at 1130 PM and the house would tell us that the front door is unlocked), I added a "night time" mode to the Smart House. Text To Speech volume drops and lights become motion sensor activated (at dimmed levels)
For reference, I am using WebCoRE (https://www.webcore.co/) for about 80% of my SmartThings automations. WebCoRE is a "community created" programming interface for SmartThings. It's very impressive, and had been stable for me.
(For the record, my wife does love being able to tell Alexa to turn lights on/off, play music to the Sonos speakers, etc. When you are in bed and realize you left a light on in the house...you just tell Alexa to turn it off from the comfort of your own bed! The recent software updates for the Amazon Echo have improved the smart house connectivity with just about all devices...especially SmartThings).
More geekiness!
TL;DR: I used a Raspberry Pi to turn my house intercom system into a "talking" endpoint...and an AirPlay speaker...for my smart house.
-----
Background Hardware
-----
My house was built about 30 years ago, with a "state of the art" intercom system. Each bedroom, the garage, and the lanai have an intercom station. The master unit sits in the kitchen. The doorbell would ring through the intercom stations, you could talk to each from different rooms, would play AM/FM radio stations to any room, etc. Well, the power supply on this went about a year ago (just a 60 Hz buzzzzz). After searching for a replacement power supply, I gave up and had to disconnect the unit. This also disconnected my doorbell.
I was not looking forward to patching large 6 x 9" holes in each bedroom, door bell, lanai, and garage...as well as the HUGE hole for the master unit. But...I stumbled on this:
https://www.intrasonictechnology.com/home-intercom-systems/retro/retro-combination-packages/
It's a "drop in" replacement for the now 30 year old broken system. They have trim plates to keep you from doing any drywall work, a door bell unit that fits into the existing hole, and it works with the existing wiring. Phew!
Got this guy, and now my doorbell works again! The intercom system works, but I cannot find the use case (it's almost easier to text). Talk to somebody at the front door...or just talk through the door...but...
I can play AM/FM to all the rooms in the house...or select rooms. It comes with a Bluetooth adapter (you plug into the Aux input) to allow you to have the house be a speaker.
-----
I bought a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (probably WAY overkill...but they are cheap enough).
- Updated to the latest version or Raspberian
- Updated to the latest Raspberry Pi firmware (for better audio quality)
- Installed Team Viewer (want it to be headless)
- Installed VLC Media Player (for the talking smart house)
- Installed Shairport-Sync (for AirPlay functionality) (https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-airplay-receiver/amp/)
I plugged the Raspberry Pi into the Aux Input on the House Intercom system...fired up my iPhone and BAM! Airplay to the house!
- The speakers in the intercom system are NOT EVEN CLOSE to the Sonos speakers I have (not even in the same Galaxy)...but it's cool to have this feature!
As I mentioned above, I have the ADT Pulse system linked with a SmartThings (version 2) hub. With the SmartThings hub, you install the VLC Thing custom device:
https://community.smartthings.com/t/vlc-thing-a-poor-mans-sonos-version-2-0-released-12-22-2016/5433
You link the VLC Media Player in the Raspberry Pi to the VLC Thing device and....BAM! Talking smart house!
When programming through SmartThings, you simply use the Text To Speech capability:
- Type in what you want to say
- VLC Thing sends off the works, and gets back a link to an MP3
- The MP3 is inserted into the bottom of the VLC Media Player playlist
- The VLC Media Player plays the Text To Speech
So now, when the front door is unlocked, my house says "The Front Door is Unlocked". "The Front Door is Locked" when it is locked.
When my personal iPhone joins the home network, my house says "The Lord of the Manor, King of the Castle, is arriving".
I added many more Text To Speech actions to coincide with the smart house doing things. For example:
- I made a "link" from the ADT Pulse system to the SmartThings system
- This "link" is 2 relays
--- Relay 0 off, Relay 1 off: ADT Pulse system is disarmed
--- Relay 0 off, Relay 1 on: ADT Pulse system is armed away
--- Relay 0 on, Relay 1 off: ADT Pulse system is armed stay
--- Relay 0 on, Relay 1 on: ADT Pulse system is in an active alarm state (fire, burglar, etc.)
- The house now "says" when the security system is armed or disarmed
- With SmartThings knowing that the alarm system is armed/disarmed it can do "smart" stuff like:
--- Armed Stay means I am home, so motion activated lights at low dimness level
--- Armed Away means I am not home, so send me a text notification if closet doors or the gun safe open
--- etc.
As the "coolness" of a talking house was starting to "annoy" my wife (especially when my daughter would come home at 1130 PM and the house would tell us that the front door is unlocked), I added a "night time" mode to the Smart House. Text To Speech volume drops and lights become motion sensor activated (at dimmed levels)
For reference, I am using WebCoRE (https://www.webcore.co/) for about 80% of my SmartThings automations. WebCoRE is a "community created" programming interface for SmartThings. It's very impressive, and had been stable for me.
(For the record, my wife does love being able to tell Alexa to turn lights on/off, play music to the Sonos speakers, etc. When you are in bed and realize you left a light on in the house...you just tell Alexa to turn it off from the comfort of your own bed! The recent software updates for the Amazon Echo have improved the smart house connectivity with just about all devices...especially SmartThings).
More geekiness!
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2012
Love it Jr! especially "The Lord of the Manor, King of the Castle, is arriving"!!!!!!! That sir is fantastic!!!!!!!! Though I'm sure my 15 yr old would bust my chops and figure out how to change it. I'd get home and it would say the jack@55 is home.
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #47
Well...I just ran the old Linux update on my Raspberry Pi which makes my house talk (apt-get update, apt-get upgrade).
Guess what??
Some dork didn't test something. Now, VLC Player has decided not to play the last second or so of any MP3 file it gets.
So, "The Lord of the Manor, King of the Castle is arriving" has turned into "The Lord of the Manor, King of the Cast"...my dog is so confused! (He greats me at the door when he hears the house say this!)
"Front door is unlocked" has turned into "Fron"
The issue is either in the Linux kernel update or the VLC player update.
Grrr - silly me "trusting" these updates and not creating a backup before I did it...and I don't know how to "undo" a Linux update either.
Guess what??
Some dork didn't test something. Now, VLC Player has decided not to play the last second or so of any MP3 file it gets.
So, "The Lord of the Manor, King of the Castle is arriving" has turned into "The Lord of the Manor, King of the Cast"...my dog is so confused! (He greats me at the door when he hears the house say this!)
"Front door is unlocked" has turned into "Fron"
The issue is either in the Linux kernel update or the VLC player update.
Grrr - silly me "trusting" these updates and not creating a backup before I did it...and I don't know how to "undo" a Linux update either.
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2005
- Location
- Oregon
What you really need is a personal assistant or maid or something. I find it very cool indeed what you did but the entire process has way too many 'needs' and as well seems very overly complicated. Are there not voice recognition engines that don't really on google, apple, and amazon? We certainly already have the processing power and then some. If this was all in-house and didn't rely on alexa I bet you would find it worked better. I personally believe that to be it's fatal flaw. Alexa is the literal 'ghost in the machine'.
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2013
Please tell me you went back and removed that tape, and at least wire nutted it up...
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #51
Yes - I just used the tape to trace the travelers to make sure they were actually travelers! (Rule #1: if you didn’t run the wire, the color don’t mean jack!)
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #52
So...SmartThings decided to sell their whole line, hub, and computing platform to Aeotec. Additionally, they announced that they are depreciating their current API...again. This, coupled with the fact that the ADT Pulse system is getting behind in technology (they really are not refreshing the platform) caused me to look for a new smart home controller.
I ended on Hubitat...using their Hubitat Elevation C-7. This hub is:
- Z-Wave Pluse Controller (new 700 series Z-Wave chip)
- Zigbee Cotntroller
- Ethernet interface
There are many, many more built-in drivers. Also, their is A LOT of community support as many SmartThings owners are ending up here. Finally, all execution is completed locally...so this means that all decisions, logic, and rules execute VERY FAST. Additionally, having the Hubitat as the Z-Wave controller opens up many more possibilities as the ADT Pulse system was not compatible with everything out there. The Hubitat system either is with a driver directly support by Hubitat, or with a community developed driver.
What is also nice, is that they have a built-in dashboard capability. SmartThings went to a dopey new app, and it became very difficult to find anything if you have 70+ smart devices like I do.
So, without further ado, here is some nice Hubitat Dashboard Porn (I built these myself).
Main Dashboard
As you can see, I was able to bring in my UniFi Protect Cameras into the mix. Presence sensors are not working quite right at the moment. Each of the blue buttons on the right link to different dashboards I have created.
(Please ignore the messy garage...oh, and my golf car it cool!)
Dining Room/Living Room/Foyer
View attachment 213345
Family Room/Kitchen
Say hello to my wife! Should have timed it better so you could see ALL of my dog!
Master Suite
Master Bedroom/Master Bathroom/Office area. One of the cameras is on my gun safe, the other is in my office (with a nice shot of the back of my head)...messy desk, I know I know.
Yoga/Guest Rooms
Yes...we have a Yoga Room (Namaste).
Garage
Landscaping
Not all of the dashboards, but enough to show how cool this platform is, with it's built-in capability. It uses Groovy as a programing language extension (like SmartThings used to), so the options are endless.
Once I get the dashboards where I like them, I'm going to mount a couple of Android tablets near the security system arm/disarm keypads (haven't told the wife this one yet - hehe).
ADT Pulse Interface
The keen eye will notice that there are links to my security system on these dashboards. With all of the Z-Wave devices moved over to the Hubitat device, the ADT Pulse System still exists (and works nicely) as a way to monitor your security system, arm/disarm, etc. There are other solutions to interface a security system into a smart home hub...I'm currently looking into the EyezOn Envisalink EVL-4EZR (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016WQTJ4...olid=1JBET2WT1OH3H&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it). This guy "looks" like a keypad to your security panel. And, their are drivers written to interface directly with Hubitat. As I have never programmed a keypad into a security system before, I called ADT and they would send a technician out for $200 per hour to try and install this.
I wasn't ready for that yet.
So, with the ADT Pulse Interface I still have a Z-Wave controller. To interface the ADT Pulse system to the Hubitat, I purchased 2 pairs (4 in total) of the Zooz Zen16 MultiRelay module (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0846DZJD8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). This device has 3 relays, and 3 input contacts. I paired 2 of them with the ADT Pulse system, and 2 with Hubitat. I connected the outputs of the ADT Pulse paired relay to the input of the Hubitat paired relay to bring in standard alarm panel items:
Burglar ALARM
Fire ALARM
Alarm Armed Stay
Alarm Armed Away
Entry Doors Open/Closed
Front Motion Sensor
The programming on the ADT Pulse side was very simple. And, I was able to install Webcore (porting my SmartThings automations was very easy). Bring automation rules into play is easy.
Welp - this is were I stand now...still working...still tweaking...love this smart house stuff!
I ended on Hubitat...using their Hubitat Elevation C-7. This hub is:
- Z-Wave Pluse Controller (new 700 series Z-Wave chip)
- Zigbee Cotntroller
- Ethernet interface
There are many, many more built-in drivers. Also, their is A LOT of community support as many SmartThings owners are ending up here. Finally, all execution is completed locally...so this means that all decisions, logic, and rules execute VERY FAST. Additionally, having the Hubitat as the Z-Wave controller opens up many more possibilities as the ADT Pulse system was not compatible with everything out there. The Hubitat system either is with a driver directly support by Hubitat, or with a community developed driver.
What is also nice, is that they have a built-in dashboard capability. SmartThings went to a dopey new app, and it became very difficult to find anything if you have 70+ smart devices like I do.
So, without further ado, here is some nice Hubitat Dashboard Porn (I built these myself).
Main Dashboard
As you can see, I was able to bring in my UniFi Protect Cameras into the mix. Presence sensors are not working quite right at the moment. Each of the blue buttons on the right link to different dashboards I have created.
(Please ignore the messy garage...oh, and my golf car it cool!)
Dining Room/Living Room/Foyer
View attachment 213345
Family Room/Kitchen
Say hello to my wife! Should have timed it better so you could see ALL of my dog!
Master Suite
Master Bedroom/Master Bathroom/Office area. One of the cameras is on my gun safe, the other is in my office (with a nice shot of the back of my head)...messy desk, I know I know.
Yoga/Guest Rooms
Yes...we have a Yoga Room (Namaste).
Garage
Landscaping
Not all of the dashboards, but enough to show how cool this platform is, with it's built-in capability. It uses Groovy as a programing language extension (like SmartThings used to), so the options are endless.
Once I get the dashboards where I like them, I'm going to mount a couple of Android tablets near the security system arm/disarm keypads (haven't told the wife this one yet - hehe).
ADT Pulse Interface
The keen eye will notice that there are links to my security system on these dashboards. With all of the Z-Wave devices moved over to the Hubitat device, the ADT Pulse System still exists (and works nicely) as a way to monitor your security system, arm/disarm, etc. There are other solutions to interface a security system into a smart home hub...I'm currently looking into the EyezOn Envisalink EVL-4EZR (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016WQTJ4...olid=1JBET2WT1OH3H&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it). This guy "looks" like a keypad to your security panel. And, their are drivers written to interface directly with Hubitat. As I have never programmed a keypad into a security system before, I called ADT and they would send a technician out for $200 per hour to try and install this.
I wasn't ready for that yet.
So, with the ADT Pulse Interface I still have a Z-Wave controller. To interface the ADT Pulse system to the Hubitat, I purchased 2 pairs (4 in total) of the Zooz Zen16 MultiRelay module (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0846DZJD8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). This device has 3 relays, and 3 input contacts. I paired 2 of them with the ADT Pulse system, and 2 with Hubitat. I connected the outputs of the ADT Pulse paired relay to the input of the Hubitat paired relay to bring in standard alarm panel items:
Burglar ALARM
Fire ALARM
Alarm Armed Stay
Alarm Armed Away
Entry Doors Open/Closed
Front Motion Sensor
The programming on the ADT Pulse side was very simple. And, I was able to install Webcore (porting my SmartThings automations was very easy). Bring automation rules into play is easy.
Welp - this is were I stand now...still working...still tweaking...love this smart house stuff!
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2011
- Location
- Republic of Texas
Your wife looks like she's a human??? Somehow I was expecting one of those Japanese robots.
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #55
Finished my weekend project...
Bought one of these GIDERWEL ZigBee LED Strips:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SCZTJBP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You can cut them to length (every 10 cm). They are RGBWW...meaning they have 1 RGB LED, 1 Soft White LED, and 1 Cool White LED (6 pin connection). This allows you to to do all the RGB affects and different white color temperatures.
After cutting them, you add these connectors:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087PK4GDY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You can then attach these cables (they come in different lengths):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MFGL1HR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Finally, I found these aluminum channels with a snap plastic diffuser...the LEDs fit perfectly in them:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071FRFQVZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They come with all of the mounting hardware. I used my Dremel to cut them to length. They easily stack "end to end" to make a long channel. Be careful though, they don't come with wood screws...but come with "screws for woodiness"...you have to be careful and not get all excited and embarrass yourself.
I connected these into my Hubitat hub. The final result:
White Light (3100 K):
Red:
Green:
Blue:
Purple:
If you look at the top right of the above pictures, you can see one of my UniFi WiFi 6 access points mounted in the ceiling!
I think they turned out well. The diffuser doesn't totally spread out the LED light, but it does it enough so that you can't see the individual LEDs with this mounting location.
I planned on doing under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen as the next project...but when I test mounted the LEDs, the wall was not "nice" enough...the LEDs showed all the imperfections in the wall. A kitchen remodel is in the future...will do a nice backsplash and mount them then.
As the LED strip is ZigBee, it doesn't have an on/off switch. No problem! I programmed a "double tap" up and "double tap" down on the room's main lighting to turn these on and off on command. They come on at sunset, and go off at 1030 PM. I also added them to the motion lighting routine for the dark hours not in that time period.
Bought one of these GIDERWEL ZigBee LED Strips:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SCZTJBP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You can cut them to length (every 10 cm). They are RGBWW...meaning they have 1 RGB LED, 1 Soft White LED, and 1 Cool White LED (6 pin connection). This allows you to to do all the RGB affects and different white color temperatures.
After cutting them, you add these connectors:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087PK4GDY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You can then attach these cables (they come in different lengths):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MFGL1HR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Finally, I found these aluminum channels with a snap plastic diffuser...the LEDs fit perfectly in them:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071FRFQVZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They come with all of the mounting hardware. I used my Dremel to cut them to length. They easily stack "end to end" to make a long channel. Be careful though, they don't come with wood screws...but come with "screws for woodiness"...you have to be careful and not get all excited and embarrass yourself.
I connected these into my Hubitat hub. The final result:
White Light (3100 K):
Red:
Green:
Blue:
Purple:
If you look at the top right of the above pictures, you can see one of my UniFi WiFi 6 access points mounted in the ceiling!
I think they turned out well. The diffuser doesn't totally spread out the LED light, but it does it enough so that you can't see the individual LEDs with this mounting location.
I planned on doing under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen as the next project...but when I test mounted the LEDs, the wall was not "nice" enough...the LEDs showed all the imperfections in the wall. A kitchen remodel is in the future...will do a nice backsplash and mount them then.
As the LED strip is ZigBee, it doesn't have an on/off switch. No problem! I programmed a "double tap" up and "double tap" down on the room's main lighting to turn these on and off on command. They come on at sunset, and go off at 1030 PM. I also added them to the motion lighting routine for the dark hours not in that time period.
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #56
Got a new front door and new pavers for the front walk put in. The pavers light up, and of course are now connected to the smart house! They are LED lights, but did not come in RGB, and only came in 2700K for the temperature:
Now that the Tampa Bay Lightning are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (and final round for the second year in a row), the outside Philips Hue RGB lights are decked out in Blue when the Lightning play!
This setup is captured as a "Scene" within Hubitat, which is then connected to a virtual switch. Activate the virtual switch and BAM - we have our Lightning colors. When we are done with this, I have another virtual switch which brings it back to the "regular" colors of the first picture.
Boy it's great to be a geek!
Now that the Tampa Bay Lightning are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (and final round for the second year in a row), the outside Philips Hue RGB lights are decked out in Blue when the Lightning play!
This setup is captured as a "Scene" within Hubitat, which is then connected to a virtual switch. Activate the virtual switch and BAM - we have our Lightning colors. When we are done with this, I have another virtual switch which brings it back to the "regular" colors of the first picture.
Boy it's great to be a geek!
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #57
My weekend project for my pool / lanai.
Installed:
- 4 x Philips Hue Amarant Light Bar (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08VF2WYYH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
- 1 x Philips Hue Lily Spot Light (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DBLWB3V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
- 1 x Philips Hue 95 W Power Supply (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BFLLJM4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Originally, I was going to add the Philips Hue Appear to the vertical frame members. However, these only come in 120 VAC...and the local electrical code prevents you from putting anything 120 VAC this close to the pool. These are all low voltage DC, and are code compliant.
If you ignore the palm tree that needs trimming and the dirty pool deck, I like how this turned out:
Installed:
- 4 x Philips Hue Amarant Light Bar (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08VF2WYYH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
- 1 x Philips Hue Lily Spot Light (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DBLWB3V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
- 1 x Philips Hue 95 W Power Supply (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BFLLJM4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Originally, I was going to add the Philips Hue Appear to the vertical frame members. However, these only come in 120 VAC...and the local electrical code prevents you from putting anything 120 VAC this close to the pool. These are all low voltage DC, and are code compliant.
If you ignore the palm tree that needs trimming and the dirty pool deck, I like how this turned out:
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2004
- Location
- N of splat W of Torin
I feel like I am back in the '60's Jr. That should put your lady in the mood for love
OP
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Thread Starter
- #60
I feel like I am back in the '60's Jr. That should put your lady in the mood for love
Haha - I can't wait for 20 to 30 years from now...and people will be like "what was the obsession with color LED lights" versus "what was the obsession with shag carpet on the walls?"
I have them run 3000 K white as the default. However, hop in the hot tub, put on some tunes, changes the lights to set the mood...
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