Question SmartHome confusion

SavellM

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Hey guys,

I'm moving into a new home in the next few months and want to make it into a SmartHome.
But I'm so confused with all the options and how it will all integrate into one another.

Some ideas so far, still building an entire list of what I need/want:
So I want to kit out my house with Philips Hue lights.
And by the door and maybe master bedroom have a Wink Relay.
The rest of the house I will use the Wink or Philips Hue dimmer switches.

But I dont know if I need the Wink Hub2, or even the Hue Hubs?
Other things, I have one of these coming: Ultraloq - Fingerprint, Fob & Bluetooth Smart Lock

I'd also like to get a Google Home for voice commands.
Lastly I have Tado Smart home heating, and EIGHT smart mattress cover.

I dont know how it will all integrate together.
And I'm sure I'll be adding more as I go along.
 
If I were starting from scratch I'd be using zwave protocol for as much as I could. I really don't see the fascination with Philips Hue.
 
Are there any great GU10 bulbs that are zwave?

I'm not adverse to Z-Wave, infact I would like that.
But I cant find the products I want or that look good that are Z-Wave supported.

At least not yet...
 
Last edited:
Use any normal GU10 bulb...zwave just controls the standard switch.
 
I see, I did like the idea of RGB, and dimming.
Guess I could get a Z-Wave dimming switch.

Any other ideas?
 
Ideally, when light switches etc are being wired, ensure they have neutrals as well as the usual (new houses tend to have all wires terminating at a switch, if our last house was anything to go by). A lot of HA switches need a neutral to function.
 
Ideally, when light switches etc are being wired, ensure they have neutrals as well as the usual (new houses tend to have all wires terminating at a switch, if our last house was anything to go by). A lot of HA switches need a neutral to function.
Thanks for the heads up.
Can I pull the neutral from the switch or is it going to be hidden?
 
There are zwave dimmer modules, e.g. that don't need neutral and they also dim. That said, all new wiring should run neutral to all switches. For house we're building, I'm going zwave for all ceiling lights, one switch dimming many bulbs and I don't need colour there (have Hue in current house and never use colour in ceiling lights, not sure I ever would).

Then where you specifically know you want colour in a lamp or wall light, Hue is an option. But to be honest, LED strips are a much more versatile option and will do a better job of washing a wall with colour and so a Fibaro RGBW module with any LED strip is much more flexible, and if doing large strips, cheaper option than Hue.
 
Thanks for the heads up.
Can I pull the neutral from the switch or is it going to be hidden?

Hi,

yes, you should be ok to take the neutral from the switch. They may all be terminated and not attached to the switch itself.
 
I did go with Hue. But also with some other zwave based sensors etc. Having a good controller that can deal with multiple protocols and create flows that simply be in the background is essential in my opinion. I use the Homey controller for that to bring it together.

Hue got its own controller but then my Homey can control that. Just like Logitech Harmony has got its own hub but Homey can control that. Just like Amazon Echo is really good for voice recognition and general commands and has a skill for Homey, this you can ask Alexa to have Homey do something ;)

Think about what it actually is that you want to automate first. Then think about how you want to go about it.
 

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