This summer, as I invoked Siri to light up the dinner table on the patio, my father-in-law’s girlfriend said, “You have a smart house?”
I’ve never really thought about it, but I suppose I do. I’ve got lights that are tied to sunset & sunrise. I’ve got lights that turn on if the wife or I come home after dark. I can control the HVAC system from anywhere in the world.
It’s not something that I consciously set out to do, it just slowly happened over a course of several years. In this post I’ll describe some of the lessons about “smart homes” that I’ve learned the hard way over the years.
Number one, think about how your house will handle guests. My mother stayed with us at the old house for a few weeks and I had to add her to the house so she could control the lights in the living room. Smart speakers will accommodate guests easily (I believe, more on that later) but also allow anyone to highjack your carefully crafted environment.
Number two, privacy. I am a bit nuts about privacy and refuse to have a live mic in my house. Many people have no problems with Amazon or Google listening to them constantly, though.
Number three, start slowly. A full color Hue bulb cost $50. How many lightbulbs are in your house?
Number four, choose your platform(s) wisely. In the summer of 2020, the Wink Platform went from free to $5/month. Granted, developing and supporting a multi-vendor technology interoperability platform is an expensive project, but millions of customers were faced with the choice of having to pay a new monthly bill, or having things in the house suddenly stop working.
A fifth consideration is security – every smart device has a tiny computer, capable of going online. Every year botnets become bigger threats to the internet, and most of those botnets are made of lightbulbs and thermostats.
Legal jibber-jabber
- As an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn commission if you purchase something linked from this page.
- Product reviews – unless stated otherwise, I have purchased all reviewed products with my own money.
- “Manufacturers claims” are exactly that. Their claims. If my text says “manufacturer claims” it means I haven’t checked it and I probably don’t have a way to check it. Hydrostatic ratings, R-values, Temperature ratings, etc.
- Follow these instructions at your own risk. I’m not a professional anything. I’m just some random human you encountered on the internet. I may or may not have any idea what I’m doing. I certainly have no idea what you’re doing. I accept no liability for injury, property damage or any other direct or indirect damages you may incur from anything on this page or any other pages I may or may not have authored.
- Copyright Reserved Creative Commons – Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike . If I’ve inspired you, link back to this page. Don’t steal my text or photos. Feel free to modify my designs in any way you see fit. Don’t try to make yourself money from my ideas.
- Comments will be moderated. Those that add to the discussion will be allowed. Those that add nothing will be deleted. If you don’t agree with my decisions, get your own website.
- DON’T PANIC
Modern Anachronist 