You're viewing a single thread.
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)
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.
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.
what brand? I've been wanting to get some zwave blinds soon.
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.
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.