Of special interest to those of us who are just entering our seventies:
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One of the most hilarious SNL skits ever, and I go all the way back to season 1. 
I just watched it again, and I hurt myself laughing.
Oh, and to honor some posts from women in this forum complaining about their husbands' inablity/unwillingness to deal w/smart home stuff, I think there was talk of a needing a new acronym...
WAF ->:
- SAF (spouse approval factor)
- PAF (partner approval factor)
- HAF (housemate approval factor)
- RAF (roommate approval factor)
- TNTAPISCTLWAF (The now totally annoying person I somehow chose to live with approval factor)
I like the last one the best, because it really captures my feeliings on the subject.
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Jewelry......
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Automation in "technical" areas: garage, basement, stairs. Autolock bolds. Random lights when we're not there. Irrigation and energy measurement. Garden lights. Thermostat. Lutron Caseta for lights. Independent monitored alarm system (but I use my hub to obtain various info like doors status/smoke alarm). Independent Cams system, but some are harvested to display them into hub.
Specific buttons (picos) that launch a set of operations (open the TV, launch the connected computer, etc) with a single press.
no voice inputs (microphones are all switched off). some voice outputs (wash is done, mail has arrived, somebody/friends ring our bell, etc). Sound system on multiple rooms.
I have several lights triggered by presence but my wife has a single "WIFE" button to disable them, because she likes to be in control.
No automation in our bedroom (old X10 weird auto-triggers).
Basically, if my hub/plc are off for any reason, the house is still fully functional, less some optional advantages.
When I started tinkering with home automation, my hubs made one statement. "I do not want do dance, sing, jump, yell, or beg for something to turn on." In his opinion, it's easier to walk to the switch. That being said, I'm 3 years in and take pride in the fact that almost everything automated is based on every day interactions in our household. It's forced me to think outside the box. Dock your phones and mode changes to night, morning, or quiet time depending on how many phones are docked. With this customized automation:
I use a fair amount of motion sensors throughout. Our bedroom fan helps keep the bedroom cool at night. It changes speed based on @iharyadi 's environment sensor. I've had to loosen up the rules for this because his sensor is way too accurate and fast and had to contend with the fan fluttering. The fan only turns on if someone is in bed. Thus a phone is docked. If everyone is up, (no phones docked0 the mode changes to day and the fan turns off and lights adjust and interact accordingly. The living room lights interact based on our harmony remote. When the tv is on, the lights dim and stay on until the media is turned off and motion is inactive. I've spent a LOT of time observing our habits. Little tweaks here and there to make things more transparent. I have voice control, but it seems that my husband has more success with that wench than I do. She never controls anything I ask her to. Ironic? Yes, I think so. I use alexa mostly for voice announcements. She announces someone at the door and who unlocked one of my locks. I have a dashboard but only for troubleshooting, or if someone wants to get into my house and I am not home. So I find some controls are still necessary, but prefer transparency. I have a considerable number of automations. Too many to name here and the only one that requires any real interaction is a button in the kitchen that will pause the lights from turning off in there if we find we're doing something that requires an exception. Otherwise everything is "contactless" interaction. Yes. I take pride in that. 3 years in and getting even better.
I will throw in this one as well. Home automation also needs to be fun, otherwise we wouldn't do it.
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Come on, we are all Tech's here and we know we do with outdated technology. We replace it. I know I know it's expensive. But we're used to it. That's the price we pay for loving this hobby/obsession.
I suggest that if you are having a WAF issue that you simply need to upgrade. W1 level upgrades are probably the most expensive upgrades you can make. In fact, as I understand it if you want to replace/remove a W1 it may involve technical and even legal expenses. It can damage your entire network and home. I personally have never upgraded my W1, and I don't intend to. But I have had friends make these upgrades. Actually some chose to upgrade, others just removed the W1, and still others thought they were upgrading and it turned out that the feature set of the new W2 level was severely lacking. I've watched in horror as it caused them to lose their ENTIRE HOUSE! I know! Who thought that this obsession could have such dire consequences? It started with just wanting to make a silly lightbulb come on at a specific time (because a simple darkness sensor just seemed too easy) and it progressed to removing the W1 and losing their house!
Some WAF problems can actually result in the W1 failing on its own! Network intrusion and malware cause the W1 to self uninstall and join neighboring networks. This is the worst! There is very little in the way of software that will prevent this! In fact, often the only way to repair this level of problem is to remove the automation system completely or remove the W1 before it removes itself. Super super expensive I might add.
My WAF level is very high. I hope to keep it that way. But then I started this obsession when I only had the GF7 installed and it was a pretty smooth upgrade to the W1. As I understand it when you follow that upgrade path the chances that the W1 having WAF issues are much lower. Good luck and just beware of all the pitfalls.
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WAF? HAF? Sounds like you may have set the bar a little low. Marry someone smarter. The problem goes away.
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My wife has forgotten how to use the switch. I have an automation that turns on our back patio lights after dark when the patio door. One day I reached over and not switch to turn it off and she asked how did you turn off,the lights I didn’t hear you.
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Set up as "Absence". I do this for my guest manual mode. This is simply done in "simple automation rules" works perfectly.
Do you have any dark pantries, linen closets, laundry closets? My WAF completely change when I added light strips to those areas. I prefer to use contact sensors to trigger mine, so as soon as the door opens the lights are on (closed the go off).
Check out this post by @nkyspike. I have some pics of mine somewhere but I cannot find them now. Plenty on that thread to get the idea.
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That works unless you have someone like my sister, who has never closed a cabinet or closet door in her life. So then every light in the house is on all day.
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lol 3 min timeout? Have sis pay electric bill (seems to change behavior fairly quickly 
)
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I work with some of those !!!
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So, base on suggestions from you all I now have a list of items that causes a drop in SAF, and I have been able to correct some and minimize others (for now). I have added SmartThings buttons to our room, living room, basement, etc. I have also set all the Inovelli Red series dimmers to instant on AND SHE SAID WOW IT WORKS! She also stated that I like it when it works. I never really had any of the issues they had but at least she is coming around with it. All the adjustments have taken me hours to do so lucky this is a hobby. Thank you all you have save me a lot of pain and frustration.
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Also follow up with the spouse occasionally. They get use to how everything works but since there aren't big issues anymore the smaller issues start to creep up and annoy them now.
These tend to be SAF sinks for my home. So much so that they are no longer in use.
Picos 4 lyfe.
My advice on spousal acceptance of home automation is similar to my advice on most aspects of marriage - communication, communication, communication! Listen to what frustrates them and try to solve their problems. When you implement a new automation, explain that it is an experiment and you want them to give it a chance and then tell you whether they like it. Be ready to modify it or undo it if they object, even if you think their objections are stupid. You'll have some hits. You'll have some misses. The system will not end up the way you would do it if your opinion was the only one that mattered, and that is how it should be.
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I've been reading this thread with interest given my own SAF challenges. Bottom line. Your spouse should be your customer. Identify his/her needs (which may require some observation of habits and challenges), and any current annoyances. Address those and you're a hero (and then he/she may overlook some of the other things you do).
Automation to satisfy your own goals (which, admittedly, is what I'm mainly doing), will be, at best, viewed neutrally, and can go downhill quickly if you do anything to introduce issues for the spouse.
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This!!! My wife and daughter have most definitely helped me in my work with my residential clients. They (and FAF) help keep me grounded in all the ways I need to be...
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