So I have the majority of my automation queued via the following:
Motion Controlled
Time Controlled
Voice Controlled
IFTTT Controlled
Reading the forums between HE and ST a lot of general discussion about buttons have come up. I am quite intrigued and took advantage of the low Samsung Button device price on Amazon and bought a couple.
So my question for you all: what would you use a button for in your home?
My goal is to illicit new ideas, general conversation about the home automation technology and frankly try to figure out a good use for the two I purchased inside my home.
Appreciate and look forward to all the participation.
I have literally 50 button controllers in my house, granted they are mostly picos. For the ones not covering micros, we have them on pedestal mounts in the living room and on bedroom nightstands. It's nice to have an option to use a button vs alexa. We also have iris keyfobs, which unlock doors and double as presence.
Garage doors are another use for buttons.
Yeah... how do you guys keeps track of what button does what after a while? I have to print stickers to put on my minimote to remind me. I thought the point of automation is that we don't have to get involve for the house to function properly. I would like to see things happening on their own. I am hoping we can get some AI actions going in the future so the house can learn our habits and just do things without us having to yell at Alexa or push a button.
There's always a place for buttons...
The picos offer visual cues with the different layouts and engravings, without that they wouldn't work.
When I used minimotes i couldn't remember what each button did either.
All my wall plates are picos, so its not that hard to remember what they do.
I have a button at the back door that we press when we are going for a swim. It resumes playback on the Pool/BBQ sonos. Doesn't really make sense to automate this function as we don't always want to listen to music.
Stickers are a good idea. What type do you use? I was planning on printing a label/icon to stick on to it, as shortly I will mount a 2nd button there.
The 2nd button (currently still on ST) announces if sunscreen/a swim shirt is needed before swimming. I have background rules setting virtual switches based on reports from my WeatherFlow station. Ideally, if some smart developer can integrate the 2, it would make the rule simpler. In the meantime, I have to figure out webhooks with IFTTT and HE to get it moved across from ST.
Have 5 Xiaomi buttons, 5 Logitech Pop buttons, and a Remotec scene controller.
I use a pop for my sons room as he has a cabin bed, and no one really wants to climb down to turn lights on/off from that lol. It turns the main light on/off with one press, second sets his night time routine, all lights off and chilled music on for an hour, and the long press, everything off.
By mine, I have the Remotec for all lights, bedside, main light and dresser, then 4 more for different LED functions and the double taps are used in conjunction with a Samsung speaker and streaming different URLs to it, holding them for volume control and turning off.
I use the Xiaomi again for lights on/off in the kitchen for the under cabinet lighting, when you want them on but didn't meet the thresholds set for time or lux. Then 3 in the lounge utilizing 4 clicks of the 5. 1 - TV lamp on/off, 2 - all lamps on, 3 - Lamps and wall lights, 4 - All lights in the lounge and adjoining dining room. They aren't really used that much, but had to find a use for them haha.
Mrs uses one hidden away for as her dresser light, and remaining Pop buttons for other bedside lights in other bedrooms. I think they're great
I find that buttons are very convenient for handling the exception cases that just can't be automated. For example, sometimes I want to look at the night sky out on the deck without the motion detectors turning the lights on. I don't want to dig out my phone or remember what I named the virtual switch that will temporarily cancel that automation by voice command; it's so much easier just to tap a button near the doorway. So I have a Xiaomi button near each of two sliders at opposite ends of the deck that include this function; one tap toggles the closest outside light, two taps turn off all deck lights, three taps turn on all deck lights, 4 taps toggle the 'disable deck light motion sensor turn-on' which automatically re-enables itself 4 hours later.
Likewise if I'm in the garage at night looking through the window and want to see what's happening outside, there's a convenient button to tap that will turn on the normally motion-activated lights without having to step outside and trip the motion detector. Here again I find the multi-tap feature of the Xiaomi comes in handy: one tap toggle, two taps turn of all exterior lights, three taps turn on all exterior lights.
I also use a button when I need to occasionally reset the mailbox alert (a wav file of a chime with voice prompt played on the Aeotec doorbell which repeats periodically until mail is retrieved); it normally arms itself at dawn every morning and will alert the first time after that if the mailbox door is opened during delivery hours. Sometimes I will trip the alert myself when I put in outgoing mail. Since the time of mail delivery is no longer predictable (at least in my town; I've had deliveries before 8am and as way past 5pm recently) there's no foolproof way to automate arming the alert. The button is more convenient than fumbling with the phone or trying to remember an infrequently used voice command.
The aquarium feeding time audio alert is automated; it also shuts down the circulator pumps for several minutes then restarts them after a time delay. But for the times when no one is around at the scheduled time, it's handy to have a nearby button to initiate the timed sequence. It's quicker to do than by fumbling with a phone and quicker than asking Alexa to do it. The same button also can turn off all pumps when other maintenance is needed.
And sometimes it just seems to take less effort (or cause less disruption) to hit a button than use a voice command, especially when guests are in the house. And when there is a lo of ambient noise it's generally a lot more reliable.
I use the picos for bedside mostly. The center button of the 5 button pico sets the scene. Up and down are off and on and the 'dimmer' buttons usually disable and re-enable the motion activated lighting, I call them snooze buttons
I use a label maker with black on clear tape, and make tiny little labels to put on Pico buttons, and a room name on the back (in case they get moved by mistake). This allows guests to use them after a 1 minute show and tell.
Great answer btw! I like this scenario a lot as we have 5 fish tanks currently in the home. I am curious though what you are using for "affordable" outlet switching for the circulator pumps? It would be nice to automate the feeding schedule accordingly for our tanks but I just couldn't see spending $100 on zigbee peanuts for all 5 tanks.
I like the house guest concept. We will have a full house here soon and to try and teach people how to speak to Alexa would be overwhelming. Though Alexa is in almost every room for voice control.
I use the Aeon Smartstrip for this; it provides six outlets, four of which are Z-Wave controlled and support power monitoring. I use them for the main lights, moonlights, filter pump and circulator pump. I like the power monitoring because it allows me to make automations that will alert me if the pumps are outside of the normal expected operating range (and also will restart them if I should fat finger a button on my phone inadvertently).
I would recommend contacting the smartest house to see when it will be available. Zooz is their house brand, they own them, and they can tell you a timeframe. Their website says it is temporary unavailable.
