To be a bit blunt, I watched a video about home automation and then rushed into buying Hubitat Elevation C7 without really thinking things through.
I'm renting and I can't change the fitted lights at home or replace the washing machine, dishwasher or any of the electronics with anything that's smart friendly.
So I'm looking for ideas of what I can automate. I've got a lot of Gosund, Amazon, and Teckin Smart plugs - but none of these seem compatible. So I'm a little unsure what I can do at this point.
Well you can plug in outlets with power monitoring for your appliances (you plug them into the outlet then plug the appliance into that). You can use door sensors with 3m tape, bulbs, thermostat (just save the old one to put back when you leave) Door lock (give landlord copy of key). Hubitat primarily handles z-wave and zigbee. Your stuff is wifi based. Most here shy away from most wifi as it;'s all cloud based and hubitat users prefer 100% local control. That way if you're internet goes out, everything still works. Whereas with wifi you're dead in the water. Some wifi stuff will work directly with hubitat through community integrations or a few things natively. As I said though if it;s cloud based its not good.
Though I usually am not a smart bulb fan, these may be an option in your case. Phillips Hue makes (IMHO) the best ones, and I would suggest a Hue hub as well - the HE integration is great.
Smart plugs are generally Zigbee or ZWave. I bet the ones you have are wifi, which are less helpful. You may find a third party integration that works with them but it will rely on a cloud service.
Can you replace outlets and light switches? You could always keep the old ones handy to stick back in place. And many motion / door sensors have double sided sticky tape mounts!
I use plug in dimmer modules and switch modules.
You can use smart bulbs.
Those can pretty much cover most lighting situations.
Switches on the doors, storage space etc can be attached with command strips.
Motion sensors for whatever you feel is worth monitoring
My light sensor sits on a window sill of a window we never open.
Water sensors can sit under the sinks.
All I can think of for now.
Oh, if you are on the third floor and you storage space is in the basement, perhaps you could purchase a repeater and ask a nice neighbor below you to plug it in somewhere.
I rent a townhouse and I have done a few things here that others have mentioned, such as,
a. replaced the inside of the deadbolt with a smart lock;
b. replaced a bathroom switch with a motion sensing switch;
c. replaced the baseboard thermostats with Sinopes for better control;
d. use smart bulbs in our fixtures, table lamps and etc;
e. contact sensors on doors and windows;
f. added cameras for front and back entrys; and
g. added motion sensors in the garage.
I kept any of the old switches I replaced in a box and will take an hour to run around and replace when it is time to move on.
I felt just because i rent doesn't mean I cant enjoy a smart home and it ends up saving me money in the winter in heating/lighting/etc when no one is home.
If you plan to buy one day then think of this as a proving ground for your home automation journey.
Have fun
B
edit, forgot the numerous smart plugs around the house to control fans and other items. You can also add things like SONOS or other entertainment devices to it as well.
I think it would be more helpful if you could describe what automations would be useful to you in your apartment and the community can make suggestions you might not have thought of or be aware was possible.
Switchbot has something similar. @toffehoff released a driver for them I believe (I don't have any switchbot gear).
LIFX bulbs (wifi - pricey but works fine locally, and goes pretty bright)
Hue hub (integrates nice with HE) with either hue bulbs or Ikea ones (cheaper)
table lamps - either bulb or plugs if you don't need to dim them
There are user apps that rely on smart plugs with power meters (should be easy to find on the forum)
plenty of motion or door contact sensors available in zwave or zigbee, take your pick! Couple with pushover (android/ios) and you'll always know who's coming/going.
More smart plugs - HE can manage this through simple rules.
depending on which ones you have, you may be able to flash some of them with tasmota (google search) and reuse them in HE. (gosund/teckin may well be doable)
Another useful thing is smart battery powered buttons (again so many to choose from) that will allow you to turn on your new lights without walking across the room.
