So what is your favorite or most successful Smarthome device implemented in your home?
Ours is the Roomba - why? Because everyday it does the task no one in the home wants to do which is vacuum. And not only does it for this chore automated through HE rules twice a day the Roomba vacuums better than most standup vacuums. We use an iRobot 890 using the IFTTT integration. Roomba only allows for a single cleaning per day in their app. By using a virtual switch, RM and IFTTT we are able to have “Gurdy” vacuum twice a day when home is occupied and then once a day if in away mode for more than two days.
Roomba is definitely a strong candidate. We have to empty ours and clean it after every run because we have a dog that sheds a lot. The dog hair gets wrapped around the wheels, brushes, and the beater.
I think our winner is one of the most simple ones - the Motion Lighting rule that uses a motion sensor on the ceiling of the carport to turn the carport lights on if there is motion between sunset and sunrise. Second place goes to a similar rule that turns on the light on the front porch when motion is detected there. Simple but really useful!
Neato Botvacs
Still integrated on ST as I haven’t got around to looking at porting the app/drivers yet.
Controlled via IFTTT with a little scheduling app I wrote
Without doubt the favourites for the usual reason that nobody wants to do it (except the cleaning lady on Fridays when they don’t run )
Our problem is that out two dogs leave their toys lying about ...
So I have a 2 minute warning before they start so we can run around and put the toys back in the basket. (Never did teach them to do it themselves!)
Although both out dogs shed hairs I find I can get away with 3 days before emptying (one schedule per day)
Next to that it would generally be automated lighting too.
Haven’t touched the lightswitch in most rooms for over a year!
I'd have to say motion lighting too. I don't remember the last time I actually touched the light switch in the garage. On when I need it, off when I don't.
I'm waiting for the Roomba Drone that can dust up in the corners of the wall/ceilings, molding, trim, etc. . . . and switch the ceiling fans off (via Hubitat) long enough to dust the ceiling fan blades.
I don't have the high-end Roomba that will map out the house, dock when battery is low and then finish cleaning unfortunately. With this in mind the iRobot app only allows for a single scheduled instance per day. I have found that if I run the Roomba twice in an evening it will clean an entire floor of the house really well. In order to do that I need to schedule it. HE has a good scheduler and HE can tie into Roomba through IFTTT. Works quite well actually. Roomba starts at midnight, ends around 1:30am and charges, starts again at 6:00am and ends around 7:30am.
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