How to start or expand your smart home in 2020 – should you use a company or do it yourself? What kind of devices should you get for your smart home?

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48 thoughts on “How to Start a Smart Home in 2020”

  1. i bought a google home a few years ago and i love it but the issue is that i have tonnnnnns of apple products (ipad, apple pen, watch, airpods, and phone) and my family all has apple products too. i prefer spotify over apple music (having both right now because family pays for apple music and spotify premium was given to me as a gift from a friend) i have no other smart products other than my xbox which can be controlled through my google home. so my question (for anyone who wants to answer) should i go the apple route or google route ????

  2. Very impressive & to the point. I am starting out with smart device selections to go with my new build & this was very helpful. Products like the Nest thermostat are not available in Australia unfortunately. But the rest of the Google & Philips Hue stuff is.

  3. Actually SmartThings hub is a very powerful tool and very important in ANY smart home. Im not sure why you would even recommended the apple AI thats not even realistic for a smart home come on man smh…. kudos to throwing many people off with this horrible information!

  4. You didn't discuss the main problem with smart bulbs! Someone can physically turn off the wall switch that is supplying power and then you cannot control them from any app because they have no power. I think it is much better to replace the switch since then it can also be used as well as the app to control the lights. Also, if a switch controls a set of six recessed lights in your dining room, it's going to be much cheaper to replace a switch than buying six smart bulbs. Also, when it comes to using a home automation integrator, I'd include Loxone as an option since it will cost much less than the other options.

  5. This guys fake ass news. My ADT Smart Home System integrates with all those manufacturers. But my System literally works on its own without me having to talk to alexa. Even though I can if I needed to. Also had a power outage and was able to still control all my devices since it doesn’t require WiFi. Cellular connection and Z wave. One huge factor he forgot to mention.

  6. That was pretty disappointing, frankly. Fine for beginners, I suppose. Google and Amazon are fine for scratching the surface, but if you want to drive advanced automations, you'll quickly find that they're pretty limiting.

    You touched on one of Google's limitations with having to make a room called "Christmas Lights". This goes for any light grouping. You can't create a grouping within a room. So for every grouping you end up having to create another room in Google. I have 7 smart lights in my master bedroom, but I ended up having to create 3 different rooms to accommodate what I wanted to do. Google is also not geo-aware, so you can't set automations for example to turn lights on and off at sunset, sunrise, etc. I'd like to turn on my Christmas lights at sunset, but that's not an option on Google, you can get around it pretty easy when you are talking about a single season like Christmas, just pick a time. But what if you want something to happen at sunset or sunrise year round? Not an option.

    I tried Amazon thinking it would be the solution to my Google dissatisfaction, and based on the fact I'm a Prime customer like most people, but, that wasn't the solution.

    Then there's the whole voice control or phone control issue. Voice control is kind of like a gee, neat-o thing, but after a while, it's just boring. I don't really want to talk with Google or Alexa that much. Talking to your smart home assistant all the time is so beginner level. Stuff should just happen based on what is happening in the home. If I turn on the TV in the living room, I don't want to say "Alexa, watch TV in the living room" to have the lights dimmed. I'd just rather it happen when I turn the TV on. I can always override with voice control, but I'd rather voice control be like the trim setting rather than the primary driver of actions.

    The solution is a home automation hub. You briefly glossed over Samsung SmartThings, and by association glossed over the whole category. SmartThings, Wink, Vera, Hubitat, etc, etc. I'm personally running Hubitat because it has the best local automation capabilites, as in, my automations will work even if my Internet is dead externally. In some cases, with my UPS powering my infrastructure panel, the Zigbee door/window sensors will still work even if my power is out, so long as the UPS still has juice. Hubitat also has a dedicated security function built into it that you can add existing gadgets into. You don't need a separate security system and that ultimately saves you money. It is also geo-aware and it knows what time sunset and sunrise are at my GPS coordinates so that I can drive automations relative to time of day and they will work year round.

    Hubitat is not for the faint of heart with it's custom apps and drivers for many things. SmartThings probably has the widest integration of any platform out there as well as great community support and is probably the best choice for a first timer.

    Another thing pushing adoption of a hub is the support of Zigbee and Z-Wave devices. You mentioned the alliance for smart home devices between Amazon, Apple, Google and Zigbee, I'm sure that will yield dividends in the future, but as of today, August 2020, you need some sort of hub if you want Zigbee and not to mention Z-Wave.

  7. 6 months later reviews and it’s been out for 6 months and this is my first time seeing! But amazing video man helped me a lot and i ordered the stuff I need to get everything done ✅

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