I’ve been gradually expanding my setup over time and hit an interesting realization — sometimes the house feels like it’s making decisions for me instead of actually helping 
Between multiple hardware platforms, smart home platforms, lighting scenes, smart apps, presence detection, and environmental triggers, things work great “most of the time”… but occasionally I wonder where the line is between smart and over-engineered. These automations take a lot of time to think through and more elaborate ones can be complex to setup. I sometimes wonder if the juice is worth the squeeze in regards to the benefit i get.
I’m curious how others approach this:
• Do you prioritize reliability/simplicity over complex automations?
• Any automations you added and later removed?
• What’s one automation you’d never give up?
I Would love to hear how you all balance convenience vs control — I am always looking for creative automation ideas (or automation woes to avoid!).
13 Likes
Often the journey is better than the destination… so If you enjoy the challenges involved in building out your automations, great!
To answer your questions though:
- I prioritise reliability and user experience over complexity
- Yes, I’ve switched off lots of automations along the way – the one that told my family members when I’d reached the supermarket was well-intentioned, but they took advantage by sending heaps of requests through!
- We’d never give up the automation that announces who’s arriving outside – parcel delivery, postman, recyclers, etc. We also like it when it tells us when there’s going to be a frost… simple but really useful.
5 Likes
What’s one automation you’d never give up?
If I had to pick one, it’s my ‘Morning Sentinel’ flow in Node-Red. It transitions from basic circadian lighting to a full system audit while I sleep, greeting me with a brief that confirms everything from network health to home vitals is optimal. It turns the house into a high-functioning cockpit rather than just a collection of gadgets—that’s the one ‘squeeze’ where the juice is definitely worth it.
1 Like
I’m of the opinion that it is critical that you, the admin or creator or engineer of the smart home, be very clear what the purpose of your installation is. And then **Communicate that purpose ** to everyone in your home.
Additionally, I have found it useful to keep a list of possible ‘purposes’. Some examples:
-
Go Green - The goal is to minimize your impact on the environment. This is NOT the same thing as saving money.
-
Saving Money - The goal is to save money through the use of your system.
-
Security - The goal is to make your home more secure by using your system.
-
Maintenance - The goal of your system is to monitor your home for any potential trouble or failure. This is different from Security because Alerting on a Window Monitor is not the same as Alerting on a leaking water heater.
-
Health and Safety - The goal of the system is to monitor the people who are making their way through your home. This means that your system is designed to Alert on falls, for example. A baby monitor is another example. I’m Alerting on my mother’s bed; if she is still in bed after such and such a time, I Alert. Same with her coffee maker; I get an alert if she doesn’t turn it on by a certain time.
Note: This can expand very quickly. I would include any solution that you create that accommodates the health needs of your household.
Examples:
-
Turn on a light to assist the infirm at night.
-
Turn on/off lights to make it possible for the infirm to exist in the space longer than they otherwise might. Think of a person with Parkinson’s that would have to have someone help turning on/off a small lamp.
-
Record and deliver health data. I’m working on this where my goal is to have various medical records that are important to have but only when needed. I’m going to be having my mom take her blood pressure, temperature and pulse every morning. I’m going to be building a method of measuring her Rx regimen. She has an iPhone and I will capture her physical activity. I’m doing this not to be too worried about compliance but to provide her doctor with a history in the event that she needs it.
-
Convenience - Let’s face it; I’m lazy and the thought of activating the ‘Movie’ just makes me warm all over.
-
Hobby - Some old men have model trains, others collect stamps. The entire justification of the system is ‘it is just plain fun’.
Note: I have found that if this is your primary purpose for your smart home, you need to be honest with yourself and your family. Specifically the fact that it is NOT about saving money or saving time or making it more convenient to use your home. In fact, it has been my experience that the hobby home is invariably more expensive taking more time to build, operate and repair all while providing a consistent source of aggregation for everyone not you who has to live inside your hobby.
I’m guessing that your system has multiple purposes and that you’re able to make it work equally well for each of them. But if I’m being honest, I was a happier husband to the woman that sat down with me and received earnest answers to the question, ‘And why, exactly are you taking all weekend to take care of this light bulb that you think will turn on when the script that you wrote sends a signal to your garage fridge to make sure that the scale doesn’t weigh less than six cold beers when the flight that my mother is on lands, unless your PS2 doesn’t detect presence in your tv room. Or your garage. And then goes into your phone to obtain your gps coordinates for the purpose of making sure that you are likely, I love using that word in the way that makes it sound like a precise term but in no way is, likely not going to see this light bulb in which case it will just text you the driving directions to the nearest beer store? And what was wrong with the bulb that you did have working that you ‘just had to buy 4 of to get the fifth one for free? And when you’re finished with your explanation, when can I expect you address that strip light in the bedroom that turns on one hour after the mailbox jiggles, but only when it’s not a weekend and for some godforsaken reason, only if the bathroom fan is on?’
I’m not really that bad but I’d bet you a W200 it feels like that to her!!
/giggle
1 Like