Which smart home tech in your home has been worth it?

Posted by Other_Exercise@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 166 comments

In my case, IKEA Tradfri smart lighting. Plenty of skeptics about, but essentially just means you don't have to walk around turning all your lamps on and off. Less useful for big light gang, though. However, I'm not sold on Alexa and Smart blinds and camera doorbells. But am I wrong!

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Future_Rub8750@reddit

Smart lighting is a game-changer, but Alexa feels more like a snoop than a pal - what’s the deal with that?

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Firm_Database_1333@reddit

>

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Latter_Masterpiece56@reddit

I've been using Google camera and been loving it for the most part

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Emotional-Street1458@reddit

**"I’ve been using the Orbitell Wireless Doorbell for a while now, and it’s honestly a solid budget-friendly option. The 2K HD video is super clear, and the motion detection works well without too many false alerts. Plus, no subscription is a huge win! Setup was easy, and the two-way audio is surprisingly clear.** **That being said, there are a few downsides. The battery life could be better, especially if you get a lot of motion alerts. Also, the WiFi connection can be a bit spotty at times, so make sure your router has a strong signal near the door. The night vision is decent, but not as sharp as higher-end models. Still, for the price, it does a great job!** Here it is : [https://amzn.to/4h7z6Rv](https://amzn.to/4h7z6Rv)

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Norman_debris@reddit

I don't mind your "smart" thermostats and hoovers, but I actually how comfortable people are with corporate listening devices in their home. Whenever I'm in someone's house and they just shout out "Alexa, play bla bla", I think, fuck, I had no idea that was in here, listening to everything. Whenever I express concerns I feel like the dangers are so obvious and it's like I'm the only person wearing a seat belt and no-one understands why. I'm not paranoid (honestly!). Just seems mad that people are happy with Amazon and Apple or whoever listening to and recording your entire life.

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Torezx@reddit

This is just a weird take. Even if they were listening (yes they most likely are), what does it matter? Unless you're seriously up to something you shouldn't be, do you really think they have any interest in what the average person has to say?

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glasgowgeg@reddit

> Whenever I'm in someone's house and they just shout out "Alexa, play bla bla", I think, fuck, I had no idea that was in here, listening to everything Functionally how is it different from having a phone with Siri or Google Assistant in your pocket, or on your desk?

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Norman_debris@reddit

Nothing I suppose. I also avoid those apps and try not to have any microphone access permissions enabled. But you're right, it's everywhere.

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AmbientApe@reddit

Well at least you’re not paranoid.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

> I also avoid those apps Which apps? Siri and Google Assistant aren't apps, they're features of the device operating systems.

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Norman_debris@reddit

You know what I mean. I avoid using those features by not granting microphone permission.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

How are you using your phone for calls if you're disabling mic permissions system wide?

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Norman_debris@reddit

Behave. You know what I mean.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

My point is that Siri and Google Assistant are system processes, you can't fully disable their mic access without revoking access system-wide. You can disable its ability to listen for certain key phrases, but not entirely in all circumstances.

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Necessary_Driver_831@reddit

People have done multiple tear downs of Alexa devices and sniffed every packet they send to prove that they don’t “listen in” to anything other than their key words.

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layendecker@reddit

Could you imagine the data center needed to store and process all that voice data?

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Major-Bookkeeper8974@reddit

Meh, They can listen to me all they like. Most of my daily conversations involve talking about how many heads Dodrio has or how big Steelix is with my 6 year old son. I mean If Google can find some marketing use for his preference for fish fingers then good on them in my opinion.

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Norman_debris@reddit

There just seems to be something so much more invasive in having my conversations listened to vs my clicks monitored. It's a lot of trust to place in Google not to go further than showing you ads. I don't think it's a huge stretch to imagine these companies reporting suspicious conversations to the police or exposing secrets. Of course these risk exist with our smartphones too, but they at least aren't designed to be listening to us all the time (they could but that isn't their purpose).

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DesertDwellerrrr@reddit

IMHO most of it is a solution in search of a problem

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caniuserealname@reddit

I mean, so are most things once your basic needs are met. Theres nothing wrong with that.

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Nine_Eye_Ron@reddit

The fun of it is the setup, the initial novelty and when people visit. My rule is I only buy it when it actually solves a problem I have. So far that has served me well.

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bacon_cake@reddit

It's not necessarily trying to solve a problem, it's just *adding* convenience. Otherwise you could say that about a lot of things. My doorbell records who's knocking on my door for security and convenience so I don't have to answer if it's a salesperson. My lights come on at sunset. I say "Story time" and my son's room lights dim, the night light comes on, and white noise plays so we can get ready for bed after bath. Our electric blankets turn off after a set period of time in the winter and we can turn them on from the lounge to pre-warm before we go to bed. We can switch our heating and lights on before we come home in the evening so in the winter we don't have a cold dark house. We can ask for practically any music we want in any room of the house and adjust the volume while cooking without washing our hands. Our vacuum cleaner keeps on top of the dust every other day while we're out of the house so we barely have to hoover. All of our bulbs are voice controlled and dimmable. None of that really solved a problem per se, but you could say the same about the *mobile telephone* or the *motorised carriage* or *the oven* as I'm sure many people did back in the day.

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MorningToast@reddit

Our office is all the way at the bottom of the garden so the doorbell is a lifesaver. We can see who's there and let delivery drivers know we're on the way to collect it. Thermostat is also great, we don't keep regular hours, no 9-5s in our household so the ability to pop the heating on 30 mins before we come home in the winter is excellent. Same for the radiator in our office, it's on the wifi so we can heat that room up before we go down there to work on chilly mornings. I've also got a lamp on a wifi enabled plug socket that we can turn on and off when we're away so that it looks like someone is home... Even though we live in such a safe place, my wife freaks out 😂

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BornNectarine4450@reddit

As someone growing up in a council estate your house reads like something out of a science fiction novel lol

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Necessary_Driver_831@reddit

Thing is in the grand scheme of things if you do a bit at a time it’s not that expensive. When your next light bulb goes pop replace it with a smart LED one that will last for years, ask for eg an Echo for Christmas, the Dots are always on offer at £20. And if you’re on benefits keep an eye on Octopus etc as they dished out loads of free electric blankets last year too. Attach to a smart plug that you can get for £5-10 and you’re there.

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culturerush@reddit

Can't say that's been the case for the smart tech I got A smart thermostat especially has been amazing. It has a motion sensor and has learnt when we are normally at work and when we are not and has adjusted our heating schedule, the sensor means on a day off it knows someone's in. Our gas bills gone down by £30 a month thanks to it. Trying to balance when to have the thermostat on and the boiler on and not being able to easily switch it all off when we were away for a weekend was a pain in the arse. Now I hit a button on my phone when we go away and that's that. Alexa has been great for timers and alarms especially when cooking multiple dishes. Also I own budgies and there's noone in the house for a few hours a day so being able to have some music on for them that automatically turns on and off at a set time is easier than going into to turn a radio on and off. Smart lights we don't have yet but that's next on the list. Whoever wired our house did it so stupid putting the light switches behind the open doors so it's either get a leccy in to sort them and redo the walls or get some smart bulbs.

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WoodSteelStone@reddit

What music do your budgies like? I'm convinced our rabbits prefer my husband playing Fishermen's Friends rather than me playing The Levellers.

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culturerush@reddit

They seem to happily tweet along to anything. For some reason they really dislike Bernie Sanders but thankfully he doesn't come up often on radio 2

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WoodSteelStone@reddit

Ha ha, that's lovely.

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jordsta95@reddit

A lot of it is. There are some "smart" things which are worth it, maybe not for everyone though. If it connects to the internet/an app on your phone, and you have to set it up. The answer is **almost** always "Not worth it"; Alexa, light bulbs, doorbell cameras, etc. Sometimes, they can be worth it. Such as the doorbell camera if you live in a dodgy area, as it can give you peace of mind. But if you don't live in an area where you worry about people breaking in/stealing things from your doorstep/etc. then they are just an expensive doorbell.  But any tech which is set up by someone else, e.g. a Smart Meter for gas/electricity, or replaces you, such as a robot vacuum? They are worth it, assuming you meet the right criteria for it; e.g. if you have a fully carpeted house, then a robot vacuum may not do as good as ol' Henry and a bit of your time.

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oktimeforplanz@reddit

I'm curious to understand why you think the answer is almost always not worth it?

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jordsta95@reddit

From a security standpoint, if it connects to the internet/is controlled via an app, 99% of the time, it will cause a big security vulnerability. Because the company behind the product won't have the strongest security practices or the person who bought it won't. There's a good segment from Joe Lycett's Go Your Back on this. Obviously, this shouldn't be a huge concern for most people, because "Why would you want to hack into my coffee machine?". But for things like baby monitoring cameras or whatever, it's not a thing I would want to risk, even if no one was watching. For the cost of them, you don't really get a better product unless you need ALL of the features. A friend spent £80 each on Philips Hue lightbulbs, and controls them via his Alexa. I have some remote control lights which cost less than £10 each, and whilst I can't just shout "Alexa, lights off" if I accidentally left the light on or have the massive colour range his bulbs have. For what he uses them for (as basic lights), it's a rip off. And of course, if they do break, it's more expensive to replace. And sometimes the features are completely pointless and don't make the product better. I can see the appeal of lights you can turn on/off from anywhere in the house/as you come home in the middle of winter, rather than by using a remote in the same room. However, why does a washing machine need internet access? BUT, saying all of this, they are still things I will recommend to family/friend IF it's the right thing for what they need. If their problem is they don't want to install a light switch near their bed, but don't want to get out of bed to turn the lights on/off. Then the Hue bulbs are a waste of money. But if they want to have a cool room to play games in, where the lights change with whatever is going on in the game (e.g. as your health drops, the lights change to a red hue), then Hue bulbs are great. The few seconds these devices save doesn't usually make up for the added cost of them.

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oktimeforplanz@reddit

Fair. I think I've found the balance in terms of what adds to my life/experience. I'm also at a point in my life where the cost difference doesn't matter too much to me to save some time turning my lights on or off. I just like the convenience (and it helps mitigate my tendency to forget to turn lights off). I haven't gone for Philips Hue though - I've got Tapo ones that are a decent bit cheaper for the bulbs I want to have fine colour control over. Otherwise it's just normal smart bulbs or smart plugs for me! I agree on baby monitoring cameras though. I also wouldn't trust a smart lock for my house, however much the concept appeals to me. It's funny though that you asked why a washing machine needs internet access - I have ADHD and will chronically forget that there's washing in the machine. My new washing machine has internet access and will harass me every 30 minutes that there's wet clothes in the machine. It becomes harder to leave wet clothes in there for 3 days when that's happening! Likewise with my tumble dryer that'll tell me if the clothes are still damp at the end of the cycle. It's saved me time, electricity, and water from not having to rewash clothes I left in there to get all musty. It's also nice to be able to specifically program it and set a specific end time, rather than my old washing machine's simple delay function which let me delay it for X number of hours. I tell it I want it to finish by 12:30 so I can move it to the tumble dryer when I'm in the kitchen anyway getting lunch. It's easier for me to keep on top of things when I can chain stuff together like that. It spins the drum a bit to detect the weight of the washing, and then sets its own start time that means it'll finish when I want it to. And boom, washing hanging out in the washing machine for 3 days until I notice it's there or need something that's in there, or go to put on another wash is a thing of the past! I didn't go out of my way to get wifi enabled versions, it just so happened that the non-wifi versions were out of stock in the colour I wanted and the price for wifi enabled was marginal, so I got those. Now that I have it, I genuinely really like it and wouldn't go back to one without these functions. So I think there are use cases for virtually everything!

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minisrugbycoach@reddit

Isn't that the whole premise of 90% of the stuff you see on dragons den?

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ClassOf37@reddit

They said that years ago about mobile phones! I think practical applications for these things emerge over time. I know people who work with people with cognitive problems, and Alexa is a huge help for reminders or switching off unused appliances etc. Personally, my main benefit is being able to turn my bedroom light off whilst in bed instead of having to get up and do it. Whether those kinds of benefits pay off the R&D that goes into these things, who knows.

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

Or a bit of fun.

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PlasticFreeAdam@reddit

Robot vacuum. I would go without heating before suck-bot.

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TheDisapprovingBrit@reddit

Ours is called Looby Loo, for no other reason than it's made by Lubluelu.

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Traditional_Cress561@reddit

Ours is called Dusty

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borokish@reddit

Ours is called "that stupid fucking hoover thing"

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gigglesmcsdinosaur@reddit

Ours is Mrs Hudson, she keeps the house clean and doesn't speak

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InfectedByEli@reddit

"I'm your vacuum, not your housekeeper".

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newnortherner21@reddit

You have shown your age and I have mine to get the reference!

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MadWifeUK@reddit

Ours is Herbert Hoover. He's a good boy, though he does become "fucking muppet" when he gets himself stuck under the coffee table.

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Jimbo_jamboree1234@reddit

I see I’m not the only one who’s name their autonomous vacuum Herbert 🤣🤣

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morris_man@reddit

It's is Eric the Vacing

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bacon_cake@reddit

Ours is called Roger because he's a Eufy Robovac.

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TomfromLondon@reddit

Roco as ours is roborock

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Necessary_Driver_831@reddit

What is the actual storage capacity of these things? I keep wondering about it as vacuuming is t least favourite chore but at the same time I don’t know if I can justify it especially as I have stairs and I’ve yet to see a version that can climb them.

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

Storage is fairly small, and I was semi-concerned at first. But... The trick is to schedule it to clean every day. So each clean is only picking up dust and hair (if you have a cat/dog) from the ladt 24 hours. My Eufy X8 does a largish lounge/dining room daily, with hall and kitchen if the doors are open; and it copes fine. One thing I would recommend is paying the extra for one with an emptying station, instead of just a charging dock (the full name of my model is Eufy X8 SES - "Self-Emptying Station"). The station contains a fairly conventional cleaner bag. I have my robovac programmed to empty itself after every clean. On the very rare occasion that the cleaner gets full (only after days without cleaning), the robovac detects it, returns to the station, empties itself, then goes back to where it was and continues cleaning! Sometimes, when self-emptying, you may get a "bag is full or blocked" announcement. If the bag is full, you just change it - 2 minute job. On a very rare occasion, there may be a clog somewhere, requiring you to manually empty the robovac. This only happens once every few months, if that, and it still is only a 5 minute job, over the kitchen bin. Other than that you can schedule it and forget it.

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Necessary_Driver_831@reddit

How close do they get to skirting boards/edges of sofas and other eg straight edges? That’s my only other concern as they all seem to be round which is counterproductive to brushing against a straight edge like my Shark’s head can do

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

This is the bottom of my model (not my picture). https://preview.redd.it/q7k2gsirmr1d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78dc17ceb8c97c9b620071a1fc429b8af2a22b27 That brush extends out from underneath, and flick dust and stuff underneath. The vac always starts a room by going around the edge, and in a direction where that brush is leading. It the criss-crosses the room. Some vacs have two such brushes, on on each side. I was sceptical at first. But it does seem to clean the edges better than I would with a manual cleaner.

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

At the same time, other vacs do have a squarer aspect. This is the Eufy Omni S1, due out soon. https://preview.redd.it/epc7hxypnr1d1.jpeg?width=1300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=01e538212a95961806860b3c65f490c48dc78510 Having said that, this over a thousand quids worth of kit. Whereas my X8 SES - which I love - is currently £399 on Amazon, reduced from £599 (because of new models coming out).

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

Actually the X9 is also squarish, and £599. I went for the X8, because the advantages of the X9 were mostly mop related, which I didn't need. https://amzn.eu/d/3DWmwqf

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Unhappy-Capital-1464@reddit

They have a rotating set of brushes at the front right hand side usually - this essentially flicks anything at the side of the robot in front of it so it then gets hoovered up. It's not perfect but it's 90% of the way there.

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cmdrxander@reddit

You might know the answer to all of these, but how well do they deal with things like rugs, thresholds, cables, pets?

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

My experience... my living room is carpeted with two wool rugs. The robovac deals with these fine. Thresholds - as long as it *fairly* flat. Things like https://preview.redd.it/sa7507bp8r1d1.jpeg?width=259&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f463b4df335e06f7367d82d490fa26a0229e5636 shouldn't be a problem. Cables - I would try to avoid. I've not had a problem, but wouldn't want to even run a manual cleaner across cables. Fortunately, the better robovacs (including my own) have the ability for you to mark areas to be avoided. I have a corner which is a mess of cables, which I have marked "do not go". Similarly, I have a chair with a couple of bottom runners resting on the floor. Although the robovac can go around and through, it sometimes tries to ho over. Sometimes it makes it sometimes it announced it us stuck. Again, I gave that chair marked to avoid, and my nightly tidy includes pushing it back to where it belongs. Pets? If they get too close, it will try to avoid them. My beagle was curious/scared at first, but within a week, she would just jump on the sofa and watch it. Hope this helps.

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HonkyBoo@reddit

We call ours Dustin Bieber, Dustin Hoffman or Clean Latifah

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RKID084@reddit

Mine is called Mike Dyson

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runew0lf@reddit

Ours is called Dustin Bieper! cos he cleans and beeps as he goes!!!

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Vivaelpueblo@reddit

Smart WiFi sockets. So handy for turning off power to things to stop them gobbling power sat on standby, the socket is awkward to get to behind the telly and hifi stuff but connected to Alexa I just say "Living room on" and Alexa turns it on. I got the idea after visiting a friend's house and she turned off all the lights and TV etc with a single voice command. The sockets also record power consumption, so I can see what's burning the leccy (the dishwasher, washer dryer and 20 year old fridge freezer are the main culprits). I've got a smart meter as well but that's pretty useless and doesn't provide much info at all.

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I_want_pickles@reddit

Smart light definitely. All the sockets in my house are hidden away in stupid places and the light switches make no sense at all. Before smart switches it was a routine or a torch.

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perfik09@reddit

IMO only cameras, plugs and thermostats. The bulbs just break too easily I gave up on them.

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txteva@reddit

>Less useful for big light gang, though. You can get smart centre lights too - the Lepro Smart Ceiling Light on Amazon is easy to fit and works great. Remote access to thermostats is useful for keeping the house warm (or cold when away!). Smart blinds are useful too - all depends how much you like using tech and if you make the most of it.

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red_skye_at_night@reddit

For smart plugs, don't overlook the old-school options. I was tempted by the fancy wifi voice activated ones but it turns out the analogue timer plugs are plenty smart for what I need them to do (turn on and off my grow lights).

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blackthornjohn@reddit

I spend too much time fixing smart home tech for other people to have it in my home, although because of the layout of our home, it wouldn't be more convenient to have it anyway.

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Difficult_Listen_917@reddit

None of it. Not a single piece actually improves quality of life. It just makes us as a species more lazy.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

> It just makes us as a species more lazy I have a smart thermostat that allows me to switch the heating on as I'm still travelling home, so it's already heated by the time I get in, how is that making me more lazy? I have a smart doorbell that allows me to link my hub speakers throughout the flat because it didn't have a traditional doorbell, and you can't hear the door being knocked due to the layout of my flat, how is that making me more lazy?

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masterpharos@reddit

> It just makes us as a species more lazy. this is nonsense.

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Gadget100@reddit

That may be true for some devices, but not all. For example, smart heating systems save on bills and emissions. Doorbells with built-in cameras can improve security.

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811545b2-4ff7-4041@reddit

Most of it does replace 'humans doing things', but there are some things, like my video doorbell, that allows remote communication with my front door, for deliveries, and that's not a substitute for being lazy. It's helped me find some deliveries that were thrown over my side gate (because I had evidence of them doing it!). However, I just turned on my lounge light by asking it, rather than just getting up and turning it on. That's certainly lazy. When I'm out, and the light switches itself on at sundown, that's not lazy, that's helpful for security. Generally, most of the 'not lazy' stuff is when stuff happens when I'm not at home.

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PepsiMaxSumo@reddit

My mum has cheap Alexa’s in every communal room/hallway connected to Spotify and for under £100 she has a full home music system (4/5 Alexa dots, 3 bed house). Shes going deaf so it’s also useful for kitchen timers and the doorbell, she can hear one of them when upstairs or when hoovering as there’s one in the upstairs hallway and her bedroom. She’s since added smart bulbs/plugs for the hard to reach corner lights, Christmas lights, fans in summer etc. 15 years ago she saw a built in speaker system in a new build and loved it but it was something like £5k extra. She’s had this system for 4ish years and loves it, for under £100.

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Zealousideal-Ad5491@reddit

Google Home Mini. Was twenty quid and use as a radio and Spotify speaker mostly. I hate using my phone in front of my young kids. So being able get the Google Home mini to tell us the answers to random kids questions, tell us weather this afternoon, set timers, set reminders and make notes is ridiculously easy move to a more screen free life.

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TimorousWarlock@reddit

Does Home Assistant count? Means I can use pretty much any smart tech and have way more control than proprietary apps would allow me.

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DoctorOctagonapus@reddit

Yes! My smart home stuff basically wouldn't function without that. Nothing comes close, it can integrate with almost anything and it's open source to boot.

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bacon_cake@reddit

Any examples of what you do with it you couldn't otherwise? I'm using my devices with Google Home but never really felt short-changed on any functionality.

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evenstevens280@reddit

Home Assistant basically lets you connect absolutely \*anything\* to it, and control every single tiny parameter of that thing. It doesn't need special "Works with..." certification for Alexa, Google Home etc, things just sort of... work. It's pretty crazy. It also lets you write crazy advanced automations that things Google Home never has a chance of competing with. You need some hardware to act as a hub. Most people start with a Raspberry Pi with some sort of Zigbee radio, and you can go from there. The most obvious benefit of this is that everything is kept local and on your network. You don't need hubs for different brands, no cloud connections etc. To wit, it's absolute targeted to "power users". It definitely takes some tinkering, but if you're the kind of person that wants absolute control, HA is what you want.

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masterpharos@reddit

tell me more about your home automations, this kind of stuff is so cool

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evenstevens280@reddit

Aside from the obvious "motion sensor triggering lighting" ones, I have a few more unique ones... - We have a two zone heated mattress topper on our bed in the winter, attached to a smart plug. If either of our phones are detected inside the house at around bedtime (10:30pm), and its cold in the bedroom (based on a temperature sensor in the bedroom), the smart plugs the mattress topper is connected to turn on and heats both sides of the bed for exactly 30 minutes, then shuts off. If either of us want to turn it back on, we can do that with a shortcut on our phones. - We have Velux solar powered skylights (came with the house) in the kitchen. If the humidity in the kitchen gets too high, and the humidity outside is suitably low, they open to air out the room. Similarly, if the CO2 sensor detects a massive jump in CO2 levels (e.g. from the gas hob, or from particularly smokey food), they will open and help air out the kitchen quicker than just if the extractor fan was running. Those windows thankfully have built in rain sensors so will close on their own if they detect rain. Again, I can control these manually with my phone through Home Assistant - I set up some very cheap Zigbee leak/water detectors in places around the house that could be prone to leaking, e.g. under the boiler, under sinks in cupboards, behind the washing machine, under the main stop cock. If either of these detect water, I get repeated notifications on my phone, all of the speakers in the house say "There's a leak in the... \[area\]", and the lights that can turn blue will turn blue. Hopefully this automation never fires...!

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masterpharos@reddit

the last one is brilliant! Thanks for sharing. Is there much to learn on the code-side of the automation? I figure there are plenty of forums and stackexchanges to help with such things in a pinch. I can see it being really fun to get such things working: 14th February only - both your phones are in the house. Lights turn rose pink and "Just the Two of Us" comes on the speaker...cheesy but pretty cool!

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evenstevens280@reddit

The Home Assistant UI team has done an excellent job in recent releases in making writing automations very user friendly. A lot of it can be done with a pretty powerful wizard-style editor these days. But if you want to dig deep, you can get into the raw coding side of it if you want (it uses YAML, which isn't the most intuitive language to use for writing automations but it is what it is). You obviously have more power doing that, but it takes longer and is harder to reconcile in your own head.

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horseradish_smoothie@reddit

I'm just too lazy to shout "OK Google, turn on downstairs lights. They just fade in when motion detected on the stairs in the morning. On a work day, one light will turn on in a more blueish colour if overnight temperature risks having to defrost the car. They then flash giving a 10 minute warning to leave, taking into account traffic.

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TimorousWarlock@reddit

I can use devices from any source with it. IKEA make zigbee devices and have their own hub. I can use their devices with no hub because they integrate with what I already have. I only have one app on my phone and I can do whatever I want from there - /u/evenstevens280 has given a much better in depth answer of the fancy things you can do!

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CarpeCyprinidae@reddit

Google smart plugs. all the side lamps in different rooms are on one of these and there's a cheap google speaker in every room. Being able to use a voice command to light up or unlight any room, or to do it from our phones when we aren't home, is brilliant In winter the electric blanket on a smart plug has been great too - preheat the bed before going up, makes it comfortable not to heat the house as much and therefore made big energy savings

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Sea_Coast9517@reddit

Yeah, the smart plugs we added to our electric blankets are probably the best feature. I can schedule it to be warm when I go to bed and automatically turn off at a time when I'm usually asleep. I believe there are electric blankets that have their own timers you can use, but I just found this is easier, and the plugs were fairly cheap.

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SuperSnailSS@reddit

I hate hate hate Alexa with a passion. Me and my wife were given two as gifts over the year and any time I ask it anything useful, it'll rattle on for 4 minutes about some unrelated thing it misheard me on. I ask it to play music, and it'll say it can't find what I asked for on Spotify (Really Alexa? There's NO classical music mix on Spotify at all?) and then play Amazon Music by default, giving me adverts. however... being able to shout at a little box for a timer while my hands are covered in chicken grease or cake batter? Very handy. I'd happily replace Alexa for a voice activated timer alone. Occasionally she does get the music correct, and it's nice to have basically a radio for a few minutes.

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TwoBadRobots@reddit

A "smart" kettle that you can set the temperature for, we are no longer boil water for tea to 100° nicer tea and a small saving each cup.

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anonoaw@reddit

We got an Alexa free with our Ring doorbell and I was like ‘I’m never gonna use this’ but I do find it convenient for adding things to a communal shopping list for our household, setting timers (particularly useful for managing my 3 year old!) and listening to music. I could easily live without it, but I do enjoy the convenience. (Ironically the ring doorbell that we actually bought has not been worth it at all) Other than that, my robot hoover has been worth its weight in gold and then some. Best impulse purchase my husband has ever made.

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stuaxo@reddit

Robot vac, though to be fair I don't let it connect to the WiFi.

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Traditional_Cress561@reddit

Was he naughty and lost internet privileges?

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stuaxo@reddit

Never gained them, I have to pull it out of a jam a lot of the time, it's easy enough to press the button to start it or go grab it and take it down a step and put it in another room. You have to clear the floor of obstacles anyway + empty it's bin so it works fine.

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bacon_cake@reddit

For security reasons? You might be right, check out what mine did a little while ago: [https://www.reddit.com/r/eufy/comments/1bz1u6n/my\_x8\_is\_dominating\_my\_network\_with\_requests\_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/eufy/comments/1bz1u6n/my_x8_is_dominating_my_network_with_requests_to/)

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stuaxo@reddit

Cheers -yeah, I keep meaning to setup a seperate network for IOT stuff - it's just at a very low priority to do, there's other house stuff, have to entertain my kid - and the rest of life to get on with.

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Mystic_L@reddit

As others have said robot cleaner, we have one which hoovers and mops. The majority of our downstairs is hard floor, doesn’t replace the need to clean ‘properly’ but with two kids running round it keeps the floors consistently clean. Heating we have just installed a Honeywell system which has an individual TRV in each room controlling heating independently in each which is a massive upgrade from the previous nest thermostats we had. We’ve got a Samsung smart thing with load of lights and sockets on timers etc. main ones of note are front door / driveway lights on a timer which come on at dusk and off at 11pm. Porch light which comes on when the door is opened after dusk. Lights in the kids bedrooms which come on for bedtime and modify to night lights for overnight with buttons for the kids to be able to control the lights within set rules overnight. A dehumidifier that we activate via Alexa to help dry washing in the utility room. We also have a couple of in ceiling speakers which are driven by a stage amp, I have a rule that turns off the amp completely if Sonos is not playing - the smart switch has paid for itself multiple times over in saving of standby power. Also in the cupboard under the stars where the amp is we have a couple of inverters for solar panels don’t gets quite hot, I’ve got a temperature sensor that turns a fan on above a certain temperature to keep it cool, but also not have a noisy fan run when it doesn’t need to. A smart lock that lets me open the back door from my phone so I don’t need to take my keys with me. Doorbell and a few security cameras linked to a pvr. NAS drive that’s a media server, secondary photo backup for our phones and a VPN terminator. Sonos in all of the reception rooms, bathrooms and master bedroom, and a couple of strategically placed Alexa’s to control stuff. One long suffering wife who has turned a blind eye to my technology habit.

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postvolta@reddit

I have a Google home in several rooms, a display in the kitchen, Google video doorbell, Chromecasts, and smart plugs connected to lights I'd say it's all been worth it. Lights are set to go on and off at certain times that change as the nights get darker, and we can turn them on and off with our voice. Being able to play music across the whole house or specifically one speaker is great, and being able to ask about the weather or some other information has been underrated. Can put recipes on the display while cooking, play videos, have it scroll through photos connected to our account, or any other thing is also great. Video doorbell gives us peace of mind while we're away (as it would capture anyone going down the side of our house) and has been helpful on a few occasions to speak with neighbours or delivery drivers while we're not at home (sorry I know some of you guys hate these things). I would say however that this one is the least worth it, but hard to put a price on peace of mind. Being able to say "hey Google, play bluey on Disney plus on the living room TV" and have it just turn the TV on and play bluey is so good. Yes, these are all solutions to things that aren't really problems, like yeah I could go around and turn lamps on or off, or get my phone out to check the weather, or put plug timers on the lights for when we're away, or use the TV remote to put bluey on, but it's all just helpful stuff on a day to day basis. Like you could say "why get a dishwasher when you could just wash up" or whatever. Also I know Im giving my data to Google. I used to care a lot and be active and vocal and stressed about the whole thing, and things continued anyway on their merry dystopian way of stripping data privacy away, so I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

> I have a Google home in several rooms, a display in the kitchen, Google video doorbell, Chromecasts, and smart plugs connected to lights I'm similar, Nest doorbell, home hubs in a few rooms, the one I wasn't impressed with is the Chromecast. I had it connected to a [BenQ EX2780Q](https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor/gaming/ex2780q.html) monitor with built-in stereo speakers. The Chromecast always defaulted to 5.1 audio, making dialogue incredibly quiet compared to other devices, Google has no option for the Chromecast to force stereo audio, so I returned it and got a Roku 4K Express instead, which does have the option for forcing stereo audio.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

I'm predominantly Google, so I have: Nest doorbell, which is fantastic because I'm in an upper four in a block flat, the living room/bedrooms are at the other side of the property. I can't hear someone knocking the door (the property didn't have a standard doorbell when I bought it), but the Nest doorbell rings my phone and the nest hubs throughout the flat. Also, have you ever left the house, got to the end of the street just to think "Oh god, did I lock the door properly?", open the Google app, check the footage where you can see yourself locking the door. Smart thermostat, nothing better than being able to switch the heating on before you get home on a cold winter day, knowing that it'll be warm for you getting home. Also no worrying about if you forgot to switch the heating off after leaving the house, you can quickly check in the app. Nest hubs (the screen version), I have one in the living room, one at my desk. I use it for hours a day to cast music to, probably one of the best value things I've ever gotten, and one of them came free with the thermostat and the other came free with the doorbell.

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GBrunt@reddit

I have a Tp-link Tapo wireless camera overlooking my front. No subscription, rechargable every 6 months. Has prevented 2 attempted thefts of my motorbike in the front garden and put a couple of scrotes in a police cell for a day and through months of youth offending formalities. So, the £90 outlay has been returned 10 fold.

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stanley15@reddit

Smart lighting mainly via Hue bulbs makes turning all lights off and on easy from anywhere. Smart things motion sensors make a good intruder alarm. British Gas hive is very useful to have to keep the heating bill down. I also have motion sensors attached to that plus open and close sensors for the doors.

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AndyWatt83@reddit

I don't really know about 'worth it', but during covid I went on a Hue buying spree, and I really like them. Bough the colour ones and I've set up a few 'scenes' that I think make the rooms feel quite relaxing / nice ambiance.

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Askduds@reddit

It's worth it just to scare the shit out of guests in the bathroom (windowless) by saying "Alex, go to Red Alert" while they're down there. (Changes all the lights in there to red and plays the siren)

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Lessarocks@reddit

I love Alexa. I’ve linked my hive heating and smartbulbs to it. So I can lie in bed in the morning and ask her to turn the lights and heating on before I get up. Also being able to stream music from it hands free and set timers when I’m cooking hands free and so on.

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fillip2k@reddit

I'm a convert to smart home products in general. I'm using the Google Home ecosystem (in hindsight might have been a bad idea, but I'm already under googles thumb in every other aspect of my life 😅) All my main lights are now WiZ smart lights, the fan in my living room is a Google Home enabled one. I'm on the lookout for reasonably priced GH compatible air circulator fans for my office and the bedroom. When I have my own place I plan on getting a Nest thermostat and any other appliance where there is GH compatible version will be on the list... 😅

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TurbulentBullfrog829@reddit

A Phillips Hue outdoor light at the front door that comes on at sunset and off at 11. Life changing? No, of course not. But an easy solution to forgetting to turn the front door light on/off.

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MahatmaAndhi@reddit

A Tado smart plug that switches the tortoise's lamp on at sunrise and sunset.

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Ordinary-Athlete-675@reddit

Can't do it himself? Lazy bastard

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MahatmaAndhi@reddit

By the time he gets to the switch, it's too late.

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HamsterEagle@reddit

Smart lights are helpful, paired with google routines (or something similar) they work well. Google speakers have got worse and worse over the last few years. Getting rid of Animal of the day was just cruel and unnecessary.

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jayjop@reddit

My Siri HomePod mini, it’s non intrusive, doesn’t sell my data and give me adds and sounds great. That and a smart bulb for my lamps so they come on automatically at sunset.

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lurkerman2865@reddit

Smart plug. They're a cheap off brand thing, but it connects to Alexa. I have an arcade cabinet in my man cave, which sounds quite posh, but is actually made from an old school book case I rescued from a skip, a monitor I rescued from another skip, four old PCs I rescued from yet another skip, and two Raspberry Pis, which I actually paid for. As you can imagine, there's a lot of wires hidden behind the cabinet. With the smart plugs, I can say "Alexa turn on the SNES" instead of having the untangle the wires to find the right device for whatever I'm using that day.

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circleribbey@reddit

Definitely the hue lighting, followed by nest thermostat. The eufy security cameras and doorbell are ok but not great.

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VRocker88@reddit

Smart lighting is definitely the most useful. We have motion and presence sensors dotted around to turn the lights off if nobody is around. Works wonders for the annoying bathroom hallway which can only be turned on/off from the far end, so if you're in the shower you'd either have to walk to the bathroom in the dark or leave the light on. This way they turn themselves off when you're in the bathroom and back on when you exit. Next thing on my list for the bathroom is turn on the extractor fan if the humidity gets too high, as the misses is always forgetting to do so... Home assistant makes adding "smart" things easy and helps do some lazy things, like turning on the TV when you sit on the sofa (using a vibration sensor) or put my phone to DnD when I get to work or the gym. We have a bunch of plugs, door/window sensors, temp sensors, leak sensors, motion sensors and other bits n pieces. Used together you can do some neat stuff. Yes some is gimmicky or lazy but it was also fun to set up :)

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opopkl@reddit

Tado heating controls have saved me a lot of money by turning the heating off when I'm away from home and turning radiators off when a window is open.

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opopkl@reddit

I like my Hue smart lighting for the timing and sensors. The coloured lamps are a waste after the novelty wears off. The different shades of white are enough. Tapo smart plugs for turning the Christmas tree, fans and the clothes airer on and off.

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worldworn@reddit

Smart lighting, it is one of the most benal thing you can do with the technology. But is consistently the best thing. In the winter my lamps come on automatically, so I don't have to wake up in the dark. Those dark corners of the room that never get lit because of how awkward the plugs are to reach, are gone. The ease of setting up profiles gives us mood lighting. Where we wouldn't bother. At night when the kids have forgotten to switch stuff off, it does it automatically. And when we are away, we know the house looks a little more occupied as the rooms switch on and off.

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Gadget100@reddit

We have a smart heating system (Genius Hub). We originally got it to solve two problems: * Both me and Mrs Gadget work from home, so we wanted to be able to heat our offices without heating all the rooms we weren't using during the day (mainly the bedrooms). * The level of insulation around our house varies considerably; so heating my office to a comfortable temperature caused other rooms to be baking. Genius Hub solved both problems, as every room has its own temperature sensor, and most radiators have motorised valves. I imagine it's also saved a lot of money in the process!

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DarkNinjaPenguin@reddit

I really want to get smart blinds, or at least remote ones. The blinds in my in-laws' room are above a sort of plinth and they can't reach them, so they just stay closed. The result being that room never gets any light or air. Electric blinds would solve that!

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lovesorangesoda636@reddit

Oh so much... The smart bulbs are great - we've got piles of routines setup so we barely have to touch the switches anymore. My goal is to get smart switches through the house so we can balance things out between the routines and people not using voice commands. Our blinds mean our bedroom blinds are down before we go to bed and they're combined with a temp sensor. If the room gets too hot, the blinds go down. Smart thermostatic valves on the heaters help with fine grained control of the heat in each room. We want the kids room to be set at 18 no matte what the rest of the house is doing and this lets us do that. Plus we can tell the heating to turn on if we're out but know the house is cold. The doorbell lets us see when and where parcels have been left, and we can speak to the postie if we're not in the house. When we're on holiday we've got a routine setup so the lights still go on and off making the house look occupied. We've also got some motion sensors around the house which we bring out to act as a very basic alarm system. A couple of internal cameras help us keep an eye on our cat too. We've also got door sensors which are probably the least used bit of kit but it means we can check if we closed the balcony door without having to get out of bed.

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TheDisapprovingBrit@reddit

The robot hoover has been worth its weight in gold. My wife is disabled and I'm usually too tired to clean by the time I finish work. The fact that it hoovered was only half the reason I bought it - the other half was the fact that it would force us to make sure the floor is clear each night before bed, It works a treat, and the house now manages to stay mostly clean rather than neither of us having the energy to do it until it's an absolute state.

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HonkyBoo@reddit

Also I schedule mine to be sucking up as I walk through the door. It’s like a having a dog.

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

Exactly this. Going around before bedtime doing a quick pickup of things on the floor has become a routine for me. The vacuum has tricked me into being a (relatively) tidy person.

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cmdrxander@reddit

Sounds like owning a pet! I have to make sure the kitchen/dining room is completely cat-safe before we go to bed each night.

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

As it happens, half the pick-up is replacing things like cushions, dragged to the floor by my beagle.

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

As it happens, half the pick-up is replacing things like cushions, dragged to the floor by my beagle.

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

I think my home would have people rolling their eyes. Smart bulbs in every room, with Hue control switches in the rooms commonly used by visitors, for their ease of use. Easy to enable on/off routines for when I go away. Blink cameras - video doorbell + additional camera at front. Not for security, but just to tell me when someone is at my door, because some delivery people still think a quiet knock on the door is better than a bell-press. Indoor cameras in all the rooms my dog is allowed, plus the garden, allowing me to check in on her when I am out, or just upstairs on my computer. Alexa in almost every room, from plain Echo audio only devices to full screens. Controlling lights, monitoring cameras, heating etc. Hive heating controller. Because it is easy to (temporarily) increase the temperature by voice, I can set the default cooler than I might otherwise. Most of the time, that temperature is fine. Saying "Alexa, I'm cold" boosts it for an hour via an Alexa routine. A Robovac, called "Murphy". This is fairly new, and I wish I had bought one years ago. Welcome to the future!

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lionmoose@reddit

My set up is exactly the same except the robot vacuum is called Despina. It is so convenient.

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RetiredFromIT@reddit

Smart tech that proved not to be worth it? An Alexa controlled Logitec Harmony TV controller.

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ThaFlyingYorkshiremn@reddit

Either the smartplugs or thermostat. I’d probably go plugs, we have a number of lamps on them including the livingroom one that comes on 15 minutes before sunset for the pup if we’re out, means she’s not sat in the dark. I also have my oil radiator in my office on one so I can switch it on and it auto switches off after 30 minutes (just enough time to heat the room). I’ve got them set up for all sorts of stuff.

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Anaptyso@reddit

It's basic compared to some of the suggestions in this thread, but my I really like having smart speakers around my house. Being able to just talk to a thing in the corner of the room and have it play pretty much any song I can think of still sometimes feels like a futuristic sci-fi technology. I have a Google Home Max in my kitchen and it sounds great for music. I also find it convenient for some of its smaller features e.g. I can ask it to move the music to another room, any of my google devices on the same network as the speaker will automatically get media controls for currently playing music, and they're surprisingly useful for sending little voice broadcasts around the house etc.

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oktimeforplanz@reddit

Video doorbell - probably the most helpful thing is to be able to tell delivery drivers to leave the parcel on my doorstep. Being able to assess who is at the door before opting to open it is also good. Google speakers in the rooms we spend the most time in - handy for playing music throughout the house when I'm doing housework, announces when someone is at the door, can control my lights and heating (see below). Smart light bulbs and smart plugs - being able to automate the lights in my house is nice. I've got a few of them set to turn on just before sunset, so I don't even need to think about it. We just got a couple of bulbs that let us change the colour and brightness of the bulb and that's been very pleasant. And, as you say, no need to wander around the house turning everything off. If I forget to turn off the lamp in the hall when I go to bed, no big deal, I can do it from my phone, or I can just let the schedule turn it off at midnight. Plus it's made it that we can have a lamp that needs to be operated by a foot switch in a location that makes the foot switch inaccessible. I also have a smart plug for my electric blanket in the bed, so I can turn it on when I'm starting to get ready for bed and it'll be toasty for when I get in, then set a timer to turn it off so I don't fall asleep with it on and wake up drenched in sweat. This one was unexpected, but a smart washing machine and tumble dryer. We were replacing them both at the same time (tumble dryer was dying and uneconomical to repair, washing machine came with the house and was just a bit crap so we wanted an upgrade) and the price difference between one with and without "WiFi connectivity" was marginal, so we went for the one with it. I've got ADHD so I have a tendency to forget about washing once it's in the washing machine and potentially have to rewash it if I've left it too long. Having the app tell me when it's finished AND then remind me periodically that there's still washing in there has been very helpful. The tumble dryer will also notify me if the washing is still damp at the end of the cycle, and I can set it going again from my phone, which eliminates another potentially way for me to forget about washing. Hive thermostat and radiator valves - There's only two of us, so we have them all set to keep all areas of the house at a minimum temperature of 17C, which is doable in terms of comfort and keeps the house from getting too cold for us or the cats. We did have schedules, but we move around the house a lot and our combined schedule is unpredictable, and we'd end up heating the house pointlessly. We now just boost the heating when we want to in the room we're in. It also means I don't have to remember to switch off the heating in my home office when I'm at the proper office. I never did remember anyway.

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Willeth@reddit

I'm also bought into Tradfri. I have the Fyrtur blinds as well - I don't often use the voice commands but I do use the timers a lot. Particularly in the summer months, it's really handy to just have my bedroom blind roll up after I've gone to sleep to let all the hot air out, and then roll down again before sunrise so the sun doesn't wake me. One thing I really like about the voice assistants is the routine and automation setup that lets you trigger multiple things at once. When I say good night, it not only turns off my bedroom light, but also every other socket in the house that I might have turned on during the day, as well as my smart TV. I also have my office smart plug set to power on five minutes before work. I have my laptop set to boot on power, so by the time I actually start work, any updates have already installed and it's just sitting at login for me.

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11Kram@reddit

You don’t need very smart tech to turn lights on and off. We use four plug-in sockets and a remote control, cost €20 from Lidl 10 years ago.

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Other_Exercise@reddit (OP)

Certainly. In my opinion your setup sounds pretty smart tech to me! For folk who don't know, Ikea Tradfri bulbs are 'smart' in that you can hook them up to an Ikea remote. For example I don't have hooked up to them some kind of app or timer.

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OG_Flicky@reddit

Self host everything and it just works.

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terahurts@reddit

Smart lights, smart doorbell and security cameras. The smartlight save a few minutes of faffing around turning them off or on at bedtime etc. I set up routines to do things like turn off all the lights in the house apart from a couple of sidelights in the living room when we're watching TV, turn the hallway and light over the front door on when we're expecting a takeout delivery, and to turn all the non-bedroom lights off and the bedroom lights on low at bedtime. My wife is disabled and the doorbell has come in handy when she's not been able to answer the door; she can ask delivery drivers to leave deliveries somewhere safe etc or tell the nurse to come in. The security cameras are more for her peace of mind, although the one looking over the back garden comes in handy to know when the dogs want letting back in. I'd like a smart thermostat but we're renting and it's definitely at the 'like' rather 'need' end of the spectrum.

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shitthrower@reddit

I have a tado heating system, really useful for setting schedules (much easier in the app rather than the fiddly controllers), and it turns off the heating if no one is at home. We can also turn it on remotely when we are on our way home. I have a few smart lights, the one that gets the most use is in my son’s bedroom, I’ve got a remote control behind his bed, so I can dim it slowly when getting him to bed. I am tempted to get a smart lock for the front door, we live in a 3 story house, and being able to lock the front door from my phone would save a lot of traipsing up and down the stairs before bedtime.

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randomdiyeruk@reddit

Love my smart thermostat and video doorbell

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Sharp-kun@reddit

I run my Hue Lights and heating via home assistant. Thats the only smart things I've got. Works well as I can turn off the kitchen from bed if I've forgotten, and lets my lodger who has health issues control the heating easier. Having the entire downstairs with Hue Colour bulbs also lets you do some cool things for relaxing. ^_^

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mk6971@reddit

I use Meross smart WiFi Surge Protectors. I use routines to switch on the sockets for the devices I need for WFH. I also have them behind the TV for all my AV and broadband kit. Saves having to scrabble behind the TV if I need to switch a device off.

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markhewitt1978@reddit

Every light in the house is Philips Hue, as well as under cabinet lighting, lights behind the TV etc. They are all programmed to be 'daylight' during the day then follow a program which gets them gradually warmer white until 9pm. It's great way to wind down in the evening; and as every light is following the same program there's no jarring different colours anywhere.

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Necessary_Driver_831@reddit

I have an Amazon Echo in every room and all my light bulbs are smart lights. I couldn’t give a monkeys what other people think about laziness or the Chinese spying on my lightbulb usage, ifs a cheap way to have multi room music and the lights are just a modern version of a clapper; being able to say “Alexa, bedtime” and all the lights in the house turn off suits my laziness perfectly. Especially when it’s the middle of winter and I’m warm and toasty in my duvet.

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ArchDukeDanglyWilly@reddit

Lighting and heating. I work away from home and it’s nice knowing everything is off when I’m away. Some lights come on at night and the house is cozy and warm when I come back after a few months. I don’t ever use switches. Everything is automated. Lights turn off when I’m not in the room. Locks too are worth it to me. Not needing keys anymore is liberating.

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Other_Exercise@reddit (OP)

Do you have a manual override for the keys? I can imagine you'd definitely want it during a power cut or glitch.

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ArchDukeDanglyWilly@reddit

Yeah. I keep one hidden in the shed. The next door neighbour has one too because he waters the plants. I had one hidden in the car for a few years too. I definitely wouldn’t have them without redundancy. Also good because I go out for a run and I can open the door with my watch when I get back.

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Otherwise_Mud1825@reddit

I have a control box I use for watchin different things on the picture box in the corner of the room.. Makes things loud or quiet too. For things like lights or heating, I switch them on when it's dark or cold and switch them off when it's light or warm (literally a plastic rocker switch on the wall, all software pre-installed, 👍. ),also a device on the wall that keeps the room temperature stable so I don't need to keep getting up.

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sucksblueeggs@reddit

Thermostat has been great, like others it has paid for itself a couple of times over. Smart plugs for lamps in the lounge. Can turn them off sitting on the sofa for movie night. OLED needs a dark room. Only cost £20. Given the TV + sound system was probably around £3k I think it’s good value. I don’t think I’ll be getting more, can’t see the benefits anywhere else in my house yet

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Quality_Controller@reddit

The Ring doorbell and alarm system has been a solid win for my house. It's expensive up front, but the subscription covers as many devices as you want. Great for keeping an eye on the dog, making sure packages are delivered/hidden safely and it's a deterrent for burgulars (the catalyst for the installation was an attempted break-in at my home). If you can get it all hardwired, it's even better because then you don't have the faff of batteries.

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nsfgod@reddit

Tado heating control. Genuinely works t And saved me hundreds

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justdont7133@reddit

Alexa is a huge help around the house for me. We have a 3 storey house, kids rooms are on the top floor and they have headphones permanently attached to their ears. I can use Alexa to announce or drop in when I need to ask them something or tell them dinner is ready. Saves me a lot of stairs

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notanadultyadult@reddit

We have smart bulbs, sockets, Alexa and thermostats. The stats are the best. No coming home to a cold house.

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tobotic@reddit

I've been using Philips Hue smart bulbs for almost a decade, along with Amazon Echo devices to voice control them. Can dim them, change colour, set them to come on 30 minutes before sunset, etc. I also have a bunch of smart plug sockets for lamps, etc that don't fit Hue bulbs. They aren't quite as good because it's just a binary on/off. Moved house a few months ago and there are still a couple of rooms I need to convert to Hue from traditional lightbulbs. I've recently started getting Hue light switches too because it's nice to have the option to control them without needing the phone app or voice control. I might get motion detectors for some rooms too. The Amazon Echo devices have other benefits like the ability to play Spotify in every room in the house simultaneously. Also they're useful to announce things like when dinner is ready. Ask what the time is, what the weather will be like today, etc. I'll probably at some point get a smart hot water system, but that's further in the future. Most camera doorbells are spying on you and Ring is one of the worst. I have been looking into ones which can store all their data locally and don't need to connect out onto the Internet. So maybe one day I'll get a smart doorbell.

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biosmatrix@reddit

Look into Reolink doorbells

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Raclette2018@reddit

Alexa+smart bulb. Its my weather station, sound player, simple wiki machine, pa system, talking clock, remotely controlled light & tv and gaming timer for my kids.

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CassetteLine@reddit

We’ve got - Robot vacuums - Smart light switches/bulbs - Hive heating and radiator valves - Alarm system and cameras - Various smart plugs They’re all well worth having, in my opinion. Mostly they’re either time saving, or peace of mind for checking on things.

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MrNippyNippy@reddit

Smart heating - we fitted netatmo years ago in an old house and have moved it to the new one and expanded the system. Each radiator has a smart valve on it meaning every room is a separate zone. We never heat rooms we don’t need to, all rooms have a minimum temp of 10c (to stop freezing) and we can boost anything whenever we want from anywhere with an internet connection. I have smart light switch dimmers in most places as they “just work” but I could take them or leave them with the only real advantage being able to use wireless remotes rather than having to wire 2 way switching (turn off the overhead light in bed etc). My “smart doorbell” is ok I suppose but I never use two way talk however I’ve it wired into the cctv nvr so it just works as a doorbell and another camera which is nice when you’re stalking your takeaway delivery etc lol.

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AbramKedge@reddit

Nest thermostat. The first month I installed it (a particularly cold February in New York State) it saved me $100 in heating costs.

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TheRealWhoop@reddit

Lighting that follows the sun, bright whites when I’m in the bathroom in the morning needing to see things. Warm orange in the evening when I’m winding down brushing my teeth.

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dbxp@reddit

Smart lightbulbs are good if you have lamps with switches in weird places. I used mine to toggle the lights from bed.

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monitorsareprison@reddit

I got smart bulbs and plugs. Now that I am used to them, I don't think I could ever go back to normal ones. just telling Alexa to turn the lights on or off is so convenient. yes, I think smart tech is making us lazy. but so what? get out of bed to turn the light on to find the remote I lost in bed?! hell no! "ALEXA LIGHT ON!" Ah, there's the remote, 1 inch from my face on the pillow. lol

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edhitchon1993@reddit

Heating - literally paid for itself within one winter (noting that my wife caused a lot of excess usage by cranking the old thermostat up and then sitting in a room with the radiator off), but also makes the house generally feel warmer. Music - the main sound system in the living room being in sync with a Chromecast audio hooked up to an FM transmitter means I can have music in sync across the whole house at a reasonable level, rather than very loud in one room.

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Smeeble09@reddit

Logitech harmony remote. Nest heating. Hue lighting. Tplink smart plugs. Alexa to control it all via routines.

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Izwe@reddit

Motion-triggered lights in the kitchen and bathroom when it's dark enough, and they come on dimmed after 11pm. Family acceptance factor of 100%

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daddywookie@reddit

Garage door opener. Being able to see if it is open and then close it from my phone has saved many midnight trips out the back door.

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Nine_Eye_Ron@reddit

Thermostat has also been a big benefit, saved money no doubt at all! Paid for itself in a couple of months. Doorbell next, really useful most days of the week. Couple of plug sockets have also been a huge help, when in hard to reach places or as light timers. Smart bulbs and light switches have mostly been a novelty tbh. No real benefit.

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RedFox3001@reddit

I had a Hive thermostat in my old house. I had smart lights, smart plugs, smart rad valves and an outside camera. If you walked near my drive I had lights come on in the house. When I was away the lights could be set to come on and off. I used the plugs to keep my kids nightlights on, then off at certain times. The house lights would dim at certain times. The rad valves were set up so the heating followed us around the house and turned off in rooms we weren’t using. My gas bill went down 10% because of that

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