HA News
Check here for the latest news about HA Hub and what I know about the state of home automation.
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Do I Need a Hub to Automate My Home?
A lot of people in the home automation field are suggesting that the home automation hub (e.g., SmartThings, Wink, Vera, etc.) is no longer necessary. With the plethora of WiFi devices available today that connect directly to an app on your phone, hubs are just an extra layer of complexity. Well for some use cases, that is probably true. For example, you would like to be able to turn on a lamp (or another device) while you are away from home. You could plug the lamp into a Wemo outlet and use the Wemo app to control the device from your phone. At this stage though, you haven't implemented home automation, you've implemented remote control. The Wemo app (and most apps for other WiFi-enabled devices) support simple automation such as adding timers or scheduling. However, you will typically be limited to using products from a single manufacturer. If you have devices from different manufacturers, you will most likely have to open multiple applications to control the devices. Most hubs (especially SmartThings with its active user community) support devices from multiple manufacturers and using different protocols including ZigBee, Z-Wave, and WiFi. If all of your devices are connected to your hub (even if they use different protocols) you will typically be able to control them from a single app, or even all at once using a store routine on your hub.
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Lenovo at CES 2018
Lenovo introduced their new Smart Display at CES 2018. The Smart Display features Google Assistant and has a full HD touchscreen. The Smart Display can show your weather forecast, calendar, and YouTube videos. The Smart Display also supports video calling using Google Duo on Android® and iOS® phones. Conveniently, the Smart Display is rotatable between portrait or landscape modes.
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KOHLER at CES
KOHLER, a manufacturer of kitchen and bath products, launched its KOHLER Konnect platform. The KOHLER Konnect platform allows consumers to personalize select KOHLER products using a smartphone app. Once configured KOHLER Konnect products are controllable via supported voice services, including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit. For a demonstration of some of KOHLER Konnect's capabilities, please view this video.
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Home Automation from CES 2018
The CES Consumer Technology Show gets underway this week (Jan 9-12) in Las Vegas, NV. I anticipate many announcements in the Home Automation space. While I don't have the resources to cover everything that may be announced at CES, I will post my thoughts on those announcements that I find most interesting. Stay tuned.Select Home Automation Products
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HA-Hub 2018
Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Other projects have been consuming way too much of my time. While these projects are still ongoing, here at the start of the new year I'm committed to dedicating more time to HA-Hub. I have been working on new home automation projects and learning new techniques, I just haven't had the opportunity to post any new articles or tutorials. Look for that to change, starting with comments on what I find interesting from CES 2018. In addition to learning more about home automation, I've also been learning more about how to present information in what I hope will be the most helpful format. Please check back soon.
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LIFX+ Smart Lamp Setup Tutorial Posted
I've just posted a new setup tutorial featuring the LIFX+ LED smart light.
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New Tutorial Posted
I've just posted my latest tutorial. It is another short tutorial to help you get started.
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HA Hub is Live!
HA Hub goes live today. The content is currently very limited, but I wanted to get the platform running so that search engines can start finding the site. The design is currently very minimal. For now, I plan to concentrate on content. I am planning to add a new tutorial every week initially. As the site begins to gain traction, I will work on the design to make it more user-friendly. Early content will focus on the basics of getting started in home automation, including single device remote control as an introduction. This is reflected in our first tutorial, The Simplest Home Automation Project. I will always consider future expansion and once I have a collection of introductory tutorials, I'll starting adding more advanced tutorials showing you how to create "scenes" that combine control of multiple devices into a single action and maybe even how to write your own extensions so that you can make your home automation system behave exactly the way you want it to.
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Welcome to HA Hub
I want this website to be a hub for all things "Home Automation". Content will be targeted primarily towards do-it-yourselfers. In promoting home automation as a DIY activity, I'm hoping to provide others the benefit of my experience as I figure out to automate a typical middle-class home. I'm hoping that growth in the DIY community will stem certain trends that have cropped up as home automation has become more mainstream. One trend that I don't favor is the explosion of an app for everything. While some people tout the simplicity of wifi or Bluetooth connected devices that are controlled by their own app, I find them inefficient once you progress beyond two or three controlled devices. Generally, I prefer a hub controlled by a single app that can bring together many devices allowing easier control as well as scripting of scenes allowing multiple devices to be controlled by a single action. The other troubling trend I've noticed are companies co-opting open technologies and tying them to for-pay service, requiring a subscription to a cloud service to control the hub. There are alternatives that include these services in the cost of their hub. While some of these services have shut down and left their users stranded, if you chose your controllers carefully, you shouldn't be locked into a single provider. For this reason, I will tend to favor the mostly-open protocols of Z-Wave and Zigbee. If you should need to replace your hub, most will be compatible with one or both of these protocols.