top | item 28086553

(no title)

kingofspain | 4 years ago

I have a semi-smart home in that I’ve got a few smart plugs connected with Alexa and it’s useful to turn on/off a bunch of lights at once - or have them come on in the evening while away. Other than that I’m not really sure what more I’d want. Maybe some kind of instant-disco lighting so I can rock out to Dire Straits?

discuss

order

IshKebab|4 years ago

A smart thermostat is useful. I would also like smart curtains (I made a prototype that I hooked up to Google Home ok - "Hey Google open the curtains" works, but the actual physical bit is tricky).

A smart lock would be very useful too, e.g. for granting temporary timed access to cleaners etc. But there's no way I trust any of the smart locks on the market with my home security.

I have some smart scales too. They are pretty great.

It isn't the concept that is the problem. It's the lack of standards and long term support. Non-smart curtains, scales, lights, locks, etc. essentially work forever, whereas I'd give smart versions 10 years tops. And I don't really want to lock my house into 5 different vendors' proprietary systems.

WastingMyTime89|4 years ago

> But there's no way I trust any of the smart locks on the market with my home security.

The security provided by most door locks is completely illusory. You can break into most homes very easily. Most people have unsecured windows on the ground floor.

Most locks are there as a way to signal that this door shouldn't be opened. It's mostly a psychological detterent. As long as your insurance is fine with your smart lock, it's probably not much worth than a dumb lock.

The exception is of course the upper floors of apartment complex in large city in which case the five points locking system on your door is there to signal that it will me more time effective to break into your neighbor place.

> It's the lack of standards and long term support

Completely agree with that. All companies want to build a locked plateform. That's hindering the market growth a lot.

kingofspain|4 years ago

Yeah I feel the plugs are a good enough thing for now. If they are duff in ten years? So what - it was a £7 plug and I’ll get some more with a hopefully open standard by then. I’d never go all-in the way things currently are.