Also, Reed what if you have some lights that aren't compatible with home assistant. Bc I have some and if I had a switch to turn them all off, it would only turn off a few. Any ideas
Please keep doing automation ideas videos, these are great videos with a lot of ideas, of course no automation is perfect and everyone has his own needs but it lights up some ideas and everyone can tweak it a little.
Took me a while to complete but I went all in with Trigger IDs and Choose actions with multiple conditions. Massively complex but very efficient automations that don't misfire as often. Condensed my home from about 120 different automations to 31
Kill switch is an option i use for wall switches. When a wallswitch is used, every automated light in that room stays frozen. For the rest i use partymode, visitmode etc. Turning on partymode will set every light on de main floor and oudside to a specific scene and leave the electric gate open etc. Visit mode is about the same but with some tweaks. If you use Homey, better is to put these conditions in every flow from the start.. Saves you a lot of work 👍 Great vid!
Love the family jokes/ cameo that you always have in your videos. I'd be happy if I even got to having half the smart automations in my dream home. Amazing video, as always!
I absolutely love your videooooooos! You should do a master class video on this topic to teach us how to program conditions! As well as simple and advanced home automations. PLEASE!!!!!
Great video, lots of ideas, thanks. Instead of adding a kill switch as a condition it's better to create an "all" group with the NOT of a kill switch and an entity you are triggering your automation and then trigger on the group. That way toggling the kill switch will shut off the motion lights immediately, not on the next time the automation triggers. I really like the 95% brightness idea, I was struggling to indicate the override for some time.
Niche idea for your auto lights: what is a giant sensor-like device on your roof that can detect amount of sun light? The solar panels! I have a condition for my hallway lights to only turn on if solar generation is below a certain value.
Great video, Reed. I like the "Kill Switch" Idea.. A single Flic button, for example, could operate three different kill switches. I realize it doesn't have to be a physical "button" but if you have a lot of Flics around why not?
Sorry newbie question - anyone know what is the automation interface that Reed is showing? Reed....great to see your automation initiatives & love the participation of your family in the videos....Thanks for the inspiration! I want to get on the journey, any suggestions on where to start? :)
Came here wondering the same thing and not seeing it mentioned in comments or description. Hoping he's linked to the device in one of his videos, but none of them are titled talking about it.
In practice, a good automation gets complex fast. Almost no real world scenario is actually as simple as it looks at first sight. So having conditions in place is an absolute must, otherwise your automations will quickly become a running gag around the household.
Most everything at my old house was automated and pretty fine tuned. The best thing I ever did for it though was to put a BLE beacon in my parents car and an old phone running tasker in the garage to pick up the beacon's presence. if they were there, 75% of my automations were shut down.
Love your videos! Once Matter comes out I'm turning my house smart like yours. I especially want to mess around with that raspberry pi too so it can detect where I am.
Great video, very helpful. This has helped me look at some automations in a reverse mindset. I have even managed to apply this to an Alexa routine, wahoo!
Great video! For my motion lights I have a wait for trigger step which requires the motion sensor to be clear for a certain number of minutes before it turns off. Typically 2 or 3 minutes works fine for me, but my rooms are much smaller so I trip the motion detector much more often.
Good Video, great ideas. I have override kill switches for pretty much all the motion based automations, I like the idea of location based automation, will refactor few of my automations to use location, Thanks for the great idea. BTW your family is so cute :-)
Hey there, any chance you could do a video on the best lighting setup for home assistant. Just started and was wondering about what to use in different cases: 1. Simple on and off (like for pantry rooms or closets) - I was thinking Ikea sensor but not sure which switch would be best as you don't need anything fancy here 2. Sensor and switches for locations used more often like hallways and kitchens 3. Sensors and switches for more customizable lighting such as living room, bedroom, office... (I assume these will also need smart bulbs to change colors...) Thank you so much
I'm sure you've figured this out by now but for anyone new reading: 1. I'd recommend contact sensors for closets and pantries. They work super fast. Lidl has some cheap ones that worked well in home assistant for me. 2. Motion sensors are great for hallways where you're mostly passing through. Ikea's are fine but Aqara's a bit quicker. Ikea's kitchen strips work well but they don't have colour temperature, so best to also use some smart bulbs. 3. Combine smart bulbs with ikea's remotes and if possible some presence detection. Also link your tv with a smart plug and a chromecast if it's not smart already. The living room might take some time to set up but take your time and figure out how you like it as you go :) Channels like these are great! Keep it up 💪🏽
I have added dump lights and if they are turn on (by voice or automation) the lights in the room never go off. For example in the kitchen by saying to the echo dot there "I am cooking" or "cooking time" all lights go on (including the dumb one). That way no other automation can turn them off except of you use the real switch or tell Alexa "Done cooking".
Cute with the echo button but the green light on the button never lit so the routine can't run. I have found that IF you are going to set a "no motion" action to turn off lights then set the time for twice as long as you might assume. Most times I find it easier to just use a button to turn off devices or setting a sleep timer when leaving a room.
At 2:17 your template for preventing an automation for triggering too often can be simplified to one line. This template condition prevents running the automation if it hasn't been at least 5 minutes (300 sec) since its last run. {{(as_timestamp(now()) - as_timestamp(state_attr(this.entity_id, 'last_triggered'), 0)) > 300 }} The current template is complicated because when an automation is new, it has never been triggered. So the "last_triggered" attribute is "none", instead of a time. It also references itself by entity ID, which is annoying when you're creating a new automation as you aren't exactly sure yet what it will be. My template simplifies these 2 things. 1. as_timestamp accepts a default value in case of errors like this: as_timestamp('value', 'default_value'). When the automation has never been run, the "last_triggered" attribute is "none". as_timestamp errors when it receives "none", so it uses 0 as default value, which is equal to 1/1/1970. This allows it to run without problems the first time. 2. Using the special "this" variable, it references its own entity ID. Even if you change the entity_id of the automation, this will keep working. Now it's basically copy paste and changing the amount of seconds.
Question. I have a Google Nest mesh router, and it doesn't offer 2.4ghz. My devices that needed 2.4 did connect without any problems to the single band that I guess is 5ghz offered by the device. But now I got a PIR wifi sensor. It detects movement and it shows it right away in the app. Alexa was able to discover it and added to the app as well, but when I set the routine, it wont trigger it. If I hit play on the routine it self, it will do that, but not by movement. When I try diagnostics in the sensor app, it will fail the wifi part. I guess my problem is not having a 2.4, and I don't see any sensors that works with 5ghz. I'm trying to have my porch light to turn on when someone is at the front door. I have Wyze cameras, and a Wyze switch for that light, but Wyze takes to long to respond, so the light will turn on when we are inside the house already. What can I do?
Thanks! Yeah I'm using Home Assistant for my app. My next video will explain more about apps and tech that I use to control my smart home, so hopefully that will answer all of your questions.
I have a disabled alexa routine to send a notification when the sensor detects movement. I saw it is possible to enable/disable routines with a voice command which could also be implemented into a smart button, but I think that feature is only available in the US. If anyone could think of a workaround with just Alexa it would be much appreciated.
Great video. Do you have any estimate of how much power your smart sensors/triggers in all variations are consuming? I recently installed a smart valve to open and close to the hot water (heat exchanger) for two purposes. First one to save the energy the heat exchanger spends when idling. And second for me to be more aware of when I use hot water. I have to ask for hot water to get it. And it will of course automatically close again after 30 minutes. I don't know yet how well it will work but I will try it out.
Hello, thanks for you videos. I just want to start automating my home. Get some light, bulbs socket etc. Now am thinking of a Hub go buy, am a Samsung lover, so my phone, TV all Samsung, am already using my TV with the smart things app. But the smart things hub is quite pricey for me right now, can I get an echo dot and still work with my Samsung devices and smarthings app? Or I need an iphone? Thank you
I added a Caseta Motion Sensor and Caseta Smart Switch to my hallway light which works great. However, I need it to not turn on from 11pm to 6 am. I was thinking of adding a sonoff module in series to do this. Is there a better way?
First off, I LOVE these "automations" & smart home ideas, they are awesome !! 👍 Q: I have iOS 15.6 on my 12ProMax, Alexa App installed .. I don't have a menu that says: automations, conditions, time, or kill-switch.? How do I get around this, or is it called something else here in Australia.? Anyone.? 🤔
I would like to know what you are using to operate your smart home. We know you have Alexa. I have no idea what program/app you have. I see you have Lutron switches. Kill switch?
I want your help? I have a motion sensor in my living room, and I want to set up the same exact condition/motion automation like you did in your kitchen where the lights will come on at a certain percentage and then if I turn the lights on to 100% at the light switch the lights will not go off. I use Apple HomeKit and I have an a Aqara P1 motion sensor also use Lutron smart dimmer switches.
How would you detect if your iPhone is still on its charger? I doubt a plug measuring power draw would work since that's minimal when the phone has charged up.
Great video! The whole time I was thinking this stuff is fricken cool! By the end though, I was thinking how lazy am I that I can't turn on a light or open my blinds a little? Struggling with this right now LOL!!
Damn! I’m such a noob compared to you! I’m never going to get the level of automation you have, and not the time to implement it but you are inspiring! And I get good ideas from you!
Hi Reed Have a question for you plz I have a roborock vacum cleaner, would you please tell me how to connect it with google home , so I can let it work with voice command or with motion sensors?
"Not so much in Home Assistant..."? What?? Of course there is! This is where things like Node Red shine over some of the Automation menu options, but one could easily limit how often automations run within a time period of the day... Mkay... Just had to say that. Back to the rest of your video...
what's the point in having the lights turn on when you enter a room if you're gonna have to manually toggle the switch to keep them on anyway? you could simply use a longer time value for when the sensor stops detecting movement until it switches the lights off
If you had a kill switch to turn off all your automations, would your family press it? 😬
Oh for sure!
My son loves the automations, wife, not so much, its too advanced for her.
Maybe 😬
My wife cackled when she saw this and then became deadly serious and told me to make it happen... or ELSE!
Also, Reed what if you have some lights that aren't compatible with home assistant. Bc I have some and if I had a switch to turn them all off, it would only turn off a few. Any ideas
Probably
I absolutely *love* how your family participates in the videos! Those mini-sketches really bring personality to your channel
Great video, Reed! :)
The New Years countdown bit was hilarious!
Actually had that happen, right at midnight too. Mistakes were made
Please keep doing automation ideas videos, these are great videos with a lot of ideas, of course no automation is perfect and everyone has his own needs but it lights up some ideas and everyone can tweak it a little.
Took me a while to complete but I went all in with Trigger IDs and Choose actions with multiple conditions. Massively complex but very efficient automations that don't misfire as often. Condensed my home from about 120 different automations to 31
My head hurts trying to wrap my head around all of your automations. 😂. I am definitely going to get started with mine.
I love how your channel has quickly become associated with home assistant. Another great video! Thanks, Reed!
Kill switch is an option i use for wall switches. When a wallswitch is used, every automated light in that room stays frozen. For the rest i use partymode, visitmode etc. Turning on partymode will set every light on de main floor and oudside to a specific scene and leave the electric gate open etc. Visit mode is about the same but with some tweaks. If you use Homey, better is to put these conditions in every flow from the start.. Saves you a lot of work 👍 Great vid!
Love the family jokes/ cameo that you always have in your videos.
I'd be happy if I even got to having half the smart automations in my dream home.
Amazing video, as always!
What software is he using ?
I absolutely love your videooooooos! You should do a master class video on this topic to teach us how to program conditions! As well as simple and advanced home automations. PLEASE!!!!!
That dim automated to 95/manual to 100, that's a really good one!
Agreed. I may reconsider some of my automations in order to use that concept.
Thanks!
Great video, lots of ideas, thanks. Instead of adding a kill switch as a condition it's better to create an "all" group with the NOT of a kill switch and an entity you are triggering your automation and then trigger on the group. That way toggling the kill switch will shut off the motion lights immediately, not on the next time the automation triggers.
I really like the 95% brightness idea, I was struggling to indicate the override for some time.
What's the app he is using?
Hello, your animations are really advanced. What program do you use to control all this?
Thanks. Im just getting into home automation, and this video, gave me some good ideas how to deal with the automations.
Niche idea for your auto lights: what is a giant sensor-like device on your roof that can detect amount of sun light?
The solar panels!
I have a condition for my hallway lights to only turn on if solar generation is below a certain value.
You have such a cuuuuuute family! And I find your videos very helpful. Your doing a great job!👍
Great video, Reed. I like the "Kill Switch" Idea.. A single Flic button, for example, could operate three different kill switches. I realize it doesn't have to be a physical "button" but if you have a lot of Flics around why not?
That’s a great idea, Hugh!
Well done Reed! You've inspired me to 'step' up my automation's game.
Sorry newbie question - anyone know what is the automation interface that Reed is showing? Reed....great to see your automation initiatives & love the participation of your family in the videos....Thanks for the inspiration! I want to get on the journey, any suggestions on where to start? :)
Came here wondering the same thing and not seeing it mentioned in comments or description. Hoping he's linked to the device in one of his videos, but none of them are titled talking about it.
Looking the same answer. Interesting that he didn’t put it into the description or the video.
Man your automations are on next level!
What app are you using to add these conditions?
In practice, a good automation gets complex fast. Almost no real world scenario is actually as simple as it looks at first sight. So having conditions in place is an absolute must, otherwise your automations will quickly become a running gag around the household.
What program are you using to run your house? I don't see the kill switch in Google Home.
Hey man, could you tell me what's the app i always see in your ipad, for all your automations
Which is the app you use to create all these automations?? The one that is shown in the iPad that is black
Time pattern as a trigger/condition in home assistant is an easy way to determine how often the checks for automations occur.
What software do you use to set up your automations ?
Very cool stuff. What Automation platform are you running? Thanks
Most everything at my old house was automated and pretty fine tuned. The best thing I ever did for it though was to put a BLE beacon in my parents car and an old phone running tasker in the garage to pick up the beacon's presence. if they were there, 75% of my automations were shut down.
Are these mostly only available in Home Assistant? *hip thrust*
Or can you do them with Alexa?
Love your videos! Once Matter comes out I'm turning my house smart like yours. I especially want to mess around with that raspberry pi too so it can detect where I am.
I like the jokes together with your family, funny but also reality. And above all your content is good information thanks.
Great video, very helpful. This has helped me look at some automations in a reverse mindset. I have even managed to apply this to an Alexa routine, wahoo!
The New Year’s Eve bit was good!😄
Hey I am getting an aeotec smart home hub for my first ever smart home hub what would you suggest I buy and what I should do with it
Great video! For my motion lights I have a wait for trigger step which requires the motion sensor to be clear for a certain number of minutes before it turns off. Typically 2 or 3 minutes works fine for me, but my rooms are much smaller so I trip the motion detector much more often.
Which app are you using for that?
I really enjoy your videos! They are funny with your family.
Which is the best platform for writing these automations? I notice you’re using home assistant but curious about others.
3:02 your campy examples struck gold on this one 🤣🤣
When your kid yelled "dad Roku just turned on the Roomba" my Roomba started up and I was watching this at 2:30 in the morning :-)
I get so many ideas for automation from your channel keep it up dude
I always enjoy the skits!
Good Video, great ideas. I have override kill switches for pretty much all the motion based automations, I like the idea of location based automation, will refactor few of my automations to use location, Thanks for the great idea. BTW your family is so cute :-)
Great video Reid!
Could you let me know what kind of software you use (and if needed extra hardware???)
Love the recent focus on automations.
All I heard this entire video was paul hibbert yelling "Homeasssistant" 🤣
He lives rent free in my head whenever I’m using Home Assistant 😂
What was you mainly using, home assist or Alexa
seems like hes mainly using Home Assistant, to me less is more, I use Alexa and keep it simple
Great video Reid! Thanks for all your creative and practical ideas 🙏🏻
I really liked your threshold idea !! thanks 😊
I was disappointed not to see my favourite four legged family member!
I missed Roborock too
2:08 In HA I usually just add a delay step at the end of the automation, preventing re-triggering for the desired time.
Hey there, any chance you could do a video on the best lighting setup for home assistant. Just started and was wondering about what to use in different cases:
1. Simple on and off (like for pantry rooms or closets) - I was thinking Ikea sensor but not sure which switch would be best as you don't need anything fancy here
2. Sensor and switches for locations used more often like hallways and kitchens
3. Sensors and switches for more customizable lighting such as living room, bedroom, office... (I assume these will also need smart bulbs to change colors...)
Thank you so much
I'm sure you've figured this out by now but for anyone new reading:
1. I'd recommend contact sensors for closets and pantries. They work super fast. Lidl has some cheap ones that worked well in home assistant for me.
2. Motion sensors are great for hallways where you're mostly passing through. Ikea's are fine but Aqara's a bit quicker. Ikea's kitchen strips work well but they don't have colour temperature, so best to also use some smart bulbs.
3. Combine smart bulbs with ikea's remotes and if possible some presence detection. Also link your tv with a smart plug and a chromecast if it's not smart already. The living room might take some time to set up but take your time and figure out how you like it as you go :)
Channels like these are great! Keep it up 💪🏽
I have added dump lights and if they are turn on (by voice or automation) the lights in the room never go off. For example in the kitchen by saying to the echo dot there "I am cooking" or "cooking time" all lights go on (including the dumb one). That way no other automation can turn them off except of you use the real switch or tell Alexa "Done cooking".
Cute with the echo button but the green light on the button never lit so the routine can't run.
I have found that IF you are going to set a "no motion" action to turn off lights then set the time for twice as long as you might assume. Most times I find it easier to just use a button to turn off devices or setting a sleep timer when leaving a room.
Really great video, insightful and so succinct!
If you are sitting in the toilet and someone is at the door, and is monday, but is 10 PM but is a hollyday, then: turn off the kitchen light
I’m sure if you added a few more conditions, you could get it to be extra perfect! 😆
At 2:17 your template for preventing an automation for triggering too often can be simplified to one line.
This template condition prevents running the automation if it hasn't been at least 5 minutes (300 sec) since its last run.
{{(as_timestamp(now()) - as_timestamp(state_attr(this.entity_id, 'last_triggered'), 0)) > 300 }}
The current template is complicated because when an automation is new, it has never been triggered. So the "last_triggered" attribute is "none", instead of a time. It also references itself by entity ID, which is annoying when you're creating a new automation as you aren't exactly sure yet what it will be. My template simplifies these 2 things.
1. as_timestamp accepts a default value in case of errors like this: as_timestamp('value', 'default_value'). When the automation has never been run, the "last_triggered" attribute is "none". as_timestamp errors when it receives "none", so it uses 0 as default value, which is equal to 1/1/1970. This allows it to run without problems the first time.
2. Using the special "this" variable, it references its own entity ID. Even if you change the entity_id of the automation, this will keep working.
Now it's basically copy paste and changing the amount of seconds.
@Reed. Do you use Home Assistant automations only or do you use node red integration together with HA ?
Awesome video as always. I had a lot of fun watching it 😀
Question. I have a Google Nest mesh router, and it doesn't offer 2.4ghz. My devices that needed 2.4 did connect without any problems to the single band that I guess is 5ghz offered by the device. But now I got a PIR wifi sensor. It detects movement and it shows it right away in the app. Alexa was able to discover it and added to the app as well, but when I set the routine, it wont trigger it. If I hit play on the routine it self, it will do that, but not by movement. When I try diagnostics in the sensor app, it will fail the wifi part. I guess my problem is not having a 2.4, and I don't see any sensors that works with 5ghz. I'm trying to have my porch light to turn on when someone is at the front door. I have Wyze cameras, and a Wyze switch for that light, but Wyze takes to long to respond, so the light will turn on when we are inside the house already. What can I do?
What did you use to get the brightness?
Great video as always! What app do you use most often? Is it the home assistance app? Do you have a video overview on your apps that I missed? Thanks!
Thanks! Yeah I'm using Home Assistant for my app. My next video will explain more about apps and tech that I use to control my smart home, so hopefully that will answer all of your questions.
I have a disabled alexa routine to send a notification when the sensor detects movement. I saw it is possible to enable/disable routines with a voice command which could also be implemented into a smart button, but I think that feature is only available in the US. If anyone could think of a workaround with just Alexa it would be much appreciated.
I love this series of videos great ideas for my home !
what exactly are you using to write and integrate all these devices together into single automation with 6 conditions?
Alexa routine wont support that
Great video. Do you have any estimate of how much power your smart sensors/triggers in all variations are consuming? I recently installed a smart valve to open and close to the hot water (heat exchanger) for two purposes. First one to save the energy the heat exchanger spends when idling. And second for me to be more aware of when I use hot water. I have to ask for hot water to get it. And it will of course automatically close again after 30 minutes. I don't know yet how well it will work but I will try it out.
That new year bit was really good lol
Hello, thanks for you videos.
I just want to start automating my home.
Get some light, bulbs socket etc.
Now am thinking of a Hub go buy, am a Samsung lover, so my phone, TV all Samsung, am already using my TV with the smart things app.
But the smart things hub is quite pricey for me right now, can I get an echo dot and still work with my Samsung devices and smarthings app?
Or I need an iphone?
Thank you
love watching your videos your automations there great
There are days, for sure. Thanks Reed. Insightful video with a number of great automation ideas!
Hi Reed do you have any solution or ideas as to how to automate my rf light switches with the motion sensors
this video makes me what to switch from apple to android. how do you prevent lights from auto turning off when showering?
Besides reading Consumer Reports are there any large appliances you recommend for smarthome i.e fridge, washer?
Great info Reed, thanks.
I added a Caseta Motion Sensor and Caseta Smart Switch to my hallway light which works great. However, I need it to not turn on from 11pm to 6 am. I was thinking of adding a sonoff module in series to do this. Is there a better way?
First off, I LOVE these "automations" & smart home ideas, they are awesome !! 👍
Q: I have iOS 15.6 on my 12ProMax, Alexa App installed ..
I don't have a menu that says: automations, conditions, time, or kill-switch.?
How do I get around this, or is it called something else here in Australia.? Anyone.? 🤔
I would like to know what you are using to operate your smart home. We know you have Alexa. I have no idea what program/app you have. I see you have Lutron switches. Kill switch?
I want your help? I have a motion sensor in my living room, and I want to set up the same exact condition/motion automation like you did in your kitchen where the lights will come on at a certain percentage and then if I turn the lights on to 100% at the light switch the lights will not go off. I use Apple HomeKit and I have an a Aqara P1 motion sensor also use Lutron smart dimmer switches.
What do you use for the automations and conditions? I use homekit devices but I don’t get all those nice conditions.
Hello
I was thinking of going for legrand wired automation. Does philips hue offer similar things at a cheaper price? Could you explain more?
How would you detect if your iPhone is still on its charger? I doubt a plug measuring power draw would work since that's minimal when the phone has charged up.
Great video! The whole time I was thinking this stuff is fricken cool! By the end though, I was thinking how lazy am I that I can't turn on a light or open my blinds a little? Struggling with this right now LOL!!
What app are you using for your conditions?
Damn! I’m such a noob compared to you! I’m never going to get the level of automation you have, and not the time to implement it but you are inspiring! And I get good ideas from you!
Hi Reed
Have a question for you plz
I have a roborock vacum cleaner, would you please tell me how to connect it with google home , so I can let it work with voice command or with motion sensors?
"Not so much in Home Assistant..."? What?? Of course there is! This is where things like Node Red shine over some of the Automation menu options, but one could easily limit how often automations run within a time period of the day...
Mkay... Just had to say that. Back to the rest of your video...
Great episode! What program/system are you using to create these automations?
I too am wanting to know what app you were coding your conditions in
What smart light switches are you using
what's the point in having the lights turn on when you enter a room if you're gonna have to manually toggle the switch to keep them on anyway? you could simply use a longer time value for when the sensor stops detecting movement until it switches the lights off
Maybe I missed it but what app is he using to set up all these "conditions"?
Home Assistant
Hey Reed, what is the bed pressure sensor you're using? I can't seem to find it anywhere, thanks!
Can you do a video on how to connect motion to control a hue plug please?
How do you make hue motion open the lights IF the tv is off?
Hey can we get a video on setting kill switches and the other features
Hi Reed, I realized you switched from iphone to android - what was the reason for that? Which watch are you using?
I love the familiy/wife interjections, laughed a little too hard.
Cool video. What platform are these automations created on?
The app that you kept showing on your iPad was Home Assistant or Amazon Routines?