Home Automation

TheEnglishman
TheEnglishman Posts: 587
edited January 2013 in The bottom bracket
Bit of an off chance here but does anyone 'do' anything with home automation?

I see the WeMo system is out and it looks (on paper) brilliant for my wife as it can be controlled by SiRi on the iPhone. All available in the Apple Stores!

http://www.belkin.com/us/wemo-switch-motion

WeMo are also partnered with KwikSet - http://www.kwikset.com/smartsecurity/el ... dbolt.aspx

but I can't (yet) find a UK distributor.

Anyone have any knowledge/experience/use with any of these products (long shot, I know....) I've asked all the local locksmiths/security installers and none of them have heard anything about these products.
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Comments

  • DF33
    DF33 Posts: 732
    It's all a bit early adopter stuff for me. Give it a year and prices will plummet and teething troubles / updates will have been sorted.

    There's plenty of stuff out at the mo, granted not Siri but useable on the iphone by companies like Pyronix etc that might be a better bet in the medium term?
    Peter
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,312
    TheEnglishman wrote:
    Bit of an off chance here but does anyone 'do' anything with home automation?

    I see the WeMo system is out and it looks (on paper) brilliant for my wife as it can be controlled by SiRi on the iPhone. All available in the Apple Stores!

    http://www.belkin.com/us/wemo-switch-motion

    WeMo are also partnered with KwikSet - http://www.kwikset.com/smartsecurity/el ... dbolt.aspx

    but I can't (yet) find a UK distributor.

    Anyone have any knowledge/experience/use with any of these products (long shot, I know....) I've asked all the local locksmiths/security installers and none of them have heard anything about these products.

    WTF ?!!? Home automation? - you can get things with batteries you know if your ding-a-ling aint firing on all cyclinders.
    Alternatively, get one of those saddles with a cut-out in the middle.

    These boys could help
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    At 50 dollars a socket - i fail to see the benefit at the moment.
  • MattC59
    MattC59 Posts: 5,408
    Have a chat with these guys:http://www.forestelite.com but you'll need more than $50 per socket !
    Highly recommended !
    Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
    Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
  • declan1
    declan1 Posts: 2,470
    I used to know someone who had a robotic lawnmower and hoover, and anything else that you could automate within his house. He was rather weird though....

    Road - Dolan Preffisio
    MTB - On-One Inbred

    I have no idea what's going on here.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Am I missing something here? I cannot imagine the circumstances in which I would need to turn on the iron from my smart phone. If I have an urgent ironing requirement the thing only takes 40 seconds to heat up.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,312
    Can't you get yourself a Stepford wife ?
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • Yossie
    Yossie Posts: 2,600
    Bizarrely enough, I have staff for all this schizzle, so why would I want to make their lives any easier?

    Sheeeeesh, guys - come on, get with it - none of this Gucci tat counts for owt if you haven't got at least 3 members of household staff. If you get the right ones they will also let you look at their norks for fiver a go ......

    Now imagine Nina pushing a hoover round your pad. Now you're talking.
  • DesB3rd
    DesB3rd Posts: 285
    The touted technologies don't really justify the "Home Automation" thread title!
  • MattC59
    MattC59 Posts: 5,408
    DesB3rd wrote:
    The touted technologies don't really justify the "Home Automation" thread title!

    Did you not look at the ForestElite web site ??
    Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
    Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,312
    MattC59 wrote:
    DesB3rd wrote:
    The touted technologies don't really justify the "Home Automation" thread title!

    Did you not look at the ForestElite web site ??

    I did. The Uk is short of 2 million homes and at the other end of the spectrum... 'Forest Elite'.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,425
    I read there are approximately 920,000 empty houses in the uk and about 920,000 homeless people, so it's a complex problem with no easy answer :roll:
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • MattC59
    MattC59 Posts: 5,408
    pinarello001 wrote:
    MattC59 wrote:
    DesB3rd wrote:
    The touted technologies don't really justify the "Home Automation" thread title!

    Did you not look at the ForestElite web site ??

    I did. The Uk is short of 2 million homes and at the other end of the spectrum... 'Forest Elite'.

    True, but that has nothing to do with the touted Forest Elite solutions not being home automation.
    Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
    Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,425
    It's a forum, does it have to be apposite? :D
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • DesB3rd
    DesB3rd Posts: 285
    What Forest sell under that title (if the Home Automation webpage is to be believed) is a system of unified remote control for existing household technologies. Per se there’s nothing wrong with calling this “Home Automation” – however it’s a title which (to me anyway) seems to carry rather more promise than the system that allows you to tinker with the boiler/hi-fi from your phone; certainly it’s not going to increase the number of domestic staff in the dole queue...
  • Yossie
    Yossie Posts: 2,600
    Check out this months Home & Garden magazine - big article about this stuff. I glanced at it but as it doesn't interest me I just flicked on carried on looking for things for the new extension to b paid for by my holiday to Syria that big Davey C is planning for me.

    Still can't believe you don't have staff though ...... Sheeeesh man..........
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,340
    the belkin stuff is designed for 110v and north american approvals, unless they produce uk compatible and approved devices there's no point in a distributor bringing it into the uk

    those code locks will also be to namer standards, in the uk it would cause problems if you were burgled as insurance policies usually specify bs standard locks

    why look at products intended for namer?

    if you do some research you'll find uk approved options, even screwfix direct does smartphone/browser controlled switches etc., and motion/ir triggered light switches have been around for years

    ditto for code locks, there are uk standard ones available, not sure about the direct integration with other stuff, but if that's what you want then there're ways to achieve it, if not off the shelf then with some integration
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny

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