quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
^^^^^
SimpliSafe does offer a doorbell camera.

If they do it is not evident on their website. It appears they offer a camera but it states indoor use only.

I found certain water heaters have wi-fi capabilty built in but other controllers may offer more flexibility and programming.

Try this link, Dtech:
https://simplisafe.com/video-doorbell-pro

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Try this link, Dtech:
https://simplisafe.com/video-doorbell-pro

Thanks vthoky. I finally found it but the way their website is organized you can only find it if you scroll all the way to the bottom and click on "browse systems" and then "cameras" because you can't find it from their home page or any of the links there. That is a bit of an oversight on their part as there is nothing to click in the menus at the top except for the interior camera, nor is it mentioned anywhere in their descriptive slides on the home page so they can potentially lose customers that way.

Would be even nicer if they offered at least one other type of exterior camera though.

(Yes, I realize the thread is over a year old. But everything in it is still applicable.)

quote:

Originally posted by mark60:
I have a few Lutron Caseta Wireless switches that work flawlessly.

From everything I've read, Lutron Casèta is the "gold standard" from the perspectives of ease of installation and use. What it lacks is a comprehensive list of devices. (E.g.: I'm going to have to keep a little X-10 around for the appliance modules.)

Nonetheless, after a couple years dithering around, I'm finally biting the bullet and beginning to replace our sixteen X-10 wall dimmers and lamp modules with Casèta devices.

I've been struggling with the X-10 stuff for years. As more-and-more electronics were added to the various branch circuits it became increasingly unreliable. I'd purchased an XTBR repeater a couple years ago, and that seemed to cure 99% of the problems. That is, until I added the new espresso machine to the same branch circuit into which the XTBR was plugged. (Don't know what's in that espresso machine, but it's hell on X-10 signals.)

The last straw was when the light over the sink went out and I replaced it with a very nice LED fixture. A lot of LED fixtures/lights don't mix well with X-10, and this was one of them.

In the past I had considered and researched extensively Insteon, Z-Wave, Zigbee, and WiFi. I no longer recall exactly why, but I ended-up not liking any of them and deciding on Casèta.

quote:

Originally posted by mark60:
I do use Alexa but most of the switches are run with the Lutron app and the timer function.

I'm going to be integrating our Casèta Smart Bridge with Apple HomeKit running on one of our Apple TV devices.

As for the OP's other questions:

Our alarm system is a Honeywell/Ademco system with an EyezOn network interface.

Our surveillance system is Synology Surveillance System on a Synology NAS, and mostly Dahua IP cameras. (Though I'm currently considering moving to Digital Watchdog's DW Spectrum IPVMS.)

Our irrigation system is controlled by an Orbit B-hyve irrigation controller. I've added a Hunter rain sensor to it.

Our HVAC is a simple, non-networked Honeywell programmable thermostat.

None of our appliances are networked, though I am considering networking the kitchen range. They've a firmware upgrade that will allow us to add air fryer capability to the oven

quote:

Thanks for reminding me about the sprinkler control. That is one of my needs / wants too.

Several options, I have the Rachio, 8 zone works great, ties into the national weather for rain reports, seasonal updates and changes, and is easy to use.


Just installed a 4 zone system at Sis in Laws new home, we put in the Orbit B-Hive Controller 4 station unit only $69. This replaced an antiquated old dial system that was a PIA to use.

The B-Hive system was very easy to install, program and setup the zones with time, type of soil, etc. The app is very easy to use. Orbit has 4,8 and 16 zone units at lowes.

Lowes Orbit B-Hive sprinkler controller

Simplisafe camera does work outdoors.

You need to buy the outdoor kit. Camera condom and longer power cord.

I looked into setting up HAL quite a few years ago.... lol seriously

https://www.automatedliving.com/

I live in a apartment, and back when I was looking into things this was what I landed on for a "real" home automation setup. This was also well before alexa/google stuff. I honestly don't know anymore if they are still good or if their is better tho, it has been many many years since I looked into it.

I never did end up doing anything, it ended up not really being worth the money and effort for the little bit of playing around I wanted to do.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Don't know if you're interested in this, but I'm going to buy and install a Networked Water Heater Controller unit so I can schedule/control how much and when that unit runs.

...or you could just get an instant hot water heater from Navian or Rinnai and not have to worry about it.