Smarththings what can it do?

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  • robj20
    Automated Home Sr Member
    • Aug 2017
    • 76

    Smarththings what can it do?

    Apologies but for some reason i just cant get my head around Smartthings.

    At the minute i have Evohome and i use Life360 and IFTTT to turn the heating on and off when people leave the house. However it doesnt work well enough, it often takes hours to get the signal that someone has arrived home.

    Can Smartthings do it better. I want the heating to come on should anyone come home, and off when everyone leaves.

    I also want at some point some CCTV cameras mainly for the front watching the cars, it would be great if these all tied into the same smart system.

    Also getting an Amazon Echo soon and Philips Hue lights. The bit i dont get is Alexa can talk directly to Hue so why the Smartthings?
  • franktate
    Automated Home Sr Member
    • Feb 2007
    • 70

    #2
    SmartThings is good if you have a lot of different kit. It supports quite a good range of stuff (Z-wave, zigbee, wi-fi etc).

    It sound like you would be better just buying a Nest Thermostat for what you describe. I have one and it very reliable and easy to use/set up.

    I have an Echo and SmartThings. But now if you buy a new Echo Plus you will get SmartThings and Hue hub built in. So you are right - you won't need a SmartThings hub anymore. (These are now being discounted to catch all those people who haven't realised that yet)

    I have a Swann CCTV system. I can view remotely but there's no integration with any of the home automation kit. I did buy a Netatmo that recognises people but I can't work out what to do with that info. (i.e. trigger a light to go red if it sees someone it doesn't recognise)


    Frank

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    • robj20
      Automated Home Sr Member
      • Aug 2017
      • 76

      #3
      So ditch the brand new Evohome System and get a Nest instead?

      Probably just get a Echo Plus and see what it can do.
      The last couple of days the Life360 and IFTTT have been working better but it still misses us leaving or arriving the odd time, so the heating will not respond.

      Comment

      • smarthome111
        Automated Home Lurker
        • Aug 2017
        • 4

        #4
        my buddy uses smartthings.

        Like another user said it supports a good variety of things. Not sure if it is the best but certainly not a bad purchase.

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