Incredibly detailed and educational, I appreciate that. Liked and subscribed. I've just very recently jumped into the deep end going from no virtual or voice assistants, or much of anything smart really, to a house full of smart switches, thermostat, locks, vacuum, various hubs, and a couple dozen sensors. I run it all through Home Assistant on a USFF, Homebridge on an old Pi 3b+, Alexa on my phone, and Google speakers as a voice assistant. Managing to integrate all of my devices into Home Assistant has been a fun, and sometimes frustrating, learning experience. Your channel has really helped me out.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

I'm so glad to be able to help someone like yourself! It's not often I help a home assistant user cause I'm not big into the platform myself. Happy you're here!

Amazingly thorough job, Brian! I feel like I’m writing queries as I listen to your description of if then and conditional statements. Thank you for explaining in detail how everything works underneath the hood.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Fantastic! Go forth and automate Jay!

Thanks Brian it is amazingly good explained. Even I (72) can understand how to automate ❣️

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

You are so welcome! Thank you for watching and commenting!

Thanks again, Brian, for a very in-depth video. A lot of hard work for our benefit!

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

My pleasure! Thank you Big Bear!

Just wanted to say thanks for all your content. You really put the effort in and it's appreciated.

@AutomateYourLife

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the note Robert!

Fab sweep of things to consider for newbies - really pleased I went Home Assistant route after hearing of the limitations of the others. Primarily driven by flexibility and local control. Computer meant to arrive in the post today!

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Oh you're going to run it on a PC? Good stuff!

Great video, Brian! Especially for the beginners. Chapeau bas! Greetings from Barcelona.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Another great vid, thanks! 🙂 I use the Smartlife app which is great for my needs, except for the lack of virtual switches. So I have a smart powerstrip that I've dedicated a few of the outlets to use as "virtual" switches. Enable/Disable works well, but it can get complicated sometimes, resulting in unintended consequences that can be hard to sort out IMO. So for example I use one for my location. Geofencing turns it on/off and I use various automations based on that status. I use another one for the status of my unsmart TV. I always use automation to turn the TV on/off with an IR blaster. Those automations also turn the "virtual" outlet on/off accordingly along with the TV. That way the IR blaster won't fire if, for instance, the TV is already off and then I leave the house - the automation stops instead of the IR blaster firing and turning it ON when I leave. I put the child covers on those outlets to remember not to plug actual devices into those, and to keep dust out. *Side note: OFC the TV could also just be plugged into the smart strip and skip the "virtual" outlet, but I use the strip somewhere else with a couple actual devices also plugged into it, so...

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

That's a great way to do the "virtual" switches! Cost effective too actually

Wow, this is very informative for someone new to Automations! Thanks for taking the time to share it.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

My pleasure!

My absolute favorite tricks is to use odd non-rounded values in automations. Like setting light levels to 24, 49, or 99%. Occupants tend to set things at rounded values (100, 50, 25, 20% ect). For Example, you want your blinds to run based on sun exposure, and outside temperatures. Closed during the heat of the day, closed of privacy when going to bed, and open after dark to help offset HVAC requirements to cool the room. I automate to close the blind to 1%, condition being that it was already set to 99% open. If someone is in the room and wants the blind open they will have opened it to some other level, likely open fully to 100%. I then run another automation every night at 2am that sets the Blind back to a set value to clear any of these conditions for the next days routine. This helps keep lights in rooms from dimming in the evening when occupants are doing tasks with lights set specifically at required levels in the moment. (Often the blind only needs to “move” 1% which ends up not actually triggering a noticeable noise)

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

So you're trying to predict the spot where they'll move it to. That's the power of automation! Good stuff!

@ecoheliguy

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife it’s great because you can easily set every automation to check for a prior state which was set from another automation. Like before the lights in the garage turn off, check that the current value is 99%. If not. Someone in the garage has specifically set the light at a level they needed. Or say the en-suite light came on at 4% with motion at 5am. If you want the lights to turn off 15 minutes later. Then check for the condition to be currently on at 4%, and no motion. No one would be actively using the en-suite doing makeup or having a shower with the lights at 4% in the morning.

Terrific job, Brian!!! You put a lot of time & effort into this and it shows. I agree with Aqara assessment and thanks to you I dived in and since I'm doing more and more with Homekit, as well as Amazon, and even SmartThings I really like their cameras and sensors. I've pretty well ditched Google for home automation and would like to ditch SmartThings, but because it''s becoming harder to choose hubs that pick up Z-Wave devices, I'll have to keep them around just for that. Of course Hubitat can do it, too, and I have their hub as well. Keep it up. I can't believe how much work you do with your channel!!!

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Hugh! Oh, and I did see your email. I gotta look into what you sent though!

@haydenshyers4892

Жыл бұрын

J

This video is incredible full of useful knowledge. Thanks indeed

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Great job explaining how automation works. I started doing industrial automation back in the early 80’s so I’m sure that you can imagine the fun getting it to where it is now! 😅

@AutomateYourLife

9 ай бұрын

A fellow industrial automation worker! Hello!

Once again awesome job Brian, well done..mike

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Hey Mike! Hope you're well! Thanks :)

THIS VIDEO IS EPIC!!! Thank you so much. We love you.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

oh and I love you man! Peace and love!

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Way too kind man. Thank you. Made my day.

Thanks for another great video Brian. I do have a question on virtual switches as follow-on to a comment of mine on your "How to Trigger Alexa Routines with Anything from Smartthings" video where I said I currently use bjpierron's simulated alexa switch to control smartthings and alexa automations. It looks like that IDE based switch will be deprecated by year end as part of the move to Edge. I bought an Aeotec hub to allow Edge driver virtual switches instead. When I look for what to replace the IDE switch with I see community based virtual switches from TAustin and ygerlovin. I have installed the ygerlovin switch and it appears to work as a contact sensor in Alexa as well. I also see a virtual switch in the Smartthings Drivers (Beta) which I can't figure out how to install. I was excited to see that there was a Virtual Switch in Labs from this video, but it appears that it does not have a contact sensor to use as an Alexa trigger. All that said, what virtual switch is the right one to use for the long haul that will be supported. I was hoping the Smartthings Drivers was the way to go figuring it was officially supported, but as I said can't figure out how to install. Thanks for all of your work!

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Yeah so the SmartThings virtual switch that's a part of labs will not work the same way as our (soon-to-be) deprecated bjperron's simulated switch. vEdge, which I believe you've chosen now, is the one I'd use for Alexa. Otherwise, use the Labs one as it will migrate with the rest of the Edge drivers.

@todds9652

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife Thanks

Excellent video. I was hoping you could point me in the direction of a controller for an LED strip that works with the effects and animations in Hue. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Ooooh that's tough. I have yet to see an LED controller that works well with the new dynamic scenes. Honestly, I think you'll have trouble finding anything except Hue's own strips. Sorry! It's just in the middle of a transition out of what used to be Hue Labs and it's broken a lot of those feature options

@gt5ltrmustang

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife thanks!

Brian, I've watched this a few times already and have done a revision of my automations, taking some of your tips into account. I have a question about automations based on temp and humidity readings. What do you find to be the most accurate temp and humidity sensor? I have a homekit-compatible humidifier in my bedroom and I'm not sure if it's internal sensor is very good, but without a known-good and accurate sensor to compare I can't actually tell. What do you think about the 3rd Reality sensor?

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Third Reality is really great and really accurate. However! What I'd do is gather 3-4 sensors from all over your home and get them calibrated to the same temperature. You can usually calibrate through the hub's app, which would let you push it up and down. One thing with Third Reality is you'll have a tough time (except with Hubitat now I think) getting it into HomeKit. Maybe look at Aqara (but I don't love the TVOC)? Just to help generally, the sensors with a larger air gap allow less heat coming off electronics to affect the sensor. Additionally, it means the sensor will react quicker to changes in ambient air temperature. But honestly, most are accurate enough to use as long as you calibrate them and understand your differentials!

My man dropping big knowledge

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Trying to give you everything I can! Hope it helps!

@JWard2

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife ILY ❤️

This video is massive! You've outdone yourself, Brian!

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Colin! Really hoping this one is useful for a lot of folks. :)

@J35Ian

Жыл бұрын

n

Comprehensive yet concise, a masterpiece

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Is concise possible on a video of this length!? ;)

@garethjones5068

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife Lot of information in far fewer words than I could ever do it, so to me yeah definitely concise

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

@@garethjones5068 yeah but you have those great stories

A better word to use before a trigger is "whenever", which allows you to use "if" before the condition. With it, it is pretty straight forward that you should say "whenever the light level becomes low" instead of "whenever the light level is low". And as such, the difference between "whenever the light level becomes low, if the door is open, turn on the light" and "whenever the door opens, if the light level is low, turn on the light" is immediately obvious.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Thanks 😃

Hey there, been watching all your videos. Just wondering if I'm doing these right, I've stepped up my automation game and I'm starting to get a lot of sensors around the house. I originally started with google, but recently switched to Alexa. I'm having issues of having to run some routines on google and some on Alexa. I also have some vibration sensors (Aqara) Which I know now I have no way of using. I tried to go with a Homey Pro but it seemed a bit much for simple lights turning on from motion sensors or presence sensors so I returned it because my Tuya lights couldn't connect to it. Now I'm thinking I need something to bring everything together and hopefully get more advanced automations with more options. Should I consider Home Assistant? I'm just worried it may be a bit much to set up with needing to firewall it off and what not. Just tired of having to use Alexa/Google and now with vibration sensors I may have to use Apples assistant as well... is having to use so many home assistant apps normal? I just figured one that does it all was more standard lol...

@AutomateYourLife

8 ай бұрын

Hey Justin, I think if you're just getting into home automation, then Home Assistant is a pretty tough place to start. It's still the ultimate in doing "everything" you could ever want in home automation, but I think it depends what you're really after. For me, I use SmartThings because it's that bridge between the really complex systems (Hubitat, Home Assistant, etc.) and the sometimes too-easy and too-simple systems (Google, Amazon, Apple). That let's you do a lot and doesn't drive you to spend your life with home automation. That's my recommendation generally and lets you do more advanced automations, and it's how I run most of my home.

Hi Brain, I am trying to run an automation triggered when a light blub level is below a certain % but the smartthings IDE always shows it's at 100% and the checkInterval is 1260 s. Where do I find the settings you mention at 50:20?

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Wellllll, if the bulb isn't updating it sounds like it's just not connected. Maybe try reconnecting that one? Within each device in the SmartThings app, if you tap the three dots top right, you'll see what settings you have there.

People do need to be careful of not confusing trigger and condition as they are quite different things. :) I was surprised to see you release a video that was over 1 1/2 hours long, but there is a lot of good information in this video. Thanks for all the detals. I use Home Assistnat, but I am not your usual Home Assistant nutter, but I do like TriggerID's in Home Assistant. I have not seen them in other platforms. You can set a multiple triggers, assign them Trigger ID's and then in the Actions you can have an action based on a Trigger ID so that part of the action will run only when that particular trigger happens. If this is available elsewhere, I'll stand corrected on that, I just have not seen that elsewhere and it is a really great feature, particularly in the DIY Alarm system space.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

There's a couple close to that Trigger ID. You can add in conditions to specific actions and then in some systems you can order the actions and then put conditions that only apply to the actions below it. So it's kinda close :) Thanks Brendan!

@EsotericArctos

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife Yeah, kind of close to using Trigger ID. I haven't done a new automation for a while, I kind of set mine up and forget them, unlike a lot of Home Assistant people that tinker constantly. If I recall HA has conditions in automations as well. Given how far HA has come, maybe one day you can do a HA vs SmartThings video for us? Kind of a Commercial DIY vs a community DIY?

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Yeahhhh mayyyybe. I always felt like that video had been done. But! Matter opens up some interesting stuff

Brian, Great video. On Home Security, I know you have done videos. But how about outside? How do we protect something like our cars? Our cars sitting in our driveway or on the street? Here's an idea, since WiFi has a distance limit that we can't depend on always and that signal is not the same for everyone; what if we used Long Range (LoRa) motion and contact sensors inside our cars? Yolink, as you know, has Long Range sensors good for 1,000 feet. Consider putting a Yolink motion sensor on the inside and maybe even Yolink Contact Sensors on the doors to alert you inside your home via an Alexa notification, or even a Yolink announcement from the Speakerhub. Think about that. Don't need to install a parallel, a set of separate security devices to accomplish expanding the diameter of your protection. AND think of putting the Yolink Outside motion sensor under your car facing down if you have a catalytic converter you want to protect. Once you drive away leaving your home, the sensors don't report or alert. But when you return home and your sensors reconnect - may I add automatically, you only have to set them up one time. How about a video on this, please?

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

I'll put it on the list! I'm not sure when something like this would make it on the channel, but it's on there and I like the topic for sure!

@justinmetts5959

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife Thinking of doing an AI solution for scenarios like these. Cameras into frigate or iris with deepstack integration. All this with home assistant as well for alarms or whatever else. Telegram photos too.

Great videos, I think you could easily have 1m+ subs one day.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Too kind! Thanks so much!

I have a question. What app to use to make a scene to control the smart switch, when the smart thermostat is change its state. I use Poer Smart thermostart and Sonoff (eWeLink). So I would like to use non-voice scenes to make this automation. For example, after the smart thermostat change state to heat, I would like to trigger the smart switch to power up the water pump. Great job you are doing!

@StevanStevanovicStevassy

Жыл бұрын

Poer Smart thermostat can be connected to Alexa and google assistant but those apps I can't make trigger, except as a voice trigger....

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

If you can see the Thermostat and the heating trigger in eWeLink, then you miiiiiight be able to do it there. I think the other option for you would be to push it into SmartThings as a cloud connection. Not perfect for reliability but that sounds like a potential. No need for a hub either.

Quick question...is there going to be a test on this? I'm still busy taking notes.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

bahahahhahaa! Yep! The test is...how's your home working!

Hello. I was wondering if you could possibly help me with a question. My dad is blind and uses IOS accessibility to navigat his phone. I was wondering if you knew or could test how well it works with Home assistant. I want to help him set up a smart home. But I want to know how well different hub environments will work for him before I suggest one for him to use.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, that's pretty tough for me to do. I'm not blind and I wouldn't understand the experience very well. I'd hate to be making recommendations. The good news is you can test that, the SmartThings app, and a few others without actually buying a hub. Home Assistant can be installed on a computer, a NAS, or a lot of other things and then tested out for the basics. So you could go through it with him and see what's working well and not for him.

@landondittel2643

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife Okay thank you, I didn't realize you could set up home assistance like that. Thank you

@jaynunes2501

Жыл бұрын

I set up a number of smart devices for my mom who is also legally blind. This allows her to know the temperature on her thermostat and adjust it and work a number of other things her house. And also let her know what lights are on and turn them off with her voice. There are a lot more automation options available but I have her using the Google ecosystem, which unfortunately has an integrated a bunch of sensors and full true automations yet. Hopefully that will change soon.

what app are you talking about where you can do all the logic stuff in the automation?

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Lots of different apps give you these options. As you watch later in this video, you'll see some examples in the apps. I don't go in depth but when I say that logic can be done in a certain system then you'll have some ability to create those more advanced logic automations.

@TheUnofficialMaker

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife yeah I think I will look into OpenPlc and incorporate it into my home automation. (retired plc programmer)

Can you use apple HomeKit & Google home both as a smart home.?

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Sure! And with Matter that's going to become a bit easier

After watching a lot of your videos I still dont know which are the best sensors that work with Google. Most of the products i use are from google Or that work with google, lately I've been trying to add sensors for doors and or to start lights when open doors, i bought an aqara hub and some sensors but they dont work with Google even though they showed up in google home app i can see them there but i can't do automation with the google app. How can i integrate some sensors and automations with all my google hardware? Or what's the best brand of sensors that will work with google? Thank you for the help. I appreciate it.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Sadly, to this day... There is exactly one motion sensor that works with Google but you still need a zigbee hub in another system. Google has never implemented a proper system for using sensors. They have all the bones at this point, and there does seem to be light at the end of this tunnel, but today there's really nothing I can recommend you go get. That is the sad reason you don't know which sensors work with Google... If you want to execute right now and start really building out then I would suggest you get a proper hub. Or what we would call a more traditional hub. That will give you lots of options for sensors. I think smart things is the best traditional Hub to use with Google home and have recommended that for a lot of years! So I hope that helps!

@alexmedina3798

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife thank you so much I will try smart things.

Hey I fell victim to the hearse that Samsung Smartthings was going under and quit using it. Now I have a habitat which can do a lot but can be lacking in some cases. Do you feel that having both of the hubs could work? I have also started adding Alexa in the household because I have been using Google Home. I am just trying to figure out what would be the best combo of items as I try to start using more than the simplest of automations.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

LOL the hearse. I still like it and it's actually getting more like Hubitat from the local perspective. In my home, I have a LOT of hubs. Hubitat is great for really complex situations, whereas SmartThings is great for connectivity and more mainstream stuff. So yeah, they actually complement each other pretty well. The best combos...that's a good video actually.

@ChrisThompsonthetechguy

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife That's a video I would like to see. Not to be a bummer or anything but my main reason getting back into looking at automating my home is due to an illness. I have something called CMT disease and it is slowly taking away my ability to walk well and to touch and feel well. I don't know if it's been done, but automations for people with disabilities is another good topic. I think that could be covered.

I am using a TP-link Motion activated dimmer switch KS220M, ES20M in my bathroom. I would like to set up a routine using my Alexa Voice activation to communicate through the switch using the word “shower”. What I would like the routine to do is when I am ready to take a shower, I would like for the light to stay on for at least 15 minutes or longer. When I'm in the shower the light keeps going out after one minute, and I must constantly wave my hands to trigger the motion detector to get the light to turn back on while I am in the shower. Is there a way that I can create a routine to trigger the light for the light to stay on while I am in the shower for at least 15 minutes or longer.

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

I answered this on your other note I think!

Can you help I want to set my family's phones up as presents sensors. I have everything set up but I'm not getting the messages when I ( s21) leave or my wife (apple) could you please do a walk through on this kinda stuff

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

It's different for every system. What are you using Nicholas?

@gleasna

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife nm just had to reset things up I originally tried to set things up in smartthings classic. Have you ever looked in to bed products like the ooler or the 8 sleep pod and I think there are a few more that would fit in the categorie!

Hi Brian, Wow, great video! I have a question for you. I have just recently bought a HUE Gradient Light strip. (Great quality and great fun to have) I have setup a Scene called Tokyo in the Android HUE App. The scene is great and is showing of the gradient lights crawling along the light strip! However there is no way to add that scene to a HUE Dim Switch button, so the only way to start the Tokyo Scene is to enter the app and start the scene. That´s a bummer as I would like to have it smart so that I can start the scene from a switch, or any other means of start/stop. Do you know of any of the Friends of HUE apps that can add the scene "Tokyo" to a HUE Dim Switch button" ? Or any other way to make it so that I can start and stop the scene without accessing the Android HUE app? Take care and have a great Saturday! //Peter

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Hey Peter (and Pia)! Great to hear from you! So the Tokyo scene, you add to your list of Smart Scenes and then I'd use Alexa or Google routines to turn them on. SmartThings should have this option soon, as they're improving the Hue integration greatly due to the new Rules Engine and overall API changes. So those scenes should show up in SmartThings later too.

@PeterEidegren

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife Great news, that it was that easy. Pia says Hi and wishing you a great weekend. //Peter

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Same to you too! Stay as happy as ever :)

Video: _shows smart home automations_ Intro: *SpongeBob! SpongeBob!*

I dont know if it is SMarthings changes but both ST and Miss A are acting really crazy lately, disconnecting, servers not responding, etc.... DAILY ! I am really pissed over them.

Dad detection 😂 1:10:17

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

Hey ya gotta know when the Dad comes home. That way you can put away the...whatever it is you're hiding!

Brian, I would like Alexa Guard to wake me up with a voice alert to the echo device near my bed if someone breaks into a downstairs window at night. Do you know how to set this up or how to get Alexa Guard to trigger a user-created routine?

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

So this is where I'd probably use Alexa Guard to enable a few routines that send notifications. It goes like this: IF Alexa Guard is on THEN enable routine 1 IF Alexa Guard is on THEN enable routine 2 etc... Then... enabled routine 1 IF Contact Sensor opens THEN Notify on Echo enabled routine 2 IF Motion sensor sees motion THEN notify on Echo Then... IF Alexa Guard is off THEN disable routine 1 IF Alexa Guard is off THEN disable routine 2

@fyom

Жыл бұрын

@@AutomateYourLife Thanks Brian

@rufinosegurahernandez9133

Жыл бұрын

​@@AutomateYourLife ❤

Hmm, don't you see the value in showing people how to add the Shake-Break Sensor inside their vehicle to reduce the chance of catalytic converter thief? You know, that's are REAL thing that is happening NOW, all over the country. I think their would be a lot of interest. Don't you think so too, folks?

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

I see the value 😃

Hello Brain is there any way to contact you for a product review business/collaboration?

@AutomateYourLife

Жыл бұрын

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