I’m venturing slowly into home automation. The biggest priority for me is enabling my front porch light on a consistent schedule (basically on at night and off at morning). What are my best options? My home was built in the 1950s and the porch light uses the original housing and a standard incandescent bulb (with no room for anything else). I’d like it to be HomeKit compatible because I’m interested in doing some other items that are HomeKit compatible for ease of use. Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!
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Help with exterior lighting
- Thread starter baummer
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For lighting I typically prefer the automation control to be at the user interface. So the switch in this case. That way there is no "trick" to turning the light on and off, you can use the switch normally.
A lot of smart switches require a neutral (Leviton) which your switch may or may not have. Or in the rare case a neutral isn't required they require a hub for remote access (Lutron).
Even easier solution would be a Lifx bulb or Philips Hue kit (with hub).
Either option will allow you to set up a sunrise sunset automation.
Personally I use a Philips Hue bulb because I want to verify not only its brightness but its color temp as well. When I'm on the porch in the summer I change it to yellow so its not bug magnet.
I'm no longer using Apple stuff, so don't know if any of this is HomeKit compatible. Agree with the cynics post.
I have some Hue bulbs, Ring doorbells and cameras, TP-Link outlets, GE switches, and Nest smoke detectors. I went with the GE switches because they are the only ones that are the standard format switch and not the big wide paddle switches. I don't want a mixture and don't want to switch all my switches in the house, so the GE is a nice deal.
What I found was compatibility with all this stuff is tricky. I'm using a Smart Things hub, which is great, but it doesn't support the TP-Link outlets at all. It does natively support the GE switches. I am using those switches for my exterior lights. I programmed them to come on at sunset and then turn off at a time we go to bed. I then set them up to come on for 15 minutes if there is motion detected from the ring doorbell. I did all that with the Smart Things hub. But the Ring stick up camera strangely isn't supported by Smart Things hub. But turns out that isn't a huge problem. I used IFTTT (which is the great equalizer for home automation) to detect the Ring stick up cam motion and trigger the GE switch via the Smart Things hub... which covers the back yard motion and lights.
I have an Amazon Echo too, but haven't ventured yet to tie that in. I basically just started dabbling with this stuff over the last couple of months and its amazing how far its all come.
I have some Hue bulbs, Ring doorbells and cameras, TP-Link outlets, GE switches, and Nest smoke detectors. I went with the GE switches because they are the only ones that are the standard format switch and not the big wide paddle switches. I don't want a mixture and don't want to switch all my switches in the house, so the GE is a nice deal.
What I found was compatibility with all this stuff is tricky. I'm using a Smart Things hub, which is great, but it doesn't support the TP-Link outlets at all. It does natively support the GE switches. I am using those switches for my exterior lights. I programmed them to come on at sunset and then turn off at a time we go to bed. I then set them up to come on for 15 minutes if there is motion detected from the ring doorbell. I did all that with the Smart Things hub. But the Ring stick up camera strangely isn't supported by Smart Things hub. But turns out that isn't a huge problem. I used IFTTT (which is the great equalizer for home automation) to detect the Ring stick up cam motion and trigger the GE switch via the Smart Things hub... which covers the back yard motion and lights.
I have an Amazon Echo too, but haven't ventured yet to tie that in. I basically just started dabbling with this stuff over the last couple of months and its amazing how far its all come.