Insteon Karma thanks
EndersShadow
Posts: 17,590
**BEFORE YOU POST ON THIS THREAD**
I started this thread for 2 reasons.
1. To again thanks @maximillian for the Karma of some Insteon switches.
2. Discussing what I've done, and am planning to do with what he gave me
Comments about smart devices spying on you, making people too lazy to get up to flick a switch, and the like will be ignored.
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As a result of Max's generous Karma I did need to buy a Insteon hub to use with the switches, but I was heading that route before these came along as I've been wanting to play with Insteon devices anyway in conjuction with Google Assistant, and the Insteon app, which I've heard good things about.
So far I've got the following running & programmed
1. LED light in lamp in family room.
2. Dimmer switch for master bedroom fan.
3. On off for Skye's bedroom ceiling fan & light.
Here's whats I'm still working on using what I was given:
2. Currently working on getting the downstairs 1/2 bath light wired and linked to a motion sensor to turn it on and off as you open the door.
3. Scarletts bedroom ceiling fan and light.
4. Loft ceiling fan and light. I "may" have to replace the fan as unlike Skye and Scarletts fans, this one uses 3 bulbs, which would be expensive to make smart bulbs. I may replace with a similar fan that uses a single bulb so I can use a smart bulb.
I have a single "scene" programmed right now thats scheduled Mon, Tues, Thurs, Friday. The Master Bedroom lights come on starting at 6:15 over 8 minutes right which is when my youngest daughters Google Mini alarm wakes her up and she comes into my room to start waking up while I get ready. By turning the lights on over 8 minutes it should stop the complaints of "Daddy its too bright".....
I will also be buying LED bubs for both Skye and Scarletts ceiling fans so I can turn those on over 8 minutes as well when they are supposed to be getting up. Scarlett gets up about 30-45 mins after Skye so it will be nice to program that to happen automatically, and then turn themselves off when I've left the house (in case I forget to do it as I leave the rooms)
Smarthome.com has been running sales pretty regularly of 50% off Insteon devices so I will slowly add additional on/off toggle switches to the following locations:
2. Family Room Fan
3. Family Room Fan Light (they are on separate switches, unlike the bedrooms)
4. Eat in Kitchen light
5. Kitchen Light
6. Dining Room Light
7. Entry light
8. Sofa table light via LED bulb
At 45 a switch, needing 6, if I buy them in pairs as they go on sale (so I get 2 for 1), for another 150 I will have most of my house setup to control via voice through my google assistants (or if I go to Alexa it works with that too).
I'd say thats a solid win!
I will keep this thread updated with my progress over the next few months as I slowly get things wired and programmed.
Thanks again Max!
I started this thread for 2 reasons.
1. To again thanks @maximillian for the Karma of some Insteon switches.
2. Discussing what I've done, and am planning to do with what he gave me
Comments about smart devices spying on you, making people too lazy to get up to flick a switch, and the like will be ignored.
********************************************************************************
As a result of Max's generous Karma I did need to buy a Insteon hub to use with the switches, but I was heading that route before these came along as I've been wanting to play with Insteon devices anyway in conjuction with Google Assistant, and the Insteon app, which I've heard good things about.
So far I've got the following running & programmed
1. LED light in lamp in family room.
2. Dimmer switch for master bedroom fan.
3. On off for Skye's bedroom ceiling fan & light.
Here's whats I'm still working on using what I was given:
2. Currently working on getting the downstairs 1/2 bath light wired and linked to a motion sensor to turn it on and off as you open the door.
3. Scarletts bedroom ceiling fan and light.
4. Loft ceiling fan and light. I "may" have to replace the fan as unlike Skye and Scarletts fans, this one uses 3 bulbs, which would be expensive to make smart bulbs. I may replace with a similar fan that uses a single bulb so I can use a smart bulb.
I have a single "scene" programmed right now thats scheduled Mon, Tues, Thurs, Friday. The Master Bedroom lights come on starting at 6:15 over 8 minutes right which is when my youngest daughters Google Mini alarm wakes her up and she comes into my room to start waking up while I get ready. By turning the lights on over 8 minutes it should stop the complaints of "Daddy its too bright".....
I will also be buying LED bubs for both Skye and Scarletts ceiling fans so I can turn those on over 8 minutes as well when they are supposed to be getting up. Scarlett gets up about 30-45 mins after Skye so it will be nice to program that to happen automatically, and then turn themselves off when I've left the house (in case I forget to do it as I leave the rooms)
Smarthome.com has been running sales pretty regularly of 50% off Insteon devices so I will slowly add additional on/off toggle switches to the following locations:
2. Family Room Fan
3. Family Room Fan Light (they are on separate switches, unlike the bedrooms)
4. Eat in Kitchen light
5. Kitchen Light
6. Dining Room Light
7. Entry light
8. Sofa table light via LED bulb
At 45 a switch, needing 6, if I buy them in pairs as they go on sale (so I get 2 for 1), for another 150 I will have most of my house setup to control via voice through my google assistants (or if I go to Alexa it works with that too).
I'd say thats a solid win!
I will keep this thread updated with my progress over the next few months as I slowly get things wired and programmed.
Thanks again Max!
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
Comments
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The 1/2 bath downstairs is having trouble getting signal. Thats not all that surprising given how many breakers away it is from the main hub. As I install more switches I will continue to build up the network, making the signal stronger. So for now I'm giving up on installing it there and moving it elsewhere.
In looking at my breaker, I have some better options closer to the circuits I have already installed working switches on. I'm looking at doing either the master bathroom (on one of two switches), or the girls/the hall bathroom (the more likely option).
As I slowly work out from the master bedroom circuit (which is where the hub is), in theory it should become easier for the switches to connect, so eventually I will get to the 1/2 bath, just not as fast as I expected.
That said as well, since we are starting to night train my oldest tonight, having that motion sensor and switch in their bathroom is likely the smarter choice."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
Dan, hope you guys didnt get any flooding over there. Carmel looked bad!
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Do the switches turn my noise filters on and off?
"Alexa, turn on Hermit's noise filters that he lent out back in February." -
Do the switches turn my noise filters on and off?
"Alexa, turn on Hermit's noise filters that he lent out back in February."
Ironically enough, those are sitting at my office in use in that system because they did hamper the signal transferring between devices lol....
That said, the work system is more likely to have lots of noise on it (commercial building + lots of cheap computers on each circuit + lamps, personal chargers, etc), so in theory its the ideal testing ground for them....
And how dare you reference "Alexa", I'd never cheat on "Hey Google" with "Alexa"......
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
So Christmas update.....
I got 3 Insteon Fanlinc controllers for Christmas from my parents. These are rad because they do the one thing I was struggling with..... independent control of the ceiling fan AND light, off a single toggle switch.
Using the regular Insteon toggle switches I could turn the fan and light on or off, but NOT independently. Whatever settings the fan and light were on was what I got when turned on.
With these I can control both the light and fan, independently of each other using the app, or voice control. The light also has dimmer functions (which work with the NEW ceiling fan I installed at the same time). The voice control aspect works in a weird way though....
The LIGHT portion of the device can be controlled with google assistant like regular “Ok Google turn on Scarletts light”..... "Ok Google set Scarletts light to X percent"
The FAN SPEED needs to be setup in scenes.... So for each fan I have to create a Low, Medium, High, and Off scene just for the fan.
Then I “activate” the scene “Ok google, activate Scarlett fan low” and it turns it on.
Is it slightly annoying.... Yes..... Does it still accomplish my goals.... YUP....
So I just need to install the other two in Skyes room and the loft.
This in turn frees up three toggle switches I was currently using for other devices.
I plan to use those to finish the control of the master ceiling fan (the fan and light are on different switches, but I have one on the light already), hall light, and then the master closet.
That leaves me with JUST the master bath switches (of which there are 2) upstairs.
Downstairs I need switches for:- Family room fan
- family room light
- Entry Light
- Dining room light
- Kitchen lights x 2
- 1/2 bath
- Laundry room
- Garage
So 11 total toggle switches, which I will get slowly over time when they have their 1/2 off sales, likely in pairs of 4.
I also really like that the more you add, the stronger the signals get as each device is a repeater for the signals.
I also need to figure out the motion sensors to trigger things because I’d LIKE to have the bathrooms and master closet setup to turn on when motion is sensed, and off after X time with no motion.
And lastly they also now sell outlets you can control, with each outlet being able to be controlled independently. I have a couple outlets I want to buy these for, mainly the entry way (so I can turn the lamp there on and off based on the door sensor), both our nightstands, a outlet in the family room (again to control the lamp there based on the same sensor, and an outlet in the loft. Currently I have 2 Z-wave controllers I use for the light in the family room, and the loft lamp, but it would be nice to NOT need those, and also bring all the lighting and outlets under control from a single vendor.
So thats a total of 5 outlets, again I will buy over time based on sales to cut my investment in at least 1/2.
Also, shout out to @lightman1 for some fan troubleshooting so I didnt get hurt by wiring things wrong!"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
