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Old 22 Jan 20, 12:39 PM  
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OutbackAddict
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Question for the home tech experts

I'm thinking of investing in a couple of smart plugs and switches around the house so we don't have to clamber over the sofa to turn the lamp on, security etc that are alexa compatible and i see there are a few plugs that work on their own and some including all the switches seem to need a mihome gateway. Is this the best system, are there others that are better, any pitfalls to any of this. Just looking for some advice really as my knoledge is pretty limited about these. Also what are smart lightbulbs and how do they work ?
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Edited at 12:40 PM.
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Old 22 Jan 20, 01:15 PM  
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klr15
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We have Hive for our house. We have a Hive Home Hub that has all the devices connected to it.

We have a thermostat and a boiler receiver so that we can control the heating via an app on our phone which is really handy as we can check the temperature of the house when we are out and turn on the heating if we need to.

We also have a Hive plug that we use for our fish tank and a hive bulb that we use for our lamp.

The bulb is just put into the lamp like a normal bulb and from there it is controlled via the app.

The plug sort of works like an adaptor, it’s plugged in and the appliance is plugged into that, we use it for the fish tank light.

We also have an echo dot so that we can ask Alexa to turn on/off the fish tank, turn on/off the lamp and boost the heating.

It is by far the best thing we have ever bought, it makes all the difference. For example we don’t have a light switch by our front door (old house) so we can either walk in and ask Alexa to put the lamp on or we can switch it on via the app before we get home.

Ours also picks up noise like a dog barking or a smoke alarm going off and sends us a notification.
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Old 22 Jan 20, 01:16 PM  
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TheHughesCrew
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We have TP link plugs, cameras and a lightbulb. They are switched on and off using their app, called kasa. It’s an extremely simple interface, and can be managed from wherever you use your mobile phone. We have some on set schedules, to switch on and off at certain times, and some we just use as and when. They are just plug and go, no need for a hub of any sort. We can also easily clear the memory to take them to my mums and set them up for her when she’s on holiday.

I do believe they are also Alexa compatible, but we don’t use our Alexa for this as it’s easy enough to use on the set timings, or our phones. All 4 of us in the house have the app (which is hysterical, when someone turns the lights on, and then they are switched off straight away by someone else 🙄&#128514

ETA, I think Hive is a ‘better’ or perhaps more sophisticated system, but we found the TP link plug/camera option to be the cheapest... but still incredibly reliable and user friendly

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Old 22 Jan 20, 01:18 PM  
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leenkerri
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Originally Posted by klr15 View Post
We have Hive for our house. We have a Hive Home Hub that has all the devices connected to it.

We have a thermostat and a boiler receiver so that we can control the heating via an app on our phone which is really handy as we can check the temperature of the house when we are out and turn on the heating if we need to.

We also have a Hive plug that we use for our fish tank and a hive bulb that we use for our lamp.

The bulb is just put into the lamp like a normal bulb and from there it is controlled via the app.

The plug sort of works like an adaptor, it’s plugged in and the appliance is plugged into that, we use it for the fish tank light.

We also have an echo dot so that we can ask Alexa to turn on/off the fish tank, turn on/off the lamp and boost the heating.

It is by far the best thing we have ever bought, it makes all the difference. For example we don’t have a light switch by our front door (old house) so we can either walk in and ask Alexa to put the lamp on or we can switch it on via the app before we get home.

Ours also picks up noise like a dog barking or a smoke alarm going off and sends us a notification.
If you get the door sensor it can turn the light on when the door is open too. We have this set up and it’s great when you have your hands full.
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Old 22 Jan 20, 01:31 PM  
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novocastrian
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3 electronic timer plugs Argos 14 quid for lamps etc

find putting lights on/off via a light switch easy enough ..
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Old 22 Jan 20, 01:37 PM  
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Basset
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As ever there are so many ways you could do this and it frequently depends on what else you want to do and what kit you have

Smart lightbulbs - Depending on the make could either connect directly to your wifi or to their own hub that is connected to your network. personally I use a Philips hue hub and have several lamps and bulbs connected to it. "Alexa lounge lights on" puts on a table lamp , floor lamp and the wall lights.

Smart plugs - Basically control power to the device not the lamp itself. So you'd leave your lamp switch on and have the smart plug control the flow of power. My bedside one is controlled this way as I picked up a very cheap smart plug when Maplins was wrapping up.

If you want to control your heating as well.. Hive is good and works well. They sell cameras , plugs bulbs etc,.. but they aren't the cheapest.

Argos frequently have TPLink smart plugs on a multi buy offer.

Amazon sell all of these as well as the bulbs that work individually.

If you just want to control your lamp.. I'd say go for the smart plug rather than smart bulb option.

If you are thinking about smart light switches.. most of them need a neutral wire which a lot of lighting circuits don't have.

You could look at sonoff but that's when you really are getting addicted
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Old 22 Jan 20, 01:56 PM  
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vampiress88
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We have the bulbs and plugs from ikea.
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Old 22 Jan 20, 05:35 PM  
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parisdisneyfan
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Originally Posted by vampiress88 View Post
We have the bulbs and plugs from ikea.
Same here, dh reckons they are the best. He also bought one of the automated window blinds from them for our room.

We use Google Home instead of the Alexa as the interface with them and something called Smart Things on our phones and he has set routines so we have Morning, Evening, Going to Bed etc. Only problem I have is that I sometimes don't know what he has called a specific light or device! I joke that he was worried I'd be lonely so I have to talk to the lights, heating etc I have had some funny looks from tradesman we have had round to give us quotes though

OP I'm a real technophobe and although I have called it names in the past now it is just second nature to say "Google turn on/up/off ... "
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Old 22 Jan 20, 05:50 PM  
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Tinkerbell
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Originally Posted by vampiress88 View Post
We have the bulbs and plugs from ikea.
Originally Posted by parisdisneyfan View Post
Same here, dh reckons they are the best. He also bought one of the automated window blinds from them for our room.

We use Google Home instead of the Alexa as the interface with them and something called Smart Things on our phones and he has set routines so we have Morning, Evening, Going to Bed etc. Only problem I have is that I sometimes don't know what he has called a specific light or device! I joke that he was worried I'd be lonely so I have to talk to the lights, heating etc I have had some funny looks from tradesman we have had round to give us quotes though

OP I'm a real technophobe and although I have called it names in the past now it is just second nature to say "Google turn on/up/off ... "

Do either of you have a link to or name on Ikea that I should search for?
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Old 22 Jan 20, 06:55 PM  
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parisdisneyfan
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Originally Posted by Tinkerbell View Post
Do either of you have a link to or name on Ikea that I should search for?
They are Tadfri or something like that, they go out of stock quite quickly as they are lots cheaper than other ones from other manufacturers. We are lucky we have 3 IKEA within an hour and a bit radius plus they also do online and delivery these days. Good luck
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