Showing posts with label amazon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amazon. Show all posts

Monday, December 8, 2014

Z-Wave Energy Monitoring Plug for $30



One of the hardest pills to swallow with home automation is the cost. If you are careful to purchase things that work well and grab them on sale, home automation can be even more affordable. For example, some plugs cost between $50 and $60 but there is one that has good reviews that is available for under $30. I ordered one so I can review it in a future post, but it looks like a potential winner!

Don't forget to sign up for Amazon Prime to get free 2-day shipping.









As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Why I chose SmartThings

When my basement flooded the first time, I paid my $1000 insurance deductible and then spent a few weeks coordinating repairs and replacement purchases. I paid for the plumber to camera the line and determined that the backup was caused by a toy that was flushed down the toilet. The toy caused waste water to backup into my basement office. Overall, it was extremely painful. To avoid that pain, I installed battery powered water detectors all over. 10 of them.

Over a year later, the basement flooded again. This time, the toilet was clogged by excess toilet paper and the handle was stuck all day. This caused toilet water to flow from the main floor bathroom down the wall and into basement.


An alarm sounded, but no one was home to hear it. The water ran all day, but that doesn't look like much damage does it?


Unfortunately, water isn't always predictable. The water went down the floor register and found its way on my flat screen TV, entertainment system and a bookcase. Some of the books that were soaked are irreplaceable. It was emotionally scarring.

A week later, there were still commercial dehumidifiers and fans all over my house. The house was loud and hot. Doors started sticking and everyone was miserable. I had to prevent this from happening again. The night of the damage, a friend recommended that I check out SmartThings.

After spending thousands of dollars after both incidents, I knew it was worth it. I took a few weeks to research all of the different systems on the market and ended up choosing SmartThings for several reasons. The first reason was the support community. Reading how employees interact with users gave me confidence in their support. The second reason was the company's goal to make other products work with their system. The fact that I could integrate my Nest and Hue systems was huge.

After using the system for a few weeks, I really wish I had installed it earlier. Purchase and installation were painless. The SmartThings Hub arrived the day after I ordered it. Thank you Amazon Prime! I elected to just order the hub, but the Energy Saver Kit is a great deal directly from SmartThings (Get 10% off).


It included a power cable and network cable.


I installed the app, plugged it in and followed the directions and was up and running in 10 minutes. Once I installed the water sensors and set up push notifications, I finally have peace-of-mind.


Everything is OK thanks to SmartThings.


 

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Great Deal on Sonos Home Automation Speakers

Through December 27th, Amazon is offering great deals on Sonos speakers with additional Amazon credit with purchases. Sonos speakers are compatible with SmartThings and allow you to do text-to-speech and play sounds to coincide with events such as motion. I am putting together a Christmas project involving a Sonos.

I am sold on the Sonos Play:1, but the soundbar looks awesome with a $50 Amazon credit included. I am also intrigued by the highly reviewed Sonos Connect which allows you to integrate with an existing home stereo system.

Ultimately, I would love to connect to my existing Onkyo system through an app. However, I am more excited about giving my SmartThings hub a voice.

Don't forget to sign up for Amazon Prime to get free 2-day shipping!




As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Dropcam on sale for $99

Yesterday I posted about the Nest Thermostat for $50 off on Amazon, today I noticed that the Dropcamcamera is $50 off as well!  I am going to pick one up to review on this site later. Dropcam is owned by Nest and integrates into both their system and Smartthings. The integrated burst and picture features with Smartthings don't require the CVR monthly service cost which makes the Dropcam a great, affordable home automation addition!

  

There is a more expensive model and it is for indoor use only, but there are some nice cases available for outdoor use.



Get 10% off of SmartThings kits!





As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Black Friday Deal on Nest

As you recover from your Thanksgiving feast and prepare for the insanity of Black Friday tomorrow, check out the great deal Amazon has on the Nestthermostat for $199.

 

 I love my Nest Learning Thermostat and how it integrates with the Nest Protect. It is super easy to install and has already save us a lot of money on energy costs. Nest integrates with the SmartThings Hub and looks fantastic on the wall.





As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.