My Smart Home

I've been playing with smart home technology for a couple of years and have been having a lot of fun with it. It doesn't do everything I want and it isn't as easy to set up and maintain as I would hope but it's made my home a little more interesting and it's been a fun project. So I thought I'd blog about what I have and how I feel about it.

I started my journey by purchasing an Echo. Back in late 2014 when they first came out, Amazon was giving Prime members almost half off so I took the bait. I received it in January of 2015. It was fun for the kids but not very useful. Mostly it would just tell jokes. My conclusion - an expensive toy that's not really good for much. That fall, my opinion would change.

In the fall of 2015 I purchased an Insteon starter pack. Why Insteon? Honestly, because when I made the purchase, I needed something with a Windows Phone app. Insteon was about my only choice. So I bought the hub and a wall switch. Installing it was an adventure (I am not an electrician) but once it was up and running, I immediately learned a few things.

1. Running your lights from an app is not effective. It's easier to walk to a switch and turn it on or off than it is to pull out your phone, open the app, find your switch, and turn it on or off.
2. Integration with the Echo/Alexa is amazing! Turning lights on and off with your voice is not only cool and fun but actually useful and convenient. All of a sudden my Echo was useful.
3. Just one switch was not enough. I now have 6 wall switches, 3 plug in modules, and an outdoor module (awesome for Christmas lights).

The Echo was fun but the Echo plus the Insteon Switches really kick-started my smart home.

NOTE: I bought Insteon because it was my only option but I've stayed with Insteon because it's been more reliable and more versatile than any other system I've researched. All my switches still work even when the internet is down. I can program it to control lights from multiple locations, and it has excellent Echo/Alexa integration. I just works.

Since then I've purchase a few other things. I bought more Insteon switches, etc. I got some Hue lights. They also work great with the Echo and the color bulbs make awesome Halloween and Christmas lights. I purchased an Amazon plug in module and the Amazon wall clock (which is way cool if you use timers at all). Finally, I integrated it with my Sonos speakers - that has been the biggest roller-coaster ride of my smart home odyssey.

Sonos is an amazing product. I was sold the instant I walked from one room of my house to the next and had no break in the music. There was just something magical about that for me. I love that it will play almost anything - Amazon Music, Google Music, Pandora, Groove Music (while that was a thing), and even stuff from your local computer. The only thing it was missing was voice control. Controlling my switches with my voice just made me want to control my music with my voice. I wanted it so bad!

So, my first attempt was to build a custom little set up with a raspberry pi computer as a controller. It was complex and convoluted but it worked OK and I could play music via the Echo. That was good enough.

Then Amazon and Sonos announced native control of the Sonos from the Echo. I was so excited!! When it FINALLY came, it was pretty good. It was better than my hodge podge system but it had a lot of limitations. First, it could only play music supported by Amazon. That was OK, I had all of my personal music on CD ripped to mp3 and uploaded to Amazon's Music service. That's really what I wanted to listen to. I couldn't create or change groups of Sonos speakers via Alexa so I still needed the app but it worked well enough and I was happy.

Then Amazon dropped their music upload service. All of my personal music disappeared from my Amazon music. I couldn't play it any more. That was 90% of what I listened to. I was so disappointed! Eventually, I set up my custom system again and that is currently what I'm using to start playing playlists. It's not what I want but it works.

So that's my odyssey in a nutshell. I have a fun little smart home and the reason it's more than a toy is the Echo. Voice control has made all of the difference. The Echo isn't perfect but it's what I have and it works for me. The pros and cons (in my opinion) are as follows:

Pros:

• Integrates smart home devices. I have Philips Hue, Insteon, and Amazon smart home devices and control them all from my Echo. I've told the Echo (in the Alexa app) which devices are in which rooms so when I'm in the living room, I can say "Alexa, turn on the lights" and the living room lights turn on.

• Integrates (sort of) with my Sonos speakers. I set the Sonos as a default speaker so if I say, "Alexa, play XYZ" it will play it on the Sonos speaker and not the Echo speaker. I can also pause and resume all my Sonos speakers as well as skipping tracks and getting information on what track is playing.

• Timers are awesome if you have the Amazon clock. I give my kids time limits on screen time (video games, etc.) so they use the timer function of the Echo all the time. Being able to see multiple timers on the clock is WAY more useful than I originally thought.

• General questions work OK but it's not uncommon to have to rephrase questions before you get an appropriate answer. However, when you need the number of fluid ounces in a cup or the number of teaspoons in a tablespoon, it's awesome.

• Announcements work great especially if you have a big house and multiple Echos. I don't have to run around yelling at the kids to come to dinner all the time any more.

• Reminders are pretty cool and have been useful a few times.

Cons:

• General questions are hard for it and it's not uncommon to hear "Sorry, I don't know that one".

• Sonos integration is missing some important things. Right now, the Echo can only cast music to the Sonos. It doesn't support any music services that Alexa doesn't support (Google Play Music, Plex, local music, etc.). I'm not interested in paying a subscription when I already own the music I want to listen to but Alexa can't play music that doesn't come from a service and Amazon doesn't let you upload your own music to Amazon Music any more. So now, if I want to play my own music, I have to start it with the Sonos app or with a custom Alexa Sonos controller that's not nearly as versatile.

My number one wish for the Echo is that it would let me play MY music on my Sonos speakers.  Why?  Well, my Echo usage is 50% to control music, 25% to control lights, 20% for timers, and 5% for everything else.  Music is huge to me and not having it work smoothly is frustrating.  However, things keep improving and hopefully my problems will be solved in the near future.