I’m a big fan of technology so naturally am keen to try out all things smart home and smart device. Here are our smart devices, what we use them for and what I would love to try out in future.
The Devices
Smart Home Devices
- 1 x 2nd Generation Echo Dot £29.99 in 2018, living room
- 1 x 3rd Generation Echo Dot £22 in 2019, bedroom
Smart Light Bulbs
- 1 x Smart Life Smartlight £19.99 in 2017, Bedroom Light
- 1 x Lombex Smartlight £13.99 in 2018, Living Room Light
Smart Plugs
- 1 x Meross Extension Lead WiFi Plug £19.99 in 2020, Living Room Extension Lead
- Controller
- Nintendo Switch
- Router
- PC
- 1 x Meross WiFi Plug £19.99 in 2017, Christmas (Christmas lights)
- 2 x Smart Life Smartplug
- £19.99 for 2 in 2019, Phill’s Light, Nat’s Light
- 3 x Lombex Smartplug
- £16.99 in 2017, washing (dehumidifier)
- £18.99 in 2017, Garmin charger
- £16.99 in 2017, Spare
Other
- Echo Auto
- 1 x Eufy T2130 RoboVac 30C Max £209.99 in 2020, Nandor The Relentless (robot vacuum)
- 1 x Tile Mate 2020 £11.99 in 2021
- TV- Samsung UE55TU7020KXXU
- Xbox
Apps
Everything is controlled using the Amazon Alexa app. This uses the Smart Life app, the Lombex app, the Eufy app and the Meross app. It’s not the most elegant set up, especially if you don’t have a lot of phone memory. But there are no hubs required and the devices are cheap.
The Lombex app was removed from the Amazon Echo app (confirmed by contacting Amazon Echo) around November 2021. Since then none of the smart devices have worked with it. They do still work with Google Assistant though but I’ve not yet found of a way to integrate the two.
Smart Home Set Up
The computer is set up with a smart plug so when we say “Alexa turn on the PC” it starts up. The set up is actually a group named “PC” so both the computer plug turns on and the TV turns on. We did this with the PC because the computer has a bios setting so it realises it needs to turn on when it gets power.
The living room light is a smart bulb; “Alexa, turn on the living room light”. We only really turn this on and off but the bulb is coloured so we could have “Alexa, party mode” and it flashes rainbow colours. We never actually use this though. We sometimes increase/decrease the bulb brightness but very rarely. When I started working from home more, I also enabled a routine so it would switch on at sunset.
The main bedroom light is a smart bulb. Again, never really used for smart purposes or routines.
We have a smart plug connected to a Y splitted micro USB cable so we can plug in an Xbox controller, say “Alexa, turn on the controllers” and they start to charge.
We have a dehumidifier which comes on as a routine when we do the washing. It is voice activated (“Alexa, turn on the washing”) but we use it normally as a timer switch that we forget about.
In the bedroom we have two smart plugs for each bedside light (well one lamp and one lava lamp). They are added to a group called “Lamp”. We have them set up to be voice command (“Alexa turn on the lamp”) and a routine to turn on before bed and turn off when it’s time to sleep. I used to use a smart bulb for the normal lamp but switched to the plug because it won’t go out over time. They can also be used individually (e.g. “Alexa, turn on Nat’s lamp”).
Often, the "Spare" smartplug is used to turn on an air freshener by command or as a routine if we have guests.
We have a robot vacuum that I control with voice command (“Alexa, tell Robovac to start”). She replies using his full name, “Robovac Nandor the Relentless starting cleaning session”, which amuses me. We used to have him to routinely hover every other day but you have to make sure there are no obstacles for him to destroy! So now I just use voice command to set him off and send him home. He does go home himself but it takes around an hour.
We have a group called everything so we can turn everything off in the house at the same time.
There is also a group for all audio devices so both Echo Dots and a Bluetooth speaker I have in a record player all link to play music together.
I have a Tile which I keep in my car so I can find it at festivals or in big car parks!
At Christmas, we also have our Christmas decorations set up with a smart plug to voice command turn on/off the lights but also a routine so they automatically turn on when the sun goes down and turn off when it’s time for bed. When they turn on/off, I also like to replace the usual Alexa reply with the chime of Christmas bells!
Old Smart Home Use
We used to have our TV plugged into a smart socket so we could say “Alexa, turn on the TV” and it would switch on. But our new TV is Smart so links with Alexa anyway.
I was using Echo Auto in my car to play music and to periodically tell me the news. But my new car has Android Auto so now I use Google Assistant instead.
Smart Home Wants
- A smart doorbell.
- A smart heating system.
- Fairy lights or LED strips around a proper desk set up that work both voice controlled and on a routine.
- An outdoors group consisting of fairy lights outside that turn on with voice control and maybe an outdoor heater too. This would require a smart plug outside where it can hear me but won't get wet. I did buy an Echo Flex (£14.99 for this and a smart bulb in 2021) so I would likely use this.
- A robot lawn mower but when the prices comes down.
- When we move, a new Nandor for downstairs with a mop attachment. But I would keep the old one upstairs.
- Potentially motion sensor lights on the way to the toilet that only work at night.
- Voice controlled and routine controlled smart curtains or blinds when they become more available and cheaper.
- Have a group operated using the command “Alexa, time for tea”, when I'm in the office upstairs. The kettle will boil (just remember to fill it up and depress it ready after each time) and also turn on a USB powered cup warmer for 30 mins in the office to keep the drink hot after I had run downstairs to make it.
