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home electricity monitoring


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I am not technilogically savvy. Is it possibly,witbout spending an arm and a leg, to somehow have a remote control I can turn off any outlet in my home from anywhere in my home? Say I am in bed and I believe the kids left a light on or tv on in the finished basement, I dont want to go down 2 sets of stairs to find out and most times its just me being overly cautious. I have on many occasions questioned my age and repeatedly walked to the basement to see if I left the laundry room light. Ideally it would be awesome to use my phone or ipad to access this and also be able to see which outlets are using the most power. I assume this is easier to accomplish in a new build but I dont want to rewire my house to make this happen.
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Doable? Yes.

To me it seems like home automation is really coming into it's own. Just 2 years ago the systems were either closed, proprietary (only 1 protocol) and possible very expensive, or if the were a 'universal' solution, they were buggy.

 

Cheap? No.

 

Hubs are going to be $100+, usually in the high $100-$300 range. Most of these things work on their own protocol (like a frequency and language), you (typically) can't control them over wifi so they need what basically works and looks like a wifi router. Then modules (plugs, outlets, switches), are usually significantly more expensive than the non-smart versions.

 

Iris is one of the most accessible, being sold at Lowes, and I would hope very plug and plan. Anyways, I'll use it as an example since it's very accessible since it's sold in a brick and mortar that's in pretty much every town.

Hub is $99 - http://www.lowes.com/pd_388556-41166-HUB520_

Outlet is $35 - http://www.lowes.com/pd_339582-1353-45636_

Plug is $30 - http://www.lowes.com/pd_388564-41166-SPG902_

Switch is $35 - http://www.lowes.com/pd_339577-1353-45637_

 

I do not like that there is a monthly fee with Iris, again, I was just using it as an example.

 

Which would get expensive really quickly if your wanting to do a whole house... or maybe expensive is a relative term. I would guess you could do a typical whole house for hundreds of dollars, at most 1-2 thousand, compared to (ten) thousands of dollars just 5-10 years ago.

 

My plan is to piece-meal it, for cost and time of install. Do parts/areas where we would see the most use.

Still researching what system I'm going to use.

 

From what I can tell, most of the home automation solutions are as simple as wiring in a new outlet/switch/etc. and 'connecting' it to your hub (kind of like connecting a new computer to your wifi). So if you can install a light switch or outlet (which I know you can), then you're golden. No rewire needed. The communication/switch/brain for each device (outlet/switch/etc) is all built into each unit and should fit in a typical outlet/switch box.

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I plan on getting into Home Automation myself, but will likely adopt devices that support Apple's Homekit protocol since thanks to work I am likely stuck with iOS devices for the foreseeable future.

 

If you don't want to wait, there are all sorts of products out there that offer that kind of functionality, but its not cheap. Belkin's WeMo smart plugs come to mind and work over Wifi. They are $40 a socket, and can do things like email or text you if a plug is still on (according to the specs, anyway). They also have versions that have a motion detector, if you want the lights to turn off when the kids aren't around.

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Nexia has pretty good pricing. A bridge is about $50 and then you sync whatever you want to it. Doors, outlets, garage door, or thermostat. All full function from a smart phone. No monthly fee.

 

What do you have it running so far? How easy was it to get modules to communicate with the hub?

 

Like I said, doing research on what to get and always happy to hear ups and downs from people who have actually used some system.

 

Do you have one of these? "A bridge is not required if you have the new Trane XL824 or American Standard Gold XV thermostats. The bridges are actually inside of these thermostats, so no need to purchase a separate one."

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I've not bridged it. Been working on the solar project. But, yes I have it for our trane unit. It has been great so far. Intermittent not connected issues a couple times but that is all. We will be running 3 outlets and hopefully the new hot water heater can sync to it.
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I just put one of the garage door openers on. It is freaking fantastic and I imagine the lamp modules work equally as well. Love this thing.

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You can but remote controlled wall plug in adapters around Christmas time that you just plug into your current outlet and plug what ever devices you want into them and they have a small remote to turn them off and on with. I think they are fairly cheap, like $15-20 or maybe less than that.

Just a thought to keep it cheap for the time being.

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