DON'T make my mistakes! What I've learned... 

If you want to see my spreadsheet of 100 home automations, here’s the link: smarthomesolver.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Home-Automation-List.xlsx Ok so, does your family love all your automations as much as mine does? 🙃

I think this is one of the first videos I have seen that deals with the best practices of home automation. Few have touched on it in passing, but I can't think of anyone who has dedicated an entire video to the subject. Most videos focus on the "how" but not the "why" or even "should" you do something. I lived in a house with a very high-end home automation system that when out due to a lightning strike. For 6 months the only way to turn on the lights was to go to a central closet and find a dip switch in the dark so I appreciate the concept of "what happens when it all fails" and modular DIY home automation. When designing a system too often people forget that they are not the only user and don’t take into account the disruption and ease of use to the rest of the users. No matter how great the system may be, user/family acceptance will be low.

The way I've found to make sure my more complex automations don't break causing issues is to "play test" each automation several different times tweaking scenarios and conditions throughout to make sure the automation is going to run as expected. After several dozen or more iterations of testing I then let others try the automation out a bunch to see if they can manage to break them. And the biggest thing that helps me is to make my automations all follow a similar logical setup. It makes troubleshooting issues a lot easier, which means things are broken for less time!

I'm now reasonably adept at running a bunch of smart home automations. I moved into a 3 story townhouse last year and it's my first home. Not my personal preference but it's what's apparently affordable for me. A 4300sqft house would be like 3 million usd in my area. Anyway because there are compromises with my home I have adapted automations and smart devices to help keep the peace. The ground floor is basically never used but I still need to turn on and off the lights lock and unlock the doors open and close the garage doors. Now that's kind of standard, however in a 3 story kitchen and living room spaces are on the main or 2nd floor. Which means I have to go down the stairs to check if my lights are on and check all that other stuff. With the power of smart home switches and cameras combined with routines and buttons I'm able to turn off and lock everything with a routine. Those of you who have it can probably understand the power but for those of you that don't or don't live in a 3 story. Let me tell you that smart home is literally keeping my marriage together. Before I implemented all the automations to turn off automatically complete with exceptions. I really was contemplating murdering my wife when she went to sleep. We don't argue about much... But it's always... 11pm Are the lights off downstairs? Is the garage door open? Is the door locked? Guess who has to check? I'll give you a hint it's not her. But now with my automations it's not me either. I activate the automation verify through the app and confirm with the cameras. Sounds like overkill? Well I actually love setting up routines and making sure it's all running. However I actually think smart home is under marketed as useful and over marketed as cool. How many times have has it happemed left home it's been more than 20 minutes and mom or the wife or whoever you live with asks... Hey did you lock the door? And the sheer feeling of dread runs down your spine. Smart home literally offers you the ability to delete this possibility from your life. what can you honestly say you spent money on that allowed you to do that. A constant problem just vanishing with not a subscription but a single purchase. I would argue that's money well spent. Keep up the g ok I'd work Reed! 😃 Onward smart home heroes!

Happy to hear you have a lot of videos in the pipeline! Currently working on finishing my home. Keep them coming!

Hey! You should do a video on your wife’s opinions on your automations! My wife is curious to see what her perspective is

Excellent. Love the easy pace. So many of these home video automation things they speaker seems to be in a race to convey everything verbally and on the screen, often, leaving out important details. Looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks for the spreadsheet. I saw you mention it in another video and tried to make my own but this is a sweeter solution. This is one of your best videos to date. Thanks for taking other people's experience into consideration.

Love your channel Reed, great job on all the automations and thanks for sharing them in spreadsheet form! The family humor is a nice touch too! ;)

I like your idea of describing all your automations in a single place. Most platforms do not excel 😁 in self-documentation. Furthermore, if you are using a variety of platforms (depending upon device support), it’s difficult to always remember where any specific automation is executed from.

Hey Reed...thanks for the video...I always enjoy yours... light-hearted and uplifting...I have had the conversation with friends and family, "why not just get up and turn off the switch, NO BIG DEAL"...LOL...also thanks so much for the spreadsheet and the links...very, very helpful...I use HA and home automation is my hobby...sometimes to my detriment (wife)...:) NOT GOOD...Please keep up your good work My Friend...🙃

I've seen people comment just to comment, like they would say: Imagine the power goes out he would *insert bad joke here*... Like even us guys who use even lite automations and smart devices we are humans just like you, if the power goes out we wait until it comes back on, oooor some people can buy a power generator and have electricity all the time, or some even invest in solar panels and have electricity all the time again! If the internet goes out we have buttons that are going to the hub without internet so they can be still useful, we have switches wired to electricity that dont require internet connection and many other options in that bad case scenario when the and if the internet goes out! Anywho great video Reed, been trying to steal some of the ideas of your automations for my new rooms not gonna lie, hope you have an awesome day! :)

Wonderful video! I have been wanting to get involved with home assistant since it’s birth, and just really haven’t had the right time.. until I became semi disabled. And let me say… I am hooked… and now subscribed to you… loving your simplicity.. 🙏 I just downloaded your spreadsheet. Thank you.

If you explore Trigger IDs and the choose function you could probably consolidate that 100 automations down to 30 or so - you can also assign each trigger whatever friendly name you like. It makes it super easy to find everything related to the living room lights in one automation for instance, instead of hunting through multiple automations to find which one affects that function.

Just moved into a new construction and I'll be going through your vids for lots of ideas! Looking forward to the new stuff.

Yes! I see an Inovelli switch. Love those switches.

Thank you for the XLS; I just setup Home Assistant the other day and am having some success & playing some playlists via Spotify on a Sonos by clicking a Wallmote button. Weird though... my wife was thrusting her hips yelling "HOME ASSISTANT" afterwards.

I love your wife’s cameos.

I have a good number of automations, not as many as yours though!! But each one took a little troubleshooting to make it work like I expect. But my wife will come up with something and that will get my juices flowing to play with. and after many years of playing with automations, that list grows more and more.

Great job. Nice video. Tks for all 👍

Reed, this was a really great video with some very practical advice. Thanks for the detailed spreadsheet including the links. I'm trying to do something along those lines and think I'll switch to your format. For mine, I want to include which system is primarily handling the automation...SmartThings, Alexa, IFTTT, YoLink, Flic, Homekit, etc. Then maybe a second sheet with access info to those systems in case something happens to me. I love your example of using wall switches instead of smart bulbs in certain areas. Even though I have 16 Hue bulbs throughout my house, I purposely didn't put them in the six can lights in my kitchen for the reasons you stated. My under-cabinet kitchen lights are the same. I might however run a second strip of fun lights under my counters for the few times I might want to use colors there. Keep it up! You can always be counted on for great examples and good practical advice.

Love all the edge cases you have to think about when creating a smart home. Sounds like you are still dealing with issues when you "deploy to production" :) programmer for life. Sweet video and I love how you calculated how much time it took to turn off lights lol.

Really loved this video - Great Info but loved the humour especially the subtle bits.

Nice video! Totally agree on the house always need to work 😁👌. I also like that your family makes an appearance while keeping their privacy, kudos

so happy I found this channel!

Smartthings, Amazon Echo and the custom device handler for the Alex virtual switches allows for quite complex conditions with ANYTHING Alexa compatible, even if not officially supported in Smartthings. I also have Aeotec buttons placed strategically throughout the house to completely disable individual and large groups of sensors. Like if you wanna take a nap on the couch but don't want pets setting off the laundry room, pantry sensor, etc.

The key is your automations need to be so good that even the family likes them :-)

Thanks Reed for sharing this Great video.

Thank you fir the link to your automations!!!

I had to back out my laundry automation because the reminder to get wet or wrinkled clothes was not "bulletproof." I pre-tested the automation using sample data but the data wasn't always correct and we'd get notifications when we weren't expecting them or in the wrong modes. Ideally, I should re-test this in, say, another room before putting it out into the world. My automation relies on an IKEA motion sensor and the smart Samsung washer and dryer and I use yaml to emit a message on Alexa when the washer or dryer has been idle for. over an hour. Guess I still have some work to do, but most other automations work well. I especially like the IKEA button that turns off all my bedroom lights which uses the same automation that happens when I say "Alexa, turn off master suite." Thanks, Reed! Your channel continues to be an entertaining and informative place for me and other home automators.

Your channel has been very helpful. I used many of your suggestions when building our new home. Lutron Caseta has been wonderful. I went with door jam switches for our walk-in pantry and our front entry closet. For those areas there is never a need to have the lights on when the doors are closed and mechanical switches aren't wifi dependant. I went with standard motion switches in the garage, owner's entry from garage, laundry room and master closet for the same wifi-less reasons. The dwell time varies by area but typically the lights stay on for 3-5 minutes after passing through. I use Alexa for all voice automations but it's nice having basic Caseta functionality if Alexa is being cranky. My most satisfying automation was rewiring the kitchen range hood lights and fan to be voice controlled. The builder didn't take into account that my wife is 5'3" and could not reach the push buttons up in the range hood. I used Caseta Fan control for the vent and lights. Glad I can soldier. As a retired senior, I find it's good for my brain to figure out what can be done, how to get it done, and not piss off my wife with complicated automation. I want the experience of being in the house to feel natural. If course the light goes on when you open the door, why wouldn't it? If course when you watch TV all the lights should dim and the shades go down, Why wouldn't they?

I came here for home automation tips and got a comedy video! Totally worth it! (not about Top Gun)

Great sharing, thanks.

Great vídeo👌 thanks 🙏

Automation is the way to go. Makes things work a lot easier.

So freaking helpful. Thank you!

Thanks Reed.

Thank you for the very helpful link

Great points! Nice video.

I also have more than 100 automations and I fully agree. Do not make the automations too simple and consider when they should NOT run 👍🏻

For me the most difficult part for automation is setting up a "universal" automation that works for seven people. The issue is EVERYONE has different routines and one setup may work for a couple of people but it's a dud for everybody else. I've rewritten so many automations that my middle name should be changed to "Aargh".

I used to run about 30-35 automations but since i moved to Sharptools, it brought so many ideas that i'm now running over a 130 automations! In a 40 square meters appartement.... ^^ I think i read somwhere that smartthings Can handle up to 200, so it's fine for now... 😅

Reed, just want to say that I have been watching your videos for some time now. Always very insightful and now that I am moving into our own home so enough, I am beginning my journey toward a smart home. Which brings up the question. Do I need smart lights with smart switches? You bring up a point in this video that you have lights with smart switches instead of the automations running. I could probably save a few hunder dollars if I just go with smart switches for now. Thanks again!

10 out 10 bro well put

Reed, Thanks very much for this one, much appreciated! We are finally closing 7/1 on our home build that took a year so I will be getting everything up and running in the next 4 weeks to 4 years....

One more awesome video, I really like you dedication to home automation. I would love to see you do some homekit automation but it might be hard since your have a completely different ecosystem !

Great video Reed, as always!. Alexa routines just aren't enough for a smart home. Something I like to do when creating a new automation is to set a notification message when executed, that way I can make sure that is executing really when I wanted to, and fine tune it. The more complex the automation, the more time I leave it in this "beta" state, when I'm confident enough, I write off the notification message from the routine.

can you do more automations for apartments? I've bought so many smart devices for apartments but i think you got me addicted to home automations. many of my automations are not as complex as you however since i live alone .

Hello Reed Thanks a lot for all your videos. I am a hard core Hubitat user, with roughly 250 devices, so a lot to do. I involve my family, and they come up with a lot of good ideas. On this video I noticed your bed sensor. I have searched high and low, and only fouond some cheap sh….y from UK. Could you pleas link me , I will be very happy, they looked nicer than the ones I ended up building. Thanks

I appreciate an idea of how to know when a delivery is at my gate before someone helps themselves to it. Here's the problem this area is wide open to the elements. (Not protected from the weather at all) I haven't run across any kind of sensors that could stand up to this.

You had me there at 6:06 😅 But it HAS to be worth it! haha

It's more like a hobby than something to save time.

You are a crazy beast.

I've automated half the bathroom lights so that you can have enough light to use the toilet anytime day or night. You can turn on the secondary lights if you plan on being in there longer than a few minutes such as taking a shower. Also the brightness based on time of day so at 1pm you get 100% and at 1am you get 10%.

Love your videos! What app do you use on your iPad to manage your automations?

Haha the Topgun Maverick part 🤣

A lot of us have to consider budgetary constraints. If the cost of phantom power exceeds what you might save, it's not worth doing.

Great channel bud...we have pretty much the same home theater setup ...i am interested in that tablet and automations and remote you have in yours ..you said it was your favorite ..can you do an in depth video on that ..thank you and keep up the good work

Another great video. Can you do a video on hardware (smart switches, etc) and aluminum wiring? I can't find a whole lot of info on it

100 automations? WOW! I'm having trouble getting my echo flex with motion sensor to turn on the lights when I enter the room.

Love your home automation videos Reed. Unfortunately, when it comes to our bodies we are not automated. We need to manually clean ourselves, make supper, do the unmentionable stuff and put our clothes on. Now if you can figure it out how to solve those problems that would be excellent lol.

Awesome content, love your videos. If trying to move away from Alexa, would you recommend hubitat, home assistant, or smarthings(which I thought was no longer being supported but I might be wrong)?

NFC tags are literally the best thing for automations, we have them hidden all around the house

Hi quick question, in one of your videos you mentioned that you automated your lights to turn off automatically and if you needed the lights to remain on that you had a work around. Something about setting the light brightness to a certain % when triggered and if you manually switched the brightness to max it would remain on. How did you get this to work? I am working with iOS shortcuts, IFTTT and homekit.

I could have shorten this video considerably by just finishing the title with .... keep the wife/children happy. Happy Wife, Happy Life! Right? :) Great video as always. Much like in programming. Most of the work is not in 95% of the problem but in all the 5% corner cases you want to cover.

Where did you get your shirt from? It is awesome

Looking through your list I see one for detecting when devices are connected to wifi. What wifi router are you using? I have Google Wifi but I don't see a way in Home Assistant to do this.

These are good design principles. I'll add one more, automations still need to be a heuristic. Meaning, it's a stable dependable connection, it's the lowest energy gradient, and it makes sense within the context it's being used in.

How to solve adjusting color temperature of not smart bulbs or at least some that are smart but don't go into pairing mode when controlled by real switch?

You channel has inspired me. I´m new to automation and I just automated my Schlage connect with SmartThings. I would like to learn to add lock codes but seems the app changed and I have no idea how to do so. Could you shed some light?

First off I love your Channel. I have been trying to find a motion sensor that will trigger my lights and I cannot find one that doesn't need a hub. Help

Hi i got 120 echo dots fir my nursing home. What is the best wifi 6 mesh setup that can handle all of them without disconnecting, is the asus et12 pro good?

Reed I have over 200 across Smartthings and SharpTools (rule engine) and Alexa!!!

What app/program were you doing your automations through that had all of the logic conditions?

Automation lighting system have lutron wall-switch, KNX wall switch, are them? Lutron wireless switch?

just got the phillips hue indoor motion sensor... biggest problem im having is with the core app .. and even the hue essentials app.. control of time frames. It has the later time set to 23:00. I wanted to have it so from 5 am - 6 pm .. motion doesn't trigger this light. The app wont let me adjust the second time in the time frame. Will home assistant override what is set in the hue app for the set times .. or do i have to set day and night behavior in hue app to "Do nothing "

What lights do you use in the garage?

@Smart Home Solver Any idea how Windows 10 can communicate directly with a smart device such as a Smart Plug? My laptop charger is connected directly to a smart plug. When it's time to charge the battery I can just do so through the phone app instead of physically plugging ang unplugging the charger. Is there a way for Windows 10 to tell the smart plug to charge the battery when a specific charge level is reached and stop charging when almost full?

where is the link to download the spreadsheet?? you said it at the end! damn lol.

You should look into espresense using esp32 boards instead of raspberry pi zeros!

Thanks for all your videos. What home automation platform do you use ? Or prefer. Openhab Home assistent or node red?

Have you done a video on your BLE presence detection? I've never gotten mine to work like I want it to

When it comes to Homeassistant, I like to keep all my automation to just triggers & conditions only, then I built a handful of scripts to run most of the actions. I do wish you could return variables from Homeassistant scripts.

Do you have automations to remind you when you change your devices batteries? as I'm sure, with time, you should know exactly how many weeks or months will last

I did a similar motion sensor/switch for the sitting room for my wife.. i created an input boolean for the physical light switch if my wife presses it then the motion sensor doesn't activate .. but as soon as the occupancy sensor goes off 1 hr later it resets the input boolean.. but if it detects motion again it cancels the loop until the occupancy goes off again

What do u use to create your automation? Do u use home assistant

My Home Assistant is sitting at 157 automations I still use a backup alarm on my phone, across the room

Hey Reid. This question is unrelated to this video. Can Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen) accept voice command to play media/music from RU-vid? Inspired by your videos, I'm starting my smart home and the ability to say "play music from RU-vid" is very important.

What are some examples of limitations that you run into using Alexa and or Google?

Home asiistant is local, so if internet goes down the "smart" still working, and after all the lights for example will work and with the "old" switch. And if the power goes down there will be no light... so... why you need the automation to work if the bulb will not have power? 🙏😁

The girls were watching Encanto 😍👍👍👍 Definitely don't interrupt that movie with some silly automation

Nice video! I recently install a motion sensor on the bathroom, so when I get in the lights turn on, I set 1 minute no motion detected so it turns off itself, the problem is when i taking a shower the motion sensor doesn’t reach, so by a minute the lights turn off and i’m in the shower without light, what can i do in that case?

"I have a hundred automations in my house. I have nothing actually IN the house, but it's all automated!"

Probably the most basic question here but what type of tablet is he holding.

What is the button you showed you had been using to play music on all your echo devices?

the one automation i want to see is something for the garbage bin to tell you when it's full or something that be awesome and more smart devices for the washroom...aside hue lights and motion sensors

Hi Reed, a few days ago you did a video on dashboards I made a comment saying I find home assistant vertical confusing but the day after I got a message from you saying to message you as you something for me?I just wanted to check that it was from you and not a scam email. Colin

Where can I get that shirt? 👍

Question: as someone who doesn't really have the bandwidth to tinker with home automations, should I hold off on home automation stuff until "Matter" becomes a more stable platform? P.S. I appreciate your work!

Are you using Hubitat or Home Assistant? I need to migrate from Smartthings.