Which smart home thingy? Echo? Alexa? Google home?

Getting a smart thermostat for the house.  I'm torn between the Nest and the Ecobee, and some of the others have decent reviews as well.  I have tossed it around and they both get great reviews so I can't really decide.

So since they work with home assistants I thought if there was a clear choice for those it might be a more important factor in the decision.

The house currently has zero smart things, but it might be nice to have.  Music streaming, web search, weather reports, alarm clock, etc.  I'm an android/Windows/google guy.  That's not to say I won't ever be Mac or Linux, but for now if there is a clear compatibility to Windows/Android/Google, that should be considered.

I want to be able to (eventually) have:

- a speaker that I can ask questions about things like traffic, weather, news, and answers to quick questions. 
- something I can hook up to a (not yet purchased) thermostat and (also not yet purchased) garage door opener
- something I can add smart light bulbs to the outside of the house to turn on/off using phone/voice
- possible future home monitoring; cameras, motion sensors, etc for both security and talking to/monitoring my pup when I'm away.

Thoughts?

Watching with curiosity, as I'm interested in this as well.  I'm amazingly (and intentionally) techno stupid, but all the ads I see for Google home type stuff seem pretty cool.  I'm not even 100% sure how it all works, is it sort of like Bluetooth?  To my knowledge, the only smart thing in our house...besides my wife...is our family room TV. 

Personally I would use P-Brain because it puts you in control of your privacy:

https://github.com/patrickjquinn/P-Brain.ai

Also you can expand its capabilities yourself.

I have a Nest and a Google home. 

It seems to work pretty well so far (2 weeks or so.) I have a couple of gripes though. The first is that there's a specific series of commands to command third party devices. I can't just say "Hey Google, turn on the house fan." Supposedly this is being fixed in the next update which is happening soon.

There's a huge number of third party devices which interface with the Google home though setting up the device was a bit obtuse the first time around. After you figure it out the first time it's ok.

The last is that it doesn't interface with Google Keep which I use heavily. Instead it uses yet another Google app, ShoppingList, to make lists. There isn't an easy way to interface with that ShoppingList as it's exists either online or in the Home app and it isn't as intuitive as Keep.

OK, let's back up a step.  What exactly is it that this thing does?  I see the commercials about dimming the lights, playing music, etc... but how does it do this?  I'd assume my lights would need to have some kind of special switch/dimmer?  For music, does it use it's own speaker or connect to others (we have a soundbar that has Bluetooth)?  How does it "order" things, do you sign into your Amazon or whatever account?

Talk about brilliant marketing!  If the government proposed a plan to put a listening device into each and every home in America, the civil liberties groups would put up quite a squawk.  But they can easily accomplish the same thing by enticing gadget-hungry materialists to actually voluntarily submit to full-time voice monitoring and even to pay for the dubious privilege.  What fools we be!

Spawn of the Devil.

I'm not inviting Google or Amazon into my home, a cell phone is bad enough.

cell phone apps tracking users

Those are all jobs a cellphone can do. Hell, some phones are coming with 3 or 4 different assistants built into them now. No need for extra always on microphones in your house. 

Particularly when their cloud security is such garbage. I mean they can't even safe guard their national secrets

Alexa Subpoenaed to testify in Murder Case  

Klayfish said:

OK, let's back up a step.  What exactly is it that this thing does?  I see the commercials about dimming the lights, playing music, etc... but how does it do this?  I'd assume my lights would need to have some kind of special switch/dimmer?  For music, does it use it's own speaker or connect to others (we have a soundbar that has Bluetooth)?  How does it "order" things, do you sign into your Amazon or whatever account?

You've mostly got it figured out. You need costly networked light switches, a connection to an Amazon account, and ideally some networked speakers, but it can use its own as well. Right now, this stuff is for people with tons of disposable income to burn.

1988RedT2 said:

Talk about brilliant marketing!  If the government proposed a plan to put a listening device into each and every home in America, the civil liberties groups would put up quite a squawk.  But they can easily accomplish the same thing by enticing gadget-hungry materialists to actually voluntarily submit to full-time voice monitoring and even to pay for the dubious privilege.  What fools we be!

For those of use not walking around with tin foil hats stapled to our foreheads and cramps in our necks looking for black helicopters, maybe things like this are of interest. 

P.S. if the government wants to listen to you, they don't need Googles' help...just sayin'.

In reply to Klayfish :

Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!

Klayfish said:

OK, let's back up a step.  What exactly is it that this thing does?  I see the commercials about dimming the lights, playing music, etc... but how does it do this?  I'd assume my lights would need to have some kind of special switch/dimmer?  For music, does it use it's own speaker or connect to others (we have a soundbar that has Bluetooth)?  How does it "order" things, do you sign into your Amazon or whatever account?

How you can think of it is as a command and control hub for connected devices. The device uses an app (be it Alexa or Google Home) which can link to other "smart devices" through an api. Basically you link your remote login credentials for these other devices into the app and it allows commands to be sent to them such as "Tell Nest to set the temperature to 76" or "Tell Hue to dim the living room lights" or my 3.5 year olds favorite "Okay Google. Add strawberries to shopping list." Machine learning has supposedly made this a bit better so I can just "Hey Google, set temp to 76" and it'll do it.

Search commands work with it as well such as "Okay Google. What is the weather?", "Okay Google. What does my commute look like?", or "Okay Google. Who was the 5th signer of the Declaration of Independence?"

The other smart devices all have their hubs which control their individual functions, such as Hue having a hub to control the lights (though when you connect a new bulb it allows you to define it's area), which are internet connected to their respective portals.

I'm finding it to be kind of a novelty rather than something I'd use on a regular basis. It's nice to yell at it to play a different NPR station though rather than putting my greasy hands on my phone to change it.

I wouldn't put an Alexa (or the like) in my house if I was paid to have it, so I can't offer any help on this topic. I am interested in seeing how others who use these things think about them though.

I only grudgingly have a smart phone. I am willing to give up some privacy for the convenience, but I don't like it.

Klayfish said:

OK, let's back up a step.  What exactly is it that this thing does?  I see the commercials about dimming the lights, playing music, etc... but how does it do this?  I'd assume my lights would need to have some kind of special switch/dimmer?  For music, does it use it's own speaker or connect to others (we have a soundbar that has Bluetooth)?  How does it "order" things, do you sign into your Amazon or whatever account?

Its basically the Siri or Cortana part of your mobile device packed into a box with a speaker and other hardware.  Its a mini, voice-operated computer.  Its handy for things like when you're holding a 7 lb beef roast with marinade you can say "Alexa, how long do I cook a 7 lb beef roast?" instead of cleaning up, getting your phone or laptop and typing in the search.  You pair it to whatever compatible devices you wish and it can do things.  For instance, you would sign into Dominos and make an order.  Then you can tell your home hub to order your pizza and wings and it will interface with Dominos' website and place an order based on your preferences.  So there is some significant setup involved in some cases.

Big time operators who have their whole home connected can do crazy things like start the shower while they're getting undressed in another room, use voice recognition to unlock a door, or preheat the oven while they're driving home from work.  I wouldn't be doing that.  I was thinking for the $100 for a smart thermostat and the $150 for a hub I could get some cool stuff.  I need to buy a garage door opener, so its either $150 for a regular one or $180 for a "smart" opener.  That way when I'm laying in bed wondering if I closed the garage I can just say, "Go***mit, did I close the f****ing garage?" and a computer voice will answer, "no, you dumbs**t, want me to do it for your lazy @ss?"

About the only other thing I could imagine doing is using it for home security; put a few smart light bulbs in the outside lights and maybe a door camera.  Then I can "answer the doorbell" while I'm in Mexico or Singapore.  Or I can use the phone app to ask my house how many times the motion detector lights came on.  My cousin had a man arrested while she was on vacation.  Her home hub notified her that someone had rung the doorbell so she looked at the porch camera video and saw a guy stealing her extension ladder.  She called the police, sent them the video, and the guy was arrested an hour later.  When she got back from vacation, the police had returned her ladder to the property.  I thought that was kinda slick.

Truth is, I'm not much of a gadget guy, but I like simplicity.  That is what I'm fighting in my brain.  I think a home hub will make my life simpler in some ways, but its an extraneous gadget that I don't need.  I can clean the marinade off my hands and search for answers, and I can get my butt out of bed to check the garage door, but a home hub might be nice for those things.

With the deals for Black Friday/Cyber Monday on these things I was thinking about possibly picking one up cheap- but after talking it over with SWMBO realized that there wasn't any real point to it. The only thing it could control for us at the moment is our Nest, and we can already adjust that at our leisure from our phones and even my watch. And since the devices are kind of locked into their own ecosystems neither of them would do us any good music-wise since we use iTunes for everything and they expressly won't connect to it. Apple's upcoming one would at least eliminate that- but again wouldn't really be very useful with just the Nest. We already have our phones with us pretty much constantly, so if we want to look something up or find out the weather we just use them.

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to Klayfish :

Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!

I just purchased a Dot 2 or what ever the second gen Dot is called. Got it on Cyber Monday. They had it for $30 and if you bought one they would throw in a plug-in Bluetooth receptacle for an additional $5. I got it a bit on a whim, and when my wife heard about it she told me to get one for my dad too. 

I do have a generic Bluetooth  RGB light bulb in the alcove above our Christmas tree. I wonder if I'll be able to control it. It shows up tonight.

I've also been meaning to get a smart thermostat system since our house has two furnaces.

Curtis said:

I need to buy a garage door opener, so its either $150 for a regular one or $180 for a "smart" opener.  That way when I'm laying in bed wondering if I closed the garage I can just say, "Go***mit, did I close the f****ing garage?" and a computer voice will answer, "no, you dumbs**t, want me to do it for your lazy @ss?"

 

That's hysterical... and actually quite on point for us.  We've never actually installed a garage door opener(s) for our house and have left the door open many times.  Our total shiny happy neighbors (we've never even met the losers) have complained to the HOA several times.  We need to buy an opener and were considering buying a "smart" one.

So I'm still a bit confused about the Domino's ordering example...not that we'd do that much.  Do you sign into Domino's on your computer/tablet/phone first, then link it to the Google device?  If so, what would happen if the tablet you signed onto Domino's website was turned off or otherwise unavailable?  Same with asking it questions like "What's the weather today"?  How would it retrieve that info?  Do we connect it to our Google account from our computer?  If so, I'm assuming we just sign it in once and we're done for good, right? 

In reply to Klayfish :

You only need to sign in once. The phone app the acts as a password manager and saves the info.

Initial setup uses a direct wifi connection with the app which then moves it onto your home network after the password is entered and disables the direct wifi.

It relies on an active internet connection to the sites so if a portal or your connection is down it won't work for pizza ordering or weather or controlling your devices.

I'm dubious of the value of these devices for my own needs.  I know lots who have them and the two main uses are 1) a speaker 2) using it to add things to a shopping list.   I just just dont get the value proposition.   Sure it's a fun toy, but for $100 I can use a remote control or turn lights on and off myself. 

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :

The Cyber Monday deal is actually Cyber week deal, so you too could get the $30 Dot and a $5 receptacle.

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :

To be fair mine was free with a phone purchase from the Google ProjectFi store, I wouldn't have one otherwise. They were all pretty much 30 dollars on Black Friday and Cyber Monday as RossD pointed out. It's a toy and I just happened to have a Nest already. I probably won't be expanding it to other IoT items unless it can somehow control a pellet stove in my garage to preheat it for me when I want to work out there.

check with your local utility!

I'm signed up on the wait list for 2018 for an offer from my local electric utility. They come to your house, and do an energy inspection free of charge. That includes replacing all your lightbulbs with LEDs, give you smart powerstrips, install water-efficient showerheads and faucet areators, and check for egregious heat/electrical leaks, and program your thermostat. For an extra $150, they will give you an ecobee and install it free of charge. I'm pissed because I already mostly have LED bulbs...

https://www.comed.com/WaysToSave/ForYourHome/Pages/SingleFamily.aspx

bentwrench said:

Spawn of the Devil.

 

I'm not inviting Google or Amazon into my home, a cell phone is bad enough.

 

cell phone apps tracking users

Uses the internet, thinks they have privacy. 

Thanks for the laugh.