"Not OK Google: Massive outage turns smart home kit utterly dumb"
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/06/27/not_ok_google_massive_outage_turns_smart_homes_dumb/
I have no objections to "smart homes" per-se, but I have a huge problem with subscribing to silos to keep you connected to your home
This is just one example of what can go wrong with a single point of failure. Failure modes that don't take into account unrelaible networks or loss of connectivity to hubs are incredibly silly
@lordbowlich Exactly. If you control the cloud (and it's all encrypted), that's fine. But I'm all for local control
My cabin automation will only be local with solar power, completely disconnected from the internet
@cypnk Seems like they shouldn't be able to call it a "smart home" when all the smarts live in someone's datacenter.
This is what smart homes were SUPPOSED to look like: https://businesstech.co.za/news/technology/185287/this-is-what-the-future-of-tech-looked-like-for-people-35-years-ago/
@freakazoid @cypnk I've considered some home automation projects, but they would probably all be home-built and the only things I think of is data monitoring:
- CO2 and CO levels
- Ambient temperature
- Fridge/Freezer temperature
- Water and electric meter reading
- Power outage alerts (switching to battery/generator)
- Cat, chicken coop, and package delivery cams
After that I'm out of ideas.
@lordbowlich @freakazoid These were what I was planning for my cabin
- Firewood quantity/moisture level
- Well water level/quality
- Wind speed (for turbine)
- Greenhouse humidity
- Solar power levels/battery quality
- Composting toilet maintenance
@cypnk @lordbowlich Have you looked at alternatives to a composting toilet? In particular source separation since the moisture from urine is pretty hard to manage and leads to a lot more odor and insect problems.
@freakazoid Oh yes, that's what I was going to do
I wrote about the plan on my old abandoned blog : https://eksith.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/you-and-your-poo/
@cypnk I may well have run across that post during my own researches on the topic.
@freakazoid Lots of things happened since I wrote that so most of my cabin plans have changed ;)
Back then, I was planning a single 16'x16' structure that I quickly realized was both overkill and going to be harder to maintain
The outhouse seemed like the logical next step, though winter and heavy rain would be interesting. Still, I wanted to spend more time outdoors so a separator-type composting toilet seemed like the best fit for me
@lordbowlich @cypnk I would really like to be able to turn off lights without having to walk around the house and to control the furnace and air conditioning based on temperature in multiple rooms as well as likely radiation from walls, since the air temperature needs to be cooler when the walls are warmer.
@cypnk @lordbowlich And of course the shields that could drop down over the windows in Dr. Morbius's house.
@cypnk A-ha, my diabolical attack succeeded!
...if only I had that much power
@cypnk Putting your home automation "in the cloud" just strikes me as utterly silly.
I can see broadcasting data to the cloud (so the user can check if the house is on fire while away) but actual control structures I would expect to be entirely local and hooked to a generator/battery backup so when the grid drops out the house doesn't have a melt down.