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Your favorite and 'go-to' Tech

taxi1 said:
I have a bunch of smart home stuff in my house, to keep the Chinese operative personally assigned to track me (you they've done it) busy. I use Apple Smart Home compliant stuff.

Within that group, I have a bunch of smart switches from the Lutron Caseta brand. They are pricey but bomb-proof. Four thumbs up (me and Wing Chang).

www.casetawireless.com

Smart Switches & Lighting Control Products | Caséta by Lutron

Equip your home with the most advanced smart lighting technology & choose Caseta Wireless!
www.casetawireless.com www.casetawireless.com
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I too have the Caseta switches, and like them. I have some legacy smart switches from when I was in NV that I may install. My house here in Walla Walla has about 100 light switches, and I still can't figure out what some of them are supposed to do. I've used Alexa for a while now to work the lights via voice. Curious what other smart home features folks are using.
 
IKE said:
Ditto. Especially solutions that, unlike Alexa, don't require Internet connectivity to function.
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In a few places I’ve put in digital, programmable, switches that are not internet based. Mine are made by a company called myTouchSmart.
 
I have some Phillips LED can lights in the living room and bedroom that are initially programmed via WiFi, but then hold their settings. They come in other form factors, as well. You get two memory settings and then adjust other colors/intensities on your phone. These are NOT the Phillips Hue lights, which are considerably more expensive.

I think the new version of these lights are now Home compatible, but I don't partake, so can't comment. For the bedroom, I have a bright 5K setting and then a low blue setting that's swapped via the regular light switch on the wall (just turn them off, then turn them back on and they change). In the living room, I have the same 5K setting and then a more mellow 3K setting. Once they're programmed, they work well (and don't require WiFi for daily use).
 
My favorite and ‘go-to’ tech is paper [with plastic carrying case]…as well as watches that need to be manually wound every day…

IMG_9866.jpeg
 
Griz882 said:
In a few places I’ve put in digital, programmable, switches that are not internet based. Mine are made by a company called myTouchSmart.
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I have a Honeywell programmable switch like that for my front hall and outside lights, but it's fiddly to program, and doesn't have dawn/dusk sensing capability. Came with the house, and I have been too lazy to change it.

Our Ecobee thermostat has been pretty solid- Wifi enabled with a smartphone app, and holds preferences and setpoints when the internet is offline. The only (minor) downside is it's nearly impossible to reprogram with the Wifi offline, but it will keep regulating the house temperature. I want to find something similar for my, outside lights and sprinklers, since weather and daylight times are so variable in the midwest.
 
Gatordev said:
I have some Phillips LED can lights in the living room and bedroom that are initially programmed via WiFi, but then hold their settings. They come in other form factors, as well. You get two memory settings and then adjust other colors/intensities on your phone. These are NOT the Phillips Hue lights, which are considerably more expensive.

I think the new version of these lights are now Home compatible, but I don't partake, so can't comment. For the bedroom, I have a bright 5K setting and then a low blue setting that's swapped via the regular light switch on the wall (just turn them off, then turn them back on and they change). In the living room, I have the same 5K setting and then a more mellow 3K setting. Once they're programmed, they work well (and don't require WiFi for daily use).
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When I bought my house, it had all 5K, super bright LEDs throughout. Kind of maddening aesthetic, but I’m slowly switching over to a warmer tone.
 
I believe both Apple Home and Google Home are transitioning to the Matter which translates to local control and no dependence on cloud services. I'm all in on Google Home at the present. It's "good enough" - when I roll up in the Tesla my garage door opens. Lights and my heat pump know when I am home. My utility company gives me a discount if I allow them to remotely adjust my thermostat to accommodate peak demands.

I set my Tesla charging for midnight to 6 AM also.
 
ChuckMK23 said:
Speaking of paper. I needed a printer refresh recently and settled on a simple, cheap, reliable B&W laser printer. It just works.

Brother HL-L2405W Wireless Compact Monochrome Laser Printer

View attachment 43874
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Have a slightly older version of the same printer. Laser is definitely the way to go. Those toner cartridges are a much better value than ink jet.
 
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Mos said:
Have a slightly older version of the same printer. Later is definitely the way to go. Those toner cartridges are a much better value than ink jet.
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There are ways to reset the "You need to replace the toner cartridge now" message and get a few more hundred pages out of your $.
 
I’m with mad dog on the need for old school. Needed to replace a Nest thermostat about a year ago, and I really wanted a simple, manually operated gold, round Honeywell unit. Of course, that was too hard to find.
 
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