Home Automation Bargain Alerts thread - No General Chat

john_doe.

skerry wrote: »

Checked out the Nest cam earlier alright and its wayyyy more money than I need to be spending on a baby monitor.

Just need something reliable that I can log in to with the phone when I hear a stir. Belkin was a disaster, I'd say out of 20 logins you might be successful once and actually get a picture.

Ya all nests products are fecking expensive , their new alarm system when is launches will be the same. Thing with their products are you plug them in they work and are reliable , have 5 of their smoke alarms and prob will get the home security system when/if it launches.

Will check out the others.
Also looked at this before, if you have any other needs for other security cams

http://www.hikvision.com/us/Products_1_10510_i7599.html

bk

I do find the Logitech Circle cams to be very reliable. Really no issues at all and much cheaper then the Nest cams in both upfront cost and no need for subs. Of course no guarantees, but based on over a year of using this I'm happy with it.

Though that Samsung baby monitor looks cool.

I went with the circle with the idea that it could be re-used as a security camera once she gets older and no longer needs it. When we go away for more then a few days, we already set it up as an extra security cam, it is very easy to move.

skerry

Cheers for all the input lads. Looks like its a bit of a minefield out there regards these things. Looked up a few of the options suggested on the likes of Amazon and its very mixed. Need to look at a few more reliable review sites and do a bit more research I think.

Moved house recently and wifi is only about 15mbps as I'm outside town so need something that will be able to function with that kind of speed and something that has good app integration as the Belkin one was a disaster (not sure I mentioned that before )

THE ALM

Great deal on at UK Argos, Currys and John Lewis. Phillips Hue White and Colour ambience starter kit (3 bulbs, bridge and dimmer) plus a Google home for £170, you are effectively getting the Google Home for free. Have just ordered and getting it delivered to my Sis in Belfast. Offer runs until the 8th.

Josieg

Just ordered 3 X GH minis for £98 from Maplin UK. Tried Argos, Currys and John Lewis but all seem to be out of stock. It's a great deal in fairness. The minis were impossible to get in Currys just before Christmas when they were £34 EA. I only live about 30mins from Currys in Enniskillen but I had to give up in the end. Couldn't order online for collection in-store with these at all.

lordgoat

Wyze cam would be perfect as a baby cam. Have had it an hour and it's running perfectly. I'll put up a few pics tomorrow. Have to order from US but still works out very cheap. <50 for 2 cameras delivered including postage and customs. Did a bulk order with friends of 10 cameras though...

john_doe.

skerry wrote: »

Cheers for all the input lads. Looks like its a bit of a minefield out there regards these things. Looked up a few of the options suggested on the likes of Amazon and its very mixed. Need to look at a few more reliable review sites and do a bit more research I think.

Moved house recently and wifi is only about 15mbps as I'm outside town so need something that will be able to function with that kind of speed and something that has good app integration as the Belkin one was a disaster (not sure I mentioned that before )

Ha In the exact same boat with speeds just moved and outside town.
That wyze cam looks alright

CGI_3

lordgoat wrote: »

Wyze cam would be perfect as a baby cam. Have had it an hour and it's running perfectly. I'll put up a few pics tomorrow. Have to order from US but still works out very cheap. <50 for 2 cameras delivered including postage and customs. Did a bulk order with friends of 10 cameras though...

Where did you get them? Even their own website still saying out of stock (like it did before xmas). None Amazon either. And the Xiaomi version doesn't seem to be supported that well....

skerry

john_doe. wrote: »

Ha In the exact same boat with speeds just moved and outside town.
That wyze cam looks alright

I'm going from 150 mbps to 15 mbps

Although to be honest I've had no issues gaming or streaming as of yet so not complaining. Rural broadband company has a booster on the roof in the new house so I get free broadband too.

john_doe.

skerry wrote: »

I'm going from 150 mbps to 15 mbps

Although to be honest I've had no issues gaming or streaming as of yet so not complaining. Rural broadband company has a booster on the roof in the new house so I get free broadband too.

Same as , only I don't get it free.
Streaming has been fine apart from some live sports streams I used to watch in HD.

I like the look of those wyze cams , wonder would people be in for a bulk buy.

lordgoat

CGI_3 wrote: »

Where did you get them? Even their own website still saying out of stock (like it did before xmas). None Amazon either. And the Xiaomi version doesn't seem to be supported that well....

My friend ordered them, I'll ask him where or get him to post in here about the details.

Saw them in action for real today, have to say very impressed with the notifications/picture clarity/ speed of notifications to get to phone. Well worth the price.

eventually I'll upgrade to a more serious system but this is more than enough for keeping an eye on the pets and keeping track of people coming and going up the driveway.

ctlsleh

THE ALM wrote: »

Great deal on at UK Argos, Currys and John Lewis. Phillips Hue White and Colour ambience starter kit (3 bulbs, bridge and dimmer) plus a Google home for £170, you are effectively getting the Google Home for free. Have just ordered and getting it delivered to my Sis in Belfast. Offer runs until the 8th.

I tried this the other day and ithey were not for delivery on either Currys,JL or Argos websites, where did you order from?

itzme

lordgoat wrote: »

My friend ordered them, I'll ask him where or get him to post in here about the details.

Saw them in action for real today, have to say very impressed with the notifications/picture clarity/ speed of notifications to get to phone. Well worth the price.

eventually I'll upgrade to a more serious system but this is more than enough for keeping an eye on the pets and keeping track of people coming and going up the driveway.

I grabbed a set of them directly from their site https://www.wyzecam.com/ and then used amazon pay to pay and an posts address pal for delivery. Customs was a bit of a pain, they only accept cash on delivery and in some of the depots but don't tell you how much the customs is until it is delivered. So far very impressed with them considering their cost.

postsnthing

Was gonna jump through the hoops to try order some but looking at the Amazon reviews look to be some big security concerns with WyzeCam sending data to servers other than AWS... And reallocating itself a different mac address when it was blocked from the router don't know how true these claims are but definitely strange

Sesame

ctlsleh wrote: »

I tried this the other day and ithey were not for delivery on either Currys,JL or Argos websites, where did you order from?

I posted this on the bargain alerts thread last week but just to spread the word, the same set was £149 in Dixons Travel in Stanstead.
It was advertised as a free Google Home with the Hue set.
I have set it up and am impressed. Waiting for my next pay day to get more bulbs!

THE ALM

ctlsleh wrote: »

I tried this the other day and ithey were not for delivery on either Currys,JL or Argos websites, where did you order from?

This where I got the deal, due to be delivered on Wednesday to my sister in Belfast. Did try to get it delivered direct to me but wouldn't allow it, never tried parcel motel or the like as it was easier sending it to my sis.

You might have to try a few towns/postcodes as I had originally selected a different address to get it delivered to my mother but one of the items was out of stock and the order couldn't be completed.

itzme

postsnthing wrote: »

Was gonna jump through the hoops to try order some but looking at the Amazon reviews look to be some big security concerns with WyzeCam sending data to servers other than AWS... And reallocating itself a different mac address when it was blocked from the router don't know how true these claims are but definitely strange

The thread to read on this and keep an eye on is
https://www.reddit.com/r/wyzecam/comments/7cykgf/wyzecam_sending_data_to_servers_other_than_aws/

There are some concerns but the team seem to be trying to address them. Apparently they will have them back in stock mid-January.

lordgoat

Not sure if this is a huge bargain or not but just in case it might help anyone

https://theevohomeshop.co.uk/honeywell-evohome-connected-value-packs/75-honeywell-evohome-wi-fi-connected-value-pack-a.html

heating,
hot water
and 8 radiators

thecivvie

Philips hue White and Colour bulb E27 down to £38.99
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Ambience-Wireless-Lighting-Colours/dp/B01LVXIM42?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=cameltwalerts-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B01LVXIM42

CGI_3

Serious question; why do these HUE light bulbs cost so much, and what is their life expectancy?

The high horse brigade

CGI_3 wrote: »

Serious question; why do these HUE light bulbs cost so much, and what is their life expectancy?

15 years or 15000 hours although the warranty is 2 years

AndyBoBandy

thecivvie wrote: »

Philips hue White and Colour bulb E27 down to £38.99
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Ambience-Wireless-Lighting-Colours/dp/B01LVXIM42?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=cameltwalerts-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B01LVXIM42

F**k Sake

only bought 1 last week for £48

thecivvie

Philips Hue 20W LED Lightstrip Plus 2m Light Strips Kit down to €62.49 in argos. Stock available and says can be reserved

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4836957.htm?desktopSiteActive=true&_$ja=tsid%3A30390%7Cprd%3A8088783

thecivvie

Logitech Harmony Elite down to €179 Amazon France

https://www.amazon.fr/gp/aw/d/B014GXQOJ2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?__mk_fr_FR=ÅMÅZÕÑ&qid=1515663317&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=logitech+harmony&psc=1

Jane1012

thecivvie wrote: »

Philips Hue 20W LED Lightstrip Plus 2m Light Strips Kit down to €62.49 in argos. Stock available and says can be reserved

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4836957.htm?desktopSiteActive=true&_$ja=tsid%3A30390%7Cprd%3A8088783

GBP49.99 on Amazon UK now too

illdoit2morrow

Saw this is a thread in bargain alerts.

If you are passing through Dublin airport soon, they have this deal for €169 in Dixons.

I rang Dixons this morning, they have 2 in stock.

thecivvie

Amazon FR Philips Hue Colour B22 bulb €34.39
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B01LVUZQNX/ref=pe_2358541_234505251_em_1p_1_im

fletch

thecivvie wrote: »

Amazon FR Philips Hue Colour B22 bulb €34.39
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B01LVUZQNX/ref=pe_2358541_234505251_em_1p_1_im

Do they deliver to Ireland/UK?

davo2001

fletch wrote: »

Do they deliver to Ireland/UK?

Yeah but you pay for postage.

postsnthing

davo2001 wrote:

Yeah but you pay for postage.

Any idea how much ? Haven't got an amazon France account and need to set one up to get a price for postage.

AndyBoBandy

postsnthing wrote: »

Any idea how much ? Haven't got an amazon France account and need to set one up to get a price for postage.

Do you not just log in to regular amazon, and change the country to France? Or log in to French Amazon with your regular Amazon log in details?

I shop on both American & U.K. Amazon with the same account.

fletch

No...my login details don't seem to work on amazon fr

thecivvie

postsnthing wrote: »

Any idea how much ? Haven't got an amazon France account and need to set one up to get a price for postage.

Any amazon account can log on. Postage is €7.74

fletch

thecivvie wrote: »

Any amazon account can log on. Postage is €7.74

Sorry you're correct.

bk

CGI_3 wrote: »

Serious question; why do these HUE light bulbs cost so much, and what is their life expectancy?

Stop and think about what each bulbs has in it. It is basically a mini computer, it has a processor, memory, 2.4GHz radio etc. And then if they are a colour bulb, they have to have separate RGB LEDs to generate the different colours.

A lot of sophisticated electronics there.

However having said that, a lot of this stuff is getting integrated and getting cheaper. Pretty amazing really.

AndyBoBandy

Hue Colour E27 AND B22 are now £38.99 & £39.99 respectively on Amazon U.K.

Argo foc yourself

So excuse my ignorance or it could be just that I am completely bamboozled with the amount of products out there for smart heating controls - all claiming to be better than the other.

I have an oil fired heating system. I want to change my controls so that I can turn on/off the heating remotely via smart phone.

Currently, my controls are in the utility and I have a thermostat in the kitchen. I can only control the heating from this thermostat.

What product should I be looking at. I would also take into consideration that I may add a camera to the house at some stage and would like to incorporate this.

AndyBoBandy

Do you have separate zones you can set to run on your boiler?

eg. Heating (zone 1) , Hot Water (zone 2)
or Heating Upstairs (zone 1), Heating downstairs (zone 2), Hot Water (zone 3)

or is it just heating/water on/off all together?

I use a Nest for my 2 'zone' system (Heating/water on & Water only on) (its really only 1 zone, but being able to separate the water from the heating, it adds the 2nd 'zone')
In my case, Nest was a good fit as it only controls a Heating zone and a Water zone

Argo foc yourself

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Do you have separate zones you can set to run on your boiler?

eg. Heating (zone 1) , Hot Water (zone 2)
or Heating Upstairs (zone 1), Heating downstairs (zone 2), Hot Water (zone 3)

or is it just heating/water on/off all together?

I use a Nest for my 2 'zone' system (Heating/water on & Water only on) (its really only 1 zone, but being able to separate the water from the heating, it adds the 2nd 'zone')
In my case, Nest was a good fit as it only controls a Heating zone and a Water zone

no zones. My heating heats the rads and water. I have an immersion to also control the hot water if I am not using the heating (summer)

deezell

Argo foc yourself wrote: »

no zones. My heating heats the rads and water. I have an immersion to also control the hot water if I am not using the heating (summer)

What controls are in the utility. A timer? is it digital. . Do you have to turn up the thermostat to heat the HW or does the boiler just come on to heat it on demand.
Either way, your simplest solution is to replace the current thermostat with a smart stat. Tado and Netatmo are wire in replacements. Nest requires a separate control box to be wired in at the point where the stat wires go, usually next to the boiler or the existing controller. If the HW is able to heat without the heating being on, (simple gravity feed from the boiler controlled by a cylinder stat) then the nest can also give remote control of HW heating as the heatlink box that comes with it has two control zones, heating and HW. A similar box can be added to Tado and Netatmo stats.
It looks to me though that you can't heat the HW without the radiators, hence you use the immersion in the summer. Heating the HW without the heating will require some additions to you plumbing, but thats another days work.
Have a read through this more appropriate thread to enlighten (or confuse) yourself.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057758281&page=36

Argo foc yourself

deezell wrote: »

What controls are in the utility. A timer? is it digital. . Do you have to turn up the thermostat to heat the HW or does the boiler just come on to heat it on demand.
Either way, your simplest solution is to replace the current thermostat with a smart stat. Tado and Netatmo are wire in replacements. Nest requires a separate control box to be wired in at the point where the stat wires go, usually next to the boiler or the existing controller. If the HW is able to heat without the heating being on, (simple gravity feed from the boiler controlled by a cylinder stat) then the nest can also give remote control of HW heating as the heatlink box that comes with it has two control zones, heating and HW. A similar box can be added to Tado and Netatmo stats.
It looks to me though that you can't heat the HW without the radiators, hence you use the immersion in the summer. Heating the HW without the heating will require some additions to you plumbing, but thats another days work.
Have a read through this more appropriate thread to enlighten (or confuse) yourself.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057758281&page=36

[/QUOTE]

this is what I have currently https://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/danfoss-randall-tp7000rf-wireless-programmable-room-thermostat-087n741800/
the left hand side is in the utility and the right hand side in the kitchen

once I turn up the temp on the kitchen unit it turns on the boiler. This heats the rads and the hot water at the same time.

AngelaRI

Argo foc yourself wrote: »

So excuse my ignorance or it could be just that I am completely bamboozled with the amount of products out there for smart heating controls - all claiming to be better than the other.

I have an oil fired heating system. I want to change my controls so that I can turn on/off the heating remotely via smart phone.

Currently, my controls are in the utility and I have a thermostat in the kitchen. I can only control the heating from this thermostat.

What product should I be looking at. I would also take into consideration that I may add a camera to the house at some stage and would like to incorporate this.

I recently installed a Nest in my home - similar setup to you except my source is gas not oil, but Nest supports both. Nest has a whole suite of products (https://nest.com/ie/) and works very well with Google Assistant (and I think the Alexa integration is pretty decent, though I'm on the Google side and just love the flexibility and ease of use). I settled on my Nest (over Hive and other similar smart thermostat offerings) mainly because of the number of smart devices that it is compatible with (https://nest.com/ie/works-with-nest/ - and that list will likely keep expanding)

lordgoat

Ah jaysus lads I keep expecting bargains...

fletch

lordgoat wrote: »

Ah jaysus lads I keep expecting bargains...

Sorry...yes I should have probably created a separate thread...maybe a Home Heating Automation FAQ pinned topic might be an idea?

irelandrover

fletch wrote: »

Sorry...yes I should have probably created a separate thread...maybe a Home Heating Automation FAQ pinned topic might be an idea?

It probably would be, maybe this thread could do?

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057758281

deezell

this is what I have currently https://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/danfoss-randall-tp7000rf-wireless-programmable-room-thermostat-087n741800/
the left hand side is in the utility and the right hand side in the kitchen

once I turn up the temp on the kitchen unit it turns on the boiler. This heats the rads and the hot water at the same time.

That's a wireless single zone programmable stat and receiver. The nest is ideal to replace this, as it connects wirelessly to it heatlink box. Nest is on a good deal with Electric Ireland, ( to keep Lordgoat happy)

DubTony

lordgoat wrote: »

Ah jaysus lads I keep expecting bargains...

Amazon UK has £11 off Hue Colour bulbs at the moment
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LVXIM42/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

And for anyone interested in controlling with Alexa they've a 3 for 2 on Echo Dots. Use code DOT3PACK at the checkout. Apparently it's out of stock until the end of the month and Ts & Cs say the offer is only available to customers with a UK address, but the discount did show up for me with my Dublin address (haven't actually purchased though).

J.pilkington

Netatmo down to £89 on amazon, not the lowest ever but a defeat price

deezell

J.pilkington wrote: »

Netatmo down to £89 on amazon, not the lowest ever but a defeat price

That''s value. Do you mean "defeat" as in beat the competition, or admitting market defeat and discounting/going downmarket to hang in?

bk

deezell wrote: »

That''s value. Do you mean "defeat" as in beat the competition, or admitting market defeat and discounting/going downmarket to hang in?

I suspect he meant "decent" probably auto-correct.

I think Netatmo are doing well, introducing new products every few months. Plus they are announcing partnerships with a whole bunch of companies, including ones who make heating systems. So seem to be doing well.

They have always been one of the cheapest options on the market, which is one reason I went with it.

But they don't feel cheap, excellent app, excellent integration, nice thermostat (though it does have one flaw, the mechanical button can break to easily).