Amazon Echo to HA Controllers

[pete_c]

Thanks Ano.
 
Went to the Lowes web site and searched for smart bulbs / zigbee bulbs / Osram smart bulbs and nothing has come up.
 
Only reason I brought up Lowes is that is its close by.  Nothing there that I can see on the web site.  I did go there a couple of weeks ago and didn't really see much.
 
So went to HD just now and they have the Cree Connected 60W soft white A19 dimmable LED light bulb there.  Well it shows only 1 in stock (?).  No Zigbee RGB as far as I can tell.
 
Looking at Amazon (2 day shipping) found one for $40.
 
iHomeware Zigbee Smart LED Bulb, 7w, A60 RGB Full Tunable White Bulb, Single,Colorful
 
Looks to be propietary Zigbee...just guessing...

 

[zenix]

But you can buy the GE or the Cree Zigbee bulbs at HD or Lowes. About $15 each. They work fine with a HAI/Leviton controller.

 
They work with Hue hub too. Unfortunately, they both have this horrible yellow tint. For some reason they also do not dim as well as dumb bulbs. What's up with that?

 

[jkmonroe]

I've not used the Cree yet, but I really like the GE Link.  The 2700K is nearly spot on with the Hue 2700K and they dim perfectly, even down into the single digits, but I am dimming them using their automated dimming and not a regular dimmer.  They ramp very smoothly, too (both on and off).
 
Everything is connected to the Hue bridge, and I use iConnectHue instead of the default app, as well as CQC, and a slew of Taps.

 

[pete_c]

Thanks guys.
 
Looks like my Almond + and Almond 2015 should work fine with the Zigbee RGB bulbs. 
 
I am currently very familiar with these devices and can do a bunch of stuff with the controllers.
 
I have been procastinating on the Zigbee HAI controller some over the last couple of years.
 
Putting Zigbee controller on the main floor or 2nd floor of the house would be easy.

 

[ano]

I have been procastinating on the Zigbee HAI controller some over the last couple of years.
 
Putting Zigbee controller on the main floor or 2nd floor of the house would be easy.

The HAI ZIM has been out several years, but I can tell you, in HAI fashion, their FW is still a work-in-progress. Each FW version fixes old problems while creating new problems. The latest FW, 15.1 I believe, has a problem of home screen status not being accurate. I think with 15.0 the clock didn't work, and 14.x problems as well. HAI knows about the problem, but....
 
I like the GE Zigbee bulbs. Very stable, but white only. If you shop around, you can get them from Amazon for about $13 but the price bounces around so you have to be patient.
 
Update: They seem to be $11.99 today. A good deal:  http://www.amazon.com/GE-Wireless-Smart-PSB19-SW27-Equivalent/dp/B00NOL16K0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433517224&sr=8-1&keywords=ge+link+bulb
 
I like how Amazon lets you buy 1 bulb for $11.99 or a package of 2 for $47.99  Hmmm what should I pick?
 
And don't believe the text, this is a standard Zigbee bulb and works with any Zigbee controller. It DOESN'T require the Wink Hub but will work with it if you have it. (The Wink Hub is a Zigbee Controller.)

 

[IVB]

O.K. How do you control lights with 100.00% reliability? 
 
If a bulb is found to be defective, its not hard to replace. Simply grab the top and rotate counter-clockwise until it pops out. To install a new bulb, repeat the above in reverse. Chances are, you may not even require an electrician for this replacement task.

 
Difficulty of replacement isn't the issue. My point is that if you choose to add features via hardware, you're increasing the # of things that can fail. That is a fact, not an opinion. If that feature is valuable enough for you to handle the reduced reliability, then go for it.
 
For me, having a smartbulb where I can control it without swapping the light switch is not currently valuable enough to offset the cost & reduced reliability.I'll wait a few years to see how the actual failure rate is, not the marketing material. I've had awful experiences with enough HA stuff to not believe marketing propaganda. 

 

[IVB]

btw i should add that i'm hoping Hue doesn't suffer from lifespan problems. I have 10 bulbs on switches that are shallow single gang and cannot physically house automated switches. (100 year old house with funky stud locations, cannot swap out the j-box) 7 of them are in locations that are *constantly* forgotten on by the wife/kids. If I had a way to control them i'd be stoked. But at $20/bulb, i'll let jkmonroe/others report out on their real world lifespan in 6-9 months.

 

[pete_c]

Yeah here my tinkering with Zigbee will be going baby steps. 
 
I have been playing with LV RGB wired and wireless. 
 
Now that I have Zigbee controllers will be doing the same with RGB tinkering.  (only have a few Zigbee devices right now - well 8 toys)
 
I am doing the same now with Zigbee Plus relating to tinkering. 
 
There I have some 40 Zigbee devices now online which I do not integrate at this time with my automation.
 
Right now I consider the Amazon Echo as another trinket for easy automation (like the cell phone) for fun stuff. 
 
IE: note too that I have had TTS / automation since the 1980's and VR since the late 1990's (well and never used it). 

 

[jkmonroe]

btw i should add that i'm hoping Hue doesn't suffer from lifespan problems. I have 10 bulbs on switches that are shallow single gang and cannot physically house automated switches. (100 year old house with funky stud locations, cannot swap out the j-box) 7 of them are in locations that are *constantly* forgotten on by the wife/kids. If I had a way to control them i'd be stoked. But at $20/bulb, i'll let jkmonroe/others report out on their real world lifespan in 6-9 months.

 
most of my Hue branded stuff has been installed since Christmas of 2013.  most of my GE Links have been in since dec '14/jan '15, so we're right at the 6 month mark for Link, 18 months+ for Hue.
 
at $12.50 regular price for the GE Link (2 pack + Link hub at HD for $24.99), and $6 for a regular quality dimmable LED, I think that the smart bulbs can also be 'throwaway' of sort.  you would have to go through 5 bulbs before you get to the price of a single switch, which i find highly unlikely.

 

[IVB]

 
most of my Hue branded stuff has been installed since Christmas of 2013.  most of my GE Links have been in since dec '14/jan '15, so we're right at the 6 month mark for Link, 18 months+ for Hue.
 

Oh interesting I thought it was new. Any failures? I had a 40% failure rate for intermatic within 6 months, 90% on CFLs within a yeas (3 brands), so the wife is leery about lighting automation.

Also the smart things forum and Amazon reviews are harsh about maintaining a network connection. They both say it's a great concept bad execution as they have to constantly reset it. Anything like that happen to you?

at $12.50 regular price for the GE Link, and $6 for a regular quality dimmable LED, I think that the smart bulbs can also be 'throwaway' of sort.  you would have to go through 5 bulbs before you get to the price of a single switch, which i find highly unlikely.

Oh I was looking at the hue. I'll look into link costs, I saw $20/each for hue.

 

[IVB]

Btw these are multi bulb switches. One has 4 bulbs. If each failed every 2 years as per claim, a switch is cheaper. My leviton switches have been awesome, no failures so far after (2?) years. Only maybe a dozen installed though.

 

[jkmonroe]

Btw these are multi bulb switches. One has 4 bulbs. If each failed every 2 years as per claim, a switch is cheaper. My leviton switches have been awesome, no failures so far after (2?) years. Only maybe a dozen installed though.

 
Yeah, both Hue and Link have had 0 failures since the day they were installed.  I did have to do some rejiggering with the Hue bridge itself, but that is a different issue related to CQC.  As soon as the Zigbee 3.0 sensors are available for the Hue bridge, i think the landscape changes.
 
I have a few multi-bulb fixtures, and those are the ones that I have GE Links in.  My dining room fixture is 6 bulbs, but what is nice is that i can turn off 3 bulbs and dim the other 3, or any combination therein.  it makes it a lot more customizable for scenes, and now that ive been using it this way, i can say that i would rather *not* have a switch.

 

[ChrisCicc]

Just had my first CREE LED bulb die after a couple years. It's the non smart version. It's not fully dead, just flickering at full power, so it's not the diode that went... 

 

[wkearney99]

You're comparing apples and oranges. If you want to be tied to your device, sure that's a cheaper way. We're comparing device-less voice recognition, and there are only two choices. The Echo costs $199, it's not inexpensive, and yes, you need one per room. Regarding distance, we've tested the Kinect past 50 feet. It all depends on the acoustics of your room, just like the Echo as well.

But getting down to your comments about building a driver for Kinect, that's not how it works We built the entire natural language processor, the false positive filters, nevermind everything that goes with the automation interface. That's all our IP. So I wouldn't expect it to be so easily recreated. Just look at the Echo - they have a huge team and budget and have only scratched the surface of what we can do with voice controlled home automation... it's not as easy as it looks
 
Edit: Oh and did I mention, unlike the Echo we don't require the cloud and we don't listen in on what you're doing/saying in your home?

 
No, you don't have to put an Echo in each room.  Not unless the doors are closed.  We have one in a 5ksqft house and it's sensitive enough to pickup commands from most of the house.  Granted, when they're available I do plan on getting two more, one for the master suite and another for the workshop.  Those being the two other areas where the centrally located one is inconvenient.
 
As for listening, it's logic is tied to the trigger word.  It's always 'recording' locally but only uploads when the trigger word is recognized.  I've watched it's network traffic to confirm this.  
 
The way it handles recognizing the trigger word is incredibly smooth.  MUCH more so than any other recog system I've tried.  Clearly the tight integration of their mic AND the speaker on the unit is at play here.  Because even when you're blasting music fairly loud it's still possible to speak commands to it and have it recognized.  Kinect on a PC doesn't even come close.  Which isn't a surprise as there's too many variables between mic input and soundcard output.  Perhaps on an Xbox One it might be 'less worse' (but I can't count the number of times I've had to shout "XBOX, STOP LISTENING".  Or "Hey, Cortana" repeatedly.
 
It is indeed 'not as easy as it looks'.  I'll say this about the Echo, thus far ALL of my interactions with their customer service folks have been far and way better than any other product yet.  They're spot-on when it comes to realistic and honest replies to request and comments.  
 
Let me offer an observation, focus on what your product does, not on what others don't.  When you're too 'close to the grain' you run the risk of becoming an ass about it.  Look no further than something like the Roomie remote software.  That guy is a class-A jerk when it comes to anything even resembling criticism of his brainchild.  Which is just a step ahead of Apple and their ridiculous tendencies toward censoring anything other than 'approved' comments.  Don't fall into that trap.  Make a good product and talk about it honestly.  That sells more than any amount of bashing will ever do.

 

[ChrisCicc]

The way it handles recognizing the trigger word is incredibly smooth.  MUCH more so than any other recog system I've tried.  Clearly the tight integration of their mic AND the speaker on the unit is at play here.  Because even when you're blasting music fairly loud it's still possible to speak commands to it and have it recognized.  Kinect on a PC doesn't even come close.  Which isn't a surprise as there's too many variables between mic input and soundcard output. 

 
It seems you haven't actually tried CastleOS? The feature you're describing is called acoustic echo cancellation. Kinect has the same feature - if the app you're trying has it enabled. In CastleOS it's an option, as it works with music playback over stereo, but not with multi-channel output over digital (which Echo doesn't even have). Regardless, as I posted elsewhere we're integrating the Echo too, so if you like the Echo over the Kinect, that's just fine. Many people don't want a cloud connected voice interface, and that's fine too, that's what the Kinect offers. In the future, we'll be offering a third option, and there's always smart watches and phones/tablets too. Plenty of options to choose from...
 
Regarding the rest of your comment, I'm not really sure how understanding fully what we and all our competitors can and cannot do, or do better than others, is a bad thing. I'm not bashing anyone or anything here, just telling it like it is. Most people appreciate that, though some are convinced my bias is leading me to tell less than truthful things, which isn't the case. Everything I've ever stated can be confirmed with a little bit of Googling...