MrHouse or a VERA like dedicated home controller

[Rob Townley]

Recently on the list, there was discussion on purchasing a zWave energy monitor and controller. 

Besides lack of interoperability (unless MrHouse software acts as the bridge) there has always been a price premium for these automation devices. 

I was just at Lowe's looking for a replacement dimmer switch for my parents.  Some automation would be helpful.  Their zWave, ZigBee, and BlueTooth iris system seems less proprietary than most any other solution.

But then I read these bad reviews of experiences going from 1st gen to 2nd gen. 

Iris Smart Hub Reviews on Lowe's website:
http://m.lowes.com/pd/Iris-Smart-Hub/999925318/reviews

Has anyone started fresh with their 2nd gen hub.  Is it as bad as it sounds.  Stay away and use a different brand even of it does not talk BT, zWave, and ZigBee?

[Nate]

I'm running a Phillips Hue and a Aeon Stick for Zigbee and Zwave on my system.  I have a Bluetooth dongle for the BT aspect.  Having 3 separate devices ins't an issue for me as I tie them all together using OpenHab, and they are all connected to the one server running Ubuntu 15.  I'm not sure on the Iris Gen 2, but I've steered clear due to reviews.

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[Kevin Fusselman]

A number of OMGers, myself included run Samsung Smartthings.

For my part, I use mostly generic zwave devices (as opposed to the Samsung branded zigbee devices) and am really happy with how it works. It strikes me that smartthings is a good mix of "it just works", for when you want to have an automation system (as opposed to wanting to build said system) and "You can get your hands dirty, if you want, but it's not required".

[Rob Townley]

Nate,

so you do not have a dedicated HUB.  You have OpenHAB running on Ubuntu15 running on PC hardware.  There are two hardware dongles physically connected to the PC - Aeon Stick for both zWave and ZigBee, BlueTooth.  PhillipsHue connects over ethernet?

Kevin, have heard really good things about the old Samsung SmartThings hub, but many complaints about the newer v2 version.   This customer review says that scheduling depends on connecting to the cloud.  The Nest Revolve HUB depended on the cloud and since Google is pulling the cloud out, it will be a paperweight soon.  

What Nest's product shutdown says about the Internet of Things

​​

http://mashable.com/2016/04/04/revolv-smart-home-shutdown/#C5E0u_pUbPqb

The Olympia Makers , Engineers, Geeks, and Artists created the OpenWink project.  Like OpenWRT for routers, but for the Wink HUB.  OpenWink Removes cloud dependency if you do not want that.

​http://homeautomationhacking.com/​  Not sure if it works with the latest wink.

[Kevin Fusselman]

Mine is a v2, with built in "UPS" (4xAA batteries), and I've been really happy with it.

Admittedly, I'm using it "wrong", with mostly aftermarket Z-Wave devices, so maybe it's the zigbee radio that's junk.

[Nate]

Rob, I can still turn lights on and off even with no Internet connectivity.  The Philips Hue is the hub for the majority of my lights, while only a few are on Z-wave through the stick.  The cloud access is just so that I can turn lights off after I've left home if I reaize that I failed to do so earlier.  It isn't necessary.  One thing I wasn't aware of was the hub is hardwired.  Not a huge issue, Also, it isn't very large.