Home Automation

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Home automation is the residential extension of building automation.

It is automation of the home, housework or household activity.

Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), appliances, security locks of gates and doors and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security.

Warning: Working with electricity can result in injury, property damage, or even death if it is not done properly. Please keep this in mind while assisting others. If you are not sure about what you are doing, hire a licensed professional.

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Beginner question: do I need a Smartthings Hub/Station? (alien.top)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I am setting up automation for my plants and trying to figure out what the Smartthings Hub does. My setup includes 9 TP link outlets (individual and power strips), 4 Switchbot temperature/humidity sensors, and a Switchbot wifi hub. I was able to set everything up in the Smartthings app to run the fans if the temperature or humidity gets too high, and to run the misters if the humidity gets too low.

I bought a Smartthings Station to use as a hub, but I'm not sure what it does or if it's even necessary. I thought it would serve as a central unit to monitor and trigger those automations if my phone is not around. Is that correct?

If so, does it do this automatically after being added to the app? Or do I need to set it up to add those devices/routines to the hub?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

You have a bunch of Wi-Fi devices which talk to the "cloud". The Samsung App lets you set up a cloud account which can run various routines over the internet. So a sensor might trigger a routine on the Samsung servers that then talk to a device's cloud server telling it to contact device in your house and turn on.

As you can see, that's a lot of communication over the internet. If you want faster response times and less dependence on an always-on internet connection, you can get a local hub that talks locally over a Z-Wave or ZigBee mesh of devices.

The Samsung Station can support ZigBee (but not Z-Wave) and Matter devices. So if you were planning to change devices you might find a benefit to having a local hub.

Currently it seems like you don't need it, but you could start building a network of local devices running ZigBee or Matter. You can still have your existing Wi-Fi devices but have any new devices working locally instead.