The Watts Premier 500800 hot water recirculation pump is a device that helps ensure that you always have hot water at your faucets. It’s an ingenious gadget that serves you well for both in home comfort and a reduced water bill. I know that I get pretty tired of waiting for hot water whenever I’m…
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The Braumm switches can be used with both Amazon Echo (Alexa) and the Google Home Assistant.Braumm provides their own app, but the smart plug and smart switch are also compatible with the Smart Life app, since they both work on the Tuya platform. Overall Rating The Braum S111 is a Wi-Fi connected on/off switch that…
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The Hubitat Elevation Smart Home Automation hub is the new little darling of the home automation enthusiast. But is it good for the normal human just trying to jump into the home automation world. Discussing hubs amongst smart homers can quickly turn into a religious war. Well, I don’t intend to do that here. This…
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Zooz Outdoor Motion Sensor on Amazon The Zooz ZSE29 is one of the first outdoor motion sensors on the market with a reasonable price. The video looks at all aspects of the motion sensor and compares it to the indoor Zooz ZSE40. Here’s the highlights: The sensor has a detection angle of 100o and a…
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Motion detectors are an essential part of every smart home. This is why it’s important to understand which motion sensors play the best with your particular hub. It’s my experience that motion sensors perform differently from hub to hub, which is why I ran these tests on SmartThings, Wink and Vera. This article is dedicated…
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The Dome Z-Wave Plus motion sensor is one of my favorite sensors. I use it in critical locations due to it’s reliability and accurate lux detection. It’s Z-Wave Plus Certified and compatible with most Z-Wave Hubs including Wink, SmartThings, Home Seer, Nexia, Hubitat and other hubs. It’s great for lighting scenes and can be mounted…
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In today’s day and age it seems silly to be using an old mechanical thermostat. The benefits of using a programmable thermostat rapidly pay for themselves in terms of energy savings and comfort. Smart Thermostats have the ability to take both of these factors to the next level. Let’s look at the ecobee4, which frankly…
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The Zooz Z-Wave Switches Zen21, Zen22, Zen23 and Zen24 wire in differently than other smart switches when it comes to 3-way circuits. To make smart switches more affordable, the Zooz switches allow you to use a normal mechanical switch as the remote switch, which can save USD $15 per circuit minimum. Zooz Zen21 on Amazon…
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Today I’m going to replace my thermostat with the Ecobee3 smart wifi thermostat. And, in my home, I have a special circumstance in that I only have four wires that go from my existing thermostat over to my mechanical closet, so in addition to the Ecobee3 setup and review, we’ll also be installing the power…
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DIY installation of the Lutron Caseta In Wall Wireless Smart Switch Dimmer. This video will explain how to install, setup and configure the switch in a single and 3-way switch installation. At the end of the video I will connect both the smart switch and the pico remote into the Wink Hub 2 using the…
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