domo arigato misuta Roboto
hata au hi made
domo arigato misuta Roboto
himitsu wo shiritai
-Dennis DeYoung/Styx
When it comes to technology, no one has ever accused me of being an early adopter. I prefer hardcover books to my e-book, I compose my blog stories in a notebook with a pen before I commit them to the electronic ether forever, and I would still happily be using my iPhone 4 if the battery hadn't failed. When I had to replace my phone a few months ago, I only moved up to the 5s because the 4 was no longer available. In college, my friends referred to me as the "Old Man" and in residency I was called "OB" (I would have preferred OG, but we don't often get to choose our monikers, and I guess I'm not gangsta' enough). Consequently, it has been an enlightening, and often times frustrating task as I seek to put my house on autopilot for the year that we will be gone.
We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error.
Growing up, we didn't worry much about home security. We never locked our doors, even when we went on vacation. I'm sure our doors had locks, but we never used them. I was a latch-key kid without a key. Fast-forward to now and the situation has changed somewhat. It's 40 years later and I'm living in the U.S.A. My car has been vandalized at work, and I frequently get threats of harm to me personally, my property, and my family. I have a concealed weapons permit and even though I live in a gated community patrolled by police officers, and my next door neighbor is a police officer, I now lock my doors and I have a home alarm system with video monitoring.
I can see my house from here!
When we first moved to Myrtle Beach, we didn't have the budget to activate the security system, and not ever having one, I didn't really miss it. We travel a lot though, so as soon as we could, we signed up for home monitoring. The monitoring includes the security system as well as smoke detectors. The original security system for our house is hard-wired and was probably installed when the house was first built in 2003. As such, it was a little antiquated but functional. My biggest gripe was that it was not very convenient to use. Over the past several years, I have updated the system and added some enhanced security features. Adding battery back-up means the basic system functions continue to work even when the power is off.
Modern security systems can interact with the house as a whole. Security cameras allow me to see what's happening in and around my house in real time and they keep an electronic video record of events, but what's really cool is my ability to control aspects of my house remotely. When I had the cameras installed, they threw in a plug-in controller for lamps, etc. Modern plug-in modules work much the same way as the old-school timers people would plug lamps into. These newer plug-ins can be programmed from anywhere you have internet access. In addition, they can be programmed to turn on if one of the motion detectors senses movement, and they can even be programmed to follow a random on-off schedule.
Installed (just ignore the cosmetic work that needs completion)
As I researched other add-ons for the system, I discovered hard-wired, programmable light switches that can also be controlled by the security system. These super cool devices replace any wall switch and still function to turn lights on and off. These too can interact with the security system, coming on with motion or programming. The first couple were a little tricky to install, but once I figured out which wires went where, it was easy to add more and more switches to the system. The system as designed can handle up to 160 different devices! From a single app on my phone or tablet, I can control the alarm system, lights, and cameras for my home from anywhere in the world.
We have had to replace both the downstairs and upstairs HVAC systems. When the upstairs unit was replaced, it came with an internet enabled wall control. Our downstairs system is pretty much a higher-capacity version of the upstairs unit, but when it was replaced 5 years ago, the internet connectivity wasn't an option. I recently had an internet enabled thermostat control installed for the downstairs as well. Remotely, I can control the temperature, humidity, and programming for the entire house. I could get a different controller for each unit that would interact with my security system and allow me to control everything from a single app, but at $600 I will stick with the controllers we have and use their (free) app.
I previously posted about spending 5 days in the garage getting it cleaned up and ready for us to leave. Part of the garage project was installing a modern, quite, internet capable garage door opener. The install was pretty easy and I was able to do it myself. The hardest part of the install was removing the old motor and track. It's a really cool opener, with its own battery back-up and remote access through (yet another) app. After much research, I chose this opener because it was pretty freakin' cool and (mostly) because it was compatible with my home security system. I called my security company to send a tech out and link it to my home security network. When he arrived and inspected the unit, he said that it would need a second module to link it in ... $178 and an additional $5/month added to my monitoring contract. Once again, the app for this unit is free and everything functions perfectly well in isolation, so I chose not to hook it in to the home security system.
For the final piece of the puzzle, I installed an electronic door lock. We have several family members and friends who will be staying in our house. Trying to coordinate keys and access was going to be a nightmare. Once again, modern technology rises to the rescue. I was able to find an electronic door lock capable of storing about 30 different codes that I could link into my home security system. Not only can I create and delete codes remotely, but I can actually physically lock and unlock the door remotely. In a pinch, it still accepts a key and I was able to have it re-keyed to work with my old locks and keys. Alas, while both the lock company and my security company say that they should be compatible, I am having difficulty getting the lock and security system to communicate reliably. It will be awesome if I can get it to work, but the lock itself still works in isolation so I'm not worried if I can't get it to sync with the security system before we leave.
Therein lies the problem with home automation and "the internet of things". It's great that there are all these devices out there that have all these fantastic functions, but they don't all "speak" to each other. For any device I want to add, I have to make sure it is supported by my security system, and once installed, I have to get it to actually function within my home network.
As of now, I have a central security system with a bunch of cool features, I have some peripheral devices that work within that system, and I have a few devices that should work with the system but don't. At least those devices work in isolation and they have their own apps. I may not be able to open one app to control everything, but I can still do it all from my phone or tablet, all while sitting half way across the world, and that's pretty cool.
Perhaps not having all of the components interacting, providing multiple points of access to my central system, ultimately makes it more secure. More likely, my entire security system is kinda' like the TSA ... it's aggravating, frustrating, and time consuming; it makes things appear more secure and makes me feel more secure, but in the end it may not be very effective.
I guess I'm okay with that.
Isn't technology fun?
I previously posted about spending 5 days in the garage getting it cleaned up and ready for us to leave. Part of the garage project was installing a modern, quite, internet capable garage door opener. The install was pretty easy and I was able to do it myself. The hardest part of the install was removing the old motor and track. It's a really cool opener, with its own battery back-up and remote access through (yet another) app. After much research, I chose this opener because it was pretty freakin' cool and (mostly) because it was compatible with my home security system. I called my security company to send a tech out and link it to my home security network. When he arrived and inspected the unit, he said that it would need a second module to link it in ... $178 and an additional $5/month added to my monitoring contract. Once again, the app for this unit is free and everything functions perfectly well in isolation, so I chose not to hook it in to the home security system.
Another cool piece for the "connected home"
For the final piece of the puzzle, I installed an electronic door lock. We have several family members and friends who will be staying in our house. Trying to coordinate keys and access was going to be a nightmare. Once again, modern technology rises to the rescue. I was able to find an electronic door lock capable of storing about 30 different codes that I could link into my home security system. Not only can I create and delete codes remotely, but I can actually physically lock and unlock the door remotely. In a pinch, it still accepts a key and I was able to have it re-keyed to work with my old locks and keys. Alas, while both the lock company and my security company say that they should be compatible, I am having difficulty getting the lock and security system to communicate reliably. It will be awesome if I can get it to work, but the lock itself still works in isolation so I'm not worried if I can't get it to sync with the security system before we leave.
More cosmetic work that we need to be repaired
Therein lies the problem with home automation and "the internet of things". It's great that there are all these devices out there that have all these fantastic functions, but they don't all "speak" to each other. For any device I want to add, I have to make sure it is supported by my security system, and once installed, I have to get it to actually function within my home network.
As of now, I have a central security system with a bunch of cool features, I have some peripheral devices that work within that system, and I have a few devices that should work with the system but don't. At least those devices work in isolation and they have their own apps. I may not be able to open one app to control everything, but I can still do it all from my phone or tablet, all while sitting half way across the world, and that's pretty cool.
Perhaps not having all of the components interacting, providing multiple points of access to my central system, ultimately makes it more secure. More likely, my entire security system is kinda' like the TSA ... it's aggravating, frustrating, and time consuming; it makes things appear more secure and makes me feel more secure, but in the end it may not be very effective.
I guess I'm okay with that.
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