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[HA Dave]

Google is notorious for turning off HA features.

I would not be surprised if half the high tech automation stuff I am installing now.... is failed trash in a few months. I don't even look at it as a gamble. I feel certain that much of this stuff is a flash-in-the-pan. And like the old X10's AHP servers... things can and will come crashing down with little warning.

Even my $12-$14 radar lightbulb (which inspired this thread) proved to be a wasted experiment. Maybe someday... I might find a good use for it... but the laundry room wasn't it. I think MOST of my experiments and tests are a waste.... as far as finding useful products.

But the good stuff... the stuff that really works... like Amazons Echo devices and all the cloud based services and abilities.... make up for all the stuff that doesn't work.

Of course all the failed attempts didn't create Alexa. But the bold steps forward (that everyone here at these forum understands)... is what helped create the marketplace for home automation products. I don't know where all this new stuff is going.... but I am enjoying the journey to wherever it is. And it IS a journey... no great home automation setup.... is ever complete or finished. This is a hobby and a lifestyle... not a set of specs.

P.S. I decided to install a wired-in motion sensing switch in the laundry room (to replace the radar bulb). But... to do that I need to rewire a section. Not a problem (except for my back). Meanwhile I added a new LED light controlled by one of those "eye" sensors and an appliance module.

[HA Dave]

..... I've got all sorts of events keeping tabs on my garage door but I still haven't setup automatic closing. I'm more worried about forgetting to lock the front door so I'm considering a z-wave lock when I put in a new front door.

We have a lot in common racerfern... except I am sure you have a better setup than mine. The wife just recently drove off and forgot to close the garage door (leaving it open). Although I live in a nice area.... my neighborhood is also subject to a little rush hour traffic. I don't like having that big two-car garage door wide open. It is impossible to "spot" an unlocked entry door while driving past a home... but a big old open garage door stands out like a welcome sign.

But... being a bit of a do-it-yourselfer... it's normal for me (and my wife) to work in the garage with the garage door open. I wouldn't want a program, macro, robot, or automated process that wouldn't allow for that door to remain open. Yet... the wife going to work and leaving a big door open while I sleep... isn't desirable either. And even though I get updates on my phone if the door is left open... as of this morning... I hadn't started taking my phone into the bedroom at night.

Previously I had in-house voice announcements from my BVC (voice control software running on a 24/7 laptop). Which I shutdown as part of my re-imagining of my setup. MAYBE.... I can setup a Alexa reminder or routine of some sort... when the door is open.

Thanks racerfern for nudging me towards finding a solution to what is realistically my biggest security flaw... and automation failure. 

[racerfern]

I get a text message when the garage door opens.
I get a text message every five minutes it remains open.
Then if I'm working in the garage or want if open for whatever reason, I run a HS event that disables the five minute warning for one hour. After one hour it goes back to a warning every five minutes unless I disable the warning for another hour or close the garage door.
Finally, I get a text message when the garage door closes.

I just need to create a simple event that says if the garage has been open "X" time, then close it. I really don't know why I haven't bothered to do it, but probably because I've never left it open accidentally.

I put my phones on silent at bedtime, so getting a text or email won't fly. However, I do have two Aeotec doorbell ringers. One is activated by the opening of any one of the three doors we have (excluding garage), the other one sits in the bedroom and will ding whenever I set an event to notify me of something. Of course I don't know why it's dinging other than it was told to ding by some event I wrote. It actually will hold lots of different mp3 sounds so I could have mp3 sound files that say "Garage door open", "Water leak", etc. Hmm, I'll have to think about that.

[bkenobi]

Android has a "do not disturb" mode.  This can be overridden by certain things (defined phone numbers, email addresses, etc).  I get email on Sunday mornings from my soccer league that I really don't need to know about at 4:30AM but if my wife were to call, I better answer it...

[brobin]

I have my garage doors set to close after 10 minutes IF the security system is armed based on the assumption that if we're gone or sleeping they should be closed.  But what if we're working in the garage or one of us leaves it open while the other is still home?  In the first case the door should remain open and in the second it should close.  That can be done with a switch or motion detector.  Pressing a momentary switch or triggering a motion detector could start a retriggerable countdown timer.  Upon expiration of the timer, if a door was still open a command to close it would be sent.  If the timer was triggered by a motion detector then I would probably choose a 15 minute timer retriggered by continued motion but if it used a pushbutton trigger then maybe an hour.  Although I have a MyQ hub it's not smart enough to do this.

[racerfern]

I have my garage doors set to close after 10 minutes IF the security system is armed

Why not just make the garage door part of the alarm arming, then it won't arm if the door is open.

Considering that most of us have door and motion sensors scattered around the house for various reasons, seeing motion from some of those sensors would indicate someone's home. You should be able to select which sensors to watch for and leave the garage door open based on that. For instance my door from the garage to the laundry room has a door sensor and the overhead light in the garage has a motion sensor. It would be easy enough to create a Homeseer event that will reset the garage door timer if these two keep activating. Also quite easy to warn that the garage door is going to close once the timer hits xx minutes. Lots of possibilities.

[brobin]

I have my garage doors set to close after 10 minutes IF the security system is armed

Why not just make the garage door part of the alarm arming, then it won't arm if the door is open.

When leaving we arm the Caddx security system from a keypad inside the house, then open the door during the exit delay and press a button in the garage to open the left or right garage door.  So typically the garage doors are already closed during arming.  When the garage door opens an alarm contact closes telling the Stargate controller to start a 10 minute timer.  Expiration of the timer triggers an event that says IF the timer is expiring AND a garage door is open AND the alarm is armed THEN close the garage door.  If we're arming before going to bed and a garage door is open the timer will start and close the door in 10 minutes.  But your idea got me thinking ... I don't need that delay when arming in stay mode so I can eliminate or shorten the timer for that as the Stargate knows the difference between armed away and armed stay. Thanks!

[HA Dave]

I get a text message when the garage door opens.
I get a text message every five minutes it remains open...…. I put my phones on silent at bedtime, so getting a text or email won't fly.

I've deliberately moved my notifications to my phone (as opposed to my BVC announcements).... as my phone is always with me... and I am often not home.

I do have two Aeotec doorbell ringers...….. It actually will hold lots of different mp3 sounds so I could have mp3 sound files that say "Garage door open", "Water leak", etc. Hmm, I'll have to think about that.

That sounds nice too.

I think for me.... I need to learn to take the phone to bed with me. Or... adapt something to extend my phone sounds through out the house. Maybe.

[Tuicemen]

My pc sees all messages recieved by my phone and alerts me. You might be able to utilize that as a back up option for when your phone becomes ungluded from your side.

[HA Dave]

My pc sees all messages recieved by my phone and alerts me. You might be able to utilize that as a back up option for when your phone becomes ungluded from your side.  

I am a little addicted to my laptop(s). I have (a nice) one I use for most of my social-media, document/photo management, forums, and shopping. But even though I ran a PC or laptop 24/7 for many years.... I shut that down with my reimagining of my Home Automation setup... several months ago.

More than once I tried to convert to a tablet as an Internet device... but they've always seemed a little underpowered and slow. But more and more.... I do much of what I do on-line.... with my iPhone. Although many people I know have already beat me to "phone computing only".... I am not there yet. Maybe with the next gen/model of iPhone. We'll see.

[Tuicemen]

Since your homeseer is basically a mini computer  you should beable to add sound capabilities to it. There are add on boards for Pis to provide good quality sound, however there may not be room inside your hub for one. Or you can just get a new iphone and put your current one next to your bed 

[HA Dave]

Since your homeseer is basically a mini computer  you should beable to add sound capabilities to it. There are add on boards for Pis to provide good quality sound, however there may not be room inside your hub for one.

I had really considered that (even made some MP3 and wav files). I had an idea of even using a Bluetooth speaker system. That would still have allowed me to remove the hardwired speaker system (which I did) yet still maintained a way to announce things.... in house.

But... my premise with reimagining my setup was NOT to just recreate the same automation (using different products and/or protocols). But to disassemble my own paradigms of what good automation is.... while at the same time disassembling the macros, parts and pieces. And then making something better. It doesn't mean I will never return to the whole-house wired setup either. But 1st I want to explore any and every other way to create something much better.

In MY imagination... better would be more along the concept of a virtual companion. Which... with todays technology that would mean using a phone.

Or you can just get a new iphone and put your current one next to your bed 

I did keep my OLD iPhone. And I tried using it as remote device in my Home Theater. It constantly needed updates and upgrades. And wasn't as helpful as I had imaged it might be. But then again.... the Home Theater hasn't remained untouched my reimagining either. The theater has had a major upgrade/re-vamp. And the theater lighting can be controlled 3 different ways now.

I like the idea of NON-centralized control (or full, autonomous, automated, non-control). I like the idea that a system/part/device could fail... yet most things would continue to work. 

[HA Dave]

Thinking..... about loud speaker phone sounds. https://www.amazon.com/Pterxiog-Wireless-Portable-Superior-Bluetooth/dp/B01N4KFX9D/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1543631038&sr=8-4&keywords=iphone+boom+box

I'd seen one of these in a store once. It was/is designed to increase volume (and bass) for music. But I think it might/would do the same for rings and alert sounds too. It might required a little timer and/or switch automation/magic to make it function reliability.... as it's supposed to be charged and then used (10 hour battery life).

Taking the phone to bed.... sounds better the more I think about it. 

[racerfern]

I would never take my phone to bed, even with the Do Not Disturb feature that I can override. I don't like the idea of micro-managing all the apps on the phone to see which ones are allowed through and which ones are not.

That's why the https://amzn.to/2rdLEQL is appealing to me. Any one of a dozen different events in Homeseer that I consider important enough will activate the second bell I keep in the bedroom. I can plug it into the PC and add more sounds as I see fit. I believe it will take 100 different mp3 files.

[HA Dave]

I would never take my phone to bed....
That's why the https://amzn.to/2rdLEQL is appealing to me. Any one of a dozen different events in Homeseer that I consider important enough will activate the second bell I keep in the bedroom. I can plug it into the PC and add more sounds as I see fit. I believe it will take 100 different mp3 files.

It can be tough (life is good when it's Home Automation decisions that are tough) to decide how to handle alerts. Your Aeotec, 5th Gen, Doorbell looks nice. I used to have a perimeter alert with an X10 chime in the bedroom... then later added the (BVC) voice announcement. Any movement around the house alerted me (as did the garage door opening or remaining open). My area is infected with deer. I've seen many, many deer over the years (taken lots of pictures of them). Even some racoons, possums, and ground hogs triggered my perimeter alert.

I read somewhere of a home security camera with face detection.... it (reportedly) can tell the difference between a person and an animal of some sort (like people aren't also animals). But no technology on the way to tell whether or not a garage door was left open accidently.... or purposely.

Maybe something simple... like the entry door into the garage having a WiFi and/or RFID lock. So the door into the home, always locks behind the person leaving... but is also always open to the authorized person entering.