Smart Home kit - the thread

Sambostar

I use those mercury wireless plugs for about 5 standard or lamp lights and connections and have a dual relay wireless board driving a 12v motor for my blinds but should get a bit more complicated with a stepper motor or at least limit switches, then I could include light sensitive diodes in the circuit, but then that is already too complicated, well that's the idea, haven't fitted them yet.  As for heating, I fitted a thermostat to the boiler, I turn it on when I get home if it's cold and off when I leave, it also has a frost stat so it does the job. 

Anything more complicated than this sort of setup just isn't sustainable long term and needs to be constantly upgraded or swapped out and renewed.

If you get into designing and building your own home automation systems though, I think that is where the fun begins and you can get quite high tech and interface with computers amazingly cheaply, I'II stick with wireless and electro mechanical circuits though because I haven't the patience.  Certainly wouldn't buy something like a google cam or hive etc total waste of money.  It's fairly cheap to make things voice activated these days too and interface with your router

And any socket or light switch which incorporates a relay is bound to go wrong, so you're better off with socket plugs as is anything that interfaces with software.

That's my line of thinking anyway.