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Something that's really lacking in the young consumer IoT industry is a coherent vision that consumers can relate to. We alluded to this in our previous post "How to Choose DIY Smart Home Products". That issue is further complicated by inconsistencies in product form and function.

A particular issue consumers face today when attempting to retrofit their homes with modern smart bulbs, is the reality that they must have constant power and are incompatible with dimmer switches. Turn off the light at the switch, and your "smart" bulb becomes nothing more than an expensive LED that you can no longer control.

[Update] - The landscape is beginning to change with the introduction of Sengled's Element Plus and Element Touch, the first ever dimmer compatible smart bulbs.

Don't turn that switch off!

One of our favorite workarounds to this problem is the Lutron Connected Bulb Remote, a ZigBee connected remote that gives you a choice of mounting into a North American standard wall plate with the addition of a Lutron Pico Wallplate Bracket (PICO-WBX-ADAPT), stick it to the wall with the included adhesive or use it as a handheld remote, enabling the average consumer a tremendous amount of customized wireless light control, with little hassle and no need for an electrician.
If you're competent to safely remove the old wired switch and change the wiring to the light socket so it is always energized, you can completely eliminate the issue of having to have the light switch always on or worrying that you won't be able to control the light if the internet or WiFi is down. This is a very cost effect solution too, versus hiring a licensed electrician to install a dimmer switch connected it to a particular socket in your home, not to mention that it's then just a light on a dimmer. Unless you put in a connected dimmer, a standard dimmer switch offers no remote control from your smartphone, no timers and no voice control with Amazon Echo, Google Home or Siri via HomeKit. If you're renting, swapping out installed wall switches is not something we recommend and it may not even be an option for many.

A match made in Holland

The Lutron Connected Bulb Remote solves this particular problem by communicating wirelessly via ZigBee radio, directly with a single or multiple bulbs. Take a Philips Hue White A-19 Bulb, pair it with a Lutron Connected Bulb Remote, and even though Philips support staff might tell you otherwise (because they have their own remote they want you to buy), the pairing with Lutron's Connected Bulb Remote works really well, no hub or internet required. The two together give you a smoothly dimming bulb with a pleasing warm light. Admittedly this combination is more expensive than the Hue Wireless Dimming Kit, but we think the look of the Philips remote clashes too much with the standard North American wall switches and find the design bulky and unappealing. It's even possible to use a Lutron Connected Bulb Remote in combination with the Philips Hue Bridge for control of your Hue White bulbs. Click here to find out how to trick the Philips Hue Bridge into accepting a Lutron Connected Bulb Remote, so the two don't fight over who gets to pair with the bulbs.

Where this mix falls short is when you press the top button on a Lutron Connected Bulb Remote to turn the light on. With a Hue remote switch and a Philips Hue Bridge, you can configure the ON button to activate a "Scene", turning the light on to any level available. Not so with the Lutron Connected Bulb Remote, sending blinding light to your eye's in the middle of the night if you forget. So you have to learn to press the up arrow instead and then you're able to gradually increase the light to your liking. But, it won't stay that way when you turn the light off. If you press the top button, you'll again get 100% light from the bulb. One work around is to pair the bulb and remote with a Wink hub and then use the remote with Wink Shortcuts instead of as a bulb remote. The only problem is you then loose the ability to dim and are instead left with four preset levels. So while it is possible today to have an inexpensive solution for controlling multiple connected LED bulbs with a single remote or multiple remotes, it's not yet accomplished in a perfect way.

Smart buttons are family friendly

Here's a trick we really like. If you have a Wink hub, a Lutron Connected Bulb Remote can actually serve as a four button remote to trigger any single or multiple actions that are compatible with a Wink hub. For example, you can easily configure the remote to operate an automated window shade instead of lights or control your smart lock without walking up to the door or having to open an app on your phone. 

We should mention that we really like Insteon's similar approach to this issue, and they're able to address these scenarios with remotes, switches and keypads, but the cost to do so is higher and the options are limited to what Insteon can control. That means no ZigBee lightbulbs.

Things are shaping up with smart bulb design

When it comes down to design of the smart bulbs themselves, the industry is almost there in terms of usability, but physical design is still trailing far behind. We're fond of the offering from Cree, called the Cree Connect LED Bulb.


Just a few dollars more than the Hue White bulbs and its clever design addresses both the LED cooling and light distribution issues, while maintaining the standard bulb shape and appearance when covered by a shade or installed in a translucent fixture that does not show the bulb. Unfortunately the warm white doesn't match standard incandescent bulbs or LED lights that fall close to that color temperature, and they do not dim smoothly from the Lutron Connected Bulb Remote (a pairing which is actually suggested on Lutron's packaging for the product).

Smart switches vs smart bulbs and remotes

Insteon and the Lutron Caséta approach to a connected light switch we think are near perfect, albeit more expensive than a ZigBee lightbulb and remote.
Insteon switches are able to not only control the lights they're physically wired to, but the switches can be programmed through either setup at the switch or via the Insteon app and hub to act as controller of other Insteon switches, as in a virtual 3-way or 4-way lighting scenario. They hold all their settings until reprogrammed, even remembering the last dim level, as well as how fast or slow a light should turn on and off. Like the Lutron Connected Bulb Remote they can operate with or without a hub and internet connection, making them a more familiar lighting experience that will always pass the babysitter test. Connected switches really shine with their very responsive and reliable designs, but the disadvantages are in hardware cost, skilled installation is required and they need a neutral wire to operate which leaves owners of older homes little choice beyond an even more expensive installation or special connected switches that can only operate with incandescent bulbs.


A brighter future

There's a lot of room for further innovation in the connected lighting space, companies like BeOnhome are proving that, but the ideas are trapped in such tall silos that innovation is only trickling to the market, one design generation at a time.

[Update] - The landscape is beginning to change with the introduction of Sengled's Element and Element Touch, the first ever dimmer compatible smart bulbs. We're pleased that someone has taken the first step toward addressing this retrofit issue and look forward to the idea catching on with a larger variety of bulb designs and manufactures.
Please leave us your comments or questions and do join us in the discussion on Twitter @smarthomeprimer where you'll find us posting about the latest news in IoT and smart home innovations.
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We really like the second generation Nest Protect.


Despite their early mistakes, they have now produced a really good product to help protect you from harm and property from damage. No other detector available to consumers can detect both slow and fast burning fires, plus CO, plus talk to you and wirelessly interconnect. There are eight other significant features, but this is not a second generation Nest Protect review; instead, we're focusing on one particular feature.

The Nest Protect has a very special feature; in the event of a smoke or carbon monoxide emergency, it can communicate via Nest Thread protocol to the Nest Thermostat and turn off your heating/cooling system to help limit danger from smoke or CO leaks spreading throughout your home. This is a big deal and we're not aware of any other smoke and CO alarm available today with this capability. But what if you decided a Nest Thermostat isn’t right for you, and instead prefer the Ecobee 3? Don't hold your breath for Ecobee to join the “Works with Nest” program, but don't despair, there's a mediator that can easily make these competitors cooperate in perfect Harmony.
Enter the Logitech Harmony Hub.

If you’re even slightly interested in home automation and you don’t have one of these, it is an invaluable intermediate hub that allows a large list of connected home products that would otherwise be isolated to connect with one another, as we wrote in a previous post.

Alright, so now that you have a second generation Nest Protect, a Logitech Harmony Hub, and an Ecobee 3, follow these simple instructions to make them work together in the event of an emergency.

1. If you’ve had your Harmony Hub for a while and it’s not running the latest firmware, you should update it first. This is done from the app on your smartphone or tablet. Click here for an easy to follow guide on how to update the firmware on your Harmony Hub.

2. In the Harmony app under “Devices”, add the Nest Protect and Ecobee.

3. Create a new activity and call it “Emergency HVAC Off”.

4. Edit the “Start Sequence” and select the name you assigned to your Ecobee Thermostat from the list of devices and click the next arrow.

5. Now select your thermostat again on the next screen and set the “Mode” to OFF and “Hold” to ON, then click the x in the upper right to close the window. You should keep the field “When to Adjust” set to Always. Now click the next arrow.

6. Leave the “End Sequence” unchanged. If you have an emergency, you will resume schedule on your thermostat manually once you are sure there is no danger.

7. Select “Sensor Triggers” and choose the name you assigned to your Nest Protect. On the next screen tap CO, then “Emergency”, then “Save”. Do the same for a smoke emergency.

8. Tap the next arrow, then once again and you’re done.

Now if there’s a CO or smoke emergency detected by your Nest Protect, it will talk to the Logitech Harmony Hub, which in turn will communicate with the Ecobee to automatically disable the HVAC system. If you have connected lights such as Insteon, Philips Hue, SmartThings, or LIFX, you can also set them to turn on if there’s a CO or smoke emergency. Similarly, you can do the same thing with a Wink Hub using “Robots”, since it also supports both Nest Protect and Ecobee.


NOTE: This method of deactivating and activating devices in the event of a CO or smoke emergency requires WiFi and Internet access. If either is disrupted it will not work. This is not true of Nest Protect to Nest Thermostat, which use Nest Thread to communicate and therefor do not require internet access to disable an HVAC system the Nest Thermostat is wired to.

Do you like this simple "hack"? Please send us a tweet @smarthomeprimer and let us know! If you have ideas of how you would or have bridged a smart home connection with the Harmony Hub, we'd love to hear about it.
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|Updated - February 2017|

Early adoption of electronics is not without its risks, especially for startup companies struggling to survive what some might refer to as "The Valley of Death", where a startup's early investor capital is running out and they are just beginning to approach the break even point. Many haven't made it and many more will not.

Even if the startup is actually a spinoff or acquisition by a larger corporation, they are responsible for turning a profit and if they don't or if there are product issues or concerns that tarnish a reputation, they are unlikely to make it past the initial dip or even a second, or third round of funding without enough momentum to carry them forward.

This is a growth industry and it's projected to be massive. The stakes are high and there will be many new companies, bringing forth amazing products and ideas, but unfortunately many will not be around to support your purchase. So if you're well to do, an early adopter who doesn't care about the risks or you're just interested in funding new companies without any monetary gain, then you may only be interested in discovering who has reliable options. If you instead need to take a conservative approach to this new idea of the smart home, then you will hopefully gain both perspectives here.

Starting out - Watch for warning signs

Your initial investment should be small. Look for a product or family of products that will solve a need or a powerful want. Spend a fair amount of time acquainting yourself with it to ensure you are happy and it meets or exceeds your expectations, but be realistic.  Be cautious of products from startups that offer "a total solution" in a single purchase. With advancements and rapid changes in IoT communications and operating layers, the total solution doesn't exist and will not exist until the dust settles and the victorious emerge.

Choose a team, but be willing to welcome free agents


As young as the Smart Home industry is, there are some established brands and communication protocols that are a pretty safe bet, but you have to make choices and at the moment, you will encounter limitations.

The limitations can come in many forms:

• Communication protocol
• Reliability
• Speed
• Accuracy
• Security

Few offer everything, but do your homework and make sure the last point is well addressed. Even if there might still be potential security flaws (which is a risk factor you must consider), the company should have a documented and firm policy regarding the device security and updates to address any that are discovered.
Apple is one such company and although they don't make any Smart Home devices, any product that is Apple HomeKit certified should meet that criteria as long as they are operated in the Apple HomeKit environment. To encourage adoption, most manufacturers products that support Apple HomeKit certified can also allow use with non-HomeKit compatible devices such as Android smart phones. If you connect your HomeKit certified smart home devices with non-Apple phones, tablets and uncertified hubs, the HomeKit security precautions cannot protect you. You will then become partially responsible for ensuring your device is securely connected to the internet.

If you want to have maximum choice in the smart home of today, you should also expect to have multiple hubs in your house. A hub is typically in the form of a small box and is a device that connects your home network either via ethernet cable or WiFi, to the smart home devices that you want to control.
It is the translator from the internet to the language that your smart home devices speak.

Since there isn't one standard, it's best to keep your options open with at least two hubs and at least two different supported communication protocols among the two hubs. Expect to pay between $50 and $100 for each hub, depending on whether they are on sale or part of a kit that might lower the initial purchase price.

Plan how you will interact with your Smart Home

Look ahead and plan what you might want to do and how you think you might like to use and interact with your new smart home. One of the hottest smart home products this year is the Amazon Echo. What looks like nothing more than a Bluetooth speaker about the size of a tennis ball can, is in fact an assistant like no other. Echo spends it's days waiting for its wake word "Alexa", and then springs to life with the ability to control the physical world on your command. The Echo is a marvel of natural language research that is sure to impress. This well designed gadget responds very quickly to every voice that's tried it in our testing center, including a visitor with a very heavy accent. He was surprised and said that Siri has a lot of trouble with his voice.

Today, Echo is able to natively control lights and outlets on hubs from Insteon, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Belkin WeMo, Wink and more are added on a regular basis. Echo can also control many other devices and perform other tasks via "Skills" which you could equate to apps on a smart phone or tablet. Another game changing connection service called IFTTT (If This Then That) is also available to Echo users. As you ask "Alexa" to turn OFF or ON lights in your home, tell you the weather, read you the latest news, read a book to you, convert a measurement or tell you the traffic ahead of your commute, to name but a few of it's many uses, you get the real sense that a Star Trek like future we've been waiting for has finally arrived.

If you choose Apple HomeKit compatible devices, you can control them with Siri on iOS devices, but you'll need your iPhone or iPad near by, and all the devices HomeKit can control must bare the Apple HomeKit compatible label. Amazon Echo on the other hand can control devices and services from a much broader selection, and even some devices that allow both HomeKit and non-HomeKit compatibility. Amazon Echo pleasantly responds to anyone from across a room, without shouting or having to constantly repeat yourself.

Protocols to consider

Decide what products you want and check their supported protocol before deciding how you will connect them. The current six most popular choices are Bluetooth LE, Lutron ClearConnect, Insteon, WiFi, ZigBee and Z-Wave. Each has strengths and weaknesses. None are dominant or perfect.

Strengths and Weaknesses of each:

• Bluetooth LE - Ubiquitous, secure and low-power consumption, but not yet capable of forming a mesh network, where devices help each other by repeating signals from one device to the next. This significantly limits the possibilities because the transmission range is so short. Few smart home devices exist that can address the current limitation and those that do may not be compatible with the future hubs that will support Bluetooth Mesh Networking. However, Bluetooth is the one to watch. We definitely expect to see the first Bluetooth Mesh smart home products at CES 2017 or at least in the early part of the year.

• Lutron ClearConnect - Designed for lighting control, Lutron's proprietary protocol is used in the DIY Caséta product line and is well liked by those who are using it. It also controls Lutron Serena shades and certain Honeywell connected thermostats are compatible. While an Apple HomeKit version of their hub is also available, you must use Lutron switches and dimmers. Wink hubs are compatible with some of the devices, but controlling Serena shades still requires a Lutron hub.

• Insteon - Mature protocol from a stable manufacturer that has a lot of experience with smart home and a large product selection. Most devices use a dual mesh network that utilizes both your home power lines and proprietary radio signals to repeat communications from one device to the next. The proprietary nature means the Insteon hub is restricted to controlling Insteon devices using the Insteon protocol, with the only exception being infrared devices via the Insteon to IR bridge and the just announced IP control of Sonos devices.

• WiFi - Ubiquitous and devices do not require a hub. Problems can arise from signal loss (we've all experienced that with WiFi) as each device must communicate back to the main router because it is not a mesh network. Power consumption is high and this lowers the feasibility of battery operated devices, but new methods of using low power are emerging. Known as 802.11ah or HaLow, it has just been announced and is not yet available. You're also going to need a new WiFi router, so our advice is to buy a hub and enjoy having a smart home today instead of years in the future.

• ZigBee - Supported typically in lighting products such as Philips Hue, GE Link, Cree Connected and others. Uses radio only mesh networking and power consumption is very low, but compatibility from one manufacturer's ZigBee device to the next is hit and miss. Most manufactures test and certify devices for use on specific hubs to avoid support issues and dissatisfied customers.

• Z-Wave - A large catalog of Z-Wave device are available. Power consumption is higher than ZigBee, but much lower than WiFi. Communication is radio only and setup can be challenging. More than one type of Z-Wave exist and this can be frustrating for a smart home owner who just wants things to work. The Wink hub, for example is Z-Wave Plus compliant, but some Z-Wave Plus devices simply will not work with Wink.

Which hub offers what protocol?

Oort: Homegrown Bluetooth Mesh

Zuli Smart Plugs: Bluetooth LE

Cassia Networks High power Bluetooth LE, up to 1000ft open air, expect less range in the real world where buildings exist

Lutron Caséta Smart Bridge Pro with HomeKit: Lutron ClearConnect

Insteon 2245-222 Hub or Insteon 2243-222 Hub Pro: with HomeKit: Insteon

Belkin WeMo, D-Link, and iDevices: WiFi (iDevices also uses Bluetooth LE)

Philips Hue 2 with HomeKit: ZigBee

SmartThings v2 and Wink: Bluetooth LE, WiFi, ZigBee and Z-Wave (Wink also supports 433MHz Lutron and Kidde for integration with Kidde Connected Smoke and CO Alarms).

[Intermediate Hubs]

Logitech Harmony Hub: Bluetooth LE, IR and WiFi (ZigBee and Z-Wave via Harmony Hub Extender)

Amazon Echo: Bluetooth LE and WiFi

Hubs to consider

We use many hubs in our research facility, but Insteon and Wink hub are among two of our favorites. Despite all the negative things people wrote about this hub early on, we find this first generation hub is really quite stable as long as you keep it at least 3 feet away from your WiFi router. The initial WiFi setup was tricky, but once you understand the timing required, it's pretty simple and it's not something you have to do all the time. We're also big fans of Insteon. Their products are well made, respond very quickly and they're very consistent. Initial setup can be weird and a pain at times, but once you get the hub online, adding products is as simple as pressing a button. No need to walk around with the hub to set things up.


You may not think of Logitech Harmony when building a smart home, but this is a very important hub to bridge connections between devices.


They support connection and control of Nest, Ecobee, Insteon, Philips Hue, Hunter Douglas, Samsung SmartThings, Lutron Smart Bridge, Honeywell, Rheem, Lifx Bulbs, and certain WiFi devices like Belkin WeMo and the August Smart Lock Connect bridge. In addition, they also offer ZigBee and Z-Wave compatibility by attaching a Harmony Hub Extender. IFTTT scripts can also be used to activate Harmony Hub Activities. They allow time-based activation, scheduling and grouping to create "Activities" that are similar to scenes used by other hubs. The ability to tie your AV control together with other home automation products is especially impressive when you control it all by voice. In our setup, the Amazon Echo handles this task.


If you're into tinkering and custom scripts, the Samsung SmartThings hub is quite powerful and has a large user base.


The latest version has local control, so even if internet access goes down, you can still control your devices. A recent announcement from Wink stated their hubs are slated to also get local control in the next update. All the other devices we've mentioned with the exception of Bluetooth, need internet connection for a user to control devices from an app, but local control at the light switches works even if the hub is unplugged. In other words, they survive the "babysitter test" since they are familiar looking wall switches and anyone can operate them without any training or prior experience. The Insteon and Wink hubs will also continue to control device timers even when the internet is offline.

What about home security?

Of course we didn't forget. It's the most popular use case for the internet of things. We'll go into more detail in a later post, but we would advise that you strongly consider a connected stand-alone security system, the one exception is SmartThings which gets very high ratings as a connected alarm. However, we feel the system that will protect you, your family and your valuables should do just one thing and do it well. Leave the lighting control, leak detectors and other inputs to the smart home hubs to handle. There are several good choices out there like iSmart Alarm, Scout, and Oomi. All are connected, all are relatively new to the scene.

How about connected smoke alarms?


Hands down it's still the Nest Protect v2. No other manufacturer offers as many features in a single smoke/CO alarm. In fact, it's such a good value for the protection and peace of mind you get, we suggest you just go buy one today, your lives are worth it. To keep cost low for the rest of the house where you just need a regular smoke alarm, you can receive notifications via any phone with the Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight. We like this more than most other options since it will phone any regular number. No smartphone data plan required to be notified of a smoke or CO emergency in your home.

Want more? There's tons more, but for now these are the basics to help point you in the right direction and clear up some of the confusion. Keep checking back. We'll be telling you more about connected security solutions, Wink's revival and return from the brink, Amazon Echo in detail, connected multi-use buttons for your smart home and more.


As always, you can find us on Twitter @smarthomeprimer posting and exchanging ideas around the latest news and development in IoT and smart home innovations.

|Update - February 2017|

As can be expected, a lot has changed in a short time.

• Apple HomeKit is rolled into iOS 10 making it easier to use than before and the choice of devices and functionality continues to improve, albeit at a slower and some would argue, more cautious rate than devices that operated via both Android and iOS without HomeKit compatibility.

• Amazon Echo now has competition from Google Home. Although the edge still goes to Amazon as far as smart home control is concerned, the massive data and search capabilities behind Google are a serious threat to their market lead if Google is as open to developers and the proliferation of their voice services on non-Google hardware as Amazon has been with AVS.

• IFTTT now has both stiff competition, and at the same time, collaboration from Stringify, a free service that allows flows with multiple input and output variables, triggers and actions. To our great delight, Stringify has acted on our advice to partner with IFTTT, allowing input from, and output to IFTTT applets. With this powerful partnership and support for nearly all the major smart home hubs and devices, Stringify is one of the most powerful means to connect otherwise disparate devices in your smart home. Like IFTTT, Stringify operates from the cloud, so there is no need to have an app running all the time.

• Lutron Caséta now supports Samsung SmartThings; ZigBee Alliance and Thread Group's IP Network Protocol have joined forces to bring ubiquity to Thread and potentially better security to ZigBee in the future; and the Z-Wave alliance introduced the Z-Wave Plus certification program to help manufacturers and consumers move to more secure devices utilizing the Next Gen, Z-Wave 500 Series capabilities.

• Wink 2 is out and now has Ethernet, WiFi and Bluetooth LE built-in. In addition to local control so your devices can still be controlled locally if your internet goes down, Wink has continued to expand their device support, which now includes August Smart Lock via their August Connect bridge. We're particularly pleased with this addition because it allows the exceptional August HomeKit Smart Lock to be controlled by Wink, Stringify, and Flic buttons. Flic recently added support for Wink via Wink Shortcuts.

• Amazon now allows developers to integrate any smart home device directly to Alexa Voice Services via the Echo or any device that uses AVS. Most notably, you can now control your AV devices with Logitech Harmony Hub as if they were connected smart home devices, without using the nomenclature "Alex Ask..." or "Alex Tell...". As a side note, Logitech has added an Alexa Skill to "Ask Harmony" to expand voice control even further with commands like Pause, Play, Fast Forward, lower the volume, etc. and we're big fans of this new capability.

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