My WiFi router is turned off automatically at 9PM. No fancy electronics is needed for this, just something like: https://www.lazada.com.ph/products/24-hours-auto-switch-off-...
Nice, but why do you turn it off?
Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
11–20 of 749 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
#12Funny enough, possibly because I work on embedded software for automating random processes, and also from home, I don't feel the need to automate anything not work related. When you spend most of your day stuck in front of a monitor, it feels good to get up and turn lights on/off.
So this. I’ve consciously refused to install irrigation so I’ll have to go out to the garden and hang around there.
Re: Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
#13Funny enough, possibly because I work on embedded software for automating random processes, and also from home, I don't feel the need to automate anything not work related. When you spend most of your day stuck in front of a monitor, it feels good to get up and turn lights on/off.
Same here. Only part of my work involves automation etc but indeed for some reason that took away the need/desire to automate more at home. Likewise when setting up the electricity in our house I specifically selected something based on teleruptors only without any programming/smart stuff. Just works, still some versatility since it's wired in a star, and I also just happen to like hardware switches and buttons vs touch screens.
Re: Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
#14Most automation doesn't work for me. I don't keep to a set 9-5 schedule, so anything that assumes a routine fails me. Here's what I do use.
Tado - a smart thermostat, sets the temperature while we're in the house. Heats up water only if we're in. Uses an app to geolocate us.
Lifx - lightbulbs which automatically dimm at 2300 (good reminder to go to bed) and auto switch off a couple of hours after sunrise.
Everything else is either always on (security cameras, smoke detector) or run as needed (Roomba, car charger, electric blanket) or autonomous (Moixa solar battery).
Re: Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
#15Hallway lights come on automatically at sunset. Heating comes on at 4.30am in cooler months, turns off when we leave to go to work (along with the bedroom, hallways and kitchen lights which come on at 6am) Heating comes back on at 2pm if outside air temperature is below a certain threshold. Bathroom floor heating and towel rail switch on and off at various times during the morning, afternoon and evening depending on…
Hallway lights come on automatically at sunset.
Does this mean you constantly have light there even when you're not around? Any particular reason for that (maybe the switches for it are placed awkwardly or so?)
Re: Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
#16My WiFi router is turned off automatically at 9PM. No fancy electronics is needed for this, just something like: https://www.lazada.com.ph/products/24-hours-auto-switch-off-...
Yes, same here except it turns off at quarter past midnight. I reprogrammed a Sonoff switch so that when it turns the main router off it turns on a wifi hotspot which allows me to turn the switch on again - but only for an extra 15 or 30 minutes. In terms of stopping me wasting time on the internet until late at night while still allowing access if I really need it, it seems to work well:
Re: Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
#17Re: Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
#18I built an accelerometer-based washing machine sensor which sends a notification to my phone when the washing is done. This is useful because the machine itself has no indication when it's done: http://www.instructables.com/id/Washing-Machine-Notification...
Re: Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
#19Screen scraping photos of my kids from a kindergarten website. Recognizing good photos that feature my kids and deleting everything else is manual, though.
Alerts to my phone if the fridge or freezer temperature exceeds a limit or the humidity under my dishwasher starts rising.
Granted, neither are fully automatic and require manual intervention.
Re: Ask HN: What are the things that you have automated in your personal life?
#20accounting, expense tracking, tax loss harvesting, liquid investment rebalancing, taxes