How to choose the right home automation system that covers all applications? Is Grid Connect good?

[jweecy]

How to choose the right home automation system that covers all applications?

I want to future proof my home. I am planning to make my living room smart and gradually upgrade my whole house, including outdoors. 

I came across Grid Connect, which seems to have a wide range. The products look good too. 

Any help would be great

[Jason]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jweecy. We're so pleased to have you join us and look forward to seeing how you can upgrade your home with automation products.

Is your main aim to improve your home's security or your goal convenience?

Let me tag some passionate and experienced members to kick off the discussion: @Adam_W, @CSParnell, @MikeTNZ. I'm sure this will be a popular discussion.

Jason

[Adam_W]

Hi @jweecy and welcome!
Okay, from my personal experience...
I have a mix of Grid Connect and Philips Hue products (links for those not familiar with the gear). Both have their pros and cons.
Hue - Primarily lighting only, with some power plug type sockets & extras like their absurdly expensive HDMI box.

All Hue products are more expensive because they are the premium end of the market. They also last really well. My oldest Hue fittings would be at least 5-years old and still going strong.
As you'd expect for the premium end they have a lot more features, colour ranges etc.

The system uses a hub or bridge which is plugged into your modem/internet and this connects to wifi. It creates it's own network within your network. This bridge must have a a stable and reasonably fast internet connection for it to function as expected.

Newer fittings have bluetooth control too, so they don't need the bridge, but that means that you need to be in the room to do anything with them.
The biggest flaw with Hue is the bridge. It is has very little storage space. It is supposed to be able to take 50+ globes/fittings but I have under 30 and it regularly tells me I have no space left. The reason for this is that if you store any programmed routines or custom colours etc. it chews up extra space. You then have to laboriously delete various things to make room for new globes. Sort of defeats the purpose of being a fully-featured, top-end system when it can't store basic settings or a decent number of globes...
Hue is compatible with Apple's Siri and their 'HomeKit' home automation system as well as Google Assitant and Alexa.

Grid Connect - Is a cross-brand ecosystem. It covers virtually every type of electrical fitting from simple globes to security cameras to robotic vacuum cleaners to window blinds. A lot more diversity. It is a much cheaper brand, globes are literally 1/5th, or less, the price of a Hue globe.
I have multi-outlet power boards, basic plugs, globes, video doorbell & security camera.
I've only once had trouble with one globe where it just would not talk to the system. Swapped it for another and same problem so I think it must have been that model.
I've found it generally reliable & affordable.
It's a hub-less system with everything controlled through the app and all globes connect to your home wifi.
One issue I found is that it is very flaky if your modem uses 'band steering' for devices connecting via wifi. This is where the modem decides how things connect. I gather all of the Grid Connect gear is 2.4Ghz connectivity and many modem use this band & 5Ghz. It seems the 'smart' modems try to steer everything to 5 before redirecting to 2.4. This causes serious connectivity issues with Grid Connect. I fixed this instantly by turning band steering off in my modem settings.

Features of things like the globes aren't as sophisticated as Hue. Little things like when you turn a Hue light off it fades. Grid Connect just switches straight off.

Grid Connect can use Alexa and Google but is not compatible with Apple's Siri or HomeKit.

If you want to use 'geo-fencing' where lights or devices activate based on your movements, say, lights turn on when you come home, you have to have a very good mobile signal near your home. I don't, so all those wonderful automation features are useless.

In short... both are great. Hue is the premium end but the bridge capacity is a real issue if you plan to kit-out your whole house.

Grid Connect is affordable and very diverse.

[CSParnell]

Hey @jweecy  Welcome to Workshop and the world of Home Automation.

@Adam_W has covered a great deal in detail which is fantastic.

I myself have not had dealings with the Phillips at all as I am a big advocate for the Grid Connect (Tuya) gear be it mainly Wifi though there are Bluetooth hubs and some devices are Bluetooth and they seem to be moving away from this though Tuya is moving towards Zigbee so I would not be surprised if we see Grid Connect come out soon with the Zigbee hub and devices. 

What I will say is as you start with wifi devices your stock standard 2.4ghz modem is fine but as you increase devices you will soon learn you require a wifi mesh system to handle the load and the area. The more devices that don't need to be on wifi and can be LAN the better.

Now being a big advocate for Grid Connect I've been  writing articles on here, tip and tricks, reviews and everything else inbetween for Grid Connect and also Google Home integration just search Grid Connect or Google Home I'm trying to build a nice reference library for all as there wasn't really one out there with lots of information and automations and the ability to request off me to try and work out how to write a particular automation for anyone on here.

There hasn't been much I haven't been able to get around either with hardware or software.

I am running a couple of Wiz globes and a Lytworx entertainment light festoon light but I control them through Google Home for ease.

Now if you want to go down a rabbit hole there is an open source platform called Home Assistant that overarchers all systems and let's you completely manipulate parameters. Grid Connect needs to be brought into Tuya platform app which is the same just a different skin. The system is Linux based usually run on a Rasberi PI. This is advanced level and involves some Python programming knowledge.

For me I'm just on the outskirts of Home Assistant with the system setup but not ready to transfer over yet, I'm using Grid Connect and Google Home with Google Minis for voice command along with mobile devices.

Have a look through some of my posts they will give you a feel for Grid Connect anyways.

Carl

[EricL]

Hi @jweecy

It's great that you've received fantastic advice from @Adam_W and @CSParnell. I've been using the Grid Connect system for over three years now and have not had a problem. I purchased one of their motion-sensing cameras for security and it was easy to set up. I even managed to share access with my family so they can actually look in the house to see if anyone's home.

Upgradability and connectivity are the key strengths of the Grid Connect system. Linking lights, alarms and cameras are straightforward, so if you have wifi access you can access your home wherever you are. I took my family on vacation overseas for two weeks and the Grid Connect camera showed me the neighbour's cat crossing our garden every night.  

I plan on adding the Arlec White Grid Connect Smart Plug-In Socket With Energy Meter to our living room lamp so I can turn it on even when I'm out visiting my relatives. 

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[jweecy]

Hi @Adam_W , 

Thank you so much for the warm welcome, insightful information and quick response to my question. 

Looks like Phillips Hue is limited to lighting only. From your advice, it looks like Grid Connect is more suited to my needs and wants. 

It seems like their range is expanding. Do you think Grid Connect range offering can cover the whole of home?

I am more of Alexa and Google user, how does Apple's Siri and Homekit compare as a home automation control?

Thank you in advance. Bunnings Workshop seems like a great community, as a newcomer.

[jweecy]

Hi @CSParnell

Thank you for the advice. From your past posts, it looks like there are a lot of combination and tricks that can be done with the Grid Connect products. Very imaginative use of the Arlec smart door contact to monitor the freezer.

I am not very technical so I may not be able to use Home Assistant.

From what I read from forums and websites, it looks like Grid Connect already have smarts like schedules, scenes and automations that enable countless interesting configurations. Do you use these smart functions? and do they meet your need for creative configurations?

[CSParnell]

Hey @jweecy 

100% it meets my needs at this stage hence why I have not jumped over to Home Assistant yet even though I have it ready to go. I am one to push the boundaries and a bit more before moving on. 

I really like simplicity of the app and the automation chains it took me a bit to get my head around switching automations on and off to disable and enable notifications but once I had that figured out it was fine.

I do highly recommend it from a beginner through to mid/advanced. 

I also have a fair bit of gear so if you go down that path of Grid Connect and you need something worked out chances are I'll be able to write the automation for you to copy or even just give you the guidance if Arlec can not.

Carl