Make em pay!

Free money!!! Well not exactly, but a way to make the money you pay for gas or electricity work for you. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was getting ready to get a wifi themostat, Ecobee3. I just received it and I was filling out a rebate form from the utility company and realized that probably not many of you know about these programs.... Did you know that most Utility companies have programs to get money back from them (YES, money BACK from utility companies) if you upgrade to more efficient appliances, or programmable/Wifi thermostats, adding insulation, energy saver (CFL or LED) light bulbs low flow shower heads etc. These rebates range anywhere from $5 to $150. All you have to do is fill out a rebate form and show proof of purchase. But do note that there is a limit on how many rebate they have for the year, best to check the local utility website and submit yours in the BEGINNING of their calendar year.

I've even seen some landscaping rebates from counties if you put in rain barrels or waterscaping  (landscaping planned to absorb rain water to reduce the need for watering. So, there is money out there, you just have to look for it. Here are a few tips:

1. Check utility websites for rebates on appliances, thermostats, windows replacements etc.
2. Check your county or city websites for any programs that may be run by them for energy efficiency.
3. Some states have tax free weekends for energy start rated appliances, wait for this weekend to get your big ticket items.
4. Some counties and cities have LED bulb rebates that can be found in stores like Costco etc. The discounts vary but worth calling around different sams clubs, costco that are close to you but in a different county to see if they have more rebates.
5. Turn the lights off and take short showers and wear a thick jacket at home.

If you have any other tips for saving energy (and money), leave a comment.

By the way, this is the thermostat that is sitting on my desk and ready for installation. Stay tuned.

-Kannan

We are back....

Hi everyone,
Ram mentioned it in his post earlier. We are trying to make a come back. It's tough trying to stay on top of new technology if you have a day job!!!! We will take a slightly different approach and just write about our journey to being more connected around the home. We are both looking forward to getting some home automation going and hope to share our experiences... please leave comments on our posts if you agree, disagree, have different ideas etc.

-Kannan (and Ram)

Knock Knock! Who's there?

After moving into a new home last month, i decided to get some home automation in place. The first gadget that I installed is the "RING" video doorbell (ring.com)

After parsing through many choices on Amazon, i settled on RING as i had heard about it recently and had good reviews. Once I got the unit home, I had to charge the built in rechargeable battery for a few hours to set it up and connect to the home wireless network which was easy with the RING app for iOS and Android. I installed it on my iPhone. Once it was connected to my home network, i had to get my drill kit and install the mount which holds the doorbell. It all took just about 30 minutes.

The good things about the RING video doorbell are

• its rechargeable battery that connects to and charges from the standard 24V that a standard doorbell is connected to. A smart idea given no one wants to connect the bell to another power outlet or remove it and charge it over USB every so often.
• next best part and my favorite is you can see and talk to people at your front door from anywhere in the world! I talked to a neighbor while on our way to dinner from the car few weeks back, and once from Shanghai this past week while i was travelling on business. The video and voice were clear. Now that is cool!!! Also it was nice to see the surprise on people's face when they hear the bell talk back to you 😄

• cloud storage of your videos is especially useful when you are away on vacation or out of town and there is motion activated video recordings. You can check on who it was at a later time. A great security camera feature combined with the doorbell
• motion activated recording which lets you know who was at your doorstep even if they do not ring the bell

Now the cons which are all associated mainly with the motion feature

• the motion detection is Infrared (IR) based like majority of security motion sensors. The drawback of IR is its reliability as it work at times and not at others. RING has the same problem as it does not detect motion sometimes. Add to this the delay in recording once motion is detected. A few times we noticed no one was there or we saw the back of the person walking away. The manufacturer needs to address this issue to make a great product even better. One way based on my knowledge of technology would be using ultrasonic sensing instead of IR for motion detection. This is what is used in vehicles for park assist where ultrasonic sensors on the bumpers detect obstacles and notify the driver through beeps.
• the other issue i noticed is that the physical enclosure or the camera needs to be adjustable to position or angle the camera better as most homes have the door bell between the door and a side wall or on the sidewall. So since the install location is to one side, camera view is off and could also be cause for motion detection issues at times. 

In summary a great first generation video doorbell and can only get better with minor improvements. I hear they are already working with many other partners for home automation interoperability like KEVO (wireless deadbolt lock), WINK (wireless lighting control), WEMO (wireless light switches and plug outlets) and more...

Please share your comments or experiences of RING if you have installed one or any other video doorbell for that matter. Thank you for reading our blog.