Got roasted for my 'smart home' setup being too complicated. Changed my whole approach.

A buddy who's an electrician came over and saw my place. He said, 'Dude, you have 12 different apps to turn on a light. My grandma could hack this.' He was right. I had a different brand for lights, thermostat, locks, and speakers, all on separate hubs. I spent more time troubleshooting than using it. I ripped it all out 3 months ago and went with one ecosystem that uses a single app. Now everything just works on a schedule or with one voice command. Has anyone else simplified their setup after getting similar feedback?

4 comments

4 Comments

quinn6062mo ago

Honestly, who cares if it's a bit complicated? It was your hobby, and hobbies are messy sometimes. Seems like you just swapped one setup for another.

jenkins.elizabeth2mo ago

Oh man, @quinn606, you just made me remember my old fish tank phase. I had this crazy setup with tubes and lights everywhere (it looked like a science project). Then I "simplified" it down to just one fancy filter system that needed its own instruction manual. You're totally right, it's just trading one kind of messy for another. Hobbies have a way of doing that, where the fix becomes its own whole new thing.

grantw418d agoMost Upvoted

Houseplants are just lazy pets that sleep in the dirt and never complain. Your fish probably appreciated the science project look more than you think. Also, every filter system comes with a manual written by someone who thinks everyone has an engineering degree. Bet you had to google half the instructions anyway. At least with fish you get something moving around, houseplants just sit there judging you. Silver lining though, at least your simplified setup didn't require a degree in plumbing.

singh.harper2mo ago

Ngl @jenkins.elizabeth, that "fix becomes its own whole new thing" is why I just stick to houseplants now. At least they don't need instruction manuals.