Home Theater & Automation

Posts related to home theater equipment and home automation.

ecobee4 with Amazon Alexa Voice Service 4
Today is the official launch of the ecobee4 smart thermostat: the latest in what’s now a long(ish) line of WiFi thermostats from the eponymous Toronto-based ecobee Inc. Whenever ecobee releases an even “smarter” version of their smart thermostat, you can pretty much guarantee I’m gonna be all over that product […]

ecobee4 Smart Thermostat Review

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged Alexa Amazon Amazon Alexa Apple ecobee ecobee 4 ecobee 4 review ecobee4 ecobee4 review home automation HomeKit IFTTT product review review SmartThings thermostat voice control on by (updated 2741 days ago)
ecobee3 Lite calibration mode 1
Are you wanting to get on the smart thermostat bandwagon, but aren’t sure if it’s worth the $249 price tag of the full-featured models like the ecobee3 and Nest? Then has ecobee got a deal for you. They recently added the ecobee3 Lite to their line-up with a very tempting MSRP of […]

Review: ecobee3 Lite

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Technology and tagged DIY ecobee ecobee upgrade ecobee3 ecobee3 Lite Install remote thermostat smart thermostat thermostat WiFi thermostat on by (updated 2860 days ago)
Lux GEO WiFi Thermost 5
Thermostats have come a long way since the days of the gold-colored round Honeywell dial thermostats at your grandma’s house. Ecobee launched the first “smart” thermostat in 2007, but others like Google’s Nest and Honeywell’s Lyric weren’t far behind. But now even those manufacturers are shipping 2nd or 3rd generation hardware… meaning that […]

Review: Lux GEO WiFi Thermostat

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged air conditioning ecobee Honeywell HVAC Lux Lux GEO Nest review smart thermostat thermostat WiFi WiFi thermostat on by (updated 3252 days ago)
Relay assembly close-up. 12
Last week, I was working in my back yard when I noticed that the big red light on top of my septic system control box was lit up. That light is triggered when one of two alarm floats (in either the main effluent pump chamber or the clearwell pump chamber) detects that the fluid level in […]

How to Make Your Septic Alarm Smarter

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Technology and tagged alarm monitoring DSC email relay septic alarm septic alarm monitoring septic buzzer septic pump septic system septic tank smart septic alarm smart things text wireless sensor Z-Wave on by (updated 3404 days ago)
Paul glues new dust covers on the repaired speakers. 1
Not long ago, we started to notice a distorted “buzzing” sound from our left and right front speakers in our family room, particularly when the TV was playing something with a lot of bass (like explosions, engine noise, or gunfire). I love our family room speakers. They’re made by an English […]

Rave: The LoudSpeaker Store (Kent, WA)

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Rants and Raves and tagged Castle fix Kent loudspeakers rave Renton Repair Seattle Severn speakers on by
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Last year, when the ecobee3 smart thermostat was announced, I published a preview, then a “first look” and unboxing video, followed soon after by the very first review of the ecobee3. I followed those up with an ecobee3 installation guide for new users, along with an ecobee Smart to ecobee3 upgrade guide for owners migrating […]

Review: ecobee3 HomeKit-enabled Thermostat

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation iPhone Product Reviews Technology and tagged Apple automation ecobee ecobee3 Home Kit HomeKit HomeKit-enabled HomeKit-Enabled ecobee3 iOS iPad iPhone Nest product review review Siri smart home smart thermostat thermostat WiFi thermostat on by (updated 3412 days ago)
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My initial review of the KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit was positive… except for the part where the unit started to magically flush the toilet all by itself in the middle of the night. I called it the “phantom flush.” If you recall from my review, KOHLER promised to send me […]

Product Update: KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit Parts Upgrade

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged automatic flush Kohler phantom flush plumbing review toilet touchless toilet flush kit on by (updated 3521 days ago)
standard MeteoBridge hardware configuration 16
I’ve been a weather geek (or as weather geeks would write it: “Wx geek”) since 2001, when I bought an Oregon Scientific WMR968 weather station. Within a couple of years, I’d connected my weather station’s console via a serial cable to a dedicated computer in my basement running Windows 95 and Ambient’s Virtual Weather Station (VWS) software, which […]

Product Review & How-To: Using MeteoBridge to Connect your Weather ...

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Linux Product Reviews Technology and tagged Belfryboy data-logger Davis MeteoBridge MeteoBridge review product review review upload weather station Weather Underground on by (updated 3308 days ago)
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My original ecobee3 review is now two months old, so I decided a “here’s how things are going two months later” post might be in order. Over the past two months, I’ve received numerous questions (both in my blog comments and over in the ecobee discussion forum at SmartHomeHub.net), and I’ve also […]

ecobee3 Review Followup: Two Month Update

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged ecobee ecobee vs Nest ecobee3 Home IQ Nest review update on by (updated 3593 days ago)
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Remember when you were a little kid, and your mother would take you to the supermarket, and as you approached the glass doors you’d wave your hand at them… causing them to open… with… The Force? It was almost like magic! Sure, deep down you probably knew there was some kind […]

Product Review: KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged automatic flush Kohler plumbing review toilet touchless toilet flush kit on by (updated 3521 days ago)
Updated HomeIQ Activity and Temperature 5
Sir Francis Bacon is commonly credited for coining the phrase “scientia potentia est” — Latin for “knowledge is power.” Though one might argue that, instead,  control is power, particularly in the world of smart home devices, such as WiFi thermostats. The new ecobee3 smart thermostat does indeed give you greater control over your home’s comfort, while […]

First Look: ecobee3 Web-based Home IQ Charts

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Technology and tagged chart data ecobee ecobee3 Home IQ HomeIQ on by (updated 3420 days ago)
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You probably haven’t stopped and really thought about exactly how many devices you have in your home that plug into a power outlet. So do it now. Go ahead. I’ll wait…. Now, think about how many of those devices have some sort of electronic or digital component. It’s probably way […]

What’s the “Best” Whole-House Surge Protection?

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged 51120-1 CHSPT2ULTRA compare comparison Cutler Hammer Eaton Leviton lightning product review review Schneider Electric SDSB1175C Square D surge suppressor SurgeBreaker Plus SYC-120/240-T2 Syscom whole-house surge protector on by (updated 3680 days ago)
Proper ecobee3 wiring for PEK users 73
So you got your hands on an ecobee3 smart thermostat, and instead of reading through the installation manual (which is actually pretty good), you came to the Internet to figure out how to install your ecobee3. OK, fine… I’ll help you. 🙂 This how-to guide for installing your ecobee3 covers a […]

How to Install an ecobee3 Smart Thermostat

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Technology and tagged ecobee ecobee 3 ecobee3 guide help how to how to install ecobee3 howto Install on by (updated 3645 days ago)
The new ecobee3 136
In 2009, Toronto-based ecobee released the very first “smart” thermostat  and called it, not surprisingly, the “ecobee Smart” (see my original review of the Smart from 2010). Since then, they’ve followed up with the ecobee Si (which I call the Smart’s “little brother”), along with a handful of firmware and mobile app updates for […]

ecobee 3 Review

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged compare ecobee ecobee 3 ecobee 3 review ecobee3 Lyric Nest product review review vs on by (updated 3642 days ago)
The new ecobee3 1
While the Nest smart thermostat has fans of Apple-inspired designs swooning, it wasn’t the first smart thermostat. Toronto-based ecobee is actually the pioneer in this industry, and had two iterations of smart thermostats (the original “Smart” and the “Si”) on the market well before Nest (and now Honeywell) jumped into […]

New ecobee3 thinks it’s time to leave the Nest

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged ecobee ecobee3 Nest on by (updated 3715 days ago)
Gas Water Heater Timer with included timer 13
I own a whopping eight water heaters between five houses: two at the main house, two at the Utah house, two at the cabin, and one at each of two rental houses. The cabin and one of the rental houses use electric water heaters, so the majority of my water heaters (5 out of 8) run on […]

Product Review: Save Money with a Gas Water Heater Timer

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews and tagged American Pacific gas control valve gas water heater timer home automation remote control smartphone water heater WeMo on by (updated 3618 days ago)
Control options for the ZigBee control module 20
One of my favorite features of my Ecobee WiFi thermostats is the ability to heat or cool a location so that it’s nice and comfortable by the time we walk in the door. For example, our furnace and heat pump at our cabin both use electricity, so I save money on my electric bill by allowing a […]

Product Review: Remotely Controlling an Electric Water Heater with a ...

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation and tagged 240V 30 amp ecobee Leviton product review remote control schedule smart thermostat water heater wireless control module ZigBee on by (updated 3610 days ago)
Honeywell EconoSWITCH Review 1
When my primary residence was built in 1998, the builder installed a Lutron HomeWorks whole-house lighting system. Basically, it’s a set of three panels (one on each floor) that can control all the lighting loads in the house. It also allows any keypad in the house to control any light […]

Adding Astronomical Clock Functionality to an Original Lutron HomeWorks System

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Technology and tagged astronomical clock HomeWorks HWV-IP5 Lutron on by
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If you’re a DirecTV customer, and you want to watch your local channels and get shows from the “big” networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, then there’s a good chance you’re coughing up extra money for their local channels. Or maybe, you like to take your DirecTV receiver on […]

How to Get HDTV Local Channels “Off Air” with DirecTV

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Technology and tagged AM21N antenna channel guide DirecTV DVR free local channels HDTV local channels Mohu Leaf off-air tuner Winegard on by
Lutron Maestro 600 Occupancy Sensor Switch 6
If you’ve got kids, then you’ve probably noticed that they never have problems finding a switch to turn lights on. Yet mysteriously, they lack the ability to turn lights off. I’m convinced it’s just never something that becomes important for a human… until they’re paying their own electricity bill. Using an […]

Product Review: Lutron Maestro 600 3-Way Occupancy Sensor Switch

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews and tagged DIY light switch Lutron Maestro motion sensor switch occupancy sensor switch vacancy sensor switch on by (updated 3792 days ago)
When is the last time you rocked out this hard in the shower?
The kind folks over at Kohler’s bath products division (about whom I’ve had nice things to say in the past) were generous enough to recently send me one of their new Moxie wireless speaker shower heads for evaluation and review. Kohler states that Moxie allows you to “Shower out Loud” by […]

Review: Kohler Moxie Wireless Speaker Shower Head

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews Technology and tagged Bluetooth Kohler Kohler Moxie review Moxie product review review shower shower speaker speaker wireless speaker on by (updated 3792 days ago)
This setting lets your Ecobee run the humidifier during heat, cool, or with the fan only. 12
In my original review of my very first Ecobee Smart Thermostat, I described how I had wired my Ecobee’s equipment interface to my whole-house evaporative humidifier at the Utah house. Because my furnace’s control board had a 24V HUM connector, I used that connector to help activate the humidifier. The […]

How to Wire a Humidifier to an Ecobee Smart Thermostat

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Reference Technology and tagged DIY ecobee how to how to wire humidifier to ecobee humidifier plumbing wiring on by (updated 3958 days ago)
This post is primarily a how-to for my own benefit, since I own a total of five APC S20 BLK battery backup units running a variety of things at the house from AV gear to a rack of servers. That means there’s a chance I’ll need to replace the battery […]

How To: Swap RB63 UPS Batteries in an APC S20 ...

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Reference Technology and tagged APC batteries RB63 replace UPS batteries S20 BLK UPS on by (updated 3958 days ago)