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  1. #1

    Default Burnt Out So I Found A New Hobby--Smart Home!

    Hey guys
    So, I'm pretty burnt out on my car project, so I haven't felt much like talking car problems lately. Even this year, I didn't touch the thing until Memorial Day. That's unprecedentedly late in the season for a start. I see so many cars for sale where the ads says "pretty much done just needs the final tweaks". Those are people that are right where I'm at. Burnt out. The car is all put together, but try as you might, it just never seems to come together and be what you want.

    So, since I can't be expected to, y'know deal with life straight on , I found myself another distraction. I started buying smart home stuff. I started by watching youtube videos about it. The stuff didn't make sense to me at first. There is a bit of a learning curve, even for the most basic devices. But there's a lot of really cool stuff you can do. I don't know how we got along without it for so long.

    I chose Alexa as our "platform" to base everything on. It seemed like a good place for beginners and there are a lot of fun things the kids can do with her. From there, I bought a few smart switches. It seems like most people do smart bulbs, but it seemed to me smart switches are a better value, and I don't mind tinkering with home electrical. We used it at first to make our house look occupied when we were away on trips. You can tell it when to turn the lights on and off, and there are lights we have on pretty much all the time when we're home and it's dark out. So it works great for that. From there, I decided it would be good for our mental well-being to maybe have the house a bit brighter. Our living room has no overhead light, just 4 lamps, and it's annoying to have to go around and turn them all on one at a time. So we pretty much never did. I added smart plugs to them and now we can turn them on with one click or voice command.

    It started to really explode from there. We have to get up for school crazy early in the morning, so now we have "sunrise" alarms that bring the lights up gradually to wake us up instead of a blaring alarm clock. I upgraded our wifi to a mesh system. The kids were constantly asking when and where mommy works, and what was for dinner, so now we have a display in the family room that shows those calendar items all the time. The Amazon Echoes can act as an intercom, so we don't have to yell across the house anymore.

    There have been problems, of course. Devices that won't work together like you think they will, setup taking far longer than it needs to, signals not reaching far enough... Last year we had a major leak develop on our sprinkler system while we were away on a trip. I want a way to monitor water usage, but the component I want to use for that, that includes a shut-off valve, can't be had right now because of shortages. I had my TVs on smart outlets in an effort to defeat "Standby mode" and save some energy. But apparently modern TVs don't like that and it fried one of ours. Ugh. And when you use Alexa, you are kind of at her mercy. It they have an outage, it's pretty inconvenient. Luckily with smart switches, you always have manual control unlike with smart bulbs.

    Anyone else in on this? What's been your experience?
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  2. #2
    FEP Senior Member gt4494's Avatar
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    I understand the "Burned Out" part. Been trying to get motivated to do more to my car but its 95% and been that way for a while. I'm about ready to get a 2012 GT/CS and at that point will prolly put my GT350 together and sell it.

    I like the fox bodies but am rapidly getting to the age that driving a 5 speed is killing me. I have had a knee and Both Ankles changed with [parts from wally world).

    I will say I have no "Alexa " or other smart devices. It's bad enough they track my phones movements and everything I do electronically. Before you think I wear a tinfoil hat, I spent 40+ years working for the .gov.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
    Albert Einstein

    1984 20th Anniversary GT350
    Almost "Stock"

  3. #3

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    Glad you found something cool.
    79 Zephyr, 4.6L 4v/4r70w swap, with team z front and rear suspension, 8.8 and upgraded brakes and coil overs. Running Holley Terminator X Max.

  4. #4

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    Yeah, it was recently proven that Amazon tracks what you say, but only when you're talking to it. To me, that's far better than how Facebook is listening 24/7 via your mobile device. I really do hate that.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  5. #5
    FEP Senior Member gt4494's Avatar
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    What's Facebook??? LOL

    I had an account, closed it, opened it back up to follow a radio group and then they gave me a 30 day suspension for a post and I never posted anything.

    Their loss my gain.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
    Albert Einstein

    1984 20th Anniversary GT350
    Almost "Stock"

  6. #6

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    I stay away from technology to do things. I have seen to many secure systems hacked at work and if you can use it to remotely do things so can someone else.
    The convenience of combining multiple tasks is alluring and frees up time I get that and I am glad that it works well for you.
    When I get in a rut about working on the Zephyr I read over other peoples threads and I take some of their ideas to see how that would work for me. Not just big things like intakes or brakes or wheels but the details put into them to make them stand out. But what really motivates me is when someone says something nice about the car when they see it. Hope you get some progress on your car, its the reason I have a Zephyr and not another mustang ( I have had two ).
    1978 Mercury Zephyr boxtop 5.0 EFI T5Z 8.8
    1999 Ford Contour 2.5 V6 5 speed
    2016 Ford Focus ST 2.0 Ecoboost 6 speed

  7. #7
    FEP Super Member mmb617's Avatar
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    I've been a car guy ever since I got my driver's license back in 1967, but my interest in cars has faded considerably in recent years. When I first got my Mustang 20 years ago I spent a lot of time and money turning it into a street/strip car and then racing it just about every week for 7 years. During that period I spent a lot of time in the garage fixing stuff that broke from the constant beating I was giving it and upgrading parts when I had the funds, but I didn't mind at all as I still enjoyed working on it.

    My racing ended after the 2014 season when my wife was diagnosed with cancer and the next four years were kind of a blur of doctors and hospitals, till she lost her fight in 2019. I never regained my desire to do much with the car. Maybe it's because she went to the track with me all the time and that has something to do with it. I can't imagine I'll ever get rid of the car but I don't drive it much at all anymore. I've taken up a new hobby (shooting) to eat up my time and money instead.

    I am of course an old fart and while I don't think I'm anti-technology in general I do think a lot of people go way overboard with their reliance on it. Besides the fact that I can't afford a new car, I wouldn't want one with all the crap that's on them now. I still prefer to drive my car instead of having it tell me what it thinks I should be doing with all the lane departure and proximity sensors and such. The only technology newer cars have that I think would be nice is rear view cameras. All the other bells and whistles are just that, unnecessary and distracting.

    I only use my phone to text or voice call. I don't have apps for everything and never go online with it, that's what I have a desktop for. Likewise I would never want an Alexa type device, nor do I have any desire to control things in my home remotely. But that's just me, I understand that most people don't feel that way.
    408/T5/3.73's

    We're not fast racers, we're more what's known as half fast racers.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by ukravit View Post
    Hope you get some progress on your car, its the reason I have a Zephyr and not another mustang ( I have had two ).
    Thanks, that's kind of you to say! You've inspired me quite a bit with yours over the years too! I'm hoping my friend can track down the idle problem. Once that's done, I'll feel a lot better about driving it. And then maybe I'll just take it to shows and cruise it this year. What a concept! There are a bunch more things I have waiting in the wings to do to it, but I have a lot of other projects around the house I want to do too.

    I think I probably have a Facebook addiction problem. But besides FEP, if you want to be part of an active car community (or other hobbies), that's where the people are, and that's why I'm there. The stupid social media "my life is so amazing" aspect of it, I could do without. I've hidden probably 80% of my friends list because of constant annoying posts. Many of them about politics during the last election. Ugh. I just want no part of it. And further having a "positive" effect on my mental well-being is having friends that have booted me from their lives still being friends of friends who comment on their posts. Reminds me of my failures. As for other social media like Instagram and Tic Toc, when I see what people are posting on them, it always annoys the crap out of me. "influencers", all that crap... I can't believe that exists. Who are these people that follow that?! See? I can be crotchety too!

    I like texting as a communication option. I don't sit and do it constantly like the kids do, but for sending a quick "i'm on my way" or whatever, they are great. Makes it so I don't have to talk to people, haha. I don't do the lingo or abbreviations or anything though. I usually text in complete sentences, haha.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  9. #9
    FEP Super Member gr79's Avatar
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    Been working on the car's 2.3. Am going to replace the turbo and intake with a n/a.
    Yesterday loosened 2 waste gate bolts and removed some vac lines. 1 hour was enough.
    When i get stumped or hit a snag, i quit to a better day unless its a must do.
    Wrenching should be enjoyable as much as possible. Break down into sessions.

    Have used vintage X10 RF system for years at house. Key chain remote turns on yard light.
    Came with pc program for scheduling and controlling whole house modules.

    Never did texting, joined FB, or others. Companies track use, loc, resell personal data.
    F 'em. F peer pressure, most phone apps, and ads. Privacy is personal. None of their beeswax.
    Online shopping and email is ok. Have most site cookies turned off and session clearing. Regular backups.
    WIFI is not wanted around here. Too much to fuss with. House has ele smart meter. Useless to me.
    Never got rid of landline. Not buying into fast and more of everything. Power never fails in case of emergencies, storms.
    Not interested in new car tech. Not willing to pay for stuff not needed either, even a/c. Keep it affordable, simple, and clear.
    Drove a Chevy Bolt. Weird. Not impressed. Volt was better with engine and batteries. Marketing hype.
    Charging and range is a big issue. Batteries are best left for tools, toys, and gadgets.
    Enjoy the scents from hopefully fresh open window air. Even bad air alerts something is wrong or funky.
    Heck never had power car windows.

  10. #10
    New User
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    I'll stick to a 'dumb' home... minus my smart thermostat

  11. #11

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    I work in IT:

    I don't have a Facebook or Twitter account (except a burner for Marketplace access)

    I don't have any smart home items - except some Philips Hue lights.

    Take that for what it's worth!

    If you want a solid recommendation though - Check out the IFTTT app @ZephyrEFI

  12. #12

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    IFTTT became a pay service recently. I was on board with it before that happened.

    I do have Alexa stuff, but I'm moving away from that being my primary platform. I got a Smartthings hub after Christmas, and it is WAY more capable. There are no speakers to listen to you, and if you by the right devices, everything can operate without going online at all.

    Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  13. #13
    FEP Power Member slow84lx's Avatar
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    Brad, I've followed along with all of your car upgrades, restorations, problems over the years and enjoyed the struggle with you from afar. I hope that your desire for the Zephyr rekindles itself and becomes enjoyable again.

    Smart home devices can be interesting and cool. What is the most interesting application to you?

    We don't have any smart devices and opted to get another programmable thermostat instead of a wifi thermostat a couple of years ago when the A/C was replaced. There are a lot of stories out there of people who have had their systems hacked. Have you had any problems with hacking?

  14. #14

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    Thanks for the kind words! I'm fully expecting great things from the Zeph this summer. I'm having the intake bored out (the only way to describe what has to happen, haha) to match up with the 75mm throttle body I got for it, and then I just need to get it tuned. Definitely have high hopes (at least at this point with it far enough away) for a summer full of cruising and hitting shows.



    So far, my favorite part of having a smart home is still how effectively you can make your house appear occupied when you're away. Blinds and shades open and close themselves, lights come on and off on a schedule, etc. This year we added Smartthings which has different "modes" you can program. When I change the house to "Vacation Mode" it automatically disables a number of automations I don't want to run while we're gone. There's a good 10-12 of them right now, so it's pretty nice not to have to do that. Then when it sees our mobile devices are in the house, back to "Home Mode".

    Having access to the temp in the house from anywhere is nice too. I had a rental property once where the heat failed and the pipes froze. NOT good. My parents go to Florida for a couple of months in the winter, and have had similar issues. I couldn't fathom why they didn't have that. They even had some little thing that would show a red light in the window if it got too cold in the house for the neighbors to hopefully notice. WTF? I bought them a wifi thermostat for Christmas this year.

    I mentioned the sprinkler problem we had above. I still haven't gotten the chance to pick up the wifi monitor/shut-off for that yet. It's pretty steep price and lack of wide availability affected that. Maybe at tax time. But other than that, it's just fun to have your voice or little buttons around your house do all sorts of wild things. I have a bunch of "party" lights in my basement. All "dumb" devices, so I would have to go around and turn them all on one at a time. Now it's just one button. I even made a "closing time" routine that turns them all off and the bright overhead lights on.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  15. #15
    FEP Senior Member gt4494's Avatar
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    Mentioning your parents (probably my age) we have an internet capable thermostat that the mrs wont let me touch. Every time she changes the schedule a "phantom" schedule (her words) takes over until I reboot it for her (full power off and then reconnect). LOL
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
    Albert Einstein

    1984 20th Anniversary GT350
    Almost "Stock"

  16. #16

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    Hahaha nice

    Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

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