Lazarus,
I don't see any reply's to your post but love that your a Specialist and maybe my input can help you/Google and others given my situation is probably not unique. I've been using legacy X10 Home Automation for 30+ years and am now playing with Google Home 2C if it's a good replacement. I mainly used X10 for lighting control so that's my main focus for Google Home but see it can do a whole lot more. Here are some routines I've built or am building and finding limitations:
WAY B4 SUNSET: 2 Hours B4 sunset turn on back ground lights in entertainment center, curio cabinets, etc
B4 SUNSET: 1 Hour B4 sunset turn on under cabinet lights in kitchen, pantry lights, bedroom accent lights, office light
SUNSET: turn on front porch light, driveway lights, soffit accent lights, back Patio lights, dining room light
For all of these routines I love the use of SUNSET time for my location but would like to see a Security feature which would turn these lights on more randomly to make the house look lived in. Something like +/- 15mins from the programed start time
My off routines are staged:
B4 BED: Not expecting any guests turn off front porch light, driveway lights, office lights
IN BED: turn off living room entertainment center lights, kitchen lights, back patio lights, pantry lights
GOODNIGHT: A macro to turn off ALL lights. I use WiFi toggle switches for some circuits so it's possible something could be turned on manually or automatically. With X10 I had a wireless remote with buttons to push to turn on/off a control point. IF I went to bed early and just wanted all off I'd hit a button and boom whole house goes dark. Similarly if we hear a strange noise in the middle of the night a one button push turned everything on. I see the Google Home App can do the same through Routines but would hope I could but an icon on my Android home screen to execute a routine vs having to launch the app, find the routine etc. I have not explored if this is possible.
Things I learned or am learning; So far I have my Android Phone running Google Home, Gosund plugin WiFi switches, Kasa/TP-Link Wifi Edison outlets, EVA-Logik WiFi toggle wall switches. All were easy to get online and in the Google Home app. Routines are easy to create BUT where does the routine run? I believe on my phone so if I'm on a plane flying somewhere and phone is off nothing will turn on/off per my routine. I want a HUB/CPU that lives in my house and can execute the routines w/out having to be connected to the Internet. My WiFi is always up and Internet access is good 98% of the time but I prefer the security of knowing my logic/routines are stored and run from within my house is that possible? I see Google Hub and Hub Max are available along with speakers like the Mini. IF I buy one of them can I then host/store/run the routines from those devices and not my phone? IF the Internet is down to my house but my house WiFi is still up will those devices be able to still execute my routines to make my house look like someone is home? I'm inclined to buy a Mini or 3rd party hub solution, don't need/want Google Hub display/size/footprint. The app gives me that impression from the picture below:
The above statement says to choose a Speaker to run a routine is that any routine including mine? Can the Mini take the place of my phone as the control center to run all my routines? OR a cheaper solution might be to use an old Galaxy Samsung Tablet I have plugged into an outlet, to host Google Home App and be the hub for the house? It's got a battery so it's has power failure protection should the power go out would s.till be able to run the routines.
Another Thing I learned: You can't change the Routine Trigger from "Hay Google" or "Ok Google" to something else! Which seems crazy to me. IF I had a mini, my Android Phone and my Wife's Android phone all enabled with Google Assistant and you say "Hay Google" who answers/acts first or do all three respond in concert? I'd like to buy a Mini and have the trigger word be "Hay House" that way the Mini responds to house commands and my phone responds to my requests be them house requests or something else.
Another thing I learned am impressed with: Part of why I went with Google over Alexa or Apple is the impression the API is more open accessible and being utilized by a ton of third party's. I have an LED strip lighting system outside on my patio ceiling created/sold by Govee Home. I was super impressed that Google Home (GH) so easily integrated with my Govee. I can ditch the separate Govee App now for scheduling there lights and leverage Google Home (GH) Routines. I have three Big Ass Fan's the integrated easily with GH BUT the integration is too light weight to be usable. BAF App has the ability to turn on off motion detection, set fan speed based on room temperature, schedule changes to the fan performance profile where GH only offers on/off. I will probably disable this integration as I can't think of a routine where I'd want Google to do something to the fan's that is not already done via my configuring their app to setup the fan's. The fan's turn off automatically when nobody is in the room and then turn on automatically through motion detection so I don't see what more GH can give me there. Roomba by iRobot integrated easily and while I have not tested it yet I could see the value of the voice prompting to tell Roomba to go clean the Living Room, Hall, etc. Using their app I already have schedule setup like the fan's so I don't see a need to use a Routine to trigger Roomba but the voice command could be useful. My Wife is not the best with technology and she struggles using the app on her phone to turn Sonos on/off/volume in different rooms. Sonos too integrated easily with GH and I could see training my Wife to use Voice commands to turn Sonos on a room or the problem is multiple rooms and picking a channel. Right now Sonos App has Alarms to turn background music in several rooms at 8AM, change music type every 4 hours, and go to sleep at 10pm. So again IDK if a GH Routine will be better but it's nice if the day comes where one interface can do everything the individual apps can do.
Last Thing I learned/desire to accomplish: Support for vacation mode is something I long desired with X10. When I'm gone on a trip I don't need all the background lights on, music on, etc. I believe/hope I can create a VACATION routine that effectively disables some other routines like WAY B4 SUNSET and B4 SUNSET so just a subset of lights come on/off to give the house a lived in look (with a security feature to randomize the on/off time) but not wasting energy with other things on that nobody will see from outside. With X10 I had to literally re-write or just load another program into the CPU/Hub B4 I left on vacation and restore my regular program once I returned home. Love the App on my Phone could be used to send commands to turn on/off VACATION mode after I leave the house or B4 I return home.
That's enough for my first post here....Lazarus I hope you can answer my questions as I'm sure other users or prospective users of this technology have the same interest/questions!
Scott in Sunny FL
