Internet of (more) things - Google Home Assistant

Those who know me know that as much as I love Amazon I have hated what they have done to the Android OS on their Fire tablets and for this reason I decided to stall on buying an Echo in favour of waiting for Google Home Assistant, which for all the reports was a bit of a 'will it, won't it' be coming to the UK.  

With the decision made in favour of being released over here at exactly 8am on the 9th of April I reserved one online and quickly drove to collect it.  I had co-incidentally also had a Nest thermostat installed that week and was initially keen to see how the two worked together.

I then left it in the box all day contemplating if I ACTUALLY needed a box that talks to me.

After work I decided to get it out and give it a go.  At first I set-up the unit in my home office but quickly realised that since she can't control my Sonos system it was like having two music players in the room so I had a rethink.  I then plugged her into the hallway and again realised that she would probably only get limited use there as well.

She has settled in the kitchen where I find her the most 'use' but I have to admit my expectations have not been met!  This can sometimes be the downside of being an early adopter and I hold onto the hope that she is learning (as she keeps telling me when she can't answer a question that I ask) but so far I can get the weather forecast, know eta for my work commute, listen to the minute BBC news and music via Spotify (which errors out A LOT and makes me wonder if somehow having Sonos and Assistant under one roof poses a conflict of musical interest between the devices).

What I do think is cool:
Aside from the playing of music or turning on the radio at the command of my voice I am also finding the following helpful in running our house.
The Heating:  I can control my Nest Thermostat via my Google Assistant she can tell you the current temperature and turn the heating up or down so now I can ask my husband to redirect his 'why are the radiators on' and other heating ponders in her direction.....at least she will never tire of them!  
Shopping Lists: As a busy Mum I also find the shopping list function super handy and being in the kitchen I can add as I find whatever has run out.  Basically the simple 'Hey google add peas to the shopping list' will add the item to a google drive electronic 'Shopping list' document that you can then access when you go shopping through the 'Home' app on your phone - though she did understand 'Naan Bread' as 'Number' which meant I had to have a good think when I was looking at it!
The Weather: What should I wear today and more importantly is it worth hanging the washing out?  All these very important questions can be answered while you are stirring your first coffee of the morning.  Simply asking 'What's the weather going to be like today' or even more simply 'Will it rain today?"

What would I like to see?  The smart recipe thing - "ok google give me some recipes for chicken breast" a smart BBC iPlayer thing "OK Google play Doctor Who on my Fire tablet through the BBC iPlayer" and finally I would like to change her name to 'Computer' because 'Hey, Google' and 'OK, Google' gets a little annoying and doesn't make me feel like Captain Picard.

The 'toy' factor - well, my boys adore her and the first evening I found L holding her whilst explaining everything he knew about our family.  This was another reason she now lives downstairs on top of the fridge!  This way they can amuse themselves asking questions without the danger of dropping her!

So let's see how this pans out......and if you have one check out 'Hey Google I'm Feeling Lucky'.

Internet of (some) Things - Nest Thermostat

So we got a leak, a proper dripping ceiling leak that signalled the end of our 40yr old heating system with its banging boiler and various tanks in the loft.  At this point I also decided that this might also be a good time to think about installing a smart thermometer and get on board with some 'Internet of things' compatible devices.

Researching smart thermostat though presented a bigger challenge than I realised.  I knew that the new Google Home device would be released at the same time that my new heating system was being installed so decided to make sure that whichever device that I decided it would be compatible with that which meant that we went with the Nest Thermostat over the Worcester Bosch Wave.  I knew with certainty that Nest is compatible with Google Home assistant and so I would be able to control and monitor the temperature of my house with voice commands - but more on that later on.

Four days later I had one new Worcester Bosch 38cdi combi-boiler installed in the loft with a lovely Nest transmitter box next to it.  Since we had removed the original boiler this meant that it wasn't going to be a simple case of installing the new Nest thermostat where the old one was.  With Nest there is the option so you don't need to run a new thermostat cable though and basically run it via the wi-fi and plugged into the mains.  Granted this means that there is a white cable into the back of the unit but you could have it mounted on a stand so the cable can be hidden.  In our case though with toddler twins running riot around the house I decided that the safer option would be to mount it high on the wall out of reach.

After the plumber had installed the transmitter box I did the installation and setup of the thermostat unit.  I found it fairly straight forward.  There are three pieces to consider; the unit, the mount and the power cable.  There is an additional mount plate that I did not use.

Once you attach the thermostat to the mount the unit switches on.  You then complete the setup by downloading and following the instructions on how to add the device to your Nest account.  In all this took me less than 10 minutes. Two screws into the wall and a click to mount the unit onto the mount.  The interface has a 'far sight' function which means that you can see it from afar and set it to only switch on when you approach it - very nifty!


Now it is working we can control the thermostat from our mobiles via the Nest App.  Computer via home.nest.com and via voice command with our Google Assistant.

I am now planning to have a play with integrating a Nest Protect camera but so far the first one has had to be returned to Google as having worked fine for a week and being throughly impressive it stopped working and has become throughly annoying!  

I am also thinking of controlling some of the lights through some LIFX bulbs - particularly in the hallway where it would be nice if the light would switch on as we open the door but budget restrictions mean I need to save some pennies before making this purchase and sort the Nest Cam!

Neato Bot Bot is here to stay!

So this year I decided that taking out the daily vacuum and handing it over to robot might be the way forward.  My reservations were the effectiveness of having a blind machine rolling around the place sucking up the dirt because whilst they are quite large for a robot they are tiny compared to most vacuum cleaners.

Research took me to the main players namely Roomba and Neato.  I settled on a Neato
because the technology behind how it was going to blindly bumble around my room seemed to have a bit more logic behind it.  I was tempted to get the one that connected to the internet but with a price tag that broke an already stretched budget I settled on a Neato Robotics Botvac D85 Robot Vacuum

Which is one up from the basic model.  The big box arrived home and setup was pretty straight forward.

- Find somewhere to plug it in, dock it and leave it on charge overnight

- Turn it on and setup time and cleaning schedule. Since this it doesn't have a touchscreen you do this  using the buttons located to the sides of the display. 

 
All setup that's it!  Just leave it docked.  Four months in I can definitely say that these are well worth considering.  Not only do my 3-yr old twins tidy up now that 'Bot Bot' came home and will eat anything left on the floor but the Neato never complains yet reliably comes out everyday.  It has mapped the downstairs space and just makes its way around all the chairs, under the dining room table and all around the living room and kitchen meaning that I can come home to a lovely vacuumed house every day.

Using the boundary marker I can also indicate areas that I don't want it to clean- like the place room for example and whilst we usually keep the floor clean of any debris on the occasions a puzzle of toy has been left Bot Bot has done a pretty fine job of just going around anything he knows he shouldn't be cleaning.  We have both tiled and carpeted floors and they are both tackled equally well with the unit transitioning from carpet to rugs and tiled floors to mats without thinking twice.  He might get stuck sometimes and will beep until someone let's him out but usually learns how to tackle tricky areas.  Noise level is the same as normal vacuum cleaner and he takes about as long as a person to do one level.  No, he doesn't climb stairs, or fly - I have been asked.

In terms of maintenance on the Neato the bagless bin needs to be emptied once a week in our house and the cleaning schedule we have is Mon-Fri.  The brush rollers should be cleaned and cut free of hair regularly - though check out the photo of all the stuff that was around the rollers today!  I can safely say that a wipe won't slow these durable machines down!  Ongoing costs to consider are the the filters which should be changed roughly once a month and can be bought in packs from the internet  The great thing is that the unit 'beeps' to tell you if it needs something and a helpful message on the display will indicate what needs to be looked at such as 'please empty my bin', 'please clean my brushes' etc etc.

I have only had the need to contact Neato technical support once and I found them to be super responsive and very helpful.  They also are more than happy to do straight swap outs in the event that something goes terribly wrong with the unit so the brand also comes with a 'peace of mind' that you would expect when you make an investment like this.

So do you need a robot vacuum in your life.  I would say a resounding 'yes!' give it a go!  Personally I am super happy with 'Bot Bot'  it have given me back precious minutes in my day and if the price tag scares you then my recommendation would be to keep a keen eye peeled for sales and Warehouse deals.