Smart Home Automation/Security

I know this thread didn't get much traction, but I went all-in on smartthings.

Smartthings + Hue + Alexa = infinitely configurable and incredibly reliable

I even bought a z-wave module for my garage door that senses whether it is open or closed, and will close it automatically at a pre-defined time (in my case dusk) if it is left open and let me know that it happened (there's a 5 second audible beep before closing to avoid crushing children).

I just got an ecobee3 which will be installed this weekend.

My 100yo home is no longer dumb.

It's so easy to leave the door open accidentally, especially if a leaf trips the reversal beam (or sunlight hits it just right). You think it's closed, but it goes right back up.

In my part of the world, 99% of garages are of the detached variety, and the majority of those have overhead doors that face the alley.

In addition to that, most of the break-ins in the area target garages, not homes--people looking for tools, lawnmowers, bikes, etc. that can be easily pawned and converted to heroin.

As such, I have a motion detector in the garage and open/close sensors on both garage doors.

Out of curiosity what's a ball park number for something like this?

^ thanks for the info!

You're worried about someone turning your lights on or off, but not unlocking your door or viewing your webcam? Mmkay.

I'm absolutely worried about those things too, which is why I haven't done either one. The webcam would be for the porch, so someone wants to look at that more power to them. I tend to be a crotchety old man when it comes to stuff like this. My dryer is an old Speed Queen with no fancy features. Just more shit to break. LOL

i have a Ring doorbell installed. It's out on an island basically, but it'll save recording of people on your porch and shit, without giving the Internet free reign of your door locks.

I went a little nuts.
I've replaced most of the bulbs in my house with Hue bulbs, and continue to replace a bulb or two here and there as I find them on sale.
I like the ST sensors because they all have removable covers that can be painted to match decor/blend in with the environment.
I have set up a ton of Smartthings sensors/motion detectors on things to do various things beyond security.  For example:

1. I have an open/close sensor on my liquor cabinet that will send my wife and me a text message if tripped and both of our cell phones are not in the house (i.e.: we're gone, babysitter, kids, or kids' stupid buddies open the cabinet).
2. Motion detector at top of stairs that turns the stairwell light on at 80% for 1.5 minutes during normal waking hours and 10% for 30 seconds during normal sleeping hours.
3. Vibration detector on washing machine that lets me know when the load is done (may sound silly, but our basement is fairly soundproof, so this is nice).  Same thing on dryer.
4. Open/close sensor in mailbox that lets me know when mail is delivered.  Also doubles as an external temperature sensor.
5. Full Blue Iris integration with our video cameras, so that when the alarm system is activated in different ways, it will trigger scenes that send me pictures and video when motion is detected.  For example, when the alarm is activated but we are home, it will only monitor and email clips for the cameras outside, but when we are gone, it will do it for all security cameras, both internal and external.  When UPS drops a package off on my porch, i'll get an email, and if someone steals it, i'll get another email.
6. External lights turn on 15 minutes before dusk and go off 15 minutes after dawn (Note: you can't use the Hue lights in freezing temps, you have to use the GE Link bulbs which are Hue compatible).
7. If it is dark outside when the first person arrives home, interior lights will come on as soon as you enter the home area (i think it's a 500ft radius).
8. Motion sensor inside an opaque jar that arms the alarm and turns off all the lights when you open the jar during a certain time period at night (go to bed), and disarms it if opened in the morning (makes it easy to arm/disarm when you are home--huge for the WAF).
9. Ecobee is great becasue it has remote sensors--i have it set to keep the common areas of our home a certain temp during the day, but monitor the bedroom temps at night--->this is an awesome thing for those of us with old houses.
10. also with ecobee, i have it set to save energy during the day on weekdays when everyone is gone, but if it detects that someone is home, it will maintain temps at comfortable levels.

I love my setup and i'm always adding/tweaking functionality as time goes by.  Alexa, motion sensors, and cell phone presence sensors make usage seamless and intuitive provided you take the time to set up modes and routines on ST.

What would I do differently?  Two things:
1. I bought a couple of the Smartthings presence sensors, and they absolutely suck.  Bad battery life and the internal components break when you change the battery.  Avoid at all costs.
2. The first 2 generations of Smartthings motion sensors suck.  They freeze up and you have to pull the battery and reinstall to make them work--eventually they stop working and ST will replace under warranty with the current generation.  Either make sure you get the current gen ST motion sensors, or even better, the Ecolink PIR sensors.