Any good reefing uses for Alexa?

BoneXriffic · Apr 13, 2017

Monkeytank said:
You could keep it by the sump as a leak detector. If it sparks, you have a leak.

This guy gets it

LbulletM · Apr 13, 2017

RUNVS said:
Alexa- Is cool but I never use it, Every time I ask something (Unless it is very straightforward) she doesn't have an answer for me and I have to revert to using google on my phone anyway.

The Google Home is definitely more fit for this situation. Basically a stand alone OK Google. It will search the internet and give you what it thinks is the right answer. Unfortunately, Alexa can only give you what she's programmed for, which Amazon doesn't have what is basically an entire copy of the internet to crawl through as Google does.

That being said, for home automation I don't think you could get easier than Alexa and the cost of entry is really low. Google is catching up quickly with the number of connected devices though! They've had multiple sales where they knock the Dot down to $40 as well. With what we spend on corals and fish, $40 is a drop in the bucket to try out something fun and new.

Full disclosure: My original plan was to use Alexa at the cheap entry price until Google either surpasses the Echo system in functionality or matches it in price. The Google Home is more of an apples-to-apples to a full Amazon Echo, as opposed to the dot, but with better random question abilities and (for now) worse connectivity abilities.

805reef · Apr 13, 2017

RUNVS said:
Alexa- Is cool but I never use it, Every time I ask something (Unless it is very straightforward) she doesn't have an answer for me and I have to revert to using google on my phone anyway.

http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-add-googles-voice-assistant-to-alexa-on-the-amazon-echo-and-fire-tv/

RUNVS · Apr 13, 2017

LbulletM said:
The Google Home is definitely more fit for this situation. Basically a stand alone OK Google. It will search the internet and give you what it thinks is the right answer. Unfortunately, Alexa can only give you what she's programmed for, which Amazon doesn't have what is basically an entire copy of the internet to crawl through as Google does.

That being said, for home automation I don't think you could get easier than Alexa and the cost of entry is really low. Google is catching up quickly with the number of connected devices though! They've had multiple sales where they knock the Dot down to $40 as well. With what we spend on corals and fish, $40 is a drop in the bucket to try out something fun and new.

Full disclosure: My original plan was to use Alexa at the cheap entry price until Google either surpasses the Echo system in functionality or matches it in price. The Google Home is more of an apples-to-apples to a full Amazon Echo, as opposed to the dot, but with better random question abilities and (for now) worse connectivity abilities.

Yea, the only thing I use her for is control of my thermostat and playing music. Has been worthless other wise.

805reef said:
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-add-googles-voice-assistant-to-alexa-on-the-amazon-echo-and-fire-tv/

Very interesting I will need to try this and see how it works, Thanks for the info.

DanP-SD · Apr 13, 2017

LbulletM said:
I currently have my cheap LED desk lamp over my fish only QT set up to a TP-Link outlet controlled by Alexa. "Alexa, turn on the QT lamp". Boom. Light on. Otherwise, the TP-Link uses a schedule to turn the lamp on or off during regular operation.

Also, when testing. "Alexa, set a timer for 9 minutes".

This is exactly how i use it but the idea of triggering water changes is interesting (and a bit scary).

DanP-SD · Apr 13, 2017

DanP-SD said:
This is exactly how i use it but the idea of triggering water changes is interesting (and a bit scary).

The challenge is getting Apex to receive an input from alexa. I think the only inputs for Apex are probes, breakout box devices, display units, flow meters and leak detectors. I think you'd need a way to get alexa to trigger something that closes a switch on the breakout box. Perhaps you could use a Wemo switch but that's high voltage and the BOB is low voltage so I'm not sure it'll work. Another possibility would be to use alexa to turn on a powerhead and send water through a flow meter to trigger the input but that seems inefficient. Any thoughts on a more direct and reliable method to get an Alexa output to become an Apex input?

LbulletM · Apr 14, 2017

DanP-SD said:
This is exactly how i use it but the idea of triggering water changes is interesting (and a bit scary).

Yea, I could definitely see her trademark "I'm sorry, I couldn't find a device named blotter hang" as five gallons of water was overflowing from the tank.

LostInTheDark · Apr 14, 2017

I was at a reefers house and he had multiple tank lights and a few other non-essential stuff hooked up to Alexa. It was some what comical to hear him ask Alexa to turn on certain lights over the tank or shut off a pump and have it respond by turning off his kitchen light. He wasn't laughing though.

Zachhll · Apr 14, 2017

Well sounds like I use Alex a lot more then everyone else. I have setup a fully automated house. I use Insteon devices controlled by an Universal devices ISY. I can tell Alexa to turn on any light or fan in my house. The thing I use it for the most is entertainment. I have a Simple Control that is a controller for your Media equipment. I can have her turn on the TV, Turn the channel to Fox, and even set the Volume to 15 all through voice. I also order dog food with it. It is also now integrated to Plex so i can have her suggest a movie in my library to watch. As for reefing i think it would be awesome to integrate my Apex to just tell it to turn of outlets as im doing maintenance. Easier then opening the app or anything else with wet hands. Also Yes I work in the IT field lol.

LbulletM · Apr 14, 2017

Zachhll said:
Well sounds like I use Alex a lot more then everyone else. I have setup a fully automated house. I use Insteon devices controlled by an Universal devices ISY. I can tell Alexa to turn on any light or fan in my house. The thing I use it for the most is entertainment. I have a Simple Control that is a controller for your Media equipment. I can have her turn on the TV, Turn the channel to Fox, and even set the Volume to 15 all through voice. I also order dog food with it. It is also now integrated to Plex so i can have her suggest a movie in my library to watch. As for reefing i think it would be awesome to integrate my Apex to just tell it to turn of outlets as im doing maintenance. Easier then opening the app or anything else with wet hands. Also Yes I work in the IT field lol.

Sounds like I'm not too far behind you though! I'll have to look into the Simple Control. I was eyeing the Harmony Hub up until now.

adhd_nerd · Apr 14, 2017

I use Google Home to supplement Neptune system, water leak sensors, humidity sensors etc.

Example use cases...

I have a Hammerhead to pump water from my basement fish room to my tank in my living room for water changes. I used to run down the stairs to shut off pump. Now, the pump is connected to a z-wave controlled outlet. When the tank is full, I say "Ok Google turn off water change pump."

When cleaning my tanks, I use a pump that is hooked up to a zwave outlet to blow off detritus. It's nice to be able to yell out "Ok Google, turn up pump" instead of reaching for the phone with wet hands (was always worried I would drop phone into the tank).

You do need something like Samsung Smartthings hub and z-wave outlets. IMO good way to automate some items related to the tank w/o being locked into Neptune. There is lots of flexibility with the general Smartthings (z-wave type) home automation.

BTW. If you have a recent Android (7.1.x) you can test Google Home functionality with Google Assistance. The phone effectively becomes location listening for "Ok Google" commands.

Also, Google Home works with Wifi outlets (Wemo, TPlink, etc) if you don't want to deal with z-wave/zigbee.

Zachhll · Apr 14, 2017

LbulletM said:
Sounds like I'm not too far behind you though! I'll have to look into the Simple Control. I was eyeing the Harmony Hub up until now.

Yea I have The Harmony setup. It does what it says it does. I upgraded to the Simple Control for more control. I can set a specific volume and have a lot more fine control of devices. I have a scene when i leave my house i tell it to turn on the radio (for my dog) it changes everything to the right input and sets the volume to 10 on my receiver. no need to turn stuff down or even pick up the remote. And if you want to use the remote i use an iPad mini. i can view the guide on the iPad and dont have to mess with the guide on Directv.

stevieduk · Apr 14, 2017

mdbannister said:
Been thinking about buying an Amazon echo dot lately, but haven't decided whether or not to pull the trigger. Just wondering if there are any good reefing uses for Alexa? That answer might push my decision over the edge. Ha!

well they are good for spying on you, and letting any authority that wants to listen in on your household. I dont have any smart devices for that reason. even smart toasters are a threat now, apparently. you could imagine having a Echo device and some kind of smart unit controlling your aquarium, and someone hacks in and shuts the whole thing down while you are out

Zachhll · Apr 14, 2017

stevieduk said:
well they are good for spying on you, and letting any authority that wants to listen in on your household. I dont have any smart devices for that reason. even smart toasters are a threat now, apparently. you could imagine having a Echo device and some kind of smart unit controlling your aquarium, and someone hacks in and shuts the whole thing down while you are out

Actually, Alexa is only active when her blue light is on which only happens when you say Alexa. I monitor my network at home and have seen that this is the case my self. Plus their was just a court case that got a users data from Amazon and all it had was when the user activates it. Not saying this is true for all devices but the Echo doesn't do that.

Daniel@R2R · Apr 14, 2017

stevieduk said:
well they are good for spying on you, and letting any authority that wants to listen in on your household. I dont have any smart devices for that reason. even smart toasters are a threat now, apparently. you could imagine having a Echo device and some kind of smart unit controlling your aquarium, and someone hacks in and shuts the whole thing down while you are out

I'm honestly not concerned about that. There's not much likelihood that a hacker would hack a controller just to shut down an aquarium. As for big brother listening in, I'm not too concerned there either...got nothing to hide.

tcarter1936 · Apr 14, 2017

I am an account contractor,and we install nexia home automation Which is now compatible with Alexa so now Alexa can function your thermostats along with appliance modules and leak sensors, hd video cameraseven solenoid valves. Alot of options with some imagination, I'm about to install a solenoid valve on my raised garden bed to water my veggies utilizing the appliance module. Me personally... I'm just using the nexia app as I'm one of the ones who are weirded out by Alexa. Can't help it lol. All the nexia stuff is available on Amazon if you are interested.

LbulletM · Apr 14, 2017

stevieduk said:
well they are good for spying on you, and letting any authority that wants to listen in on your household. I dont have any smart devices for that reason. even smart toasters are a threat now, apparently. you could imagine having a Echo device and some kind of smart unit controlling your aquarium, and someone hacks in and shuts the whole thing down while you are out

Just one more person that doesn't want to hear us go on and on about our tanks. ;-)

Daniel@R2R · May 3, 2017

Found this video in another thread and decided to add it to this discussion. Thanks for the great info @shiftline!

Daniel@R2R · May 3, 2017

tcarter1936 said:
I am an account contractor,and we install nexia home automation Which is now compatible with Alexa so now Alexa can function your thermostats along with appliance modules and leak sensors, hd video cameraseven solenoid valves. Alot of options with some imagination, I'm about to install a solenoid valve on my raised garden bed to water my veggies utilizing the appliance module. Me personally... I'm just using the nexia app as I'm one of the ones who are weirded out by Alexa. Can't help it lol. All the nexia stuff is available on Amazon if you are interested.

I may check into Nexia as well.