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Show HN: Control IKEA Lights Using Google Home and IFTTT

by pretty_bubbles on 3/10/18, 11:34 PM with 39 comments

  • by gregmac on 3/11/18, 1:46 AM

    I don't mean to diminish the work done here, but I can't bring myself to use any home automation that relies on internet and 3rd party services. The whole "I can't turn off my lights/adjust my thermostat/close my garage door because the internet is down" is a cliche these days, but also reality when you use services like these.

    There's a difference between core and nice to have services (eg, ability to tell you the weather), but I consider light, door, and temperature control to be "core": having a dozen separate points of failure is just bad design. You could consider voice control nice-to-have, but if it works well, I have a feeling it would move to being core. If it doesn't work well enough to be used all the time (and thus irritatingly missed when it's broken), why bother?

    I'm aware of Mycroft; anyone have experience with it or alternatives?

  • by kuschku on 3/11/18, 12:17 AM

    One of the most amazing things about TRÅDFRI is that it’s actually well-designed. The software is minimalistic, and designed for security by default, it’s fault-tolerant, and it’s local by default.

    A massive contrast to the silicon-valley node.js on each lightbulb products, reliant on cloud servers, with analytics everywhere; or the cheap chinese unsecured lightbulbs that are just days after purchase infected with Mirai.

    A welcome change, indeed.

  • by brianjking on 3/10/18, 11:58 PM

    Nice. I use Home Assistant for my Home Automation setup. https://home-assistant.io/

    [Over 1,000 components](https://home-assistant.io/components/) are available with more added daily, including [IKEA Tradfri lights](https://home-assistant.io/components/tradfri/).

    My Home Assistant config files can be found at https://github.com/brianjking/homeassistant-config if you're interested.

    Cheers!

  • by owenwil on 3/11/18, 12:37 PM

    This is super cool! To be honest, I think the easier way to do this is using the Hue Hub, which can connect to Tradfi AND integrates directly with Google Home

  • by alvarlagerlof on 3/11/18, 1:44 PM

    Or just use a Hue hub