Dad Automations

Tips & Tutorials
1

Hey Folks,

I wanted to share my Dad hacks, as I am sure many of you have done similar things.

  1. I've set KM to run shortcuts in the shortcuts.app to automatically turn off the lights in a given room after xx minutes. The other evening I created shortcuts for every room in my house. Let's just say I love a smart home. I am on a mission heading into 2023 to reduce my power bill. The kids, as we all may know, turn the lights on and never turn them off. Now, I have the answer. I am anxious to see how things change over the next couple of months.
     
    This setup is vastly superior to anything I could ever hope to accomplish on the phone and works a thousand times better. I like using shortcuts as it allows me to run them directly from the phone and KM. Most actions are set for different hours of possible use.
     
    Screenshot 2022-12-01 at 11.07.19 PM
     

  2. I'm using the Tessie app (Tesla MY), which works on M1 devices to automatically warm and cool the car just prior to my school run.
     

    Screenshot 2022-12-01 at 11.05.11 PM
    Screenshot 2022-12-01 at 11.05.11 PM1124Ă—584 43.5 KB

     
    Screenshot 2022-12-01 at 11.04.53 PM
    Screenshot 2022-12-01 at 11.04.53 PM1508Ă—1228 112 KB

     

  3. I'm using a Pushover plugin to remind me to give the kids their meds, and recurring school sporting events. I also prompt my teen to change his contacts monthly and many more.

Thanks for giving me a place to share and pick up new tricks, and especially for creating such a valuable tool.

  • If this is not the correct place please move my post as needed and my apologies.
7 Likes
2

Thanks for the command @peternlewis, in the topic below. So far, I've not had to use it. I had been experiencing it recently.

I was determined to work around the issue. So I wrote many of my actions again. I've not seen this message since. I rewrote them mainly to remove the use of shortcuts and switch to HomeControl Menu. I'm much more pleased with the outcome after my rewrite.

So far, and we're not on the full-year mark yet from my original post, I've reduced my average power bill by +/- $55 a month. Final calculations in December as I head into the winter months, which typically use more energy.

KM has more than paid for itself for all future updates that you'll release. Thank you for such a great product.

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“But honey, I have to buy this software... it saves us money!” :sweat_smile:

This is a great way to use KM, thanks for sharing your experience.

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My birthday is in December so I just get the upgrades as a birthday present. That's how I got it in the first place.

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For anyone following, along another tip I recently learned was how useful local variables are. I have to say they work so much better. Maybe I am just getting kind of proficient now. Took me long enough. Haha. Oh, wait I'll learn something tomorrow. It's been a fun journey. Hopefully, many more things to learn moving forward. I'm at the point now where I can enjoy what I have learned. I could not have imagined where I've gotten to today.

It's still funny when you look at the code you wrote back whenever and go WTH was I thinking. :joy:

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6

I have often wondered if it would be useful to collect lots of beginner "What Was I Thinking?" examples as Common Beginner Misconceptions, as part of the beginner tutorials, to help the learning curve for newbies. Kind of an inverse Tips and Tricks or a "Kids, Don't Try This At Home" collection of spectacular mishaps. A detailed description of what went wrong could provide a very memorable educational in many cases.

Just a thought...

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