smarthome

  • Think Different

    April 21, 2022 “Scott Zarrow had a library.” So began Rabbi Marc Fitzerman’s eulogy of Scott Zarrow, a former client and philanthropist who became a friend, whom I think about often. Scott called me up one day after he finished an add-on to his house that was equal to or bigger than the original footprint…

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  • Bringing my house into the future

    When the floor refinishers came and took up the carpet and brought our upstairs hardwood floors back to life, they accidentally burned out my old 1990s alarm system. But I wasn’t mad — I’d been thinking about replacing it anyway. We haven’t had it monitored in awhile, but I liked having one. Even just to…

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  • The Post Office gets Smart

    July 9, 2019 I’ve written a lot about my enthusiasm for smart homes. My two WiFi-enabled smart thermostats, the sensor that alerts me via App when my garage door goes up or down, etc. But the US Postal Service has an offering that makes one’s physical mail smart: their free Informed Delivery Service. In the…

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  • First Thoughts on the Lyric Thermostat

    08/30/2016: Since I’m all about lowering one’s energy consumption (within reason), our rent home came with a lovely mercury-filled “slider” thermostat, circa 1995.  For our first month it seems the thing was a blunt instrument — running way too much and keeping us dashing back and forth to raise or lower it.  PSO tells me…

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