Hi We've done automation where just about everything opens and shuts (eg 10 TV's) for $100's of thousands of dollars in a multi million $$ home to simple lighting /aircon and AV in homes... There is no right or wrong answer, as it depends on both your appetite for it and your budget...but here is what we tend to do... We do lighting with preset scenes only now as we've found most people still prefer to use a switch, even if it is a simple dimmer press switch. Those scenes include all off controlled by the bed side in master and at the front door as you go out, to evening mood lighting, to passage only (to eg kitchen) at 20% on movement sensor at night so you can see where you're going on the way to toilet/get a drink, away mode (lights come on and off to simulate someone home), theatre preset (lights and projector/tv set)... Where a lot of big money is spent and systems become unwieldy is in the level of programming required at the switch itself vs the board and how many commands it needs to do a simple action. We've tried all sorts of systems but generally find the simplest wins all of the time as it is more user friendly. At present, we are trialling the simplest system we have found so far which is Amazon voice activated service (Alexa) with off the shelf light switches from Belkin (available in eg JB Hi Fi), portable music systems and aircon integration. As it is mostly plug and play wireless it is so far making the hard wired systems we've used before seem overly complicated and expensive. It is also expandable and once you see what Amazon has in store for us here in Oz re services you can order with it, it can be quite amazing... If I had to suggest a minimum automation, do scenes that resonate with you for lighting, install SONOS (we do it in EVERY property even if it has no automation), link your aircon, do a scene/macro for the home theatre if you have one and get good internet over Foxtel cable.... Cheers

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Shower time for teens is special time?! Lol! I don’t know what rock I’ve been living under but evidently it’s overgrown with moss! It’s become special time for me now at the ripe old age of almost 41... and not for the same reasons as teens lol..because I finally get to shower on my own - with no kids - and shave my legs in peace ... now that’s true me time ... the only 10 mins I get once a week!! I might find a hair stimulator so the leg hair grows faster & I can shave more frequently to enjoy more me time... and god help anyone who touches the hot or cold tap to rush me out of my own shower hehe

Daryl, I for one, have been following this thread with great interest since your comment and am very sorry to hear the problems you have had. I had never heard of any of this, but with the dramatically increasing incidences of asthma, mental illness and depression, attention deficit and behavioural problems with children especially, autism - the list goes on - I often stop to wonder why, I know when I was young half of these issues didn't seemed to exist, yet did they and and no one knew about them, or is this because there are more people in the world now or is it all a part of modern living and why? Pollution has been blamed for many things but it seems as fast as we clean up one form of pollution we start another such as this. Technology is advancing at a crazy pace and the younger generation are eager for more and more but is anyone really stopping to investigate health issues or are we just becoming obsessed not just with the profits to be had from it, but also to free ourselves from everyday drudgery and live a Jetsons life style. We all want more free time, but what are we doing with it? In many cases working longer hours to pay for it !! It seems we are too obsessed with "improving" our lives to stop and question any consequences. For we seniors, this is not doing us any favours, we were not raised with this, it is a whole new way of life for us and the faster technology advances, the faster we are being left behind floundering in the mess. No one stops to think that women especially in my age group were forced to resign from work when we married or had children, there was no place for us in the workforce, our place was at home, cleaning and maintaining it, ensuring our menfolk were well fed and dressed and our children were properly raised. For many women, they lost workplace skills, but the male ego was also dinted if wives went back to work, men were expected to be the providers. Unless you have lived through this period you really would have no comprehension of just how much attitudes and opportunities have changed particularly in the second half of last century, I think we have lived through some of the greatest changes ever but sadly not everyone is given the opportunity to embrace them. There are many, many people in society today, in their 60s, 70s and 80s who just don't have a clue about technology, they never had the opportunity to use it or learn about it in their younger years, but now it is just an assumption that "everyone" knows, so many seniors are really falling through the cracks, they are missing out on many benefits and are totally vulnerable to scammers. The point I make here now is that trying to follow this discussion, I realise even more what a whole new language technology seems to have introduced and how much further seniors are being left behind. I had to look up what a "dect" phone was - never heard that word used before, so many other words and terms have me floundering too, half of Ian's learned comments might as well have been written in Swahili, just where do you go to learn all this? As a senior though, (and I have many friends agree) I have a lifetime of learning stored in my grey matter, it is full and it is tired, how much more does it have to learn, how much do I really want to learn - quite frankly as little as possible, I'm over it all now. I very much agree with Pottsy's comment of putting a tin foil cap on my head, if that makes everything go away I'm more than happy. However these health issues now are definitely a great cause for concern, not just for me but I think of my grandchildren, how reliant they are on technology now, they were raised and are being raised with nothing else, what is in the future for them? I had to have my modem changed to a Smart modem recently because the original one kept failing and unfortunately I have to rely in the internet now to stay in touch with family. I also rely on regular Nanna Naps to get through the day, is this just an age thing or is it the wifi?? How will we ever know these things - obviously Daryl, your symptoms were severe enough to identify this but for someone only mildly affected ??? It is like back in the early days of mobile phones and people developing brain cancer, there were thoughts this could happen, but it wasn't like suddenly millions of people developed brain cancer and it could never be proven that people who did would not have developed it anyway. We still don't know why people get many forms of cancer, but I can understand the skepticism and cynicism - how much slower would technology advance if we really took time out to more thoroughly investigage health risks. It is great that you have identified this issue for us Daryl, but realistically where do we go from here? It is a bit like closing the gate after the horse has bolted and trying to fight telco's .............yeah!! .