What's the last bit of tech you bought?

Interesting, I guess I should generally start with cutting my own grass, more regularly - but then I imagine there’s a lot to be said for the wait of a person, and mower walking over the grass causing compression against it, vs an overall lighter auto mower doing it regularly.

I don’t think the weight is really an issue, I still got some really good results.

You’ve just got to keep on top of the weeds, use lawn feed at the right times and don’t let the grass get too long - that’s all that’s needed really.

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Sadly my patio ends with about four steps down to the lawn so it would need a tiny parachute :laughing:

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You can buy accessories for it but sadly a tiny parachute isn’t one :rofl:

It doesn’t have to be plugged in all the time. You can get some extra battery packs and keep swapping them out and charge them indoors. It kinda defeats the purpose of an automatic mower though!

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I’m moving into a new build next week and was wondering what smart locks people have (if any). The only goal for me is it works with homekit (not homebridge).

Pictures of door lock:


While that looks like the usual ‘American’ deadbolt lock type - the edge plate gives away that it is/was one lock type and while the lock and handle are physically separated from each other on the door inner/outer faces, it may be that only the ‘plastic door’ type combined handle and lock is needed. If a combined lock is needed, probably the Yale Connexis L1/L2 should work with that door - but no native Homekit.

I suspect that if you removed the handle and lock/deadbolt, then took out the assembly from the door edge, it’s be a single assembly. Which narrows the options down somewhat.

I’ve been on the edge of buying the Yale lock, because I have the combined handle/lock type.

EDIT: Use this template sheet to measure up - it’ll reveal if the existing lock (bottom bit) is actually internally part of the upper handle if the measurements are the same (92mm between the 2 cylinders):

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No smart lock here, but that’s more because where I live, it would be moot and cause problems rather than actually solve them (everyone leaves their doors unlocked, and it’s expected by couriers, Royal Mail, grocery deliveries etc).

I’ve never been that impressed with what’s available in the U.K. either.

I have researched what is available pretty thoroughly though, and had some demonstrations/tests of various ones. If I was to get one, or lived anywhere else in the U.K., Nuki is the only one I’d go for.

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Do you come home and find that Tesco (or supermarket of choice) have delivered food directly to your cupboards/fridge/freezer?

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:joy: I wish! Just gets left in the entrance hall.

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Everyone leaves their doors unlocked? I could never.

How does this work (I assume it doesn’t) if my lock needs the handle to be lifted before locking?

Even if it does, some locks need the cylinder to be kept at the fully unlocked position with the key (from which it would normally spring back to the keyway being aligned for removal/insertion of the key) while depressing the lever to open the door?

I looked at this lock but I don’t think it would work for the reason outlined in the second para sadly. Damn these ultra-secure doors!

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I don’t always lock the door, I’m confident I’m safe. Drives my partner mad when she comes home and fights with the lock to realise I didn’t even lock it.

As for smart, I’m still reluctant. I have all sorts of other smart things and the uptime is not 100%, which is unacceptable for a lock.

If I come home, bags full of shopping and the door won’t open because some aspect of the smart has broken, that would really annoy me. I can cope with lights and cameras not doing as they should.

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The lifty handle doors aren’t for locking! They’re for closing the door properly so it seals, keeping the drafts out. I don’t think they were ever designed that way as a security thing. Not a door expert though, so I’ve no idea.

This lock does work with those doors too, I’ve seen it, but couldn’t tell you how it works.

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My lifty door handle is definitely a security feature, at least when unlocking. I don’t know how to explain but normally you turn the key one turn to unlock the door, then you can depress the lever.

On my door there’s a spring-loaded mechanism that won’t allow the lever to be depressed even when the door is unlocked, you need to turn the key an extra quarter turn, then hold there while you press down the handle.

I don’t think this latter part would allow the lock to work unless it keeps the key turned but then I’d worry about excess torque snapping the key in the lock!

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We sell the Husqvarna Automower range where I work, demand is through the roof for robot mowers right now and increasing yearly! Still nowhere near the demand they have in Europe though, weekend noise pollution rules have fast tracked their adoption of these kind of machines over there.

Husqvarna have just released a few new models which don’t need boundary wires, although it still needs a fixed base station mounted somewhere high up line of sight to the mower though. Usually just on the side of the house in a similar location to where you’d put a satellite dish is fine.

Some of the fancier models even have ‘Systematic Mowing’ now, so it will mow up and down in stripes rather than randomly. For those that prefer a more refined looking finish. :face_with_monocle:

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Ah, yeah I’m not sure about that latter part. You’d probably need to replace the cylinder.

If in doubt you’d be best contacting the smart lock manufacturer you’re looking to buy from. Most will have some kind of quiz (like with smart thermostats) as a quick means of checking compatibility.

One of the reasons I gravitated towards Nuki is because 1) HomeKit, and 2) it seems to have the best compatibility with most existing door locks and is more like a retro fit (like buying a soma device for your existing blinds as opposed to some smart blinds from ikea). Others I’ve looked at in the past would have involved me needing to replace the lock on the door with one that’s compatible too.

That’s the one thing I’m going to miss :frowning: I’m hoping that it will be a software update at some point in the future (if that’s possible).

I looked at Husqvarna and they look really good too, very pricey, but I’m sure you get what you pay for.

As long as the GPS hardware is accurate enough for the ‘pass to pass’ accuracy required to do stripes it should theoretically be able to have the feature added later. The Husqvarna models that can now do it, had it added after release as an OTA update. So you never know!

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Now it’s a decent price (£699 after cashback) - picked up a S23U. Now to flog on my dog of a pixel 6 Pro.

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I was looking at the Nuki lock… Looks like I’ll need to get their ‘universal cylinder’ too as the thumb turn would be too thick.

Down the rabbit hole I go.

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