On paper, Iris by Lowe's handled the transition from the first to the second generation of the company's smart home system well. Iris took note of the problems with generation one, and promised faster response time, easier device pairing, and more robust app controls. The company even offered existing customers a free upgrade to the $60 next-gen hub along with a migration tool to help with the transition.Take a look at the comments in the iOS app store, in Google's Play store, or even on the new hub's page on Lowe's site (at the bottom of this page, too) and you'll notice lots of customers unhappy with the upgrade. The migration tool wasn't ready at launch, and the second-gen system wasn't fully compatible with all first gen devices. Lots of customization options were lost in translation. Many of these details have been added back in through updates since the second-gen launched in November, but customers who relied on a web interface instead of the app to interact with the system are still out of luck.
Transition issues aside, Lowe's Iris generation two doesn't hold up on its own merits as a good smart-home system. It is more responsive, but using the app is tedious and counterintuitive. Some pieces of hardware don't work consistently. Worse, you still have to pay a $10 monthly fee just to use some of the basic features of the system. Wink, SmartThings and Insteon all have similar features for free, and all are a better buy than the second generation Lowe's Iris system right now. For the review process, I primarily looked at the devices contained with the $130 Iris Automation Pack -- the hub, two contact sensors to detect when a door opens and closes, a smart outlet you can use to automate a lamp or anything else with a plug, a button you can map to rules or use as a panic button, and a motion sensor. The $60 hub has antennas for ZigBee, Z-Wave and Bluetooth wireless radios -- covering the bases for typical smart-home connection standards. In theory, Iris should be widely compatible with third party devices.
You plug it into your router so you can control your devices from anywhere over Wi-Fi. And it uses four AA batteries as a backup in case power goes down -- Lowe's has on optional cellular backup plan for $5 a month so you can access the system even when your router is offline. Other first party Lowe's devices include a garage door controller, a range extender, an indoor and outdoor camera, a keypad and a water sensor. The hub works with third party devices like GE plugs, First Alert smoke detectors, Honeywell thermostats, Osram lights and locks from Schlage, Yale, and Kwikset. In all, it's a lineup competitive with SmartThings, Wink, and Insteon. Though Wink and SmartThings get lots of additional interoperability via integration with IFTTT -- the online rule maker. Iris doesn't have that. and in Lowe's retail outlets. Lowe's Iris only officially supports the US, but according to the company, does have customers using the system overseas. The price of the hub converts to approximately £40 and AU$80 for our readers in the UK and Australia respectively.
The $130 Automation Pack converts to £90 and AU$170. The $100 Security pack costs roughly £70 and AU$130. With the first generation, we were annoyed by how little you could do with the app. For the most part, you needed to control the system with the Web interface. That isn't a problem anymore. Anything you control with Lowe's Iris, you control via the app. In fact, now the Web interface is bare-bones. You can use it to manage your billing, though Iris Vice President Mick Koster promised that core services are coming back to the web later this year. Between rules, schedules, scenes, and managing alerts and alarms, you can do a lot with the app to make your Lowe's Iris smart home pretty smart. For instance, the hub comes with a built-in alarm, and you can set up your motion sensor or contact sensor to trigger the alarm and send you a push notification when the system is armed. Unfortunately, a lot of this functionality sits behind a paywall. By comparison, with SmartThings, you can use IFTTT to create a wide variety of recipes using a large catalog of interoperable devices and platforms for free.
To do something similar, even with first-party Lowe's Iris accessories, you need to pay $10 a month. .That could all change in the coming months. Lowe's Iris will offer contract free monitoring as an optional add-on soon. At that point, a $20 monthly fee will include professional monitoring and the premium version of the app, plus cellular backup of the hub. That price feels much more worth it, given that monitoring alone costs $25 a month with SimpliSafe. AT&T's Digital Life charges as much as $65 a month for monitoring. Plus, once monitoring becomes a reality for Lowe's, Koster assured me the company would start looking at the basic to premium breakdown, and moving some premium features to the other side of the paywall. But I can't give any credit now to a smart-home system based on how good it might be in a couple of months. As it stands, that $10 monthly fee is dumb.Current ThermostatSmart ThermostatNest ThermostatIt'S EstheticallyEsthetically PleasingTech EnergyEnergy EfficiencyRodney MitchellOleary IdeasForwardOut with the old, and in with the new!
Another blogger installs the nest thermostat.If you've chosen the Lowe's Iris Smart Hub as your smart home controller and want to begin adding components, the Iris By Lowes Automation Pack ($129) is a good place to start. It contains everything you need to add door/window sensors, motion detection, and smart plug automation to your hub, and it's a bit less expensive than if you were to buy these components separately. Each component offers very fast response times, but installation be tricky and a monthly subscription is required for the components to interact with other devices on your Iris network. SimpliSafe Home Security System Smanos W020i Wi-Fi Alarm System Design and Features The Automation Pack contains two contact sensors, a small motion sensor, a smart button, and a smart plug, all of which are ZigBee devices. To buy these components separately it'll cost you $135.95, so the pack does offer a small savings. Similar components (minus the smart button) will cost you $175 if you're using the Samsung SmartThings home automation platform.
Although some components in the Automation Pack offer similar functionality to what you'll find in smart home security systems like SimpliSafe and Vivint Sky, it's more of a starter kit than a dedicated security solution. Alternately, you can purchase the $99.99 Iris Security Pack; it doesn't come with a smart button or a smart plug but it does offer a wireless keypad, two contact sensors, and a motion sensor. View All 6 Photos in Gallery The contact sensor consists of a 2.5-by-0.7-by-0.7-inch (HWD) transmitter and a smaller 1.7-by-0.3-by-0.6-inch magnet. It contains a temperature sensor and comes with double-back tape mounting strips for easy installation. The smart button also contains a temperature sensor and can trigger other devices such as connected lights or a smart plug, but you'll need a subscription to do so. It can also be used as a panic button to send a push notification to your phone, but it doesn't contact the police or a third party like some security sensors do.
The button measures 1.7 by 1.7 by 0.6 inches and comes with wall mounting tape and a mounting plate with screws and wall anchors. The motion sensor measures 1.6 by 1.6 by 0.9 inches and it too contains a temperature sensor. It is powered by a removable 3 volt CR2 battery. The smart plug has a three-prong outlet on the front, along with a manual on/off button and small blue power LED indicator. It contains a power meter that tells you how many watts the connected device is using and measures 2.6 by 2.4 by 1.6 inches. Each component is controlled and monitored using the Iris Android or iOS app and will send a push notification when triggered. You can create rules to have the components interact with each other (and other Iris-compatible devices, like the Outdoor Security Camera) and set up on/off schedules, but that requires a $9.99 monthly Premium Plan subscription. The Iris Hub doesn't support If This Then That (IFTTT) recipes, and neither do these components. The Iris app opens to a Dashboard page where you can view the day's history of events for each sensor, and below that are individual sections called Cards for each component category including Lights & Switches, Security Alarm, Climate, Doors & Locks, Cameras, and more.
Each card displays a brief status for installed components in that category (temperature, opened, closed, armed, disarmed). Tapping a card icon opens a page that displays each installed component and its current status. For example, if the contact sensor is open a double circle is displayed; if it's closed it displays a single circle. Tapping a device brings up details such as last time opened, temperature, and battery level. Here you can also edit the sensor name and settings. Tap the Security Alarm icon to arm to disarm the system. The on setting is ideal for when nobody is home as it arms all sensors, while the Partial setting only arms the contact sensors and leaves the motion sensor disarmed so you can move about the house without setting off an alarm. The off setting completely disarms the system. At the top right corner of the Dashboard is a plus sign icon for adding new devices and creating rules, and on the left is a triple bar icon that opens a page where you can create Scenes to control several devices at once, and Rules to connect and automate components.
Here you can manage and control devices, add users, and update your account information. Installation and Performance Pairing the Automation Pack components was a mixed bag in testing. To install the sensors I tapped the plus icon in the upper right corner of the Dashboard page, chose Device, and selected the Iris brand. This produced a list of Iris devices. I selected contact sensor and followed the instructions to remove the battery tab. Within 10 seconds the hub beeped and the app said it was searching for the device but never found it. After a 10-minute wait I closed and restarted the app and the sensor was listed. The second sensor was immediately paired, however. Installing the Smart Button was also problematic; I removed the battery tab according to the instructions and waited several minutes while the app searched, unsuccessfully, for the device. I tried this three times without success. On a whim, I flicked the small lever at the top of the device and the button was immediately paired on my fourth try.
I was then asked to assign an action to the button (Trigger Panic Alarm, Play Chime, Activate a Rule), and was finished. Next, I selected motion sensor from the list and was told to remove the battery door and the battery tab. Once the tab was removed the sensor was immediately paired. To pair the smart plug, I chose it from the list, plugged it into a wall outlet, and it too was paired within seconds. All of the sensors were very responsive. Push notifications arrived within seconds when the contact and motion sensors were triggered, and the smart plug turned on and off instantly using the app. It also followed my daily timed schedule without missing a beat. I plugged a lamp into the smart plug and created a rule that had it turn on when a contact sensor was opened, and it too worked perfectly. ConclusionsThe Iris Home Automation Pack is a good choice for homeowners who own the Iris Hub and want to add a handful of security components and a smart plug to their home automation system, but it doesn't replace a dedicated security system.