Technology for Dementia person at home.

[Dothedealnow]

One of the thoughts we had to manage mums home remotely ( my brothet visited daily for 2 years) was to install securely so she could not get at them:-
Nest thermostat ( to remotely control her heating and hot water).
Nest camera in her lounge to monitor
Nest protect co and smoke alarm
Plus a number of other monitoring and security devices
Has anyone done anything similar in terms if home automation?



I only ask for two reasons, one to spark an idea that may help someone on here and secondly to improve my home automation which currently consists of a couple of Nest Thermostats only.

I apologize if this is in the wrong area or is a repeat.

 

[Dothedealnow]

Oops

Maybe this could be moved to:-
Equipment and Technology
Sorry!

 

[Amy in the US]

I'll leave it up to the moderators, but don't see any harm leaving this here. I think this forum gets the most traffic of them all, to be honest.

I do think others could get ideas and information, so it's very reasonable to post about it.

May I enquire as to your experiences with the Nest thermostats, please? Or any of the devices you mention, please? If and when you get a chance. Thank you!

 

[Dothedealnow]

Nest Experiences

I use the Nest thermostat to control heating ( they can also be used to control cooling and hot water) in two houses. One of these has a gas boiler the other a heating oil burner.
The advantages are:-
I can control the temperature remotely either manually or automatically in 30 minute slots.
The Nest thermostat, through how you initially set it up, knows how long it takes to get the heating to a certain temp. So if you want it at 19C between 3.30 and 11PM, that's exactlly what you get.
There are a raft of other sensors such as movement and smartphone proximity that we also use.
The above keeps our bills to a minimum.
I will shortly be adding an IP camera to the Nest system, plus a CO and smoke alarm. All these can be managed remotely and more devices are being added all the time.

Both Nests were installed by qualified electricians and boiler specialists within the £250 price. Once installed they are usually controlled by a smartphone app which means I can control it from the bed, the car or anywhere I have wifi or cell coverage.

The applications of this in an environment where there is no full time care should be obvious. My mother used to keep the heating all the way down either at the boiler or thermostat. I sealed both so she could no longer fiddle.

The ROI just on heating alone for each £250 Nest thermostat is c 2years.

There is plenty of other technology arriving under the banner IoT, Internet of things some of which will connect to Nest, some directly to your WiFi. For example a system to monitor the kettle being boiled, fridge opened, cooker on so if none of these have been triggeted for a time, or a pattern has been broken, you get an alert.

Note Google Nest has a number of competitors and other systems are available on the market.

Happy to hear about others experiences.
We were in process of setting this up when we ended up in a failed discharge situation. Mum won't be returning home sadly but will be residing in a nursing home.

Thanks.

 

[Dothedealnow]

Interesting

Are there no long distance carers or relatives at all who want to ensure that thier loved ones are;
warm (Nest Thermostat)
secure (Nest video, CO and smoke alarm)

Total for above is c £600

There are other makes available such as the Hive Thermostat from British Gas.
There are many other devices coming on to the market that should help and indeed some are already available.

If noone is interested at all then I shall desist.

 

[Dothedealnow]

BTW this is not fancy stuff. Curry's/PC World sell it.