[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house, got a jampacked show today. We'll be talking with Rebecca Brown from Comcast about the affordable connectivity program. And then we're gonna dive in and talk about smart home basics. If you're gonna get that smart home going, what are the things you need to do foundationally around your home?

[00:00:20] Eric Goranson: Especially if you've got kids going back to school or you're gonna be working from home, what are the things that you need to get that working? Great. And then we'll start adding. To all that and more coming up on around the house, make sure you check us out on Facebook, around the house show and around the house nation, which is our closed group.

[00:00:38] Eric Goranson: And that's where you can join and put up all your pictures and projects you're working on. And we'd love to see your feedback and that's at around the house online.com and contact us there for more inform. Now, let's get back to this show with technology. It's time to rock

[00:00:55] Intro: when it comes to remodeling and

[00:00:57] Eric Goranson: renovating your home.

[00:00:58] Eric Goranson: There

[00:00:58] Intro: is a lot to know, [00:01:00]

[00:01:00] Eric Goranson: but we've got you covered.

[00:01:02] Intro: This is around the house.

[00:01:05] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to around the house with Eric G and Caroline B, where we talk home improvement and everything around the home every single week. Well, Caroline's out help on a contract right now at her house. So she'll be back here in a little bit, but we've.

[00:01:18] Eric Goranson: Rebecca Brown from Comcast. Welcome to around the house.

[00:01:23] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Well, thank you, Eric. I'm so excited to be here this

[00:01:26] Eric Goranson: morning. This is so awesome. I love this. And we're talking today about the affordable connectivity program, because I think this is a huge deal for people all across the country. You're my local person here where I live, but let's chat a little bit about it and how people that have a hard time affording internet access can get.

[00:01:48] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Eric. Yes, it's so true. And it is happening right. Universally. I think one critical lesson from the pandemic was just the importance of a reliable home internet connection. You know, schools [00:02:00] closed, everyone's starting to work from home and the internet became sort of that soul means for connecting. Um, but not everyone has equal access to the internet, as we know.

[00:02:09] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: And I think the affordable connectivity program is. Truly this once in a lifetime opportunity, this doesn't happen, um, all the time. And it's just that another important step in helping people connect to the transformative power of the internet. So I might refer to the affordable connectivity program as ACP, just for brevity a little bit, but, um, ACP really is a component of the infrastructure and investment jobs act that our president signed into law late last year.

[00:02:40] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: And it is a 14.2 federal program that supports those eligible income constrained households that might be struggling to afford monthly internet service. And it provides them with a monthly subsidy. So basically a credit and eligible households could receive up to $30 a. Towards their [00:03:00] internet and or mobile service.

[00:03:02] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: And for those living on qualifying tribal lands, that subsidy could be up to $75 a month.

[00:03:08] Eric Goranson: Wow. That's serious money when you're talking a month to help pay for that.

[00:03:11] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Exactly, exactly. And it's just, it's an important program, you know, to just help ensure that these households can get that internet at home for work for school, for telehealth, right.

[00:03:22] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: And so much

[00:03:22] Eric Goranson: more, well, I know that some people out there are probably going well, you know, pandemic's over everybody's back, but I think there's gonna be some different things that happen. You know, I live in where we live in the Portland Metro area. We've got people that live across Northern states all across the country.

[00:03:37] Eric Goranson: I think. That snow day for kids is now gonna be the school from home day for kids, not the go out and play in the snow day, which I know I'm ruining a whole bunch of winners for kids by saying that. But I think that that has changed our world in education. That I think that that day of, oh, I don't know if it's safe to get kids to school today because of weather or whatever else.

[00:03:59] Eric Goranson: Mm-hmm [00:04:00] I think they're still gonna have school and everybody's just gonna connect.

[00:04:04] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Exactly. I think you're absolutely right. And, uh, I have three kiddos in school too. And I'm gonna tell them, just block that part out. It's okay. Snow days. Yeah. Snow days may or may not still happen, but yes, we do have the ability to stay connected with a snow day with other, um, weather.

[00:04:22] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Equipment, whether that might happen and it's so it's critical. And again, we know that not everyone yet, um, can afford that internet connection, maybe even have the device and technology digital skills to, to navigate online. And so with ACP, um, and this program, it at least is, you know, it's helping that affordability component.

[00:04:44] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Um, Then I know at Comcast through our internet essentials program, you know, that we've had for over a decade. Now we also try to address some of those other adoption barriers, like the device access or that digital skills training. Um, that's cool, but it's just, [00:05:00] it's important. And I think there's, you know, people that need to be aware of programs like this that exist and how they might take advantage and, and how do they qualify?

[00:05:09] Eric Goranson: Right. Exactly. You know, and things are not getting less expensive out there right now, whether you're going to the grocery store or, or fueling up your vehicle it's, it's not cheaper. And so who could qualify for ACP?

[00:05:22] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Yes. Great question. So households can qualify in a variety of ways and they only have to meet one of the criteria.

[00:05:30] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Um, there's either the around income levels. So if a household is at, or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. Okay. Um, for example, let's take a household of four making a total income of 55,500. Or lower they would qualify. Or if a household is participating in certain public assistance programs, um, like snap, WIC, Medicaid, the national school lunch program, talking about schools, if you qualify for [00:06:00] the national school lunch program and those that have even received a Pell grant, um, and our PE recipients or federal public housing, those, they would all qualify.

[00:06:10] Eric Goranson: So, as long as you check one of those boxes, you're in,

[00:06:13] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: as long as you check one of those boxes you are in, um, and we have a site, xfinity.com/acp, where folks could go to find out, you know, how they're eligible, if they're eligible and then how to apply. Um, but there's some great resources out there to, to figure out eligibility and then start that application process for ACP.

[00:06:35] Eric Goranson: I know there's a lot of people listening that have different, you know, providers across the country. Yep. You know, maybe Comcast, Xfinity, not in their neighborhood, but Cox or somebody else is you guys used to have that, uh, or still have that internet essentials program. How does this work with that?

[00:06:51] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Yes.

[00:06:52] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Um, I will tell you about that. Um, thank you, Eric. And I'll also provide that you're right to the point like ACP, [00:07:00] um, is available and can be applied to any sort of provider that's participating in the program. So yes, Comcast is, is participating, but there are several others and you can apply this benefit to whoever's available in your area.

[00:07:13] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: So, um, and there's also a general website, ACP benefit.org. Folks can go to, to check out and learn more. And then they list out all the providers, um, that are participating in the program. Nice. Um, but love that you mentioned yes. Internet essential. So this is our program that we launched over a decade ago to help address the digital divide.

[00:07:35] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Like we knew it existed. I think the pandemic shown and even brighter light, um, on that, on that component, but it is our low cost home internet connection for under $10 a month that provides. High speed, internet access. It includes a wifi router, no equipment charges. Wow. With that, um, no contract that you have to sign.

[00:07:58] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: And, um, a [00:08:00] household that qualifies for internet essentials could also get a device for under $150. So if they need that technology in the home, wow. They'd be able to. To apply for that. Um, and then we also offer a wide array of digital skills training, either online or with partners that we work with throughout our local communities.

[00:08:19] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Um, but internet essentials, 9 95 a month, that's below the $30 ACP benefit. So essentially households that qualified could get it for free, which is super exciting and such a benefit.

[00:08:32] Eric Goranson: That is awesome. That is cool. I mean, that's, that's a huge deal when you're in that. So can. Here's a, here's always the question.

[00:08:40] Eric Goranson: What else can I do with this ACP funding? Can it be used for anything else? Right,

[00:08:44] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: right. Um, exactly it can. So, um, the ACP benefit could be applied to internet service and or mobile service. Oh, cool. So it can apply yep. To your cell phone bill as well. Um, and as you know, there's companies out there, we [00:09:00] offer both internet and cell phone service.

[00:09:02] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: And so the benefit. Is applied first to internet and then any, um, credit remaining would apply to a cell.

[00:09:12] Eric Goranson: When you think about it, that cell phone can also be a gateway to internet as well. Even though it's a little hard to be doing the school work from it. It is, it is an access point. Don't change that dial.

[00:09:21] Eric Goranson: We'll be right back with Rebecca Brown, from Comcast and talking about affordable connectivity with the internet. Just as soon as around the house returns, then we'll start talking to some smart home

[00:09:31] Eric Goranson: tech.

[00:09:58] Eric Goranson: What's up. This is stick hand [00:10:00] satchel.

[00:10:00] Eric Goranson: Steel Panther. And you are

[00:10:02] Eric Goranson: listening to around the house

[00:10:04] Eric Goranson: with Eric G. Yeah. We love Eric G and you should

[00:10:09] Intro: too.

[00:10:12] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the round, the house. Show your stop for taking care of that home. We've got all the information right here for you now, Caroline is out today, but if you wanna get ahold of us, you can find us at our website around the house, online.com or you can catch us over on any one of the social media platforms around the house show.

[00:10:28] Eric Goranson: And don't forget. Our closed group, which is over on Facebook, which is around the house nation. Love to see you join over there, where you can share up your project in a nice safe environment. Now let's get back to Rebecca brand. This is great. And there's so many boxes you can check to be able to get into this program, which is great.

[00:10:46] Eric Goranson: So how do people apply for this? Do they go to you? Do they go to the feds? What do they do for this.

[00:10:51] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Um, it is a two step process because, because it is a government program, um, they do have to go to that ACP benefit.org [00:11:00] website, or there is a mail-in application. So if they can't get online, um, they can also mail in the application, but it's, um, It's a process where they go and apply.

[00:11:12] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: They receive what's called a national verifier ID. Um, and through this process, and I would just say, you know, it is the government,

[00:11:20] Eric Goranson: so nine months to get my IRS question asked. No, no

[00:11:26] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: quicker than that. I promise it's quicker than that. And online is, is the fastest, um, It, there are definitely, you know, boxes to fill out.

[00:11:34] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: And I would say detailed information. I mean, don't go by like a nickname or something else you might use, but sort of your, your ID on your birth certificate or identification, um, use that information, but. You go through that process, you get that national verifier ID, and then you go to the provider of your choice.

[00:11:53] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Um, and then as you are selecting, what kind of internet service you would like and, um, and apply and [00:12:00] sign up for that service, you will be able to, um, provide that. ID that national verifier ID. And then the credit is applied to your monthly bill. Once you're all set up and ready to go. So, no, it's like a two step process in the beginning.

[00:12:15] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: And then once you get through all of that, it's just automatically applied every month. And we credit at, um, at Comcast and our Xfinity services. We credit your bill.

[00:12:23] Eric Goranson: That's easy. Once you get through the

[00:12:24] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: hoop. Once you get through the hoops, it's easy and it's there. Um, and it's just, we're so proud to partner with this program and help those households that need this assistance.

[00:12:35] Eric Goranson: Yeah, that's cool. So, you know, taking like the 5,000 foot view, where do you see this going forward? Because we're gonna continue to have these probably digital equity issues that we've got out there. What do you see moving forward? Because I know. Everything's getting smarter, whether we go buy a new appliance or anything else, it becomes more and more important to have internet in your house.

[00:12:56] Eric Goranson: It, it,

[00:12:57] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: it truly does. And, and you're right. I mean, [00:13:00] our internet essentials program we've had for over a decade. So this digital equity issue has existed for some time. I don't think it's gonna immediately go away. Um, and, and to your point, sort of looking ahead, I think. Um, and with the ACP program, I mean, right now it's in place while the government has this funding to support it.

[00:13:18] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: So hopefully, you know, that's for several years and we'll see how that continues. Um, but it's about, you know, these public private partnerships as well, and all of us, the entire community kind of working together because while internet is important in the home, um, The adoption, there are other barriers to adoption as well.

[00:13:39] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Like why aren't people connecting? Why don't they have their internet service in the home? A variety of reasons there, but it's also like language access, like fear of the internet, right? Yeah. Like not truly understanding what it is, what it does, um, working devices or even. Awareness of programs like this, that programs like this exist.

[00:13:58] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: So it's [00:14:00] truly continuing to tackle and look at it holistically and, and all of these barriers. Um, But then also looking at social broader issues too, like housing and security, like literacy. And so I know at Comcast, um, as we continue to hear from our partners about the barriers what's happening, I mean, we know we're committed to creating equitable pathways, um, in the future.

[00:14:24] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Our world is going to, I think to your point, Eric continue to increase increasingly become this digital world. Right. Um, and so we're here for the long haul. We want to work and partner. In fact, we recently announced, um, Project up, which I'm really excited about our, our 1 billion commitment over the next 10 years, um, to advance these digital equity efforts and to create this world of unlimited possibilities.

[00:14:52] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: So project up, up the unlimited possibilities. Um, but we are yes. Working with local [00:15:00] partners across the country. And with all of our companies like NBC universal and sky as well to focus in on this work and it's gonna have to continue. And we, we need to all continue to get creative in how we work together and the programs we look to

[00:15:15] Eric Goranson: support.

[00:15:16] Eric Goranson: That's awesome. I'm seeing a lot of school districts out there that are lending out Chromebooks to kids, and they're really. There there's a lot of opportunity out there, uh, from multiple sources, but it's nice to see everybody kind of coming together to try to fix some of these issues, to make sure that, you know, we gotta get these kids in school just as a basic, right.

[00:15:35] Eric Goranson: But as you talked about as well, if you don't have kids, there's so many things that you really need to do online to be able to, to do it. Dropping into an office or, or doing it via mail. Mm-hmm many times people are stuck going to a library or someplace else where they can get internet service. And that's, that's a tough way to operate in, uh, in these times.

[00:15:56] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: It is. And I mean, and you think about how do you look for a job [00:16:00] nowadays, right. Typically online and a lot of jobs you have to apply online. Um, so to be able. Have that connectivity either at home or, or out in the community? I think one of our initiatives that we launched during the pandemic was our lift zone program.

[00:16:16] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Um, and that was looking at, at community partners that were staying open during the pandemic and coming in and providing like a free wifi. Uh, connectivity for folks that maybe couldn't have access at home or for children that couldn't stay home to do their online learning had to get somewhere to do it safely, cuz maybe they had a parent that was an essential worker and had to be out.

[00:16:38] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Um, so they could come in safely and connect to this lift zone, um, wifi and, and do what they needed to do. So we have, you know, we had a goal of launching, I think a thousand of these across the country, over three years and Eric, we. Achieved that. And then some we've launched, I think over 1500 in a [00:17:00] year and a half, um, because the need is so great.

[00:17:03] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: We understand. And we just, you may or may not have the internet in the home. Hopefully you're getting that. But then there's also these safe spaces and community centers and others where you can go and connect as you need to, to do that is

[00:17:14] Eric Goranson: great. You need to do thanks for coming on Rebecca. What should we, uh, let's steer people to those websites again.

[00:17:19] Eric Goranson: One more time. So cuz we've been talking about it in case they didn't have a, a way to remember it. What's the best place for people to go find this stuff.

[00:17:26] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Yes, I would say the general, um, website is ACP benefit.org. And for those of you in an Xfinity, uh, area that is xfinity.com/acp.

[00:17:40] Eric Goranson: Awesome. Rebecca Brown, thanks for coming on today.

[00:17:43] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: Absolutely. Um, Eric, is it helpful if I also just share a phone number just in case someone let's let do it? Let's do it. Let's do it. Yeah. Okay. So if somebody wanted to sign up for ACP and learn more, they could also call 8 4 4 3 8 9 4 [00:18:00] 6 8

[00:18:00] Eric Goranson: 1. There we go. Now there's no excuse of people to be able to get it.

[00:18:04] Eric Goranson: We've even got a phone number. I love it.

[00:18:07] Rebecca Brown-Comcast: You even. Have a phone number and Eric, just thank you for the opportunity to share more about this program that's out there. And hopefully there are households, um, that didn't know about it that now do and can take advantage and get that extra support that they need, um, to

[00:18:23] Eric Goranson: get connected.

[00:18:24] Eric Goranson: All right, Rebecca Brown, thanks for coming on today. Appreciate it. And, uh, when we get some more updates on this or some new stuff, I'd love to have you back on again. Sounds great. Thank you, Eric. All right. We'll be back after these important messages. Thanks for listening to around the house.[00:19:00]

[00:19:00] Intro: Hey, this is

[00:19:01] Eric Goranson: Ron keel, the middle cowboy from keel, the Ron keel band and Steeler. We are rock. Around the

[00:19:08] Intro: house with Eric G

[00:19:09] Eric Goranson: raise is you bill. Welcome back to around the house with Eric G and Caroline B. This is your one stop shop for taking care of that house. Maybe you've got a new project. Or you're a new homeowner or want to be a homeowner.

[00:19:23] Eric Goranson: We've got all the answers right here for you. Well, Caroline is out on assignment. She's doing some remodeling in her house and, uh, couldn't make it into the studio today, but we have got a fun one here for the rest of these two segments. We're gonna be talking about home technology and. This is one of those things that I think we really should kind of dial back and start talking about foundations first, because that's where it all starts with smart home technology.

[00:19:47] Eric Goranson: If you don't have the basics down, you're gonna struggle and you're gonna struggle hard. So the first thing I'd like to see people do is make sure you get that strong internet connection in, and you know, one of the problems that we have, and [00:20:00] I was guilty of this myself. One of the problems that we have with home tech is we go, oh, that's as good as our connection gets.

[00:20:07] Eric Goranson: You know, it's not. So what I would do is first start out right next to your router. If you could plug your laptop into it, this is what I would do. I'd hard plug into that thing. Don't go wireless and you'll hear why. And I'd run over to speed test and run a speed test on it and see how good. That router is working for you, especially if it's one supplied by your cable provider, then you can see and compare against your bill, how fast it's running.

[00:20:34] Eric Goranson: Now, the other thing that's gonna do is tell you where the problems could be now. The thing is, is those same routers you're paying for probably different levels of service. You might be paying with a, a certain speed for instance, or you could be on fiber optic where it's fast up and down, and you're good to go.

[00:20:53] Eric Goranson: But what I want you to do is compare that against your bill. If it's close, then it's close and you've got a good place [00:21:00] to start. If it's not, you need to look and make sure that you don't have a problem with your computer you're using or the router, or you've got a connection problem. For me, I actually had a connection problem.

[00:21:11] Eric Goranson: I was assuming, well, it's the, you know, it's, COVID, it's the pandemic everybody's using it. No, I actually had a problem on my pole where a squirrel had done some damage and it didn't matter about usage. I had a legitimate problem. So when a doubt haven't come out and test it and make sure. Now a lot of the stuff, for instance, with Comcast, you can actually test it at the router without doing it yourselves.

[00:21:35] Eric Goranson: So make sure if you have that ability to log in and see what your system's doing. So that's the first thing I want you to do, make sure you've got great internet speed, because you're gonna design everything else in your house around that. So once you get that dialed in next, you wanna make sure that you get that around the rest of your house.

[00:21:52] Eric Goranson: So this is where I look for a really good system to get around. And I, I I'll be honest. I don't like just [00:22:00] your regular, you know, router that you get from maybe like Comcast, that kind of thing. It works. But what I wanna see is a mesh system around your house. So instead of having just that one point where your wireless signal comes out, you want a mesh system.

[00:22:14] Eric Goranson: So what this does is it creates a wireless mesh across your house. So these different pods connect for my house. I have three of them. I put 'em in different corners of the house where I need it. And then what I did is that way I can get probably 90% of the house. And then for me in the studio, which is out in my garage, I knew I was gonna have some issues cuz getting through exterior walls, especially with an old house like mine, where I've got foil faced insulation, some other challenges like that.

[00:22:43] Eric Goranson: I actually put in a hard wire and red cat sex cable out to my garage. So I ran the cat cable out. So now I've got a hard line direct. That is wired. And that is one thing I really want you to think about as you're doing [00:23:00] remodeling projects, make sure as you're doing remodeling projects, if you have a chance where you can run wire to it, it's just easier.

[00:23:08] Eric Goranson: It's inexpensive and you're gonna have something for me. I wanted to make sure I had it. So that way I was good to go for whatever I was doing, because as we all know, speeds kept getting. Better and better and better. And with my security system that is wireless, I wanted to make sure, well some's wireless.

[00:23:26] Eric Goranson: Some not. I wanted to make sure that I had that connectivity outside of my building. So I put that in. So I've got really good wireless outside. And for instance, I've got a TV on the back outdoor. That is going through a Roku that's wireless. I wanted to make sure that I had a strong signal out there as well.

[00:23:47] Eric Goranson: So really this gets you to place where you can have out in front of the house. You pull in. You can control things within your house without getting out of the car. Now, the one thing you have to make sure though, is since you've got a larger signal [00:24:00] outside your house, I wanna make sure you've got the good security protections to get into it.

[00:24:05] Eric Goranson: So make sure you've got a complex code to get into that wifi don't use password one or anything dumb like that. Make sure that you've got a solid. Connection in there with a good password. I wanna see it laid out correctly. If you've got one of those password generators where you can keep it in a safe on your phone, that's the best option because you're gonna get a mixture of lowercase, uppercase, symbols, you know, all that different stuff.

[00:24:30] Eric Goranson: So you can have, you know, the hashtags and the dollar signs. And the pounds and all that, whatever you want to call it, that way you get all those different things through there. Cuz you know, that star in the end symbol can be great in a password that way you've got people not breaking into your system that maybe pull out front and do it.

[00:24:50] Eric Goranson: But by doing that, that's gonna give you those internet basics. You can do it. Now. You could start working on kind of setting up the rest of your system. And what do I mean by that? [00:25:00] What I mean by that is setting up the rest of the system. So maybe you want to add in that security system out front or out back, or on the side of your house, maybe you want to have that, you know, ring doorbell, or you want to have that smart thermostat.

[00:25:13] Eric Goranson: That's gonna save you money, whatever it is you wanna make sure you've got that connectivity. All around the house and that way you can get around some of those things, because you know, we've maybe got that big fireplace that's in the middle of the house or that chimney that's great at stop on those signals.

[00:25:29] Eric Goranson: So you wanna make sure and get that. So it bounces correctly around it. So think about those obstacles when you set this up to make sure you're good. And then. Before you go out and buy a bunch of stuff, make sure you figure out what system you're gonna do. For instance, I like using the Samsung smart things.

[00:25:47] Eric Goranson: Smart things can be really cool. Cuz I could sit there and use that as how I communicate. For instance in my house, I can sit there with smart things and buy things that are smart things [00:26:00] compatible that way. I don't have to have a dozen apps on my phone to control my not so smart system. And that way, if I make it all compatible, I can run it.

[00:26:10] Eric Goranson: And you know where the advantage is when I get up in the morning, I can hit good morning. And the lights that come on, come on, the lights that I want off for security at night, go off and I can do the same thing in the evening. I can have that one setting that is good night and make sure it locks my doors.

[00:26:27] Eric Goranson: I make sure my garage lights are off. I can make sure all the lights around, around my house the way I want it every single time. By doing that, it can make it really easy. How many times do you forget to turn the lights on or lights off out front? Maybe your porch lights or your garage lights or your back porch lights.

[00:26:46] Eric Goranson: You can set those up with smart switches. So then if you want your front line, Lights on during dusk. Great. You can have those come on an hour before sunset. You can go turn off 40 [00:27:00] minutes after sunrise and you can set that up and you never have to adjust those again. It's gonna adjust around the light output out there, and then you don't have to worry about it and you're saving money too.

[00:27:12] Eric Goranson: You don't have to worry about that. When you're traveling or going on a vacation or anything like that, those are little things you can do. That'll save you money as well as you can set up a bunch of different stuff like smart garage door openers, you know, you can do that, set that up that way, which is smart because.

[00:27:28] Eric Goranson: Well, one, you could let somebody in when you're not home two, if you're looking at some of the chamber Chamberlain ones, you can actually set it up where you could have Amazon deliver inside your garage. And that's great when you wanna have deliveries, people can drop those inside the garage from the app on Amazon, and then it'll let them access into their, they can put the package in and it'll stop those Amazon package thefts, which is huge.

[00:27:55] Eric Goranson: Those are big ones that you can do. And, uh, it'll save you a [00:28:00] ton of headaches as well as making sure that you're safe around the outside. Having those lights on when you come home at night, maybe you've been out to for the evening, went out to dinner and you're good to go. And that is stuff. That's gonna make it easier for you and a lot safer.

[00:28:14] Eric Goranson: Now, when we come back, we're gonna talk about some of the other smart things you can do around the house. That's gonna make things a little bit easier for you. And as part is getting this whole thing set up, because nowadays you don't even have to have cable boxes for a lot of things. We'll do that just as soon.

[00:28:28] Eric Goranson: Is around the house returns.

[00:28:50] Intro: All right,[00:29:00]

[00:29:00] Intro: man, drunk. It's the end of the show now drinking down people and it's time to

[00:29:03] Eric Goranson: go. It's that time. Welcome back to the round, the house show. Now that's actually Jim Haas. He is the blaze outdoor girls wrapped a little bit, his tunes inside the, around the house show. Now Carolina's out today for the rest of the show, but we've been talking smart home technology and you know, one of the things that I wanted to talk about today, well, let's first go out here and make sure that we've got you covered.

[00:29:27] Eric Goranson: If you have any questions for around the house, you can make sure and hit us over to around the house. online.com. And for social media, we've got around the house show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and then of course Caroline's personal pages and mine as well. And I think we're on everything, but TikTok out there including LinkedIn.

[00:29:44] Eric Goranson: So you can find us right there. If you've got any questions or comments, we'd love to hear them now, you know, what are the things with getting that great internet speed? And of course we talked about, you know, getting that, uh, internet speed for everybody getting that internet with, uh, earlier in the show with [00:30:00] Comcast.

[00:30:01] Eric Goranson: What I really like to see is making sure that we talked about like, in the last segment of getting that speed up there and getting that coverage without the house, because you're starting to see, like in my house, for instance, I don't need to have coax cable. I really don't. So all of my new boxes, except for the one for my cable boxes run over stream.

[00:30:22] Eric Goranson: So I have my Comcast boxes in my house, cuz that's my local cable provider. Uh, when I have cable in my house, uh, I have still not disconnected that yet just because I there's certain networks that aren't streaming that I do. Like, but here's the thing, I've got it where I can stream those without having to run coax into a bedroom, which is really nice, cuz that's less on the wiring front to do within the home.

[00:30:45] Eric Goranson: So these are things that can really make things a little bit easier. And I really like to be able to do that, cuz if I don't have to run cable with it and I can get it working over a, over a Bluetooth or a, or an internet connection, like this is Internet's great, it works well. [00:31:00] I don't have to mess with it.

[00:31:01] Eric Goranson: And you're starting to see that too with, you know, the different Rokus and all those different streaming things out there, especially for you that don't have cable it's even more important because that way you've got those streaming sticks and that kind of thing to be able to work anywhere within the home.

[00:31:16] Eric Goranson: And it's really handy, to be honest, to be able to throw that party outside. If you don't have a place, you can bring the TV outside, plug it in. And if you've got a strong enough internet connect, That can work really well. And you're solid at that point. And, uh, having that connectivity is gonna be really key.

[00:31:33] Eric Goranson: Now we talked about it a few weeks ago and I think it's really important. I've got some safety things around my house that really keeps things going. Now, one of the things you can do out there is put one of the water sensors on there. My, you know, my neighbor next door just had a huge water leak. A couple weeks ago.

[00:31:48] Eric Goranson: They had a big hole in their line that cost them five grand. To dig down in the driveway to get in there, get it fixed and, uh, patch it up and, uh, [00:32:00] repave that section there. So it gets really expensive. Quick. If you put one of those water meters. You know, emergency detectors on there. They're really cool.

[00:32:11] Eric Goranson: There are leak detection devices that you can put out close to the street. Uh, and we'll be talking about those in the future. You can put those on right at the meter and it's gonna detect any leaks. So that way you can save some money, especially when you're, you're in an area like I am. Well, you gotta a ton of.

[00:32:29] Eric Goranson: Well, it's expensive water, even though we get a ton of rain, we pay for our drinking water here. If you're on a, well, maybe it's not that big a deal, but at the same point, if it's going under a road or landscaping, you sure don't want to have that where it's gonna be causing damage to any of that. And it's just better not to drain the well out and put it into your yard unless you're trying to.

[00:32:48] Eric Goranson: So that's another key. And of course, I've got my ting T N G from ting labs that monitors my electrical system looking for short. As well as my favorite one sense, I have [00:33:00] that sense sensor that tells me what electrical is being used around my house. And so I can track that water, not water. I can track what my water's costing, the heat, what it's costing to.

[00:33:11] Eric Goranson: Cool my house and everything else for all of you using electrical stuff. So that's a key right there. If you can pull that. You'll be pretty good saving money and keeping the house a little bit safer. The other thing is, is I've actually got one of those Google. Um, they're one of the new smoke detectors and I love this thing because I could put it in my house and it does carbon monoxide and it does smoke.

[00:33:36] Eric Goranson: And fire. What I like about that is that it tells me on my phone. If there's a problem, I've got it next to the kitchen, which is probably our most likely place to have a fire in home, especially in mine. I have it there. So when it starts to beep it'll tell me, Hey, we're detecting smoke. Also text me on my app.

[00:33:54] Eric Goranson: So if I'm traveling or I'm at work or I'm out doing something, it's telling me, there's a problem before the problem gets to be [00:34:00] really big. And that can save you a ton of time when it comes to response to a fire and emergency inside your home. And then it's very easy to tap it and silence it, or be able to do that through the app in case, you know, maybe you're cooking a steak on the grill.

[00:34:12] Eric Goranson: It's your Hood's not working as well as you wanted to. You can turn it down when you want to, without booking up the neighbors and making it super loud. That's a key to kind of, to home safety and using that smart home stuff correctly. That is called the nest protect system. So that's pretty good. That's what I've got in my house.

[00:34:30] Eric Goranson: Cuz when I got it here about a year ago, that's all that was on the marketplace. That was really good. Now kitty has one that's come out, which is a hardwired smoke and carbon monoxide alarm with indoor air quality monitor. That's a three in one that uses a smart with an app. I have not played with this one cuz it's new out, but I do like that.

[00:34:48] Eric Goranson: It goes smoke carbon oxide. And indoor air quality. So I gotta do a little bit of working with that. It's, uh, kind of a first that does all of those three. I can't wait to get my hands on it, cuz I think that's [00:35:00] gonna be a new one to be able to do that, to see what's going on inside my house. And if it's reading, uh, indoor air quality.

[00:35:07] Eric Goranson: Well. That's a good thing as well. Now here's one thing that I noticed, and this is pretty funny and I gotta do a little more research on it. And my wife, Julie, really noticed this. She has been having problems in my house when she's baking, getting the dough to rise. So you think, whoa, what's the issue with that?

[00:35:27] Eric Goranson: You know what I think it is, I think it's my air scrubber in the. And I think this is what the issue is. My air scrubber, my air scrubber by Aris is putting off these little particles that are killing. Viruses, all the different things in the air, mold, mildew, all those crazy little things. Well, I think what the issue is is that's going out and when that falls out, it's sanitizing, the surfaces, like the countertops, the floors, it's making it where things don't grow on it.[00:36:00]

[00:36:00] Eric Goranson: Well, guess what? When she gets the yeast rising in the dough, I think what's happening is that is starting to fall out and then it's killing the east in the dough. So we're gonna have to do some experimenting here. I wanna see if I turn that system off for a day, if we can do that differently. So stay tuned.

[00:36:20] Eric Goranson: I think I've got an actual problem with baking. Due to my smart system, that's in the house. So we're gonna take a look at this, nothing against, uh, our guys over there at Aris for this air scrubber that I've had at my house for a couple years. But I think that we might have fixed the solution of why the dough is not rising in my household.

[00:36:38] Eric Goranson: I think it's my air scrubber that might be doing a little bit too much. And that's one of those things that, uh, I'm slightly concerned about. I wanna make sure that, uh, one we're healthy and two, that if we're gonna be taken on a project like that, With bacon. I don't wanna get in the way way of my wife's baking that's for darn sure.

[00:36:56] Eric Goranson: So we might have to do something differently with that system, cuz it could be working [00:37:00] a little bit too good inside my house, cuz I don't wanna stop her making bread cuz dang. That's good stuff. Now I've got another little tip for you and it's a challenge I've been having. I have been having some issues with the Cree and the Phillips L E D light bulbs.

[00:37:15] Eric Goranson: I have been using those in my bathroom and a couple other places out there that actually take the light bulbs instead of having the, the fixture with the L E D built inside. And I tell you what I have got some Phillips ones that are in my bathroom right now that, uh, are only lasting months. And, uh, we're gonna test it out here with a different brand.

[00:37:33] Eric Goranson: I've got some GE ones coming today that I'm gonna test out, but they are stopping working at about, well, I'm gonna call it here probably within. Six to eight months, I'm on my second set of bulbs that I've had to warranty. And I think they're a serious issue that, uh, some of these more condo luck, you know, the canola style mini bases, I think we're starting to see some issues with those because you know, you have to start that [00:38:00] L E D.

[00:38:01] Eric Goranson: To fire off there's that starting circuit in there. And I think maybe that BA base might be a little bit too small to really be able to get it. And I'm having some serious reliability issues. It's not the lighting. I know the lighting is fine. I know the, uh, I've had different dimmers on it and I know that's not an issue there.

[00:38:19] Eric Goranson: But, uh, right now in my BA master bathroom, I've got five bulbs in there and I just replaced them here probably four or five months ago. And I've only got two of the five working. The other ones are just dimmed at maybe 10% while the rest of 'em are 90%. So we've got some serious issues there that I've gotta take a look at, stay tuned for a better report on those.

[00:38:40] Eric Goranson: Uh, I've got some new ones coming, but I'll tell you what, uh, having some serious light bulb issues with some of these LEDs. It's either that, uh, they're making 'em too cheap or that little tiny mini bases too small, but either way, got some issues. I'll give a report back and see if I can find a brand that's gonna work a little bit better.

[00:38:58] Eric Goranson: All right, everybody, [00:39:00] we've got a show in the books. I'm Eric G and for. Caroline B you've been listening to around the house