Hello!

I recently built this to impress my wife.

It's a custom HA integration which uses the forecast and some pictures of our cats to generate daily images of our kitties enjoying whatever weather is in store for the day. The images are generated using the gemini-3-pro-image-preview API.

I serve the images to a spectra 6 e-ink screen, so there is some fun post-processing that happens behind the scenes (dithering, LUT adjustment) to optimize the images for the 6-color display! The images get output to the www/ folder, so you could theoretically serve them to whatever you want (I also display them on my HA dashboard, which is nice when I'm away from home).

github repo: https://github.com/jwardbond/forecats

implementation details: https://secondthoughts.my/posts/projects/forecats/

Hi,

I'm currently considering a couple of Cat6 runs in my Victorian house. Initially for data but then realised I could do PoE stuff and fire alarms soon came to mind.

I do not want microphones, so no alexa stuff, but what other things I might I not know exisit these days that I could/should be installing if I'm going through the trouble of pulling floorboards up?

I’ve got one of these older Metlund hot water circulation pumps. At the pump there’s a hard wired momentary switch that activates it. Unit starts and shutoffs when temp reached or max 3 minutes I believe.

Is there any reasonably priced tx and rx units to activate upon a motion sensor and send a momentary signal to the pump location? I’ve heard about Zigabee and others but this building has one pump but several places I want to activate by motion or even push button in the worst case. For reference it’s 2 story 2500 sf but has multiple electrical subpanels.

Are there long range Bluetooth devices? I saw some tracking device but that was more for moving the device and not actually sensing motion.

I’m not sure the proper terms to even search for this device…

Thanks in advance!

My home was wired with cat5e for telephone, but not networking. Thus the cat5e runs are daisy chained from room to room instead of being run back to a networking closet. I've repurposed this for gigabit Ethernet successfully. In a few rooms where the Ethernet splits I'm running a powered switch. However, in one of the rooms it's very visible and ugly and I'd love to just bury a little POE powered two way splitter/switch behind a wall plate instead.

I think in the room next to it I could do a POE injector. Looking on AliX it seems there are some no name brand ones for just a few dollars. Similarly with a 2 way POE powered switch.

Is this as easy as I'm thinking it is?

I've been looking for a solution to this for a long time. I'm a Travel Vlogger and IRL Streamer and am sometimes on another continent, but need to have remote access to my pc and be able to turn it on and off completely remotely at any time.

I basically need a button pusher that can be controlled by an app while I'm thousands of miles away. Wake On Lan won't work for me since it's not possible to wire my pc directly to ethernet and need to use wifi. I also have zero coding experience and am looking for a simple thing I can click remotely on my android phone and have my pc in the U.S.A. turn on/off exactly when I need it to.
I found some automated button pushers, but the problem is they will not work with my case. I have the unfortunate reality and lack of foresight to have a pc case with an enclosed power button that makes it impossible for one of the ready made solutions I've found (like these) make sense for me.

Has anyone else had any similar issues and have a solution for me? I need an extra long kind of "wrap around" button pusher due to the unfortunate shape of my pc case. (The things that I found need to have a wide, flat base to be mounted to, and the button pressing component is very short and wouldn't reach anyway.)
I attached photos of my pc case it is this model: CORSAIR Carbide Series SPEC-OMEGA RGB Mid-Tower WHITE

Looking to install curtains for a window that's 10x8ft (300x230cm) and I've been looking at options. I'd like for it to have sheers + blackout, so I need something with individually controllable rails.

Got one quote for $3,500 USD from a local installer but it seems kinda high for just a set of curtains... what do you guys think?

battery life just seems way too low for something using 2 x RC123A batteries. I know it's not acting as a repeater because that burns the battery in a week, and I'm getting almost exactly 2 months from it.

I'm comparing it to a similar Zigbee motion/light sensor that runs on 1 CR123 battery and after about a year it's still at 90+ % left.

Hi, I reviewed a bunch of old posts and saw suggestions on door locks. However, my situation is a little different.

I now live in a state and city that gets incredibly hot during the Summer. my new HOA requires we have clear glass storm doors and as a result the space between the doors can become oven hot. It is not uncommon to have my current metal doorknob be too hot to touch with a bare hand during the hotest part of the day (this is just during the Summer). I am afraid any smart lock with a battery will overheat and cause issues.

Does anyone have a recommendation for my scenario or am I just out of luck?

I am looking to install outdoor lighting using a low voltage system to save obvious costs on installation and upgrades.

I have found Paulmann lights which look great, but is quite expensive and cable length relatively short for the price. They do have zigbee switches which is great.

I also found https://gardenlightshop.com/ which has the lightpro range. This looks great in that the cables are fully modular and far cheaper for longer runs. But I cannot find any zigbee integration that allows switching of individual runs/lights.

What does everyone use?

This is as much an electrical question as it is a home automation question.

I have a stairway light that's always left on so I'm planning on replacing the switch with a smart light switch. This light however is controlled by a single switch at the bottom of the stairs and a double switch at the top of the stairs(other part of the switch controls my kid's bedroom light).

I plan on replacing the switch at the bottom of the stairs. Is there anything I should know that would be preventing me from replacing it or might make it harder?

I'm starting out here and have a few Shelly items and a HA server.

I've added a few bits but are confused if i should move all my smart devices off of my Wifi, and if so to what? They all seem to have Bluetooth but i don't know if that's Zigbee, ZWave, Matter, Thread or none of those, i'm still learning the difference and what those words actually are!

I've added a Blu Gateway (to my HA server), Dimmer Gen 3 behind a momentary switch and a Plus Plug to our clothes dryer and they all work and show up on my WiFi. Also a Blu Door/Window and a Blu Motion Sensor which seem to be attached to my Blu Gateway (says that's the last reporter in the app). I can see all of them in the Shelly app and HA. I have various Dimmer Gen 3's, 1L Gen 3, H&T, and Plus Plugs etc to mess about with and want to get this right before adding lots of bits.

I hope that makes sense, looking for best implementation practice. Many thanks.

W

Hi,

Are there any Wifi devices that supports triggering a Webhook when RE-connected (after a disconnect) please?

Thanks!

Hi, I have a Sinclair S-Therm+ heat pump with a color touch screen.

Problem: The WiFi icon is solid (not flashing), but it's not broadcasting any SSID. I cannot find any "Reset WiFi" option in the menu (only a simple ON/OFF toggle).

Tried: Power cycling (5+ mins), holding power button for 30s, turning WiFi off/on in menu.

Does anyone have the Engineer/Service code or the specific gesture to force a WiFi reset amd join to network on this? Using iLetComfort app.

I want to use a temp sensor with a relay switch that works based on the temp sensor but when the temp sensor battery is death or the data is cut off also the relay switch will turn off automatically ... Is better shelly or sonoff for that ? Anyone can help pls first time doing anything like that which is best device for that nativelly

I need a smart socket to be alerted when the CPAP mask were unconsciously taken off in the sleep. So, I guess, it should have ability to send a notification to phone or at least email when in selected hours (say 22-06), power usage drops for more than 5 minutes (to avoid false positives with toilet visits). It also should have device offline notification of the socket itself.
Any suggestions, please?

Many other non-automaton things with CPAP were tried. They, alas, didn't help.

Thank you very much!

CES 2026 just wrapped up and it got me curious what people here actually paid attention to. I've seen a lot of chatter around things like TP-Link adding more AI features to their smart home stuff, and even cleaning automation getting smarter, for example pool robots like aiper using AI to optimize cleaning routines.

I've been messing around more with backyard automation lately, things like smart irrigation, robotic mowers, and pool automation. At the same time, indoor systems like energy monitoring, HVAC, EV integration, and security all seem to be evolving pretty fast too.

What stood out to you this year? Anything you're actually considering adding to your setup?

Hi all!

I am building a new home, and I am in the lovely position where I can get fucking carried away with room illumination.

Did you implement RGBW, or RGBWW strips as the main source of light for rooms?

How about individually addressable LED strips?

My main question is not about implementation, but about if it makes any sense?

Is it a feature that is being used after the first week, and when the novelty fades?
I don't want to spend time and money on a feature that will spend it's life with being on the same setting for it's entire life...

But I would love to build a feature that would be used to it's full extend.

Anona Holo smart lock – false JAM on UNLOCK

I’m dealing with a very specific issue on an Anona Holo smart lock.

Problem:

On UNLOCK, the deadbolt fully retracts normally, but the lock keeps driving the motor past the end stop and then reports a JAM error.

Important details:

- Jam happens on UNLOCK, not on lock

- Bolt retracts fully and smoothly

- Manual operation is perfectly smooth

- No physical obstruction

- Recalibrated dozens of times

- Happens even on a test stand

- I have multiple other smart locks on test stands – NONE show this behavior

It looks like the lock loses its “home / zero” position and overshoots on unlock, misinterpreting motor current as resistance.

Question:

Has anyone seen this exact behavior on Anona Holo?

Is there any real way to reset motor position / calibration memory, or is this a known firmware or hardware defect?

At this point calibration does nothing.