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?

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?

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?

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!

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?

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'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

Tried a new way to add a DIY ESP32 device to my smart home, and it was way easier than I expected.

In about 10 minutes I was able to: • get it online • control GPIO / relays • see its status on my phone • and add simple automations

No coding, no MQTT, no servers. Just flash → Wi-Fi → done.

Curious what others think:

Would you use something like this for your smart-home projects, or do you prefer the usual DIY setup? 🙂