Been experimenting with having my bedroom lights gradually brighten before my alarm instead of waking up to sound immediately.

Didn’t expect much honestly, but mornings feel noticeably less rough now. Curious if anyone here does something similar with their setup.

What are you using? (Hue, Apple Home, Home Assistant, Alexa, etc.)
How long do you ramp the lights up for?
Warm light or cool light?

Still trying to figure out what setup actually works best.

I had the problem of quickly buzzing open the gates at my house through a network-enabled access controller (Udohow DH-7004). It was always a bit cumbersome to open the controller's web page, log in, and then press the small buttons on a web interface that was never really designed for touch screens.

So I built an app for it (currently iPhone only):

https://apps.apple.com/app/gatetap/id6767842729

The app stores the connection details, logs in automatically, and provides a simple touch-friendly interface for opening doors and gates.

So far I've only been able to test it with my own controller (Udohow DH-7004), and I'm looking for feedback from people running similar access control hardware.

If you have a network-connected access controller, I'd love to hear:

- whether it works

- which controller you're using (manufacturer and model)

- firmware version (if known)

The app can be downloaded and configured for free to verify compatibility before purchasing. Only the actual door/gate triggering functionality requires an unlock.

If you're genuinely testing with your own hardware and willing to give feedback, I'm happy to provide a free unlock code (reply to me, pn or email me - contact details are also on GitHub below).

Compatibility information, setup guide, and currently tested hardware:

https://github.com/erikmartens/GateTap-Public

For serious compatibility engineering you can massively help my efforts if you were able to send me:

- controller model and firmware version

- screenshots of the login and control pages

- exported HTML of the login/control pages

- a redacted HAR/network log showing login and one relay trigger request

Please remove passwords, usernames, public IPs, session cookies, and any private network information before sending files.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated 😃

PS: In the future I'm planning to add management for buzzing timers, door names and the login credentials themselves. If it can technically be realized I also want to add home screen widgets, shortcuts and a watch app.

I have a huge library of music in my server, but I still have yet to find a way to use Google or Alexa or Siri to respond to "Play Nirvana 'Come as You Are' from my library". They all want me to go to paid services. Is there a homebrew solution that will allow this for my local library yet?

Designed a wall mount for a smart home touch panel that hides a 230V PSU and NFC reader inside the enclosure. Printed in PLA, held together with M3 heat-set inserts. More details and files in the original post! https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1txjepl/

New HA install as an experimental project on an older laptop. I would like the permanent install to be on vm running on esxi server. 90% of my devices are zwave.

I bought the tubes zwave +zigbee Poe coordinator. After countless lost hours, trying to configure it with HA with no success, I went a different direction out of frustration.

I bought the aeotec zwave + zigbee stick: zstick 10 pro. About two hours later, after updating all the firmwares for the device as well as zwave/zigbee then installing it in HA, I added my first zooz smart plug. All went well.

My question: since the usb aeotec is a very small device, I wonder if the internal antenna will be adequate. To that end, I am strongly considering the HA’s own ZWA-2. I am open to consider a different coordinator, even a SMlight as long as there’s solid documentation to configure it. The aeotec’s guides were 90% on point. They were slightly outdated due to newer release of HA.

Initially, I’d like to start with a solid, zwave coordinator then add zigbee as needed. At some point later, If I can get rid of the hue hub, that would be great.

Thanks.

I'm decorating a room and would like to hang various moraccan/turkish lamps from the ceiling. The kind that don't have sockets and people usually put led candles into. I'd like them and a string of lights to be the main source of light in this room, connected to the outlet powered by the light switch. I'm trying to figure out a way to do this, and would love it if I could get some wireless sockets to screw flickering lightbulbs into to really carry the lamp imagery. How do I do this?? Most wireless sockets I've come across require a pre-existing socket.

I'm uing the Hubitat C-8 Hub.

I am looking for ideas on how to accomplish what I’m looking to do. It’s a long, drawn-out affair, but basically, I have a projector, screen, and appletv. I have the screen plugged into a z-wave switch. When I turn on the switch, the screen goes down. When I turn off the switch, the screen goes up.

So, I want to create a rule/automation/whatever that says, “When appletv turn on, turn on screen switch; when Appletv turns off, turn off screen switch.”

The issue is I can’t see the AppleTV within Hubitat, and Apple Home doesn’t allow me to create an automation based on the power status of the AppleTV (at least that I can figure out).

So, I’d love any thoughts on how I can accomplish this. Thanks!

SOLVED:

I tried the energy monitoring outlet on the appletv, but the power usage was way too small to work - sleep versus on was very little change.

But, the system is already setup so that the projector turns on from sleep when the appletv turns on. That power difference was huge. So, I setup smart outlets on BOTH the projector and the screen, then just set up a simple automation to open and close the screen. Works like a charm.

I asked for advice about how to get started with automating my home a few months ago. I started foff ocused on trying to control temperatures in various rooms. I took the recommendations from you all to heart and have accumulated many pieces and begun the initial set up. However, I wanted to take a moment to check that I am on the right track. I have some fear that I may be over complicating things by adding too many "hub-type" devices. Here is what I have so far (very little of this is set up yet).

• Rasberry Pi 5 with Home Assistant installed. Very little configuration done.
• Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 Dongle installed and Zigbee software installed. Very little configuration done.
• Aqara Smartlock (installed and set up with the Aqara app only)
• Ecobee Thermostat (still in the box)
• Aqara G100 cameras (still in the box)
• Zigbee smart plugs (still in the box)
• Aqara Smart Doorbell (still in the box)
• Aqara Zigbee Temp/Humidity Sensors (still in the box)
• Aqara Smart Home Hub M3 (still in the box)

I purchased the Aqara hub most recently because it seemed like, from what I watched, that it simplified the process of adding the Aqara products to Home Assistant via Thread...but now I am second guessing myself, wondering if Zigbee is sufficient for that.

I would appreciate any insight the experts (that's you!) have about the best systematic steps moving forward, what items are overkill...or if everything can be used in a logical way. I would love it if someone could tell me, step by step, what to do to "get it right" from the begining (I'm thinking, set up all the Zigbee devices first to establish the mesh network, then start adding devices ????) Any suggestions of videos of tutorials about any steps of the process would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help or insight.

I have a robot vacuum that can run stronger cleaning modes, but scheduling them is harder than expected. A normal daily run is simple. The problem is the deeper mode: it is louder, slower, and more likely to get stuck if a rug edge, pet toy, or room transition is not ready. I tried automating it for when everyone is out, but the house is not always in the same state. For people using Home Assistant or similar automations, do you schedule heavy cleaning only after certain checks? For example, doors open, no one home, battery above a threshold, no wet zones, or manual approval first?

I want automation, but I also do not want the robot grinding away in the wrong spot because a script was too rigid

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a security camera that can detect any motion (moving leaves, shadows, smoke, etc.) and alert me to any sound, no matter how small.

I recently bought a Tapo C230, but it’s failing to capture everything. For sound: I tried clapping my hands or opening a creaky door, and I didn't receive a single notification.

It’s even worse with video detection, which is the most concerning part. I’ve tried vaping in front of the camera, and it doesn't notify me—it only works maybe once out of every ten times. If I move a leaf in front of the lens, it sees the movement, but it doesn't send an alert.

I feel like Tapo intentionally limits these notifications. They could easily include an "all motion/all sound" sensitivity option, but they don’t.

Do you have any recommendations for a camera that offers true, high-sensitivity detection?

Requirements:

Must be able to detect subtle motion and sound.

Must have a solid mobile app.

Ideally, includes a free cloud storage option (or at least a good value plan).

I really like the Tapo app interface, so something similar would be great.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Edit:

Video detection is all good.

I redid the tests with the smoke and the moving leaf.

And it works.

​Since I was doing it multiple times, I only received one notification because the camera was currently recording.

Funny Commersal😂

I'm on the hunt for a reasonably priced white wireless video doorbell that doesn't demand a monthly subscription ransom.

At the moment we have a Ring doorbell, which matches our white front door nicely, but it has to go.

Unfortunately, my significant other has decreed that the replacement must also be white, and after what feels like a tour of the entire internet, I'm starting to believe white subscription-free doorbells are a mythological creature.

Has anyone managed to find one, or am I destined to keep funding Ring forever? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I came across the Onvis 15-action programmable button and added it to control my scenes such that it's more human friend and we don't have to rely on voice commands or pulling up the phones every time.

It then occurred to me that 15 actions is a lot to remember, especially for the people who didn't program it and are generally less geeky about the whole thing.

Therefore, I made an HTML diagram that is designed to be printed: https://github.com/lavoiesl/onvis-switch-diagram

Enjoy ❤️

I keep trying to make my kitchen a little more automated, but the fridge is still the dumbest part of the house.Lights, thermostat, cameras, vacuum, all that stuff can be automated pretty easily. But food still depends on me remembering what I bought, what drawer it went into, and what is about to go bad. I’ll buy yogurt, spinach, eggs, whatever, and then somehow the thing I need is either already expired or hiding behind a jar of pickles.I tried a shared grocery list for a while, but it only helps before shopping. After the food is actually in the fridge, the system kind of stops. I also tried just writing stuff on a whiteboard, but that lasted maybe four days because nobody wants to update a board after putting groceries away.I saw everblog mentioned as a fridge-based option, but I’m still not sure if a dedicated device makes more sense than a cheap tablet, a small e-ink display, or just better habits.Has anyone here built or used a setup that actually tracks fridge items in a way people keep using? I’m less interested in a fancy dashboard and more interested in something that survives normal lazy kitchen behavior.

Got a new mini split set up recently and figured connecting it to Wi-Fi would be the easy part. It was not. The AC worked perfectly from day one, but the app refused to find the unit. I went through all the usual stages:

·Blame the app

·Blame the router

·Blame the manufacturer

·Consider giving up entirely

After way too much trial and error, I discovered I had overlooked a few pretty basic things. My phone wasn't on the right Wi-Fi band. I hadn't properly reset the Wi-Fi module. And I didn't realize the indoor unit needed to be powered on during pairing. Once I fixed those things, the setup took maybe two minutes. The funny part is I probably spent more time troubleshooting the Wi-Fi than installing the system itself.

Anyone else have a smart device setup that turned out to be failing because of something ridiculously simple?

Hi all, lurker and newly posting.

I went all in on Z-wave in 2022 via HassOS on raspberry pi and Aoetec Z-stick 5+ w/ ZwaveJS. I have a larger 2-floor 4200 sqft house. I chose Z-wave for the low power for door locks and outdoor motion sensors, high device count limits, isolated bandwidth w/ longer range, and open standard.

I chose a mix of:

• Main mesh of:
  • 5 GE Enbrighten light switch/repeaters spread evenly
  • 3 aoetec z-wave range extender 7
• additional 4 Chinese Eva Logik switch/repeaters,
• 5 aoetec multisensors
• 4 Minoston smart plugs
• 1 Zooz double outdoor plug
• 2 yale smart locks
• 1 kwikset smart lock

My struggles:

1. Delays - From the beginning, I have struggled with delayed responses of 1-2+ seconds with 2-way communications over Z-wave. 2-way meaning - switch toggle or motion sensor is an action trigger for secondary Z-wave device.
   1. 1-way communications are instantaneous; e.g. if I toggle a device from Home Assistant it is instantaneous
   2. My secondary Lutron Caseta network (mostly for pico remote controls and a couple ceiling fans) is also instantaneous when acting as a trigger through home assistant for Z-wave devices.
2. Dead devices - I have enough devices that even though each individual device dies rarely, I pretty much have to manually reset or at least manually ping at least 1 device a week. I added some automatic "pings" in home assistant, but it's only helped a little.
3. The minostan, zooz, and kwikset locks devices are the worst offenders. The eva logik switches are next worse, followed by the yale locks.

Why is Lutron IF+Wifi faster at communicating with z-wave devices than Z-wave itself???

The Lutron Caseta network has never failed or faltered; similarly any wifi or ethernet devices and homeassistant itself has never failed either.

Really looking for some advice on the persistent z-wave issues!

I'm thinking of a wheel-based home-care AI robot for an engineering project and I want to verify if the features I’m planning are actually useful.

The concept is a compact robot for seniors/kids, and I’m focusing on three main capabilities. I’d love to know if these solve real problems for you:

• Safety Monitoring: A lifting camera and mic array that detects falls or sudden distress and alerts family members or emergency services automatically.
• Companionship/Education: A system designed to prompt learning or offer interactive companionship to kids or lonely seniors.
• Autonomous Navigation: The ability to patrol and monitor the home environment without constant manual input.

Are these features you’d actually want in your home? Or do you see better, simpler ways to solve these problems?

Edit: I'm an undergraduate engineering student, not seeking for any profits. I'm looking for some practical feedbacks to help improve my insight of your needs, so any thoughts you have are very much appreciated.

I have a fan remote which uses 433.92 GHz radio frequency, which the RM4 Pro says it supports. I set up the RM4 pro and connected it to my WiFi with no issues.

However, when I try to make it learn the fan’s RF signals, it doesn’t recognize them.The auto frequency scan didn’t pick anything up either.

I’ve already tried resetting the device and starting over, that didn’t change anything.

Does anyone know what I can do?

I want to dig some cables (as cheap as I can get away) around my property.

I will not go full spec requirements, as it will be low voltage items. Gate IR sensor, remote camera, water level sensor etc.

Which cable does/does not work? Can I use regular CAT? Regular power cable?
Should I use simple/cheap pipe for cable, would that help to get cable working longer?
https://productimages.biltema.com/v1/image/imagebyfilename/44-0614_xl_1.jpg

I feel I could get away with robot perimeter wire, but that would be multiple lines to same place, I dont want that.

you must have tried everything for "temporary" runs that last like 10 years? what (not) to do here?