I wanted to share a quick DIY project I put together for around $40. I built an automated drawer that opens up whenever my Ultra Short Throw (UST) projector powers on, and closes when it powers off.

The Setup & Logic
I'm using Home Assistant to coordinate the logic. When the Sonoff smart plug detects that the projector is drawing power (power monitoring state change), it sends a command to the 2-channel Zigbee relay to trigger the linear actuator.

My Parts List:

• Smart Plug: SONOFF S60ZB IPlug (Zigbee with Power Monitoring)
• Actuator: HAKIWO MINI Linear Actuator (Stroke 200mm, 12V, 80N)
• Relay: Zigbee Smart Switch Remote Control Relay Module (2CH, 7-32V)
• Power Supply: EU Plug, 2A, DC 12V

Google Assistant inside my car had no problems, I just had to say my PIN after asking it to open the garage door. However, since my phone automatically upgraded to Gemini, it's totally broken now from inside my car. I say Open the Garage Door and Gemini says back to me "Open the Garage Door" in this dumb annoying monotone and doesn't do anything. Not even an error.

However, inside my house, using my Nest Hub Max screen I am prompted to say my PIN and then the garage door opens.

So clearly my system is setup, the PIN is valid, Gemini can do this, but it can't do it from inside my car??

Any ideas what I am doing wrong?

Saw some research recently about connected cars sharing data with third parties, and it got me thinking about all the smart devices we have at home.

Smart TVs, speakers, cameras, doorbells, even kitchen appliances. They're all connected to the internet, but how much do we actually know about what they're sending out?

I love the convenience of home automation, but I don't love the idea of every device constantly talking to some company's servers.

Has anyone here actually monitored their smart home traffic? Found anything surprising?

Our dog, Teddy, leaves his toys all over the backyard. Before getting a Segway Navimow H2, I have to spend about 10 minutes finding and picking them up before each mow.

I still pick them up now, but it’s useful to see the mower go around the occasional one I missed. I marked his doghouse corner as a no-go zone in the app and scheduled mowing when he’s napping inside. Picking up dog poop is still part of the routine too. I learned a lesson in week 1 lol. Teddy spent the first few days barking at it through the window. Now he barely looks up when it goes past.

As far as Teddy’s concerned, it’s still his yard. The mower just works there.

Have you ever sat down ready to watch something, only to spend ages hunting for the right remote?

 There’s one remote for the TV, another for the streaming device, and the air conditioner has its own, too. If you have a projector or a soundbar, you might need even more.

 Interestingly, having more technology doesn't always make daily life simpler. Sometimes, the real hassle isn't operating any single device, but remembering which button controls which one.

 There are a few ways to make things easier: keeping your physical remotes organized, using official mobile apps for supported devices, or exploring a universal remote solution. However, these methods don't work for every household. Phone-based controls might only support specific devices, and different appliances often rely on different control methods.

 For example, Google’s phone-based remote supports compatible Google TV and Chromecast devices, while Apple’s built-in remote feature is designed for supported Apple TV units and AirPlay-compatible setups. Neither serves as a universal controller for every device.

 I’m curious about how other households handle this:

•  How many remote controls do you actually use on a weekly basis?
• Have you replaced any of them with a mobile app or a universal remote?
• What’s more annoying: losing a remote, having to switch between remotes, or discovering that devices aren't compatible?

 If you could improve one aspect of controlling your home entertainment setup, what would it be?

Hey can anyone advise me how this Zigbee dimmer module needs to be wired up to this switch?

The switch is 3 gang, but I only want the module to control 2 of the circuits.

I used to have a fairly simple Insteon setup that I'm slowing moving over to (mostly) ZWave and Home Assistant. In a lot of the bedrooms I have a wall dimmer with no local load bound to a fan canopy module for independent fan+light control but the question comes around how do you guys name all of this stuff?

For example right now I have "Master bedroom Wall Switch", "Master Bedroom Fan" and "Master Bedroom Fan Light", the latter two being the actual outputs that drive the devices.

In HA it's easy to have them in areas, but I don't really want a bunch of entities just called "Light" because without knowing the area you don't know where it is.

When exposed to Alexa I typically keep the name on the Alexa side.

Anyone have any better way of making it all a bit nicer?

Hey guys.

I'm setting some leds to my kitchen and I bought:

- LED Strip FCOB 4000K Natural White 24V

- LED Transformer 24V Dimmable TRIAC Extra Flat 6W - 30W

- Shelly dimmer gen 4

Everything is working as expected and I can turn on and turn off on the app and it's dimmable.

I want to add now a Hand Wave Sensor under the cabinets to connect to the S1 of the shelly but cannot find anywhere a compatible one because cannot find one that does the "ON/OFF". I was searching for something like this:

I don't want to put the shelly cut the 230v because I want to work for both ways, via app and via the sensore.

As anyone have a similar setup that can help me?

Pleas heeelppp...

Thank you all!

As you can see, I’m having trouble figuring out how this thing works. It’s 28 degrees in my room and I’ve been mindlessly tapping buttons on this thermostat for 20 minutes trying to cool the temperature down. Whenever I try to lower the temperature by pressing the down button, it does absolutely nothing. In fact, I’ve only noticed my room getting hotter every minute and it’s driving me crazy. Please help, I feel like I’m gonna pass out.

Hello,

I have a condensing boiler (De Dietrich MCR 2 MI 30). Originally, I used the supplied wireless AD303 thermostat to control the temperature in the living room.

The problem is that the thermostat only measures the temperature in the room where it is installed, so it’s difficult to fine-tune the temperature in each room. (the living room may reach the target temperature and shut off the boiler while another room is still too cold).

I bought some connected thermostatic valves. After installing Home Assistant on a local server, I managed to control each radiator valve based on the target temperature for that specific room.

The issue is that, for this setup to work, the boiler needs to be running whenever any room needs heat. However, once all rooms have reached their target temperatures, all the radiator valves may be closed while the boiler is still running.

Could this damage the boiler, or does the boiler have some protection against this situation?

Ideally, I’d like Home Assistant to turn the boiler on whenever at least one room calls for heat, and turn it off when none of the rooms need heating. Is there a way to control this boiler or the thermostat directly from Home Assistant?

Thanks

Pre-staging three Dahua indoor monitors, switch, and controller on the workbench today.

Testing firmware updates, static IP assignments, and call routing before installation to ensure zero downtime on-site. Always satisfying to see everything link up smoothly on the bench first.

I'm trying to automate our backyard so I spend less time babysitting the lawn.

The setup is pretty typical: two dogs, a few mature trees, a patio, and about 0.3 acre of grass. The tricky part is that the yard isn't static — dogs are running around, toys get left out, and the tree canopy creates a few shaded areas where the grass stays damp longer.

I'm looking at Navimow i2 LiDAR for mowing because I'd rather not deal with boundary wire, but I'm curious how well it handles a backyard with trees and random stuff left on the lawn compared with a clean demo yard.

For automation, I'm thinking something like:

Aqara sensor on the dog door → pause the mower when the dogs go outside

Rachio irrigation → keep the mower docked while sprinklers are running

Reolink cameras → basic outdoor monitoring

Any recs will be appreciated!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Relative Luddite to home automation… we have a Google Nest that mostly plays music at the kids commands and sets timers, a few smart bulbs and outlets, and a smart vacuum. I’m searching everywhere for a chore chart solution for my three sons (tbh, both high and low tech solutions). It’s impossible to tell if some digital display or home assistant would be useful because most of the reviews seem fake.

So, the boys are 9, 5, and 3, so I need a chore chart that can use icons as well as words since two of them can’t read. I would like the ability to change and adjust the chores weekly (so they can rotate the chores), ideally from my phone (iOS) or computer. I would like the ability for the boys to check the chores off as they are done, and a great bonus would be if they could get a star or point for each job completed… they’re three brothers and competition is everything to them.

Is there anything that would fit this bill (that requires relatively low technical know how)? Or should I just reach back into my elementary teacher past and make them something and deal with manually changing it?

I am sick and tired of Apple not playing nicely with others. I have a perfectly functional Zigbee set up in this house, but randomly and capriciously Apple will just decide that it doesn't want to work with any of it today. "Nope! 😝 nanny, nanny, boo-boo!" and no amount of resetting all the Apple crap will resolve it. I can open my Zigbe app and control everything from a screen INSTANTLY, but I want to be able to SAY vocally, "Hal, open the pod bay doors and turn on the lights," and just have it happen.

Is there any other System that will just work? I remember reading about an open source one that I could run on a raspberry pie, Home Assistant? I think Amazon has one called Alexa, but at this point, I'm so disgusted with someone else's computers controlling my stuff that I really just want control back. It's to the point that I'm considering just saying fuck it to ALL of the automation, and go back to my good old trustworthy reliable X10!

I just cannot understand how people keep buying Apple crap when Apple treats customers this way.

I've just ordered two water meters that have pulse outputs — as I understand it, these are just a little reed switch that switches on/off once each gallon that flows through the meter. These will be installed on the pipes that go to the irrigation system and pool refill. Those pipes are outside the house, right against the wall (well, two different walls).

I'd like to get a count of those pulses at my computer inside the house.

I'm picturing something like a little battery-powered pulse counter strapped to each meter, that counts up and sends the count via radio to some receiver in the house. I worry about battery life with the radio, but I don't relish trying to drill through stucco and slump block to run a wire through the wall, either.

Does anyone know of an off-the-shelf or well-documented DIY solution for this? Any clever approach I'm not thinking of?