Taking the old ceiling fan for a smart spin
I have recently bought a Brilliant Smart WiFi Ceiling Fan Controller for a bedroom ceiling fan in our house. This is a Tuya device but I wanted to avoid signing up to the Tuya cloud service to operate my ceiling fan under all circumstances. In this article I just wanted to share a few learnings…
Illuminated Stairs
This project is a simple IKEA hack that I wanted to share because it just looks great. The lights are integrated into Home Assistant and are fully automated – no light switch necessary.
Home Network – Home Server
I have had a server at home for more than 20 years. This all started as a simple router back when my flatmate and I got a copper leased line back to the ISP’s office we were working for and used 56kbit/s US Robotics modems on both ends for a permanent Internet connection. A bit…
Home Network – Design Overview
In the following article I will provide a high-level overview of my network design, some details on the physical network devices I picked, and a few more implementation details.
All Green Lights on Cable Modem Connection Status
While I am still waiting to be connected to the NBN I have had quite a few shorter outages on my existing cable Internet connection, and wanted to improve the way Home Assistant recognises and deals with the loss of connectivity.
Smarter Swimming Pool 5: Under the Surface
My ESP8266 based device that is measuring water temperature, water level and liquid chlorine level is happily running for quite some time now. However, the eco-system around Home Assistant and ESP has evolved, and I just wanted to quickly share how that has changed the setup of my smart swimming pool.
Fire Danger Rating
Each time I drive past our local fire station I see that fire danger rating sign and take a quick look. Wouldn’t it be great to have this information right in your favourite home automation system?
Hold your Breath for this Air Quality Sensor
Recently I discovered the luftdaten.info project that provides a simple blueprint for measuring particulate matter, and in this post I am sharing how I built and set up my own device and integrated it into Home Assistant.
Smarter Swimming Pool 4: Liquid Chlorine Level
My pool requires a regular influx of liquid chlorine that is stored in a large drum next to the automated chlorinator. Every couple of weeks I have to replenish that drum, otherwise the chlorine concentration in the pool water gets too low, and algae starts growing resulting in green-ish pool water. Needless to say, this…
