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Oliver

Basics

Home Assistant basics – what the heck are devices, entities, integrations and services?

Home Assistant is maybe the best open smart home controller out there but if you are new to it some of the terms can be a bit confusing. As a first step towards Home Assistant basics, here is what devices, entities, integrations, services and helpers are. Home Assistant basics – Read more…

By Oliver, 3 days29.01.2023 ago
Automation

Powerful automated reminders via Home Assistant and how to clear notifications

Everybody forgets things. With Home Assistant you can use the power of your smart home to stop that. I build a well working reminder system via Home Assistant for different tasks. Its fully features with a text reminder, virtual or physical button to confirm it and a log. Here is Read more…

By Oliver, 3 weeks ago
smart heating

The hottest smart home device? Automated heating with the Aqara smart thermostat & Home Assistant

I automated my lights, my doorbell, my vacuum and more. Next are the thermostats. A smart thermostat can be very convenient and even save money. Here is how I used the Aqara smart thermostat with ZHA and Home Assistant. The hardware – Aqara E1 smart thermostat There are currently a Read more…

By Oliver, 1 month01.01.2023 ago
3d printing

How to add a camera to Octoprint & Home Assistant – for a smarter printer with awesome timelapses

Octoprint is a powerful software to make your 3D printer even better. To reach its full potential you have to add a camera – for awesome timelapses and even better integration with your smart home. Here is how to add a camera to Octoprint (using a Prusa Mini). Setting up Read more…

By Oliver, 1 month ago
smart light

A small Zigbee smart plug with power measurement – is the best smart plug for ZHA from Aqara?

Smart plugs allow you to measure power usage and turn pretty much every electricity powered device smart(er). Which is the best one? The Aqara smart plug makes a pretty good case for joining your Home Assistant and ZHA DIY smart home with its small and sleek design and the included Read more…

By Oliver, 2 months09.12.2022 ago
HomeAssistant

Using the Google Pixel watch with Home Assistant – should you buy it as a smart home device?

A smart watch is great for controlling your smart home as you have it with you all the time. I recently bought the Google Pixel watch and gave it a try with the Home Assistant app – is it a great addition for your smart home or just a nice Read more…

By Oliver, 2 months04.12.2022 ago
Basics

How to SSH into your smart home server the secure way

A server like the small Raspberry Pi usually sits in a remote location and has screen or input devices connected to it. To be able to control it remotely SSH is the de-facto standard on Linux. Here is how to set it up to control your smart home server from Read more…

By Oliver, 2 months26.11.2022 ago
3d printing

Storing sun glasses in the coolest way – using 3D printing

I have a couple of sun glasses scattered around my apartment. Storing sun glasses to keep them in one place and have them at hand when leaving was my latest challenge – I printed some cool looking glasses holders for them. Storing sun glasses I have two different sun glasses Read more…

By Oliver, 2 months ago
Automation

Its magic! Controlling a Magic Mirror with a motion sensor from Home Assistant to save energy

A magic mirror is a stunning piece of furniture and tech but running it constantly draws a lot of power. I am switching mine on and off based on a motion sensor using Home Assistant. Here is how to do that. The Magic Mirror I have described how I built Read more…

By Oliver, 3 months07.11.2022 ago
HomeAssistant

Switching Zigbee coordinators with ZHA & Home Assistant without re-pairing & testing the TubesZB coordinator

The stability of your Zigbee network is largely determined by the performance of your coordinator (or router). Switching Zigbee coordinators to a new and better one used to require you to repair all your devices though. With Home Assistant 2022.9 that is a thing of the past. In this post Read more…

By Oliver, 3 months30.10.2022 ago

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About this blog

This is my personal slice of the Internet, a place to show my projects and share ideas about all things smarthome, IoT and design

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