The Raspberry Pis are very popular mini computers with a (usually) cheap price and small form factor and power consumption used for many tasks. Is the Pi 4 good enough as a smart home server for Home Assistant? I have been using it for more than a year now and Read more
Is AI overhyped? Pretty sure! Can it do amazing things anyways? Yes! Can you use it for your smart home? Definitely! Here I will describe how I use ChatGPT for my DIY smart home and how it might be used in the future. I am living under a stone or: Read more
Despite the numerous smart lighting options out there, I was still on the lookout for the perfect one to light up larger background areas. The Aris Tint LED panel turned out to be a great choice, with its somewhat slim and understated design that easily merges with the wall. Its Read more
Efficiency and organization are crucial to me, especially when it comes to work. That’s why I have been using a reliable document management system to sort through my digital files for some time. For a while, I used Teedy, a self-hosted DMS, to manage my personal documents. While Teedy was Read more
Firefox Sync is a powerful tool that allows you to synchronize your bookmarks, browsing history, and other data across multiple devices. While the default option is to use Mozilla’s own servers to store this information, self-hosting gives you greater control over your data and privacy, while still offering a seamless Read more
If you want to display a huge number, lets say 6 digits or more, showing the full number does not look very good and takes too much space. Here is a quick tip on how to show these bigger numbers in a more concise format. Single stat panel with a Read more
The T1 (in wall) Switch Module is another well-made Zigbee device from Aqara that is part of the same product line as others that I have tested (thermostat, smart plug, switch, mini switch). The device works with both ZHA and Zigbee2mqtt although not all of the functionality from the official Read more
After finally buying some new drills & countersinks, I soon realized the need for a more efficient storage solution. To address this, I created bespoke 3D printed tool holders that would exactly fit the new box allowing me to have the drills neatly arranged and readily available. I need more Read more
Adguard home is a great network wide DNS based ad blocker with a cleaner interface than Pihole. adguardhome-sync is a small tool that allows you to set up an auto synced backup instance for Adguard home to avoid any issues you might have with your DNS resolver. What is Adguard Read more
Home Assistant is an awesome system but when you get started the terminology can be confusing. Here is a quick explanation what automations, blueprints, scenes and scripts are in Home Assistant. Home Assistant basics – terminology around automations In part I of this series I described the Home Assistant terminology Read more