There are two awesome tools for local control over Zigbee devices: ZHA vs Zigbee2Mqtt. Which one should you use? I recently switched from Zigbee2MQTT to ZHA. Here I will show you how to set up ZHA with Home Assistant and compare ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT. My setup I recently started a Read more…
This is a very quick guide on what a “Binding” is in and how to install a new Binding in OpenHab 2. All the information you will need to get started in as few sentences as possible. If you are new to OpenHab: welcome! It is an awesome open source Read more…
This is a very quick guide on what an “Item” is in and how to add a new Item to OpenHab 2. All the information you will need to get started in as few sentences as possible. If you are new to OpenHab: welcome! It is an awesome open source Read more…
This is a very quick guide on what a “Thing” is in and how to add a new Thing to OpenHab 2. All the information you will need to get started in as few sentences as possible. If you are new to OpenHab: welcome! It is an awesome open source Read more…
Automatic lights are magical. You walk into a room and the lights just turn on… to add this magic to your smart home you need motion sensors. Many motion sensors. Here is everything you need to know about them and my experience on how to find and install cheap and Read more…
Recently it has been super hot in Germany – more than 30°C for weeks and it is not looking to get much cooler. Technology to the rescue! I bought a smart fan that I promptly integrated with my smart home system. Here is how to do it. Finding a fan Read more…
I have already written about how you can add Alexa support for OpenHab. If for some reason this is not possible (I had problems with this setup in a Docker container) or you are using another smart home system: here is another way I found to add Alexa support. And Read more…
A simple DIY smart wardrobe with lights that turn on and off automatically is awesome. Using the digital LEDs to their full potential and adding WLED custom animations is even better. This is how I upgraded my wardrobe lights. The smart wardrobe lights In an earlier article I described how Read more…
A simple way to add some awesomeness to your wardrobe is to add lighting. Smart wardrobe lights look great and help find things more quickly. I build a cheap do-it-yourself solution which has some great effects not found in off the shelf solutions. All of this is done for around Read more…
You bought a Denon receiver for your home theater? You have a smart home? Why not combine both to a smart home theater? Imagine lights out, receiver on with one click! Like in the cinema… My home theater setup Here is an overview of my current (smart) home cinema setup. Read more…