The inexpensive sensor in my fridge is the best money I've ever spent on my smart home
You have no idea how much produce my fridge spoiled before this
I gave my smart home a bedtime button, and it actually makes every night a little bit easier
I finally got rid of nighttime chores.
I gave Home Assistant a local LLM for voice control, then turned it off for most of what I say
Now I get the best of both worlds.
Home Assistant couldn't do the automation I wanted, so I linked it to Node-RED instead
Home Assistant hit its limits
I installed a UPS for my smart home and Home Assistant still couldn't save my automations
Sometimes your smart home isn't very smart at all
My old laptop became a game-streaming hub and ad-blocking powerhouse, and now it's irreplaceable on my home network
This $0 laptop upgrade blocks ads network-wide and streams games to any screen in my house
A tiny 11x11cm mini PC runs my entire media center and smart home for less than one prebuilt NAS
I saved myself hundreds of dollars with this mini PC.
I replaced my DIY Home Assistant setup with UGREEN's all-in-one hub, and the tradeoffs surprised me
The UGREEN HomeAgent HA100 serves a pretty fundamental purpose
I run my entire smart home on batteries I change once every few years
I don't want to constantly maintain my smart home
I stopped using cloud smart bulbs after finding Zigbee local control, and my automations never fail anymore
I'll never go back to Wi-Fi smart bulbs.
I’ll never install USB wall outlets in my home, and there are good reasons why
USB wall outlets seem like an elegant solution, but in reality, they're almost completely useless.
Google Home now lets you give the keys to your smart home to any AI agent you please
Turn Claude into your digital butler.
I turned my old Android phone into a Home Assistant server, and it actually works
My spare Android phone doesn't just run Home Assistant, it's surprisingly effective at managing my smart devices
WindGroove's AirFi One could turn your ceiling into a smart home hub
This article is sponsored by WindGroove
My Home Assistant automations stopped failing once I stopped trusting my sensors
Things got better when I started bracing myself for failure.
My dusty Android tablet became the smart home control panel I didn't know I needed
It controls everything inside the home from one screen.
Home Assistant solved three annoying problems I didn't know sensors could fix
A smart home should fix all of your weird household problems.