I've got the fp2 and kasa switch setup through an alexa routine. I've set this up in the bathroom. And the light will come on almost 2 seconds after somebody is inside the bathroom. Is there any fix to this delay? Is it just fp2 ? Thanks.

I'm looking for an indoor cam that automatically follows motion and sends alerts to my phone. The goal is to monitor my dog while I'm not home because she's recovering from a medical crisis. I bought the Wyze Cam Pan v3 and it was great, until it wasn't. It keeps going offline every few days. So I can't depend on it when, for instance, I won't be home for 4 hours and don't know if my pup is scratching her wounds.

I troubleshooted to no avail; the issue seems relatively common for this model. With Black Friday sales are still on, can anyone suggest similar indoor cameras that track motion and start recording when there's movement? I'd prefer a camera that works without a monthly subscription, if possible. I noticed that Ring has a pan & tilt indoor camera, but I'm not clear on whether it follows motion and it's also $50 on sale whereas the Wyze v3 was $30 not on sale. That said, I don't mind paying more if you can point me in the direction of what's a step up from Wyze.

Thanks so much for any guidance!

My home has existing motorised blinds that are battery powered and can be operated by a pull chain or by an RF remote. I want to make the blinds smart and connect them to an app but the company is going to charge me a decent amount to do so. If I want to DIY this what do I need to install connect to an app that works with Google Home?

EDIT: it is probably also worth noting I use a WiFi mesh system (eero 6+)

Hello friends. We are looking to get a doorbell camera, smart thermostat and security sensors installed in our home. I’ve been eyeing ecobee and ring but I don’t have experience with either. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks.

I have an electric reclining chair which I would like to make work with HomeKit. I doubt there is native support for this sort of device but it would work well enough if I can configure it as window blinds or something like that.

The chair is controlled by a simple up/down switch so it should be easy enough to just compare one circuit or another. I could use something like raspberry pi and make it myself, but is there something off the shelf (internet) which would make this much easier to do?

I have a hubitat elevation hub that I use to control my Z wave and ZigBee devices but I am looking to dabble into the home assistant world without losing the hubitat completely. I am planning to run the HA off of an N95 PC but my question is if I would need to buy a separate Z wave or ZigBee stick or can I use the hubitat's existing radios to leverage that.

I am looking for a system that would be installed in the care facility room of a senior. I want to be able to turn on the TV for them and start whatever shows they like. What could I use?

Bonus: It would be great if I could also do video chats with them. Is there a system with a camera that would allow me to start the chat remotely so they can see me and I can see them?

Thanks.

Hi Everyone,

I’m looking to retrofit two of my LED ceiling lamps with smart home capabilities. I already use an IKEA Dirigera hub and have several TRÅDFRI lamps installed, but these two lamps are non-smart and would need some upgrades. I’d appreciate your advice on compatible Zigbee LED controllers or other solutions. Here are the details of the lamps.

1. Umage ASTERIA Pendant Lamp

•	**Supplier name**: UMAGE ApS

•	**Supplier address**: Havnegade 29, 1058 Copenhagen, Denmark

•	**Model identifier**: EL-CCTD-0700-230

•	**Input parameters**:

•	AC 220-240V, 50/60Hz, 200mA

•	**Output parameters**:

•	DC 17-23V, 700mA

•	**Dimming compatibility**: Yes

•	**Compatible dimming control systems**: Leading edge (TRIAC) & trailing edge

•	**Require external dimmer?** Yes

•	**Recommended external dimmers**: List available in a separate document (not provided here)

•	**Maximum output power of the control gear**: 16W

•	**Type of light-source**: LED

•	**Efficiency in full-load**: 87%

•	**No-load power**: 0.46W

•	**Standby power**: 0W

This lamp is quite flat, with the driver housed in its canopy.

2. AVENZIA Ceiling Lamp (Unfortunately I couldn't find nearly as much info on this lamp anywhere)

•	**Dimmable**: No

•	**Control**: Wall switch

•	**Power source**: Mains-powered

•	**Light source**: Built-in LED

•	**Socket**: Built-in LED

•	**Nominal luminous flux**: 1920 lm

•	**Total power**: 24W

•	**Light color**: 3000K, warm white

•	**Average lifespan**: 25,000 hours

•	**Number of packages**: 1

•	**Warranty**: 5 years

•	**Country of production**: China

•	**Product number**: 420392800000

This lamp is also very flat, with its driver positioned next to its LED light strips.

My Goals:

1.	Retrofit both lamps to integrate with my IKEA Dirigera and be controlled via Zigbee.

2.	Explore whether it’s possible to make the AVENZIA dimmable, even though it’s specified as non-dimmable.

I’ve been looking into Zigbee LED controllers like GLEDOPTO or Sunricher but am unsure which devices would be the best fit for these lamps, given their specs. While I’m somewhat familiar with home automation, I’d love to get input from more experienced folks before proceeding.

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hello, I am moving from an apartment to a house. The house has three floors: garage + living room/kitchen/backyard + bedrooms. I'm wondering where to install smart locks to avoid using keys. I should add that the house already has an alarm system installed, so I’m not considering smart locks for security reasons but rather to avoid carrying keys all the time. For instance, I could keep a spare key in the car.

In my daily routine, I enter/leave through the garage floor most of the time, which has two automatic gates that I open from the car. From inside the garage, there’s a door leading upstairs to the living room. On the main floor there are two others: the main entrance and the backyard door.

We never actually lock the door from the garage to the living room 😅. So I guess that makes sense to only install one smart lock at the main entrance and another at the backyard's door, then set up a routine to lock all doors when turning on the alarm before sleeping.

Will you make different? Do you have a suggestion for improvement?

https://preview.redd.it/rt6kmde35a4e1.jpg?width=254&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0b13debef521801951c06ff0f57769142f93eea

Hey guys, I currently bought an apartment and I rebuilt every room and both corridors. The layout for the rooms is all the same: 2 led strips (above bed and curtains) 1 ceiling center light 2 small lights point into the closet 1 electric curtain 1 temperature sensor 1 smoke detector I aimed to have a 3 zone smart switch to control all lights. I will also had a Shelly zwave to the curtains since I already have them motorized. For the corridor: 1 led strip Smoke detector Sensor movement

Now it’s where I’m having some trouble in choosing what to buy during Black Friday. The house is in Portugal (EU) so zooz switches are out. I initially intended to use Shelly zwaves (4zone controller) behind a 3xone dumb switch but a smart switch might be a better option.

Then we get to what detetor to pic, I have no idea which one will be the most resilient and easy to integrate. I was planning to buy a tplink Omada switch and a n100 mini pc so I could have everything in my vlan and add home assistant. But I have zero experience with any of that.

Any suggestions on this?

It’s cyber Monday and my current door lock is broken. So I wanted to order a replacement, what’s the best lock that’ll last me through the winter? We get a peak of -45C or (-49F). I was looking at the schlage encode plus at the moment, but I don’t know how well it’d perform, i’ve also seen smonet (which is somehow a cheaper brand by far and comes with more features, which makes me assume it’s low in quality). I’ve also heard of Yale and noticed the Aqara U100. Does anyone have any recommendations of the most robust winter door locks? Or any experience with the ones I listed like the Schlage?

I'm looking to get started on home automation with something simple, and was hoping to include some self-powered smart switches so we didn't have to mess around with batteries. However, finding out what is compatible with what seems confusing and/or impossible. Is there some reliable way of doing this?

Specifically I'm looking at Ikea (Tradfri) bulbs with the Ikea (Dirigera) hub, and Moes self-powered switches (as most others are surprisingly expensive). I'm in the UK. Most forum posts I find suggest Ikea supports ZGP devices now and it should all be ok, but Moes' Amazon listing says other brands' hubs are "not recommended"...

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer.

I know this topic has been asked several times but for some reason I still don't get it. I have several 3 way and 4 way switches that control my living room and kitchen area that i would like to make smart and Im looking for a cost effective way to upgrade to dimming and automation capabilities via home assistant. I do have Z Wave and Zigbee via Home Assistant so theres so many ways to do this that its confusing. Ideally, I could keep the existing switches for now and install a Shelly Dimmer2 behind light switches but Im unsure if this will work as Ive not been successful. I also heard of sonoff but read that they may not be as safe. To make matters more confusing, I was told that I may not need to add a shelly behind all switches or if i planned to replace the switches, I only need to replace 1 in each 3 way or 4 way but don't know how true that is. On Amazon, I found a Shelly Dimmer Switch or an Amazon Basics Dimmer but I don't know if any of those will work with my scenario. Considering my house was built before the 1960's, I don't think i have a neutral wire. To make it more complex, when I tried using the Shelly Dimmer 2, I didnt understand how it was wired to the light switch considering there can be several ways that its configured.

Would a local electrician know how to do something like this? If not, does anyone have any recommendations on how to approach this instead of me spending alot of money on Lutron or Leviton products to overly complicate my home setup? Ideally, I would like to standardize.

Thanks in advance

I recently had to replace one dimmer on a 3-way pole set up. I’m not an electrician and I have not a clue on how to wire things. However, I just followed what the prior wiring was. I’ve had this set up for the past 2 years without any issues. Until recently, the lights have been turning on and off randomly. I tried doing a hard reset multiple times on the app. I even removed it from Alexa and Google Home, thinking it might be the two systems doing something that wasn’t working well or some kind of app update. None of this fixed it. I ended up purchasing a new dimmer and replaced one of the 3-way pole switches. Luckily I found the right switch the first time. My question is, on the app, am I or should I be adding both switches? Since one switch is all I need to control the light from the app. Thanks!

Found a humidifier that meets most of my requirements, easy to use and doesn’t need daily maintenance. But it doesn’t have a built in hygrometer shut off. I either need to keep searching for another, or I was wondering if anyone has had experience automating this with a smart hygrometer with IFTTT or Alexa or Apple Home.

Hey good people, will my network design handle the smart home automation and devices? Family has half a dozen iPhones and laptops. I’ll have more smart devices added later on (not showing here is Apple TV 4K as well as a number of wifi HomePods).

My wife will murder me if things don’t “just work”, which includes smart switches (working as dumb switches - I am using Zooz Z-Wave) as well as all the wifi devices.


Hi, I bought a wall display from Shelly during Black Week. This device integrates Homesassistant, and you can act with it. I blogged about this; maybe you will find this interesting.

[First steps with the Shelly Wall display and adding Homeassistant functionality](https://blog.bajonczak.com/first-steps-with-the-shelly-wall-display-and-adding-homeassistant-functionality/)

Lockly iOS app Question:  I would like to put the Lockly Vision smartlock on my rental property.  I have 3 units in different locations, all remote to me.  With the Lockly iOS app, Can I give each renter shareable access to the app, and then can NOT see each other? But, I would be able to see all locks on one login?

If that is possible, would they be able to scan their own faces, etc? I am hundreds of miles away, and can not be there to go this for them.

Best regards,

Steve
Cary, NC

I am planning to buy and install ceiling speakers system. I want to have four speakers in the kitchen and three speakers just outside kitchen wall to entertain the family when weather allows me to. I have pre wired ceiling with four cable ends and three cable ends sticking out of the outside wall. I am not very experienced with this type of set up so want to ask if someone have an experience with that. I want something simple to control by mobile phone or wireless controller.

Any ideas or suggestions are much appreciated.

Thanks.

I'm starting a large home automation project and would like to get feedback on how my idea sounds to others. So I will code website that has dashboard for controls so it can be controlled with any device on local wlan. Then there will be backend probably with flask. Those will be running on rasberry pi. Then for individual rooms I thought one ESP32 per room would be best. There will be 10 rooms to cover so I think ESP32 is best because of the wlan. Every room will have kinda similar relays to control, like lights and maybe motion sensors.

Is this idea somehow feasible, or is there something I'm missing?

I've been considering upgrading my home theater setup with a motorized projector screen. It seems like a cool feature, but I'm wondering if it's really worth the extra cost.

What are your thoughts? Have you tried a motorized screen? Is it a significant improvement over a manual one?

I'm particularly interested in the Nothing Projector Black Series. It looks sleek and has some interesting features. Anyone have experience with it?

I have a smart cat fountain that I really like, but the app it uses (Tuya Smart) won't send me notifications on my phone when the clean water runs out or the sewage tank gets full. I have to manually open the app each time to check which kind of defeats the purpose.

Does anyone know of a home automation workaround for this? Maybe a different app or a way to integrate it with a broader smart home system? Any advice would be appreciated!

I would like to automate some powering on and off of devices and have used Tasmota etc smart switches in the past, but I really don't like that these things require wifi access.

Is there anything on the market that can turn an outlet on and off that doesn't require internet access or some custom garbage android app? Something I can just sent a HTTP POST request to, ping, or some other generic interaction on an LAN-only ethernet interface?