Tim’s Aussie rental automated with Zigbee and Home Assistant
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Hello and welcome to the harm in podcast. But I feel going you as usual. I've got work on hey, on you doing hey.

good.

How are you? Thank you. And today we joined by tim. Hey, tim, you hey.

i'm good as usual this .

episode of the missions podcast is sponsored by home missions cloud by nepos sta. Easily access your local instant instance remotely. First one more free to supports the home maccone E S P home.

And the great as projects configure is done by use the interface. So I know footling with router settings is a self stick ates or any yo tim, thank you so much for being here today. We really appreciate you coming on. Um yeah one intelligibility back. So where you're from in and how you got here today?

So I am just for me feel i'm in canberra. Nice teaching here .

is early.

So i've sort of just starting in my assistant and a bit of high motivation. Um I started out actually with some some of the not professional gear but like the more commercial home or home is automation kind of bits of kid? We had some renovations on a house was living in, and our electric recommended some products were demise that you could link together across the wiring so they are really good to install.

They had a and they just had a great interface to edom the and dissolved a few. The issues around has like having three demise either end of the whole way and things like that. They were great and now great for big dreams as well.

You could start set to default demming level and all those kind of little settings. And I there are a good product on their their smart hm ad online was a three hundred dollar box that goes in the ceiling, and you needed one of them per circuit plus the hub. Yeah, right? So they acted the the box you put in the roof.

Would I acted a third or second? Third dema yeah on the circuit and just the interface to a hub that you also have to buy. So say.

I know know if i've ever heard of .

that yeah IT was IT was correct and that they did a range of different switches as well. So you could have not a non deming switch in just a few front dings. Um they the company who makes them used to own clip soul, which is a big brand hearing australia for electrical products yeah .

which electric I think SHE now .

is got brand jad industries is the company he used to have IT and they want to make the products now they're really good. But yeah they've at the time that we looked at, at the smart home ads, work were very expensive for what they were, particularly when we're just .

talking about lighting here, right like you got to have a three hundred dollar box just to do lights that doesn't include anything else present motion senses or or .

just just add the functions of already on the wall that .

seems really hard to justify yeah .

I I don't know what the status of IT is now and whether I what the pricing is now for that at on sure. I've seen the dims themselves use fun enough. I've seen them use deny here. Really if you go to the lighting section and when you get to try out some of the lights on some of the boxes in the I T. Hearing canberra, the demos are actually the juried industry.

Day is nice.

interesting. Just they are properly commercial. They are properly like for years.

they are the one who make the lights, which is so for the north american market, as you think the companies like square and all those kind of companies said that make the products that go in the walls so that see the history and IT was the team is a really good you can program them just by holding the button down on all those kind of simple things.

Yeah, but they were there a good introduction to having an interface, not just a switch and the control and a dema like they had option site default is sitting how how low you want IT. So could work with L, D lights. You could go, you could take your minimum brightness and your maximum brightness and things like that.

And through you installed in those, I started asking questions. So I wanted to sign back to the manufacturers to say, can we do certain? Can you programme them in certain ways? Light for the whole? I have demand at one end. Start them at full brightness because you're walking in from the front door, but the demo at the bedroom main start at minimum brightness because you probably gone to turn on at night and walked down the hallway and those kind of little interface options. But I never sort of took IT any further than putting these ideas together in my mind.

And then i've heard about home assistant and home automation tion general and been there and take long enough to remember even next ten stuff yeah and that kind of on our functionality and that is so that's sort of the seed of moving on to home motivation and actually having a go at this stuff in. And now i'm knowing new home, it's a rental, so I don't have many options for changing things. I looked at Shelly for the involved things like that for other options, but they decided on the ik stuff are saying trying to just use IT and they asked me beat up from A A security N I T security point of view and of course it's all offline. So I thought, IT, i'll give me a try well and is easy to pick up .

and quite sorry, I will get this some background because I think I came from the exact same question you were team like what I said the time is so um I was also renting when I was got into her moderation first get out of time. I was IT I want to get into her motivation. But 那个 renting right？

So in australia we have some pretty strict uh rental laws, which makes IT very hard to do some fun that you know what emotion, for example. Um most leases um gently up for twelve twenty four months um so you're only guaranteed to be living in that house twelve months, which doesn't incentivize you to do any long term changes to the house. Not you could do much any because in the lease agreements you not like to change light bubs are not let to change light switch.

You can light bubs expected land change light bulbs but light switches or any permanent fixtures I blinds um basically anything that could be screwed ed into the wall, you're not allow to touch without the landlords position permission. So and is not to mention that we're on two hundred and forty vote elections y anyway. So any changes behind the wall need to be done by Sparky national electric. So totally feel you where IT comes to way your current position, right? Um so I guess with that, like what have you sort of started looking at for your animation of moment?

Well, of the facing i've set up is the living room. So I are these rentals a bit, bit fun. It's a bit of an older place with high ceiling.

So yeah I I like I imagine expected to turn the light body had to break out a, what, five foot letter. Yeah, change these light bulbs. So the irony there of having to change your light bulbs, but needing a ladder in a rental.

So i've set up the living room with so light up on the ceiling. Just the other day, I got hold of a light for the Green lamp as well because I just wanted an ability to control the lighting Better. These rentals been built with the living space all um track spotlights.

So the living room has six sixteen yet lamps in that and it's not a huge spices. The kitchen has nine, and it's even smaller. Wow, wow.

So it's quite bright. And so it's either a choice of one lamp aside you, which just doesn't quite cut at all the time, or had being out. I just wanted to dim the lights.

And that was IT loud, he said, felt you can't do anything here. You can't touch IT so I couldn't put IT couldn't put A D marine. I wasn't gonna try and talk to a rental agency to convince them and they not have to find this electric.

Who would do such a simple job in anyway and things like that. So I just made sense to get some smart light bulbs and just set them up to do the deeming. And from there, i've already bought a whole bunch of the I here switches I in the coming packs anyway.

So you know, it's a good thing about the G E ten. Is they coming a pack of three with one of these already set to go and then is always handy walking around like you get to the cheap section at the end and is always something useful in there. The the little sand controls, these are now the old model.

right? I had a few of the world in the box in in my random, uh, stash somewhere that I to up. And I think I had probably similar intention. Cy as like, oh, I dim lights on and off, control lights with this.

This is the exact same interface is the dim is on the wall that I started with a button click and left and right. And if there's enough functionality in that already. So i've had to go doing some more imation with that.

I kept with zeg because I also wanted to do things like binding groups, grouping and finding. I've got lights in the bedroom room for bedside lamps, which were a predal kit so I can change the color temperature I can deem them. And IT seems sentence eus beautiful.

So that, but that's not, that's just off the switch, are not until I get my z bean network happy and healthy. I'm not gonna miss with those lights. They working on their own, but yet there's a lot of intricate to the I T stuff and they beat the mind.

And it's been a bit of a exercise to not only get at work, get these witches in particular working, but getting the information has been a bit of a chAllenges. Well, so these steer our switches at the moment, what is a change general doesn't have over the year updates running for I kia stuff. This the information i've been getting from my interaction on kit hub with this A H I team is that there's instability in the way they do their updates.

And through a bit more google searching in researching things, I ended up on the zip pie hit hub. Ending pie is the back in to zh I, where the data loves that I hear, who have changed the day code on their software updates. So the newest version of the of the firm way for these, in particular, when you ride out the version number ery hacks, becomes a number that's less than the old version's .

numbing his um of course.

IT is so is the most round about quick. So you couldn't do a proper update. There's also issues with the updates with binding and things like that.

The one feature I really want to get working with them. I have not been able to bind any of the lights i've got set up to one of these switches yet. So that's why I sort of holding off on some of the best parts.

But I haven't even advent much of beyond sitting those lights up because i've got enough for what I already want. I can. I've already set up two.

I've got two sees with not only just different deming level, but turning off individual names. And that was a, that was an amazing, just little insight. I didn't even think to do IT write at the start. I just gna use a group dem everything, and then just playing around and realized I can turn off individual lines.

Es, so i've got the saying with everything, and then one saying, we have have the line to turn off some of the dim because they pointing at the TV and then there's one left on right behind you so you get a wash of light, but it's not in your face. It's not uncomfortable ly dark, like having just one reading lamp in the room would be. And IT was a bit of so A A bit of my really part distant past history is await in television before switching over to a working in IT long, long ago. And I did things like lighting design.

cool. Okay.

sorry.

this stuff must frustrates you. Then when you can't get IT exactly the .

way you want IT, that's why I have sort of stored with time. My sister is I have i've got two buttons on that I can call up on my phone that do pretty much everything I want for now. Yeah just not great like I i've not yeah am using the just i'm just using the day out love life they talk a dashboard so and i'm just using IT like that of all leave a page open on my phone.

Go find lovely and then find the scene bottom I I could be going so much more than that. I just haven't got there yet. I've just not had time right lately. And with the issues like this site, this would be perfect for switching three signs and having layers of control but with those issues said, um i've not even been able to pay them at times it's .

going say I T is um herring methodology sometimes is frustrated so i've got some of those G U ten bubs um and I I use them in one very specific place which is my um range hood lights right like so right above my the exhaustion, the kitchen and and that's the only place I have smart bulbs in a house I have to them and i've gone through a bunch of us through some lying around office somewhere.

I could dead ones, but it's i've actually seen people make like a little kids to turn that off and on and off and on. And because you got you got A A foot to power, depending on the model you have, some of them were six times. Some of them were seven times a where you have to turn IT on off.

But is also a thing. We're depending on what you get when you're resetting the pairing. So if it's already paid and you're resetting IT, there's a thing where sometimes you may have to take the bulb right next to your zig by radio, like literally like a foot away from I usually a when you read instructions in early keep right next to that, you could be a few feet, ten, twenty feet, whatever.

Apparently not what day here once there's something in there that makes its super low range, once IT gets pair as so right, brand new, it's great. Second time around you have is like, you know you kind of banging your head on the table a little about there and right so um that's something i've learned with I the dutch bulbs specifically. Um I don't know if that applies to all their bulbs and stuff like that, but yeah there is such a huge it's great for the Price. But it's also like the other side of IT is you also get what you pay for, right? So it's a little bit of the of photos.

S I haven't had that yet. I I paid the month. I actually bought that here in australia. Idea, have a little G U ten, this clamp for for absolutely nothing. So I then I had a test ID where I could, I had to do each bob and of course kids, its on hope eight foot ceiling. I don't want to be, I didn't want to be upper light.

I try no twist to ball being in out of a soccer so on yeah that I I, I sort of a few that easy says, mentioned and was a bit concerned about using them. But yeah, I I paid them all with the coordinator in the same room and then move them to the room next door. The receptions fine and they've worked really well.

It's the switches have been the thing that's been demise and annoying for me. And I actually got one very good tip from one of the developers for those that I say is i've been sparring them directly to the ordinator. And I sometimes I just won't even work though they will show up.

There were a few times one up day to go where they wouldn't even show up until you restarted the whole stack. And then they were still there on arrival and wouldn't do anything. They are beat bit in now. But the the tip they gave me was actually try paring them through something like one of these smart lugg yeah with your acting is around up but they they do they pair a lock quick to by key own devices, which makes sense.

I think it's also that there that device is closer, right? So again, like I I had a couple of the repeaters where same thing i'd pair through there and i've .

been doing at all just sitting in my desk, in my room. So the the coordinate is actually the closer thing at the time, but it's just that i've i've gone with a land by coordinate front, which is some one of the takes as instruments, cheap sets and then a peace edit the the U A J. One, which is, yes, a nice device, but IT just seems to not like peering to these switches, but these switches also don't seem to like peering with much sometimes. So yeah, that's been the real big frustration that i've had is trying to get that second, does the interface working and then i'll move on to how I want to actually program these interfaces and doing things like automation. So for now, it's just been simple direct control.

I will say that the is he be pairing or is he be binding? The early time ever had at work was with an example of my desk, one of the standard phillips here, little remote right connected to a phillips remote via the Philippine b as soon as i've tried to use this outside and fill you help with like doesn't matter if the between B H A um the binding, whatever i'm trying to bind IT to this does not work IT could be a phillip y bug or another brand able just the bonding in zip a find can be really really like temperature um and the same thing with you a luck of course um I here so um some open and close buttons for their smart lines.

He just get independently. Does he be basso? I've paid them up with my as he be coordinator uh and once again I just brandan's ly has disapearance off the network and I had what emotion set up you know um to open close blinds on a blinds with the plans.

I didn't bind them IT was a simple no foreign vent when the button is clicked and IT worked for a few days and now they've on and I just have me bother to try and pair them up again. I think you got you mention you have the the uh the uh controller of a little circle band eyed grand plans for that. I was like, ah IT is zippy device, right? I just pair IT.

Uh, I just bind IT to A A bug and use IT to dim. You know that doesn't work that way um even to the point like art, i'll just go through her micheline. And when I I did IT down level, harmison will then going in the lights, but it'll tell you how much is moved. But I would do IT you know niche like a dima. It's 也 fifty percent to ten percent。

yes. Funny you watch the messages come through of these things and that they've got they quite a strange messaging that they can give off when especially when they turning yeah yeah just well, it's a volume control, not a dema. And that makes perfect sense, but that they should translate a bit easier.

They look great. This worked pretty well and doing this stuff directly. So using IT with the light bulls directly where I want an incident reaction, for now they've been pretty rocks. Som, um i'm really disappointed these are the little switches that come with the older smart plugs, and i'm really disappointed these are facile really because they just they are really good design. And even though smart plugs are going out for the new smaller model, but these ones were in a pack with the long larger ones, I know there's already a bit of A A black market for these. So people are really wanting the little volume controls around the world is the new one doesn't look .

anywhere is good a really but a couple yeah .

if and australian nike is seem to be the ones with the most. So there's been a bit of aside hustle of buying the map and exporting them. So that was something I found out as well that was quite funny to find and and say the just a year people really interested in using them to the point of having to try and find them again yeah, that's that's been interesting.

And then just all the fault finding like is, is it's been frustrating for slowing down what I wanted do, but at the same time is been some really like funding a wrong hicks. Value was just brilliant, and hopefully I can get started with a bit more. Now I picked up some really good things off ali express as well, but they actually have I Normally see, like the W A D controllers, and that's about IT everyone just doing their revision of this. This one is directly the direct one.

and this one is, yeah.

yeah, they just, they sigg b strike gb for light strips. This ones actually due channel preprogram to be color temperature. I've got one for now, which is for adding to the bedroom with the beside lamps to dian lights, and do and do a sunrise light.

I, that was my first to the idea for home automation time lights with a simulated sunrise, because here in canberra, in the middle of winter, the sun does not come up until last seven, eight. And if IT fix the whole city, everyone, everyone has a seasonal effect and just the place get miserable sometimes. Yeah, yeah, but now the lights back, i'm sort of not haven't finish the bill yet on that I don't needed anymore the lighting of.

I'm waking up at five thirty again already because the lives coming through the windows, that was the first inspired idea. And then that was a really good far. So this, they arrange, they do a single channel all the way through to RGB in color .

temperature yeah I will also keep those um if like the fifty fifty eight lots something they were there's a few options um but get there were very days I think the ek I was is very expensive if you can get maybe your fan is almost something um I didn't trust IT that I was gonna for what I needed um and I think I can also now have a part of day like downstate pts about downlinks up down. But the l strips you can get from my K A they have a be um traffic day controller.

Now yes, saw that and shop the other day. Actually the early days trip I I thought wasn't that good that the last days weren't that close together in the trip. But I did have a White in their weather and became with one of the city about remotes to do.

That's the one they do for color temperature changing rooms. The range is increasing in is in is a good range for its process is really good. Yeah, it's just going to be difficult.

And even I can not i've saying through all that fault finding that people with just a nike ecosystem have head issues with these, and then what whatever is going wrong with them. And obviously they are not updating the the decode thing. Even I key his own ego system. So that tell funny that part was the new phone are also doesn't do they do not do group binding anymore, you can only bind devices to the switch. Are interesting, which I think a bit stranger, I think from what i've sort of been noticable together that mean when they come in the box they bound by group.

which should .

make sense yeah yeah, that that's an interesting fault in the new firm way. So think you can to downgrade dom. I ve been tried IT yet the only way I found to actually upgrade even was I started up b to M, T, T, stack just for updating them and then tear the stack down.

And that was actually really good to see in home assistant in in next door to its, I just had secreted M Q T T. As its only all container started that up, pointed IT at the, at the E G one, which is really handy, is that land based IT was a lot easy to start that up, then trying to get A U S B device into a container. But and all that I just pointed at the nip address and didn't update close that all down and then started Z H, I backup and I was really good.

Z, H, I noticed that the igbo radio had been changed. And just at all that popped up with a question, do you want to a restore from a backup? B, yes.

And my whole sig in was stood back up with that. Our problem. That was really good. And yeah I know wanting to see now if you sit both in b to M, Q, T, T and in H A to the same radio settings, i've got a suspicion I should be able to run them at the same time.

Sam, radio setting. How like do you mean like channel?

The invita was set to channel live in Z H, A set to channel twenty. So Z H, I just noticed that the channel had changed. And a few I think a few other setters for like communications spate.

But I know this. The user j one can have more than one connection. IT actually tells you how many connections to to the airport are open at any one time. I ve got no reason to try like there's no I don't see any new reason to run both apart from just the just giving IT a go. This is a very little chAllenge, but IT was a good little found.

I wonder what the implications of that are. Just again, just trying to think that if it's got a ordinate multiple things at once, how does that work? great. Like in the sense that I don't think I can be in two channels at one.

I said I did not and that's what yes. So yeah, that's what I dislike. But I I think if I said both is both software to the same .

settings.

yeah no conflict. It's gonna flag. Oh, you need to restore from .

a backup and pretty sure you can have multiple coordinated in the um from that i've haven't double used to get for quite some time. I was printin those ability to pen multiple um court at some point um as a backup le or something. Maybe it's going down. That's what a path a little .

bit not really useful for anything, but just not so fun experiment.

Well, I mean, it's what would be cool is actually just like how we have, uh, blue tooth proxy with U S P, dirt and stuff, right where you can just take this with the tudes stick around the house, whatever, or or maybe already embedded whatever device motion, whatever. And an access of blue whose proxy, right, you do the same kind of thing where whether it's sig bears at H A, whatever, that's kind of, I guess that's kind of the other way though because now you're say, yeah, multiple radios going back to one one, one is the h one g multiple control .

was running one radio.

Yeah, yeah. I think I am talking the other way. Okay, yes, yeah, okay. yeah.

And if they are if they just using IT as a as a broadcast idea, I I, I don't see that any point trying to pay one device to two corning software, but there's no reason to different software doing their own thing. Couldn't share a radio, yeah but IT was good to say that the network stood up to missing around with the coordinator, and I came back up. The the U C, G.

One itself can actually you can reflect IT to have a bluetooth proxy on the side as well because its controller is in is p thirty two. So there is a bit of scope within the hard way to do some interesting things with that, that still in beta. People have said the two, the two radio types interfere, but I think that's also that is using the radio on the A S P thirty two thing at the same time as they using this is b radio.

So that's that's not ideal. So I and I don't name if that I i've not thought about doing presence detection just yet. It's just me and two kids in the house, so and there under five. So you know where they are. They mostly under four trains.

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that that sort leasing to my exchange of that you you know you got lighting sort of a plan for that where you're gonna head to next in terms of your your high motivation, where where else you want to be able to get home controlling.

I I think the first thing before, even to continue with the lighting for now, is I am very divergent, sometimes painfully obvious, and things like to do this and organization and things like that are always a bit of a chAllenge. And with two Young kids who are now out of getting to the edge that you want to give them their own responsibility has been quite useful.

They two things to emerge together that I ve been looking at, things like chose charts for kids. And once we check Marks and things on them just then, IT occurred to me that pretty much the best thing for me as well is a giant list of tasks and being able chek them off, so doing getting into dashboards and interfaces that are front center around the house to just take track of all those kind of things. And to the point even of um in the europe divergencies of the A I has been an absolute joe this I am tool that you give IT a broad task and the tool break down that task into individual items, individual steps of a task and generate a check, a chek list from that those kind of tools as well. So merging all of those worlds and back to interface in and being interact with that in a helpful way. It's sort of I think the next part I want to have a look at.

Yeah we just had Benjamin on as uh a guest um to the previous episodes, the previous guest episode and he's done some great stuff with I was very like blow away by that fantastic right to the point of hey let's get a my a maintenances list on the house I I like and get throw that into A I give IT that let that paradise or let you know uh and so go to the grocery store and get A R to say you tube by .

this today where the grocery store yeah that I be someone I great idea yeah just IT in great ways to get started um few other things I i'd really luck to try is amazon came out with a feature for electorally while ago to allow you to read along to a story book and IT would control he lights in the rain and oh yes.

that's right.

Why i'm not heard of this?

Yeah I I saw I saw one primary for at once. So you use these particular story books that they've got, pray recorded singes for them so you you the the downsides, you need the device in the room with you yeah and and i'm not one he's going to I I don't I don't like these devices in general.

Um i'm a bit I I T security conscious about those kind of things in general, yes but also we've all say no, especially about the amazon devices, how we've been accessed in reverse. So having one of those in the bedroom room was terrifying idea. But yeah watching them, watching the demonstration that is the dead reading the story and in the light change on q with what he's rating and they even have little sand clipsed at play of the Baker.

Interesting so so it's listening to your voice so because like you would read something differently than I would read .

feel would read yeah and if IT places to your voice, i've saying I i've been to event with the kids where they'll have a story book on a power point and now flip a pay and it'll be a sound effect or something happen. But it's not quite on cute with what if they don't if they read at the wrong pace, IT goes out the window. This keeps pace with you and listens for the keys and things.

And I really I found that was a really cool idea. And if I could do something locally to that extent, that be great. The minimum is just doing ascription, what you can really call an automation, outset of automation, and and having some some kind of little interface where I could click through the automation along with my pace and or not even need a device to click through, like if if i'm the only one reading stories, I can tie everything in my pace.

I IT was such a cel able feature. And it's it's strange that hasn't gone much further. I I have seen IT for when when phillips drop proper A B light from their tvs and went to what we have now cameras staring at screens.

I think you do the same thing that you have an option. We put your phone in the speaker of A T V, and IT ouldn't picks up. And I also really like a music.

margie, like phone against speaker. And I will like you just listen to the music. And got around that for a little .

while and and tried extinct net to movies as well. So as long as and same thing is listening to keep pace with the movie. But IT has a script in the back in for when to run the lights to go with the movie.

I saw that a long time, a guy I haven't seen IT again since. And I know the ambient light ideas are getting bitter and bit origin now, but they still, yes, they rely on you having a media PC in things like that. We've got smart V S.

We all got rid of their media PC. Yeah, because we all got a smart v and now we why why don't they have something like amy light back? That would be a greatly addition. But amy light for the kid's bedroom room was is something on the list as well at that point.

Maybe it's a one off kind of thing where you do have a media box, right like a media PC connected to whatever that .

that can go on the fire into the list of projects to do. Um 也 也 other things I think some things in the garden， I started looking at irrigation systems and things and and time again temporary because IT is a rental, I had to go trying out open, sprinkle and really light that. But i've saying now that even I think recently E S P thirty two now have an option for flashing them as a sprinkle controller in E S P home so that should integrate straight away with time.

a system we don't even have to go to that level. There's I think is zip be um time as you can get like more time is but smart taps of smart evellin you can get off um even at bunnies like which their local home depo part west there is a blue truth enabled you know smart taps right and you just put them outside in the garden office them with our insistent and you got to springer right well depending .

on what you want, if you want again, I can actually like sprinkler system, right? You can always have the above ground. Once you do, you don't have to necessarily dig in. I don't know what the rules are around that if you ever move out. That's gonna kind of annoying ing.

To dig up this break, I think from someone has had to go bit I keep teeing up bits of black pie yeah IT is often they'll be another bit black pipe that I find in in the backside in half of spring color in one corner. So someone had a had to turn with that and it's just routed away since. So I just I don't want anything to complex more the gardens than the loan and things like that. But I yes, i've seen some these beeves I really liked by sprinkling as I would be IT was just a little bit more IT is one thing for one purpose yeah I did a time but you could also he said said watering by volume IT took in the weather um IT also integrated with you could get our of four thirty three module and editor you could .

use .

that to control old school are four thirty three smart, more not smart, plugs about remote plugs and use them as stations. And the other feature he did was IT would receive everyone's with the stations from around you. So you ouldn't have to buy a local with the station you just pick up on.

Everyone else is with the station who has one in needs in the area. So I thought I was a really good features. Well, so the rain, he didn't need to buy a ryan. And so you just stone .

you neighbors that's .

IT or so they borrow IT here. Well, listen, listening to IT because it's broadcast. So that was some there was something else looking at a while ago, and now i've moved to a rental here, something I might look at again soon.

And that integrates with time assistant from memory as well. So you can have that bit of low in control that you donate from something from my open spring collate, doing the time means and all. That was something else really.

Interestingly, I was gone out. The idea with using arap switches was to add the garden might see on a timer. They could just be their own at all.

They look like a spring club channel bit. Yeah, there is one station that what is the loan for twelve hours and nine? Any matter?

Think that's what some people do with things like ponds of water features, right where they might have, you know, like we need this i'm running you know during the day of twelve hours to get no found running are thank you to with that way yeah .

that ideas for protects is just finding the time and and the bits in places of good. I've been lucky with getting beats and paces from friends like old gregory lies. I i've got a stack of old rugged y by ones, which is just absolutely perfect for these gone of things. I'd like my pie hole is running on a because one b, it's absolutely coffee for IT. I'd like the idea of separate the .

hardware as well. So stack .

of yeah is everything's a separate device. I tried up. I didn't have much like geddit H, I not said H J behind self running. I.

H.

I work I, T all day and not is not even that night the networking in things. So i'm running photo siva, and I think I my suspicion is photo ora sa I think changes the names of the networks in the firewall. So you follow anyone's guide online with a cotton paste for sitting up something like a vm, and it's trying to open ports on a firewall that's not being used like a zone, a zone that's not being used in the firewall.

So there's a lot of missing around to do there. I just grabs another rose reply and put H. J. O on. I'm up and running.

So Normally what I run is like for all of my linux stuff, I usually run sent to s absolutely searching searching to rocket and because political anyway yeah but um yeah I like but the same thing but are you running stuff in a like you have a bear metal for our server and then you are running IT in like A B M.

Is that what you're trying to do? That's what yeah that's that's how was trying to do. I was trying to do hy I in K V M, and just there's something about the photo ora server and try to use the guides online.

I was just trying to cut in pace things. I gave up and got a rush reply. IT was, yeah, yeah.

This is my day job. I'm not going to see t here and do IT for another six hours at night kind of thing. I use reel at work all the time, so IT should work.

That was the most inferable power wasis. Um I did also want to try the immutable table oasis. They look really interesting for this .

kind of thing to do you think that having more hardware just leads to potential more break points in your system? Like always found that like for example, I said we keep be running on two from machines are right um if ig bee goes down my lights I turn on because my sensors is ig be right but if my sub wave network goes down the lots I turn on because the tim is, is that wave right? So now I IT doesn't matter of which system breaks right.

I've just duplicated by my problems. If you've got all these even rose replies around the house, do you think that that's just potentially okay? My par holes gone down. Now I need to go in replace and that's therefore causing only other rest reply to have the connection IT is potentially creating more brave points in the home.

I would agree. So i've i've been very strict on what things I will use. So i'm i'm holding on to using C B, that's what was really happy to find as he be L A D strict controller, then buying A W L D one.

So and that's i'd chosen because I could do banning. Well, at least I thought I could, thought you could. Yes, so I and have that local control beside the the more the more fragile network.

So I sort of into this with with plans of and and also the light seat that was a big thing for me as well know saying these things work when wind bound correctly and they being absolutely no latency. That was that was the the, the biggest thing for me. And the chAllenge now trying to get them to work next is IT is a continuing effort.

I don't know about IT being a big problem in general. Like my home production server, i've now i've officially needed home production. I am the idea of committed yeah yeah in the idea of of being the home lab like IT was that was the first d vacation.

There is now a home production, this home prod and home lab uni. So like that's more of a any issue than than having a lot of rugby pies doing single tasks. I might lose one task if a rest pie goes down.

And yet pie holds a good example of that goes down the networks in a prety bad shape. Generally, if that's going to go down, it's, well, i'm not at home, so I don't really care. And yeah, win.

I'm back. I, I, I bought thing that alex presses right, all these kind of things. I've bought U, S, B cables with pass, which is on them, so I can just flick them off and on.

And repeat them. I've that's a good idea actually, that that's generally been the one fix i've had to do that rusby y power for the power hole uses the U. S. bay.

Power from the router is interest you. So did you say you're running H O S on a rest by one? Or is that is that .

a new that's on a three? I I had a three at the same time. I'm controlling a grand total of seven light bulbs at the moment and no switches.

So i've installed hacks and the the rubbish bin e calendar has has been the first of of base of gone with timer system. I'm pretty sure I could probably run on a rush reply one and and not apart from a big city to b din length. That's the only problem is you can actually get any O S ford m now apart from the legacy staff. So yeah, the next one I break, acs is gonna a rich ripe. Anyway.

I think come, I care. I've just released, at least in the states. I'm hoping the coming to the show, you soon the power monitoring smart plugs, so you can always get a few of those shocked the money dishwasher, washing machine, get some motivation happening around those know when they're done. I'm stop monitoring your energy usage some fun things they are too yeah.

those these things are on about to disconnect my gas here in australia, right? Very nice. You got to love a all.

The only gas appliance is the cooker. Of course, IT is. So i'm paying more for my gas connection a month than the gas I used. And luckily the payment scheme for the the building we have here in canberra, they've got the the budgeted billing way. You couldn't be build a certain man each month that total builds up and then they use that to pay off the bill. And likely because the accounts are joined with the electricity account, my extremely large winter electricity bill was paid off by my extremely large budget in the gas bill.

Nice because .

the the budgeting for the gas assumed to head more than a cooktop and the budgeting ing for the electricity was wasn't great. Um they also have great fun with the rain tol have a leaking hot water system. So all over winter you .

constantly paying for.

yeah you feeling that with crisp canberra water at midnight, which is coming near to the nice called temperature. So strike the way I had hate itself.

So that was a fun discover, even without power that was without power monitor, that would that would have been useful over the wind to define that the power company actually were very up for as they were able to look up the history of the building, not my account, and I were able to tell me that has happened. The the high wind to build has happened in these answer for rea number of years. And IT was because the hot water system has been making. So that's been fixed luckily. But that was that was an interesting sort of I opened and yeah I confirmed an idea of doing some power mooring, being a bit more judicious about how do you use power, get rid of the gas, bought an induction cooktop light and an A F A, which seems to be, yes, the standard to a part kitchen these days.

Did did you get have to get permission from the lamborn to remove the guest cooked up.

or not more? And this is what people do. This is obvious articles and things slightly, as people just get a really big chopping board, a big, thick, wouldn't chopping board, put IT on top of the gas range and then put the portable induction on top so they don't so they don't start raffling the cooktop around with the induction working underneath and then people just disconnect the gas and now come around um any canberra there actually true, they actively removing gas from some suburbs already.

They trying not to connect me suburbs to gas at all. They might be articulated gas in the suburbs and there's lots of different programs for changing gas, central heating to reverse cycle and things like that. They really trying the best here to get rid of gases of in in a harms yeah in a harm distribution sense on time.

Britain, large style. It's not going away, but they're doing pretty well. I know there were all so of canberra also, I think one hundred percent renewable. Now an .

interesting on Adelaide's, sorry, south australia was just they didn't realize canberra also.

Canberra been never be and the scale does help.

Yeah of course S C paying you know this is smallest physical size territory. An you know this is just canberra about IT.

that's what that is. That is and most of that he's actually outside of canberra. They they own generation sites outside of canberra and and that part of the national will east coast grade.

So they displacing IT in to it's a big push here to be electric only. And so yeah is power mondrian thinks like that would be something to look at. I've i've not been so inclined with that. I'd like some of the faces now coming out in assistant with the even just I I think even just the mathematics you I have, have seen those features in the updates recently. Way though you can do the math.

Yeah there's like yes like vane sums and all that.

yes. And so just even having some kind of monitoring for inside the dish asia and the washing machine, you know to an average how much IT consumes in terms of power. So you could just run IT is in mathematics in the background for something that's something the largest gd vice.

Same with the fridge, the refrigeration always running. So yeah, just add that into the calculation as well. And things like that, I think don't necessarily always have to have a device log to writing and not even the right device.

This is something that month is on off would be enough, and that could also go back into the checklist of the neuro divergent monitoring of me. Remind major, take that. what? Washing out of the washing machine three hours after IT finished? I knew.

I know if I hear the june. Now I LG devices of great out the mark wave singing a chain, washing machine singing a chain, but IT IT does not click. Sometimes he just, he just doing, listen to IT. It's funny.

Like it's where we have the same at the L, G, whatever. Tune for the wash machine stuff. But friends of yours, anytime we're there, I I find that like, you know, they are friends with kids and stuff there using doing laundry like all the time and it's like the washing we shall go off .

and i'm i'm like all of a sudden I like sugar so yeah that as much as a thought about using home insistent, I don't know. I do really want to go too far either.

Oh, what? What do you mean if you don't want to go too far, then what? What do you talking to us for? Yeah, way too far.

Not really anyway um I I think I I I really like the idea the of being in the detail and and doing I like the idea of making my own dashmore device that sits on of the kitchen bench not just buying something off the shelf but finishing IT to the instigate night, getting IT looking like this could be a product of the shelf.

You mean physically wise or in the dash, god wise.

but it's really like at my history in in T, V production, I did a lot of the graphics on on screen and learn a lot about how to let stuff out that is easy to read and from a distance and and easy to collect that information. So that kind of user interfaces is something that a big reason why I haven't even started on dashboards yet is I know art just be stuck, absolutely perfecting IT and and not happy.

And then suddenly someone's released a new button. You know, i've been listening to the of the podcast and your mushroom cards and bubble buttons and things that they coming. I just found clues, released a couple of video is explaining his new bubble buttons and things they only just play out this week so i'll started watching well that come .

out like i'll beyond reit and monday and then band as a home you a library that you can download and ah yeah yes yeah .

I would stop looking at the devices and then just beyond dashboards for the next that that will be the next focus for yeah so i've held off on doing that. Luckily to seen buttons on the lovely dashboard of keeps me quite happy and I have been able to set up some groups and things, so that's been able to satisfy me. I like that the next three steps i've got is more G G U, ten light bulbs, but this time not from my kia. On the next batch, i'm trying to get the cheapest pricy canon l express, which can take a few days .

hunting down because dangerous, dangerous. So I yeah gonna be as well like you.

but they all coming from the second line. I'm gonna one and see what I get. But yeah, every shop is just got the same one.

I was trying to hunt down the non existing color temperature early dimap. That's what I want to get. I've ve i've really enjoyed the the I colour temperature in deming G U ten bulls.

I don't need color, I don't need RGB. But the color temperatures would have been great to speak like having IT in bedside lamps instead, that idea, setting up the kayan stuff. So I would really like to have color temperature and being able to match the color tempera in whole house.

Yes, would be great. So else, trying to find something like that. But of course, on express, no chance he's the one RGB liable was RGB in color temperature at later.

So IT is the a but but yeah, that's the next thing is to buy another. I think I need, I need thirteen light bulbs. So I wasn't going to buy a thirteen G, U, T, light bulbs from nike year. Yeah no that just got an expensive before I even left the house but .

I was renting. I I had I think IT was about twenty five M R sixteen light bulbs that I needed to replace um and M R sixteen in didn't hurt. There was no smart M R sixteen light bar at that stage when I was doing this.

Um so I did like reporting some random C P ones for amErica um that look um no manufactured anymore now is replacement once but yeah IT was just yeah you do one number of time. Like, okay, I can justify doing the kitchen which has six team lights. I'll buy buy six of them this time.

You know, that is two box spent. Ch, right? And then that's the cost of renting, right? Because if you get an electrician out, might cost you three box of the electron to just put one demand and he's done .

right for not your own house, right?

And that's and that's why I get like to miss. Then if you want to remove you then helps to get the electrical back out to pay that three hundred years again to undo whatever you've done. Um that's assuming that every time the lander comes in every six months to have expect your house so they don't say, hey, why we touch the slight slight put IT back .

to that was what a thing. Yes, always a beauty. But yeah light bolls are easy. No one notices the light bolles change.

And i've like left rentals um known that the next rental i'm going to doesn't have you know this top of light bob. So I just leave that light bob plug game because not getting a little to take out the smart .

bob like it's i'll get my letter at three days one home, get my letter um fingers.

I also had this by side J T bobs.

I've i've been luckily the one I have replaced were three to a list, a set of lights and I K A cell, the impact of three. I haven't had the Clark rez world ek find of a seat of four lights. And by having buying the value packs a pack of three, that that will be the next the room mommy now actually as a set of four.

So that's the other reason. I also not not liking the idea of going back to here and having to buy odd numbers and things like that as well and also just the SHE cost of IT. I I got lucky with the first hits of kids they had to sell at the time they were clearing out of the old runs of stocks.

So I got the light sets for forty five dollars instead of the usual seventy. So that was a good Price. Jet to for the, so for three G, U, ten bulbs and steer about, remind.

So straight away, I ended up with A P steer about remote because I was only going to need one for one room. And then these, I got for two dollars from the, from the shape section theyve got the seconds and run out section at the back of I K. And where you you people come to buy one covered front door is broken and things like that.

And that's always worth a hand they've got at the moment. The one, me, the IEEE has them for twenty five dollars in that section on. So I just there was just two of these, didn't know exactly what they were.

I I think I grab the Q R code of the box and looked them up, will stand there. And just when you that's that's excEllent, all grab those play around with so I i've been lucky already and I keep watching I here next i'm gonna run a sale for that stuff. That's the only time it's worth getting.

And so that's the best way to do IT. You gotta just, uh, stay sales and you know if there's any local like facebook groups or whatever, right, that a lot of times still be like, hey, you know this this companies having a sale today are like, you know what?

The time at the moment is looking at aliexpress and trying to figure out the cheapest unit Price because everyone sells differently, trying to find which is a real shop in which is not looking at reviews as well and making your there's a bit of there's some good intel in the reviews that boot pay people who are will get on there in complying when they've received and actual fake a fake product.

They seems to be a run on night on alex press now to have the unbranded product from a factory that building IT for a particular company. But there they will be like a tertiary fake, like a fake of the fake that someone's copying the of brain version. And its IT can be a bit of a sample in there sometimes.

But i've I have been pleasantly surprised by the this light controller that was really good. I even where I was working with checking out little dc packs for for that the small scale test stop computers and it's the perfect size and they twill vault three emp power supplies. So I was able to pick some of those up before they went in the beam and plug straight into this.

And I had this going in ten minutes. And and this is just some cheap alex press brand. And this this has been the thing that sinks the fastest thought, pays the fastest with the big at this. This turned up ready to go. Its a two channel controller ready for color tempera .

as long as you stay with like international supported standards, like I remember what I want support, I think l experts had they like um was that the singles that I think they call IT which is in november um eleven and eleven um and they had um I post his dead wife stuff obviously that we have having different frequency is started having its own so they sent me up the switch eyes, specifically the I E frequency, and they sent me out the australian plugs.

But there were U S. Frequency um that way of modules like I needs. So I then to pay return shipping to china and then get them to send that back to me. Yeah, so as long to stay like a zik day, which is all the same around the world then. And I know the four thirty three, I think you should be fine.

The three things, i've been morning teas anyway, or been, I should be OK there. I'm prety reluctant to buy anything that main vault ge of there anyway. I'm the the biggest thing for australia is china uses a plug that's very similar to australia.

It's just upside down.

Yeah not it's actual. It's also a different size, is very slightly a different .

size as well, apparently.

right? So yeah, it's upside down which saw all the plugs, the and and they yeah they use an angle plug that's lucky european one. So the or U, K, one with the code comes out the side, but yeah be taken to australia, comes at the top instead, which looks really great.

But yeah, that apparently there also a slightly different sites which can cause issues. And now just use cino material in the plugs and things. So that pings themselves a bit IT theer. So they get a bit .

warmer every .

time they say a stranger plugged and you say the court yet straight away the cords shooting out the top of IT. Yeah no, no so yeah yeah not gna get anything mads of vault ge, but ah yeah anything low voltage. I think i'll get something to be value as well and things like that.

Now i've got this module in working really well. I'm really do. I'm gonna this weekend in order the light, know the gel White light strip to finishing the L, D channel in all that.

Finish off the psi, an line ending. Move on to doing automation and things like that on that side. Turn that yet.

There's a few yet and that's a good little time to night. One night's projects, hopefully. Yeah, if i'm feeling focus is enough fall. They get distracted by something else. Yeah.

I like this, like take a slow approaching. I like this, get this perfect. But this room nose aren't now in out to home, my system. And then I could only about that, right?

And that's goodbye, putting in nothing. I think that that sort of what I been doing, i've got the G U. Ten lights right.

And then I related. I've got a reading lamp in that room as well. So impulse went back out to I K, to buy one extra. Lib, yeah.

And I was actually practically seeing the one of the very handy things in what wants meet, or I want to, to get the rest of the lights in. The main stone is big time for the kids as they are getting ready to get to bed in dala. Or let retain things.

I turn off all the light in the main room of the house, and I found myself reaching for my fire in turning off all the room. Light in the liming room from the other end of the house is it's quite a longue ded house. yeah.

But then if I left the rating light on, I had to walk all right back up the house to just stamp on foot switch is one ring lap. So I did that enough time to be annoyed by IT that i've now you just pull that one actually like all. And now that's done, it's demo, its color temperature, the room and the room will match that, that student, that one.

And that was a really good to have mile state being able to push a button on my phone and have everything in the room, the same match and the same consistent, and then push another one and four of the lights turn off. There's just enough light for watching the T, V. The TV is been the only thing that I can't properly automate.

It's android T V. It's fine. It's A T, C, L, T, V.

That is not the best. It's good for its Price. But I can't leave. I can't leave the android TV device on entire assistant. For some reason, when high insistent goes out and pull the network, the T, C, L, T, V just wake up into completely.

Are you king?

So signal .

it's it's doing something like .

that or it's just it's inside the TV IT gets attention. So IT just wakes the screen up. So I actually, I have to shut the T, V.

Down entirely. I do a full, always shut down and power down. All the thing will out out, wake up in the morning and things doing the the android screen saver all night, burning away.

I i've had a turn on straight after turning off, which is great for the ken's routine as well. Like you trying to get them to go get in the bath and you've stopped the T, T, A, you want. That was an automation I really wanted to try and work on.

Was the lights in the room start dealing? The TV turns off right? Time for bath, or even the text to speech is always good fun.

I love hearing the TV tell them stuff, so it's gonna try to get to get the TV to tell them in its bath time. But I can't trust the T. V. Won't turn itself on full the next twelve hours that night, all after turning itself off.

Turn IT back on. There is A X component created by Frank gets called spoke。 Um one of the great pages that has is that has the ability to disable integrations via automation. So what you could do is you could do something like put the power monitor on the TV outlet when the power level drops, to say that you turn the table off to stand by, get an automation to run to disabled that android TV integration in her system. And then because the integration is disabled, and I want to pull the T, V.

to turn the T, V back on, or looking to that because IT does IT the T V otherwise a week really well and reports back when is power down? I i've got full control of IT because IT is just android table. IT works really well.

Then you may not even need the party to power of going spoke and disabled the interest disabled .

interest that's yeah that's a really great.

You would just need a way to know when to turn IT back on. Otherwise you'll never know when you've turn the T V back on. But um because international disabled but yeah i'm sure you can find a way around that.

I did think about they see the other day I did get one of the bike emotion centres. So as much as I don't ring wana work on presence detection too much inside the house, I thought to try once yet that I just want to see what they were like. They, they, they are a good motion detector. They're not a great, they not a present sensor.

No idea. Yeah.

but he is going to I think that's a good stuff for automation, is to return home. I'll stick that in the garage. Yep, and win the car when I back the car and I can work off are skating home in the afternoon like and and a lot of that kind of really deepole gic is something I would like to work on.

I think like why, why? Why build another integration tool in simple logic? Could and I like that, I think outside twor king, we know raad as well. I like that graphical interface and start doing some logic stuff.

If it's between four thirty and six o'clock in the night and i'm backing the car on these days, then it's definitely time that i'm getting home with the kids. Yeah start this retainer yeah then i've got calendar already for because I could I go parent the kids. So this calendar already involved in that isn't yes, they're easy to work with as well.

So the informations all there there doesn't need to be anything fancy about presence detection or even being on the way home. I i've not even installed the home assistance APP on my shine. I just see the web APP and disease, the White pages i've i've got to why I got tunnel running anyway.

So that was also fun that I only just thought about at the other night to stop in my driveway in turn on the living room, lights through the and watch IT from the outside. Yeah, you this your most child's team that is. And did IT with the reMarks as well when I first bought them and just standing the other end of the house and turning some light on enough, which was just telling us to make a night. But yeah, it's a good way of just opening up the crib, the ideas that that can flow from these kind of things and that's IT.

Yeah, well, you're going to go down to a big rubble hole and you're not just starting so well. Yeah.

yeah, yes, yeah. I should have done this before. I was winter like this. This was a perfect winter project in cambria. There's no light.

nothing else to do, but thank you so much. Appreciate you. Take time to this day. Thank you.

Thank you.

If you want to share your home misses and journey or come on as a gist, reach out to us at feedback that has podcast, the dog IO. That's H A S S podcast of fire.

The homely stem podcast is hosted by film hot thorn and myself rohan care andy. For links to topics we discuss today, check out a show notes on haas podcast data O.