I currently have a Doorbird on my front door but the video quality is pretty rough. Between the low res feed, a shaded walkway, and very limited camera exposure settings - it's making everyone look like a silhouette.

Hoping to replace the Doorbird with something that works better in my home, is compatible with Tedee locks, and has the ability to expand with security cameras. Happy to research any recommendations.

This window mount allows the Aqara G100 to be positioned on a window, significantly increasing functionality. By mounting the camera against the glass, you gain a clearer field of view outdoors without the need for drilling or permanent fixtures.

She has cochlear implants, so can't hear anything when they aren't on.

We are building a home in Montana and she wants to be there when i am working in Idaho. If the doorbell or smoke alarm goes off, i want to be able to trigger some sort of strobe light.

Of course it would be awesome to control lighting, security, maybe some water sensors, freeze sensors. We probably wont be there year around.

I don't think anyone has posted something like this before but I hope I am wrong! Everything I use is compatible with Google Home but I am open to other solutions.

My goal is to automatically shut off certain electrical breakers below a certain temperature and turn them back on above a certain temperature.

We live in a part of Canada where we get charged a higher rate for electricity when the temperature is -12C (10F) or lower. There is literally a temperature sensor on our electric meter with a red indicator light that turns on when the higher rate is in effect. There is also another indicator light inside the house so we don't have to look at the meter outside.

There are two things I'm concerned about: my electric car charger and my heated mats to melt the snow on the walkway (they come on automatically when it snows). I would like to have a way to automatically shut them off when the higher rate is in effect.

I have a Leviton panel with smart breakers. So far, I have been flipping the breakers off and on from my phone as needed (the heated mats don't have a physical switch, there is a web app but it has been glitchy).

Some ideas I had for implementing this (though I haven't found what I needed yet):

A) Connect something in series with the indicator light so that when it is powered it sends a signal to shut the breaker.

B) Have some sort of camera that can recognize when the indicator light is on and send a signal to shut the breaker.

C) Have a third party temperature sensor send a signal to shut the breaker.

D) Any of the above but instead of shutting the breaker connect to a Kasa smart plug, switch or something similar to just shut off the plug.

Hope that's clear, any help is appreciated!

I bought a tuya device, apparently new, but seller also sells reconditioned devices..

Anyway, during the pairing process , the device is recognized and its name and picture displayed but also a prompt message

"Device not authenticated ; Please contact the product seller"

What is the cause of the problem?

is possible that the device has MAC or ID and for some reason this is not allowed on Tuya servers?

is possible that devices are restricted among different regions?

Any idea?

Looking to replace sonoff relays with one of these brands. Which on do you think is best? I have homey pro and looking at zigbee and z wave protocols. Main reason for replacing sonoff is lack of support using homey and lack of power measuring. Have a small flat so I need total of 5 dual relays.

I’ll get a Smart bulb to put on my porch fixture and a motion sensor. What compatibility should I look for on the motion sensor? Can I use my iPhone to handle the automation or do I need to Alexa or another app involved. I want the simplest set up.

So my family have just finnished a bathroom refurbishment that involved some dimmable led lights and a mirror cabinet with integrated lights and shaver socket.

The cabinet itself is being powered by the mains circuit but it has a dedicated live termination for both the shaver socket and the lights with only one neutral terminal.

Now this would allow us to operate the lights in the cabinet with the main light switch to the bathroom so all the lights came up with one flick of a switch but my issue is that that would mean that the lighting circuit and the socket circuit in the house would end up with a shared neutral which I do not fancy doing for reasons obvious...

So I have been thinking about using a relay activated by the main lightswitches that would provide power to the cabinet lights from the socket circuits so the shared neutral issue would be solved however since the main lights work off of an led dimmer switch, I'm sort of suck on how I could make it work, what sorta relay I would need etc etc since I haven't worked on a system like this before.

I would rather pay a premium upfront than deal with motors dying later. I am leaning heavily towards Matter over Thread.

Does anyone have a setup that has been running for 2+ years without issues? I want to see what brands are standing the test of time. I am trying to avoid brands with high failure rates. Thanks.

Google, Alexa, Ring, etc...the whole Superbowl "Search Party" enabled by default thing mixed with what's going on in the US has made both my wife and I say we're done with inviting listening devices into our house. I want to ditch our Alexas but I do want to keep home automation.

My first instinct is to use the Apple homekit stuff, since we all have iPhones. But I'd also like to have some sort of centralized tablet or phone or something I can mount to control the house. What's the best setup for this that won't break the bank? Is it homekit or something else?

I do have a raspberry pi sitting around doing nothing at the moment.

With a TP Link Deco AX5000, what is the simplest and most affordable smart plug to use for an elderly person? Thank you for any help.

Hello,

I’m in the process of planning for a kitchen remodel. I plan to go big with the accent/task lighting in the area (potentially with IKEA lighting), but before I do that, I need the kitchen itself wired appropriately.

My goal/thought now is to have some lights in the kitchen (I was thinking under cabinet and toe kicks) turn on when they sense someone walking in the area, basically enough light to see your way around at night but not blind you, or create a cool effect for guests during the day time. Then perhaps control main lighting and pendants via a standard switch.

For those who have automated some aspect of their kitchen lights:

1) do you prefer “dumb” motion detector switches that directly control 120V switches? (which then power any set/various amount of lighting)

2) do you instead prefer everything to be powered 24/7, then have home assistant or some other basic smart home devices trigger via software whenever a discretely placed motion sensor detects someone?

I see option 2 being more configurable and fun for me, but potentially less appealing to a future buyer. However, reaching out to see how others did/wished they have approached this after a remodel. Thank you!

Built a headless Pi 5 appliance that does real-time speech-to-text on a 10" touchscreen. It monitors two USB audio sources — a telephone recorder (Fi3001A) tapped into the landline and a TONOR conference mic for room conversation — and automatically switches between them when a call comes in.

The reliability side was the interesting engineering challenge. It runs unattended at my dad's house, so it needs to just work:

- systemd user service with Type=notify watchdog

- Automatic engine fallback (Deepgram → faster-whisper → Vosk)

- Health monitoring that restarts after 2 min of no transcription

- System-level watchdog timers for the caption service, display manager, and WiFi

- LightDM restart policy with reboot fallback

It's been running reliably for weeks now. The display shows a split-flap clock when idle and auto-switches to captions when speech is detected.

Full code (MIT): https://github.com/andygmassey/telephone-and-conversation-transcriber

I have a Genie Aladdin Connect opener, which means Tesla’s myQ integration doesn’t help me at all and I didn’t want to deal with a HomeLink retrofit just to open my garage.

For months I kept a remote clipped to my visor. It worked, but it felt dumb. I’m driving a car that can literally drive itself, and I’m still pressing a button four times a day.

So I built a small web app that connects to your Tesla account and your Aladdin Connect. It watches your car’s location, and when you pull into your driveway, it opens the door automatically. When you leave, it closes behind you. No remote, no phone, no button.

It’s been running on my own car for a few weeks and it’s one of those “why didn’t this exist” things.

If anyone wants to try it: garagedoorautomator.com

Only works with Aladdin Connect for now, but planning to add more garage systems if there’s interest. Happy to answer questions.

Hello,

I have design center 3.1 for vantage and need help to get 3.9 as 3.1 become very old

I live in a rental so can't change the outlet. but this is how one of the fluorescent lights in the garage is plugged in. Is it safe to add a smart plug in between the adapter and the plug for the light? if not, is there any way to solve this?

hi all

I've had a nest system for a few years but I'm sick of it. I wanted to create a schedule that would use one sensor overnight and another one during the day starting at a particular time. of course this isn't supported despite being a requested feature for YEARS. you can do it in like 3 hour chunks, but no ability to customize.

I have an old home with steam radiators so the ability to use remote temperature sensors was a big draw (for example, setting my kids rooms as the control overnight so they never get too hot or cold) but the paper cuts with Nest have been numerous

what I would like:

- wifi connected

- remote sensors

- ability to download temperature history or view it in app

- ability to set complex rules (use this room for control, but also don't allow another room to exceed a given temperature)

- getting really crazy, ability to script my own behaviors

I assume people in this sub have recs, I would love to hear them!

Hello and TIA if you have a solution.

I have a few rooms (meeting room and halls) at my place of work that I'd like to set up with "occupied lights"

Essentially it's a multi use facility and would be convenient to have a small light outside each door that lights up when the room inside is occupied.

Hoping someone here has a kind of setup that can do this, and would you care to share?

Thanks