I’m building an extension to my kitchen. As readers of my blog and Twitter will know, I love home automation and building work presents an opportunity to incorporate more of it! My Current Smart Lighting The vast majority of smart lighting in my house is provided by Shelly devices. These are incorporated into the ceilingContinue reading “Wiring for smart lighting with Shelly relays!”
Matter, Unifi and mDNS
I started playing around with the connectedhomeip repository last week in an effort to get a better understanding of Matter and Thread. One of the issues I ran into was related to how Matter uses mDNS and DNS-SD. After hours of messing around with both my nRF52840 and ESP32 boards, I could see both WiFiContinue reading “Matter, Unifi and mDNS”
Gas Energy Usage – Nov 22
With Christmas around the corner, I wanted to post an update on my November 2022 gas usage before I wind down for Christmas. Usage in November last year 292m3, which is around 10m3 of gas a day. That’s about 110kWh per day. November 2022 was a different story. We were out of the house forContinue reading “Gas Energy Usage – Nov 22”
Gas Energy Usage – Oct 22
As it’s now the first of November and heating season has begun, I wanted to do a quick comparison of my gas usage between Oct ’21 and Oct ’22. In Oct ’21, we used 93.2m3 of gas, which is approximately 1024kWh. We were away for eight day’s that month, so the usage was zero. SpinContinue reading “Gas Energy Usage – Oct 22”
First Tesla Model Y Road Trip
Back in 2019, we booked a 2020 trip on the famous Jacobite train, which starred as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter film series. COVID-19 closed the railway, which meant we had to postpone the trip until this year. The original plan was to drive up to Fort William, in Scotland. At the timeContinue reading “First Tesla Model Y Road Trip”
My Mixergy IoT device – The start!
I’m loving my Mixergy tank, but one of the main issues is that the temp display is connected to the tank by a short wire. My tank sits out in the garage, so without consulting the app, it’s hard to know how much hot water you have. Using my Home Assistant Mixergy integration and SiriContinue reading “My Mixergy IoT device – The start!”
Smart Bulbs: my lightbulb moment?
I’ve always disliked smart lightbulbs. Turn them off at the wall and you immediately question why you paid 1000% more. I’ve held this position for years and years, until one day I came across a tweet by Troy Hunt where he used the words detached and Shelly1. This immediately captured my interest! Now, I’ve hadContinue reading “Smart Bulbs: my lightbulb moment?”
My Mixergy Smart Hot Water Tank
I recently installed a Mixergy smart hot water tank into my new house, as part of a total renovation. I’ve been very impressed and wanted to share my thoughts on the product after using it for a few weeks. The problem with hot water tanks For me, the problem with hot water tanks two fold.Continue reading “My Mixergy Smart Hot Water Tank”
Automating our dual fuel towel radiator
As I explained in my earlier post, heating our bathroom, we installed a dual fuel tower radiator. A dual fuel radiator is one that can be heating by both our central heating and an electrical element inside the radiator. This allows us to dry our towels without having to turn on the central heating, somethingContinue reading “Automating our dual fuel towel radiator”
Making a dumb light switch smart
A few months back, when planning the rewiring of our house, we decided not to include any switched 5A sockets; you know the kind of arrangement where a switch on the wall can turn on some floor lights and lamps in a room? If you want light, but something subdued, it gives you an alternativeContinue reading “Making a dumb light switch smart”
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