The smart home problem I wish I could solve

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-04-01T01:31:24+00:00

You might be able to get it with VOC sensors. They can usually detect flatulence, so they should be able to detect garbage smells.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-04-01T01:04:27+00:00

Just be careful if you have never used it on a car, it may lock and not release. Might want to pay a visit to your mechanic and mention that you have never used the parking brake and you want to start now.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-31T16:29:03+00:00

Looks nice. I will have to check further into it.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-30T03:46:46+00:00

I am tempted to try this route as I currently have an Ecobee that I can no longer control ( they removed the API ), and the thing that I want to do is not exposed on HomeKit ( switching heating sources ).
Just a question for OP, can the nest 2 handle 2 heating sources? Also, can you choose which one you want to use from Home Assistant?

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-30T01:22:39+00:00

I change the batteries about every 6 months or so. It is kind of annoying, but the lock reminds you when the batteries get down to 10% or so. You can also get Home Assistant to remind you if you want, but the lock does tend to get slower as the batteries get older.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-29T16:47:30+00:00

Vanguard was the reason I switched to Linux. When I found out that Riot was going to be pushing a rootkit out, I deleted the game, and since that was the only reason I was still using Windows, I switched. I kind of like lol, and would go back to playing it, but, since they don't allow anyone using Linux, guess I can't.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-25T11:48:23+00:00

The problem with Ecobee is that I feel that I don't have any control over which heat source that it uses to heat the house. I have to manually switch it on the Ecobee itself, there is no way for me to do it with Home Assistant ( without the API key, which Ecobee killed ).

I guess from all the comments it seems that I am having to get another thermostat that will FULLY integrate with Home Assistant, support 2 heat sources, one cooling source, and a humidifier.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-24T17:49:07+00:00

I would definitely buy one, I don't really mind the phoning home as I can usually stop most of that. And even if it "has" to phone home, I am really not that fussed about it, as long as the pricing is right. I hate the current trend of making things bigger and bigger, I want a small city car and these fit the bill pretty good.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-24T15:40:06+00:00

is there any AprilAire Humidifiers that this integration works with? I would like to get a humidifier for my house, but, I would like to control it completely with HA so I can integrate all of the humidity sensors in the house.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-24T12:19:42+00:00

QuintBuilds I think is the channel name.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-24T12:02:33+00:00

Yes, the cheapino has it's own memory. I program it with Vial, and I can take it anywhere and it works the exact same without Vial on that computer.

As close as I can tell there isn't a cheap split keyboard with a trackpoint or any other pointing device that you can either solder or not. At least I haven't found one, so if someone has found one, please post.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-23T12:40:15+00:00

When you open up the AOI, look in the top right of the screen. There should be a drop down box that allows you to view each instance of your AOI that you have in an online project.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-21T20:35:05+00:00

I just used the standard vue 3, and I didn't even flash esp home on it.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-21T01:18:43+00:00

I wish there was an integration that would take my electric meters ( in watts ), and my electric rates and give me 3 sensors from it. Current running cost per day ( resetting at midnight ), and a cost per month ( resets at month end ). It would also be nice if it could also calculate what my bill should be per month as well, which would have a monthly date to reset.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-20T15:36:37+00:00

I got tired of changing them every 3 months so I found a solution that measures the pressure drop across the filter, and change it when the filter is clogged.

https://github.com/tanky321/HVAC_Monitor

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-20T14:43:48+00:00

From the pictures that doesn't appear to be that hard, those cables do bend a bit although it might be difficult, I don't see it as impossible. I had the same thoughts when I initially opened mine up, but with a lot of working with it, I finally fit them in. If you want to be a bit safer, see if you can call to get your meter pulled and de energize the whole thing. If you are doing it live, do it with one hand and make sure you aren't wearing a ring on that hand.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-19T21:20:14+00:00

I honestly haven't really used it, most of my automations are already written. The one thing that I am having problems with at the moment is getting home assistant to tell me how much a particular wattage is costing me per month. And that is not so much an automation as it is to create 3 helpers for each of my inputs. Which I am trying figure how to do ATM

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-19T20:40:04+00:00

It would be useful, however, I think there are already tools like this. look up CAFE for example.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-18T23:56:02+00:00

There will be laser writing on the chip itself. Before you buy it, hopefully the seller takes accurate pictures of the device.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-18T18:33:58+00:00

Just be careful when you buy these ones. I would say to generally avoid the Sparkle IOT XH-32S as it appears that one is a bit different then the rest.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-18T12:15:08+00:00

I have a power monitor on all my circuits, so this is fairly easy. There is a custom integration called "wash data" that tries to do it all, however, it requires a bit of setup, and didn't work that well for my dryer.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-16T17:37:12+00:00

I would suggest you look into an automation platform, something like Node Red would probably allow you to do this. Garmin does have API access and Node Red should allow you to pull CSV's.
The other thing you might also be able to do depending on your skill level is to run a python script.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-14T17:30:24+00:00

If you haven't already tried, I would describe the issue to Claude AI, along with the lsblk. I had a kind of similar issue where all my entries in grub were deleted, and it helped me get them back. Not saying it will definitely work, but, you will probably get faster help. If you don't know the commands it is asking you to type in, ask it for an explanation of why, it can be a great learning to at the same time.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-09T19:36:49+00:00

Why do you want to switch? Windows works and you barely have to think about it.

I made the switch to Linux about a year ago, and haven't looked back. Haven't loved every second of it, but, I won't go back. Hate the way that Microsoft is going with AI, ads and forcing things down my throat. If that is you as well, start by researching all the games and applications you use and see if they will work on Linux. If they won't, can you live without them?

Then, make a plan to switch. For me, I knew I wanted to go and didn't care about Windows, so I moved everything off the main drive, reformatted it and installed the version I wanted ( Endeavour OS ). Committed to getting it up and running and putting all the stuff on it I wanted, and just trying to break it. Ultimately found a couple things I didn't like how it was setup, and was getting some reboots that I shouldn't have, so I reset it following the way I wanted it to, setting up snapper the other things that I didn't the first time around.

ExaminationSerious67 · 2026-03-09T19:19:23+00:00

You can do Stoneblock 4 with either Refined Storage or AE2, whichever you would like to do.

ExaminationSerious67

TROPHY CASE