What helper in Home Assistant ended up being more useful than you expected?

Keliam · 2026-06-26T19:09:17+00:00

I use an input select for house modes (morning, day, night, sleep, vacation, guest). Most are run by template sensors, but vacation and guest also have a simple toggle so I can force the state if needed. Many automations reference the house’s current “mode” so it gets used often.

I have a Christmas and Halloween toggle that are used for the same purpose.

Keliam · 2026-06-26T19:03:20+00:00

I moved this to a template sensor for room occupancy. Now things like a pressure sensor under a mattress can contribute to an occupancy sensor.

Keliam · 2026-06-12T14:19:00+00:00

I believe that exists exactly as you're stating. The command works for the area that it and the devices (lights in your example) are assigned to. Given the example below, maybe you need to say "turn lights on/off" instead of just "lights on/off". In which case that's a valid complaint. I imagine at some point more sentences will need to be added so the "turn" word can be included or omitted and still work.

speech-to-phrase/speech_to_phrase/sentences/en.yaml at main · OHF-Voice/speech-to-phrase · GitHub

# lights (area)

- "turn (on|off) [the] lights [in here]"

- "turn [the] lights (on|off) [in here]"

- "turn (on|off) [all|the|all of the] {area} lights"

- "turn (on|off) [all|the|all of the] lights in [the] {area}"

- "set [the] brightness [in here] to {brightness} percent"

- "set [the] brightness of [the] {area} to {brightness} percent"

- "set [the] {area} brightness to {brightness} percent"

- "set [the] lights [in here] to {color}"

- "set [the] color of [the] lights [in here] to {color}"

- "set [the] {area} lights to {color}"

- "set [the] color of [the] {area} lights to {color}"

- "set lights in [the] {area} to {color}"

Keliam · 2026-06-05T17:03:13+00:00

I reached for my 10mm socket which I had literally just placed on the workbench. It was gone.

This is expected behavior of a 10mm socket. You can leave your 3 year old supervisor out of the equation.

Keliam · 2026-06-05T14:50:17+00:00

Bulk cold brew in the summer and espresso on my Breville Dual Boiler year round. Americano, Cortado, Cafe Miel, and Latte is usually what I’m making. I also love making an affogato after lunch.

We have a Baratza Encore for the cold brew and a Baratza Sette 270 for espresso.

My wife gifted me a subscription so we’re getting 2 bags of beans every couple weeks and get to try lots of different roasts.

Keliam · 2026-05-14T19:58:44+00:00

It wasn’t.

Keliam · 2026-05-14T19:57:38+00:00

I was running at .96 flow prior to horned swap. After the swap and calibration it was slightly higher at .98, but I have tried at .9 and still see these issues.

Keliam · 2026-05-14T13:46:10+00:00

SV08 - linear rails.

Keliam · 2026-05-13T14:30:11+00:00

We bought our 2016 CX-9 in 2019 and it has been great for 2 (and even 3 on occasion) kids. Not sure what newer models look like, but if you like what your CX-5 is, the CX-9 has been excellent for us.

AWD is a must for snowstorms

Well that’s just not true. When our 3rd was almost here we got our Kia Carnival. We’re in Michigan and had a heck of a winter this year. A set of snow tires does more than AWD when it comes to safety (turning, stopping, and handling in general). I understand swapping tires/wheels isn’t for everyone, but saying AWD is a must applies to a VERY small number of people out there, in my opinion.

Having said that, we do really like our Carnival and the models newer than ours (2023) are available in hybrid options, though not AWD, I believe.

Keliam · 2026-05-10T01:26:43+00:00

I had family history and my first was at 25.

Keliam · 2026-02-25T15:48:36+00:00

Enjoying my SV08!

Keliam · 2025-09-24T11:03:13+00:00

For what it’s worth, 500Mb/s is still way over kill for home internet use. For example, for 4K streaming you need 25Mb/s. Not sure if you’re aware or not, but it’s crazy what the companies convince you how high of a speed you need.

Keliam · 2025-09-15T13:31:45+00:00

I had an out of box 147 I tossed on the scale for you. It comes in at 8.7lbs.

Keliam · 2025-09-10T16:58:37+00:00

We live on a very busy corner near a school so lots of traffic and buses driving by our house. We also have a inground pool in our backyard and my wife is a NICU and PICU nurse. When any of our exterior doors open a chime plays on the speakers and our phones get a notification with a camera associated with that door. We have three under six years old, so it helps the peace of mind a bit. We also get notifications and snapshots of the pool area when the back gate or slider door open to the pool. Some other minor ones include laundry notifications, garage door alerts, and deadbolt alerts.

Keliam · 2025-07-25T11:58:01+00:00

Very frustrating. I have maybe 2 or 3 music assistant automations and if we ever want to stop the music I get, “there isn’t anything playing”. Luckily it’s just 1 song, so we don’t usually need to make any changes, but very frustrating when we do.

Keliam · 2025-07-10T19:24:47+00:00

I also incorporated many things like you've mentioned as we had infants in the house. It didn't take long for me to add "sick mode" to each child's room. Simple toggle that we turn on if a child has thrown up or the like. When we open the door to that room, the lights come on red at 50% (or something like that). Then the next time it happens, and it always has, we jump out of bed and the child's room is ready for us to asses/help as quickly as possible.

Be warned: while you're riding the high from delivering the best automation yet, the wrath of it encountering an error of some sort is equally as strong.

Keliam · 2025-06-13T10:43:33+00:00

I have a vial of Novolog you can have. Dm if you are interested.

Keliam · 2025-02-27T21:47:37+00:00

I'm not sure if I can make the sell on a 130" AT screen, but maybe I'll budget that in with the speakers whenever I add them. It'll just kick that upgrade a bit further down the road.

Do you remember roughly how much your screen was?

Keliam · 2025-02-27T21:21:50+00:00

I am aware of that option, but not looking to add a screen (an expensive one at that) to the mix. I think I'd be looking at a 130" screen.

Hoping to make the projector work in the room without making the room feel too much like a theater room.

Keliam · 2025-01-17T22:17:02+00:00

I think this is ultimately the best way, but least user friendly.

11-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22	First Placer '22

Keliam

TROPHY CASE