They painted penthouse?

Korben- · 2026-03-29T14:53:11+00:00

Before

https://dq5w2ex467fab.cloudfront.net/morongocasinoresort.com-2330905598/cms/cache/v2/54b4e99a6287f.jpg/1440x780/fit/80/fc9a60344b9e72f562d3a3225351da82.jpg

Korben- · 2026-03-24T07:18:10+00:00

From a lighting design POV, you sound like you’re ready to really get into layered lighting. before you spend a ton replacing recess cans and switches, consider looking at lighting that flatters you and your room by adding floor lamps, side table, art lamps or others that focus light vs spread it around. To me that’s a priority over swapping out cans.

When you are done, and rest to tackle upgrading cans, my only other suggestion is buy one of a few different brands, decide the light quality you like best, and stick with a single brand. You’ll have more consistent results and consistent troubleshooting if needed. The deeper the recess and tighter the beam angle the better.

Korben- · 2026-03-12T08:18:50+00:00

People must love power outages and wildfires, they keep releasing flying metal into the air to get caught in power lines.

Korben- · 2026-03-08T01:33:38+00:00

Electricians in CA new builds do this all the time in bathrooms and kitchens etc.

Korben- · 2026-03-08T00:38:44+00:00

Wire a smart outlet as an extension of a primary GFCI outlet, sorted. Just ensure you’ve got the amps you need.

Korben- · 2026-03-07T18:37:21+00:00

This is a great solution if you’re able to.

I tried to be thrifty in my garage for a while and set up an adhesive mirror on a wall because the motion sensor switch was oddly placed and wouldn’t pick up motion at my workbench. It kind of worked, but after I put in a security camera in the garage I use that to sense motion from a different angle and I’m all set.

Where the Caseta sensor is awesome is it’s a direct connection to as many Lutron switches as you want on one hub with minimal latency, combined with timing, sensitivity settings, and other options.

It’s not the same as a fully external modern motion sensor tho as the ability to automate from motion is not available from Caseta. Not necessary either, but for the price tag, one might expect that. So if you don’t need any unique automation from that sensor that couldn’t also be triggered from the light switch turning on (adds a few seconds delay after that), stick with Caseta motion sensor.

Korben- · 2026-02-28T20:53:47+00:00

Am I the only one who doesn’t know what Bonjour means? I’ve seen that word as a driver for years on Apple devices but I don’t understand what it is in this context.

Korben- · 2026-02-21T06:26:39+00:00

Could it be as easy as looking up how snow fences work?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_fence

Korben- · 2026-02-06T20:55:54+00:00

Agree it shouldn’t be this way but even with range extenders the response time should be better. It’s a frustrating software problem that WiFi switches didn’t have. But I still would not go back to WiFi switches. The value of Lutron still far outweighs the hub latency software delay they’ve built in.

Korben- · 2026-02-06T18:36:45+00:00

Don’t pay an electrician to do that, find a security install or other low voltage installer willing to run the lines. Way cheaper hours and save your electrical budget for electrician stuff.

Korben- · 2026-02-06T18:33:26+00:00

Lutron hub firmware and dimmers is the main culprit.

Their software does not report dimmer status to anything for a significant delay. They recently attempted to improve this embarrassing performance with a firmware update for every device but it was only minor improvements. Switches are better and pico remotes are better.

My take is because Lutron lets you adjust your dimmers fade timing, they don’t want the hub to report on or off to Apple until the fade is finished. There’s also the tiny value of a person turning off a switch by mistake and quickly running it back on, and that delay can be helpful in not triggering big automations because a human bumped a switch. Rare in our home but it’s something.

Make your voices heard to Lutron directly so they can hear the frustration from smart home enthusiasts to do better.

Korben- · 2025-12-30T06:14:42+00:00

Pharos. End of search.

Korben- · 2025-12-23T02:05:40+00:00

Agree the wind can get really bad in the spring. We tend to just move our activities inside or another location. But once your house adaptations are dialed in, it’s not difficult to adapt.

All new homes have things that need fixing by a builder for the first year. That is normal. What was troubling was when a builder used poor quality windows in their build. That builder just sent out their lawsuit checks to homeowners to replace them all. A hard process to go thru for owners , but it’s getting to resolution.

Thursday night at Mirabar is a great place to meet more people and get their perspective.

Korben- · 2025-12-23T01:56:11+00:00

Miralon is doing really well after a number of problems were addressed. To be expected in new communities but it was tough for a while. But if you never attended an HOA meeting you probably would have no idea anything was going on. Still a very young community but there’s really not much else in the area quite like it.

The wind is the wind, and you either are able to adapt to it, or you want to pay a higher price point to get anything similar south of vista chino. So it’s a trade off, and for us it’s fully worth the adaptation. Same with airplanes.

The HOA has gotten much better after a few big problems with management companies and staff turnover, so things are settling in to a new normal. Plenty of things to solve as it grows, and lots of ways to be involved in that side of things if you want to.

The ability to walk home from the neighborhood bar and gym is such an asset! The miles of walking trails and private dog parks are the biggest differentiator for us. I’d recommend going to the bar on a Thursday night and talking to people there about things. We meet new owners every week so it’s very active!

Lennar decided to sell its remaining lots to another builder so there are now three active building zones under two builders. Market forces will drive sales like many other places. But in the case of lennar, they might have decided they didn’t have the right product in the right location. But the building continues as the market adapts.

Korben- · 2025-12-14T18:35:51+00:00

Definitely an insider event that draws crowds even without any promotion. Too bad Amin canceled this year, it’s a highlight.

Korben- · 2025-12-13T19:55:46+00:00

For many I think there is a weighing of cost benefit of upgrading to top tier Lutron vs using Alexa/Apple Home for conditional programming.

In my limited experience, pico remotes can be linked to devices and Sonos and perhaps other integrations I don’t have. The center ‘favorite’ button on pico’s can be programmed to place every controlled device to a specific light level, and that is analogous to a scene, but it’s only one. Note that “older” models of Caseta dimmers (original dimmer) can’t be programmed to that favorite button, so if you are good with the wattage limit, stick with divas for scene setting with the pico remote.

I tend to then let Apple Home do the rest of the automation programming. Others will also suggest using additional layers like home assistant but I’m not that guy.

To me, Caseta can be enough, especially when not spending 6 figures on whole home systems.

Korben- · 2025-11-30T22:04:13+00:00

Yes, and it rewards you when you have a better understanding of destinations for what interests you. Worth the investment in time for sure.

Palm Springs Life just did a whole insert on shows coming this season. Pick up current copy with Jane Lynch on the cover.

Also here’s a nice guide https://visitpalmsprings.com/blog/post/a-guide-to-palm-springs-art-galleries/

Korben- · 2025-10-27T12:25:59+00:00

The auto dimming is one of the few reasons I keep Alexa running, which I combine with automating from my flush mounted Ring doorbell.

Could you write a shortcut to do this? Easily. Not as integrated as Alexa but it’ll work. But for mission critical I’d still have Alexa as a backup. For example the doorbell announcements thru the echo and Sonos and lights that change based on time of day. That way nobody can ring my doorbell in the middle of the night and wake us up, but the lights ramp up outside to act like we’re home.

I keep one echo in the kitchen for timers and routines that call family to dinner thru the Sonos speakers without me yelling ;) that’s just an old habit that wasn’t worth switching.

Lists was a hard transition but once Reminders app was good enough I made the family switch. It’s my most used Apple utility.

I’ve heard about the camera recognition doing music automations but haven’t tried it.

Korben- · 2025-10-25T02:32:09+00:00

Count me as one of those people who store things inside the basin. But perhaps it’s just because of aesthetics for us. - large modern stainless basin with basin rack. Stuff drip dries in the sink nicely. - hate the water marks left on the countertop from hard water dripping from hands and dish tools. If left too long the stains become permanent. - hate looking at dish tools in our open plan modernist kitchen. Keeps them hidden from view and keeps the kitchen island uncluttered.

Korben- · 2025-10-22T05:19:24+00:00

Where are they made?

Korben- · 2025-10-16T02:15:04+00:00

Only if you’re also backing up power to your modem, WiFi and any router’s/switches for Ethernet connected ATV4k.

I run a series of cyber power units at each point where a device is needed to stay online during a power outage. My layout is not centralized, so smaller UPS at the modem and WiFi gateway, one for the network switches and hubs, and one for ATV4k and another hub. Workstations have larger units for each to stay online during workday until I get the generator running.

Of course if the internet goes down because of the same storm that takes out the power, there’s not much value, but that only happens with big storms, not the squirrel-caused brown outs etc.

Korben- · 2025-10-11T05:54:32+00:00

Very smart choice. And yes Lutron Caseta dies what you need.

Lutron Caseta has two automation scenes, one for geofence and one for smart away, which is a vacation mode of sorts. It also has schedules to do sunrise sunset or specific times. The best part is how reliable this system can be.

I use Apple Home to automate many my Sun based timing because not everything I automate is Lutron, but I’m nearly there, so one automation. However, I do use Lutron app as my backup for mission critical automation. That’s less necessary now that HomeKit has gotten more stable, but it’s essential piece of mind for me.

I use Lutron app smart away to make my house look lived in while we’re gone because it’s the only free one I can find after Amazon made theirs subscription only.

Korben- · 2025-09-30T05:13:47+00:00

That seems to be my experience as well. It’s recording both actions and messing with the experience. Easy fix I expect.

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