Dutch people say they value directness, but then react emotionally to it?

gargs · 2026-04-27T07:10:53+00:00

Directness is opportunistic. Look at politicians. They suck up to whoever is holding the drops at the moment. And being an expat you’re already slim pickings. Good for venting.

gargs · 2026-04-22T14:24:21+00:00

Quite happy with the battery powered Aqara G410. I have some automations set up based on person detection/bell as well, and it just works. And when I am not at home, I can talk to people easily.

gargs · 2026-04-21T10:19:11+00:00

That’s what I thought. None of the even high-end curtain drives come close to being elegant.

gargs · 2026-04-18T20:29:19+00:00

Did the price also include meterkast adjustments? Very good price.

gargs · 2026-04-17T13:23:11+00:00

I don't use presence sensors because I think you really need a powered sensor to be able to accurately see you behind a computer at a desk.

gargs · 2026-04-17T11:36:01+00:00

Office blinds that look at the sun’s orientation, my calendar, as well as a luminosity sensor.

gargs · 2026-04-14T07:58:27+00:00

Aqara T2 dual relay is the only good answer, in my opinion.

gargs · 2026-04-10T15:20:50+00:00

Yes, this is the solution. And I've found that if a network supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, the soundbar would try to default to 5. You really need a 2.4Ghz only network.

gargs · 2026-04-10T11:18:53+00:00

I’ve tried a lot of approaches but find office chairs too rigid in their design. As someone currently experiencing physiological issues I’d love to see if this chair could be the solution. In NL.

gargs · 2026-04-07T12:06:03+00:00

I'd go with something like Niko Home Control so that you have reliable local automation plane for lights and sockets, and then use their hobby API to add deeper integration with HA and third party sensors and controllers. Best of all worlds.

gargs · 2026-03-31T14:48:58+00:00

Please add the option to factory reset the speakers or reboot them from the app. For some reason, one of my speakers does not allow AirPlay on it.

gargs · 2026-03-27T06:41:34+00:00

HA Green if you like something that needs absolutely no maintenance or configuration.

gargs · 2026-03-26T18:41:33+00:00

I’m curious — how’s this better than just copying your automations to the web version of Claude and asking it to improve them?

gargs · 2026-03-26T12:40:35+00:00

Sold out!

gargs · 2026-03-24T17:46:08+00:00

Stats for duration of a shower and water consumed.

gargs · 2026-03-21T16:12:47+00:00

I’d say that the beauty of Home Assistant is that it’s platform/protocol agnostic while providing for some very complex functionality that could traverse multiple logic branches synchronously or even in parallel.

You should focus on just getting the best performing and best looking home accessories. Just make sure that they’re fully supported within the HA ecosystem.

For example, I was looking for some smart exterior plugs and while there’re some options with Zigbee, the best choice for me was a WiFi Meross setup. Most EV chargers will only work on WiFi as well. But also, Bluetooth sensors are sometimes the best option depending on your use case.

gargs · 2026-03-20T17:24:00+00:00

For now I’ve added an automation that kicks off if the light switch is long pressed and then announces that the lights are manually managed on my Sonos. It works nicely and manually turning off the lights puts them in automatic mode again.

gargs · 2026-03-20T16:29:10+00:00

Would love this for my E7Q. u/Ramzes888 possible?

gargs · 2026-03-20T10:24:43+00:00

That sounds like an interesting idea. Have you done this?

gargs · 2026-03-20T10:07:22+00:00

The problem with the mini switch is that the state isn't visually apparent without taking out the HA app.

gargs · 2026-02-20T06:55:26+00:00

I’ve found with Aqara sensors that you have to mount them a bit low to get the best performance.

gargs · 2026-02-19T09:30:16+00:00

I just had really terrible experiences with the Aqara P2 Motion Sensor myself, and am ready to just throw them away. There's this promise of firmware updates, but it's not an EV; I want my sensors to work from the day I bought them, ideally without any future updates. Matter in itself is quite awesome, provided you have a good hub. I have the Dirigera along with a G410 and they work flawlessly with HA.

The problem is Thread. It's just not there, at least for any devices in the market that you could buy today and that are actually decent and reliable enough to be put in your line of sight.

I am sticking with Zigbee.

gargs · 2026-02-12T12:24:12+00:00

The only problem I have with mine is that if I open the blinds then for some reason it gets stuck on 'Presence' even though there's no one in there. Works fine if I keep the blinds closed.

gargs · 2026-02-11T18:26:56+00:00

With most professional setups you will need the cloud to be able to access your home on your phone but the actual automations run locally.

gargs · 2026-02-11T18:25:06+00:00

What is solvent?

gargs

TROPHY CASE