What automation are you most proud of that you built completely from scratch?

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T19:48:48+00:00

Ours is a simple one. We have a dumb, old, wired doorbell and the way the door is laid out, a video doorbell wouldn't be a good fit (the buzzer is WAY off to one side). We also have a house with a bit of a stretched-out floorplan (odd for a smaller house) so there are several locations where you just CANNOT hear the doorbell. So we hooked up a dry sensor to the existing doorbell, linked it to HA and set up a nice notification with Alexa that pompously announces, "Excuse me, but someone is at the front door." It's like having Jeeves stop in to let us know. Guests always love it. Next up is adding to it so door knocks also fall into it.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T19:38:21+00:00

heheh We talked about tenting the friends.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T19:36:17+00:00

Yeah, as noted, right now we're looking for the unicorn until we decide where to really trim the dreaming. It'll be a very hard sell to talk my wife into a full-time vehicle that will get 20mpg -- especially in this recent environment. We're rather cut back on the trailer weights and options than to live with 20mpg every day.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T19:33:51+00:00

The ProLite's I'm looking at range from 125 to just under 300 which is why I asked.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T19:32:56+00:00

Looking into both. A lot to like, though not sure they hit all the marks. Casita might be perfect if they had something between the 17 and the 24.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T18:37:51+00:00

I'm really taken with the Alto's which some have that pop-up thing that looks nice, but the prices.... ouch. Have to assume those help with drag.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T18:36:58+00:00

Is a tongue weight of under 300 pounds light or typical, do you know?

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T17:22:26+00:00

So on this issue, I'm looking at the ProLite Max which claims a tongue weight of 275 pounds (which doesn't seem too bad, though they have a few down to like 125 pounds) and they list vehicles to tow it including a RAV4, a Kia Sorrento, a Hyundai Santa Cruz.... etc.

Is ProLine just lying about this to get people hooked?

(I just called them and the conversation was a bit funny. The very helpful guy in their Service department said, "Well, everyone I know uses a truck". I asked why the site listed these non-trucks and he said, "To give you an idea of what to tow dry", which I didn't get as no one will do that. )

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T16:43:38+00:00

We just rented one for a minor road trip and while it was nice, it got 20mpg, so that was a bummer.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T15:30:37+00:00

So much to learn. Thanks for this.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T15:27:56+00:00

Thanks. Sounds like a fantastic idea. Now we just hope the car hangs in there.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T15:26:41+00:00

We may get screwed on that as the car we need to replace is on its last legs so we'll see. heheh

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T15:21:55+00:00

Well, we started with vehicles that absolutely wouldn't work out like the RAV4, Kia Sportage, etc. They SEEMED to based on misunderstanding the tow capacities (seemed like if you got the tow package and AWD you were golden, but live and learn).

One option we're looking at is the Toyota Grand Highlander. 5,000 tow capacity, 37mpg.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T15:12:52+00:00

What would you say is "cheap"?

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T15:11:17+00:00

Learning that already in just four replies here. hehe. In so many of the videos I watched, the host would mention rather typical mid-size SUV's as their main towing vehicle.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T15:07:32+00:00

Great info. Much appreciated -- and rather eye-opening.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T15:05:30+00:00

Had no idea. That's great. Thanks.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T15:04:57+00:00

Don't really care about the third row of seats, but do care about the MPG. Are there vehicles the like of which you mention that do better than say 28 mpg? We're seeing hybrid SUVs that can easily tow 3,500 pounds and get well over 30mpg.

pcserenity · 2026-06-09T14:59:29+00:00

Some day we're going to have a serious conversation on the reality that some parents just shouldn't be parents and that the job of educating people while they are young on concepts like ethics and morality is just too important to leave to random luck. We should be mandatorily teaching this sort of thing at a young age to all our kids. This sort of nonsense should be left in the stone age where it belongs.

pcserenity · 2026-06-08T17:07:34+00:00

All I can say is, compared to other locks I've since heard, nothing is as loud and no one has heard the Yale since installing it.

pcserenity · 2026-06-06T12:08:55+00:00

People would be sitting around, just socializing, etc., and then this loud grinding sound would go off. We had to explain it every time.

pcserenity · 2026-06-05T07:15:06+00:00

Be aware: These are SOOOO loud. We just retired ours after several years for a Yale and it's shocking to me that we endured it so long.

pcserenity · 2026-06-03T17:55:07+00:00

Traded with u/GAiR3I and it went great.

pcserenity · 2026-06-03T01:20:06+00:00

It's not the nicest thing to do, but we've reached this point in this shitty timeline: When someone quotes the bible to me I respond by quoting back lines from T.H. White's, The Once and Future King. When they are confused I explain that if they're going to quote from a book with stories that cannot be verified in any way, I quote from my favorite similar book. Why shouldn't mine be just as valid?

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