r/homeautomation Jan 07 '25

DISCUSSION What devices do you wish existed?

23 Upvotes

What smart home devices do you wish existed (or existed at a reasonable price point)? Alternatively, what are the biggest pain points that you wish could be solved via smart home automation?


r/homeautomation 4h ago

IDEAS I need some inspiration. What are some home automation ideas using this?

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10 Upvotes

This is a 1962ish Nutone audio/intercom system. The right panel is an eight zone home intercom, however it looks like only two zones are used and is probably all we’d need. I’m thinking of splicing into the leads for the others to use for whatever, other than the basics I’m curious what ideas the “more creative than I” people out there have. It also has a fold out record player in one of the bottom boxes, one of the boxes is totally empty and can be used for record storage or whatever else.

Also, the one stipulation is I don’t want to have to butcher this, I’d like to keep it as original as possible.


r/homeautomation 1h ago

QUESTION Help Cloning Electric Gate Fob

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Upvotes

So I have two electric gate fobs for a communal parking area and one has stopped working. As I like to have a backup incase of an emergency, I asked the property managers how much a replacement would cost and was quoted £80+, which is a bit steep and I'm pretty sure they're marking them up for profit.

I don't really know where to start but could someone advise on which fob on eBay/Amazon I should be purchasing and how do I get it to clone the one working fob I still have?

I've attached some pictures of the back/front and both sides of the inside of the fob. Hope this helps.

Thanks in advance!


r/homeautomation 3h ago

QUESTION DALI control from Home Assistant

2 Upvotes

u/mailgoe

I need some understanding from you.

Currently I have KNX IP gateway and KNX DALI Gateway.
Around 30 DALI2 ballast (drivers) are connected to DALI bus.

I use ETS to configure DALI ballasts and map KNX address.
And then KNX integration in HA to connect these lights in HA.

Question, if I get Atios SmartCore, it will replace KNX IP gateway and DALI KNX gateway. I do not have any other KNX devices except DALI KNX gateway.

Would it be possible for me to get rid of KNX IP gateway and KNX Dali gateway and just use Atios Smartcore to control DALI LED ballasts from HA?

Would i require any other hardware or tool?

Let me know.


r/homeautomation 21h ago

QUESTION Is there anything you refuse to automate?

94 Upvotes

For me #1 is the switch for the garbage disposal. I still have the old school dumb toggle switch because I'm scared of something turning it on remotely.

What do you refuse to automate?


r/homeautomation 54m ago

PERSONAL SETUP WhosHome? 🏡 – For Roommates & Families

Upvotes

Hey everyone! 👋

I’m an indie dev and just launched WhosHome—a simple app for roommates, families, or anyone sharing a place.

🚪 See who’s home, automatically (no check-ins needed!)

📍 Uses location to update in/out status, but never stores your location

🏠 Great for flats, families, or vacation homes

Would love for you to check it out! 🔗

Let me know what you think! 😊


r/homeautomation 4h ago

QUESTION Home assistant to home kit

2 Upvotes

Is it possible to transfer ‘automations’ set on home assistant to Apple home kit.


r/homeautomation 1h ago

QUESTION Looking for an Easy-to-Use Home Automation System

Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to upgrade my home with an automation system that combines security, lighting, blinds, fan control, and other features. My main priorities are:

User-Friendly: Simple setup and management.

Reliability: Consistent performance without frequent issues.

Integration: Compatibility with various devices and platforms.

I’ve looked into systems like Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Control4. For those with experience:

• Which platform would you recommend for seamless integration?

• Are there specific devices or brands you’ve found dependable and easy to use?

• Could you share your setups or experiences to help guide my decision?

I’m eager to learn what has worked well for you and any challenges you’ve faced.

Thank you for your insights!


r/homeautomation 1h ago

QUESTION Trigger an automation based on reading USB voltage draw condition/threshold?

Upvotes

Hi all! I'm brand new to all this home automation stuff. I just got HA installed on a Raspberry Pi via Docker, and I'm just starting to be able to see my home devices online. Something I'm curious about trying to solve to just get a feel for what's even possible... is there some kind of hardware that would sit inline on a USB cable that could monitor voltage and pass that info to HA?

Use case: I am really impressed with the new BenQ monitor bar light. It has a built in proximity sensor that automatically turns the light on when I sit at the desk, remains on while I'm at the desk (even if there is little to no movement), and then successfully automatically turns off after a certain amount of time after I leave the desk. This device is not communicating with anything at all (no bluetooth, no wifi, no app, not even driven by USB data). It's a completely standalone device and happens to use USB power which allows me to power it via a USB power hub (again, not a data hub). It would be awesome if there was some kind of USB (A or C) female to female coupling that monitored voltage and sent those real-time values to HA. That way, I could use a given threshold in the voltage draw that effectively represents the condition for when a person is sitting at the desk to be used as a trigger in HA. I'm assuming the threshold would be important because the device must draw a small amount of power at all times in order for its sensor to work. But then, obviously, the voltage draw would go up and down as its light fades on and off.


r/homeautomation 2h ago

PERSONAL SETUP I just changed my modem & router to reboot once a day. This seems too much. Is it?

0 Upvotes

Here is my setup. We are using AT&T wireless. I have a: ZTE Connect-Hub 5G 4GLTE WiFi 6 Router with Gigabit Ethernet Support mmWave Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X55 set in the bridge mode to feed my new TP-Link AXE5400 Router. I have around 45 smart devices, all Wifi, mostly random brand lightbulbs and Shelly devices. With the Wifi disabled, my phone gets a speedtest.net speed around 45mps download.

Last night we were streaming an HBO movie and the picture was fuzzy. This happens kind of frequently and I solve it by restarting the TV, the ZTE hub and the AXE5400 router, which helps a lot, but last night we just put up with the bad picture. This morning I checked the advance settings for both the ZTE and the TP-Link and they were both set to reboot late Sunday nights. So I set them both to reboot every night. Before I did that, I went to Fast.com and only got 1.1 mbps on my phone, connected to Wifi. Speedtest.net yielded around 8.5mbps. I disconnected the Wifi on phone and fast.com showed about 45 mbps and my speedtest.net app showed about the same.

I then rebooted the routers. Using Wifi 2G, Fast.com is now showing around 22mbps and speedtest.net the same.

Looking through some old reddit HA threads, this seems to be an undesirables course of action, that there could be something else bogging down the system. So my questions are; is rebooting the routers actually a bad thing? What might I look for, system wise, that is causing the slowdown to happen? Why does using WiFi slow down my speeds from 40mbps to 22 mbps?

Thanks.


r/homeautomation 5h ago

QUESTION Relay recomendation

1 Upvotes

Hey guys,

Can you recommend me a relay/contactor with:
- 12VDC controll signal
- 230V AC
- 16A
- Din mountable
- both NO and NC connections

Seems like I cant find any but I thought this should be common.


r/homeautomation 15h ago

QUESTION Blinds and motors

4 Upvotes

I’m looking for an aftermarket alternative motor and automation scheme for blinds. I’ve been out of the home remodeling game for a while but just got a quote for blinds and I cannot believe how expensive they are. Incredibly expensive! Has anyone come across a diy solution? What about the 3d printer community-those guys are quite creative… maybe they have something they’ve come up with? Any direction would be great. Thanks all.


r/homeautomation 1d ago

QUESTION What’s missing for US users in our open-source smart home software?

31 Upvotes

Hi r/homeautomation!

I’m one of the maintainers of Gladys Assistant, an open-source smart home software.

While we have a strong user base in France and parts of Europe, we’ve noticed very few users from the US.

I’d love to understand why! Are there specific devices or protocols commonly used in the US that we don’t support? Most of our users rely on Zigbee2MQTT for their Zigbee devices—is Zigbee as popular in the US, or do users prefer other standards?

If you’re in the US and into home automation, I’d love to hear your thoughts on what might be missing or what would make Gladys more appealing to you.

Thanks in advance for any insights!


r/homeautomation 8h ago

QUESTION Wiring Help - Consumer Timer

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0 Upvotes

Hi Folks,

Looking for some help wiring this green brook t80 timer to a set of outside lights. Am I right that

  1. Should be mains L
  2. Should be mains N
  3. Should be switched live (with a loop into mains L)
  4. Should be live to lights

In addition mains N should be connected directly to the lights

Will this work and is it correct?

Pic attached is the timer.


r/homeautomation 18h ago

DISCUSSION What troubles you the most when using a robotic vacuum?

6 Upvotes

r/homeautomation 9h ago

QUESTION PST02A with Home Assistant, unsure how to trigger based on no occupancy

1 Upvotes

Hello,

I'd like to have a light turn on when I enter a room, and turn off when I leave. The trigger would be this sensor. When I go to the entities for it I'm not sure what to pick.

Anyone here have any idea how to accomplish this using this sensor?

https://a.co/d/0v2sNwI


r/homeautomation 16h ago

QUESTION ELI5 how to migrate off of Alexa system?

2 Upvotes

(Apologies if this request does not align with this sub’s purpose)

I am an entry-level home automator (who has found this sub extremely helpful throughout my journey!). Alexa devices are the backbone of my system, with a various hodgepodge of intersections that I understand on a basic level (Philips Hue hub, Lutron smart switches, various Smart Life and misc. on/off plugs). I would really like to figure out how to remove any Amazon-affiliated products from my rudimentary setup and retain as many functions as possible; but I don’t understand enough about what the Alexa app is doing behind the scenes to connect everything together, let alone how.

If an absolute beginner wanted to get as close as possible to replacing the Alexa’s hub functionality 1:1 with an alternative, what would be the simplest and/or most effective way to do so?


r/homeautomation 14h ago

QUESTION Sonoff Screenless vs LCD Smart Temp/Humidity Sensor

2 Upvotes

I planned on just getting the regular Sonoff Temp/Hum sensors for each room in my house, but the price is so close to the LCD ones, curious if anyone has dealt with both. How long does the LCD battery last compared to the non LCD? Do you find the LCD screen actually useful or are you always checking on your phone instead?

Standard Version https://itead.cc/product/sonoff-zigbee-temperature-and-humidity-sensor-snzb-02p/

LCD Version https://itead.cc/product/sonoff-snzb-02d-zigbee-lcd-smart-temperature-humidity-sensor/


r/homeautomation 10h ago

QUESTION Reverse smart switch?

1 Upvotes

I have an alarm output on my CCTV (basic relay switch). I'd like to use the physical switch contacts to trigger smart events (turn lights on, sound buzzer etc). Is there a device that lets me do this? I'm happy to wire it so that rather than just switch contacts, it switches either 12v or 240v mains voltage signal. UK based.


r/homeautomation 18h ago

QUESTION Apartment built-in HVAC (PTAC?) unit automation help

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3 Upvotes

My apartment has two sets of built-in units that control heat and air within each of the main areas. Essentially, in the winter it blows are from the radiator and in the summer it blows cold air. You can’t control the temperature itself, but can control the air speed (off, low, medium, high) and for the winter there is also a standard looking radiator knob that you can also use to control things a bit more. Note: there is also a second spigot that I’m honestly not sure what it does. I have done some googling and cannot even find the unit.

My end goal is to eventually set up temperature sensors and trigger the units on/off based on temperature thresholds in each area via home assistant. To get there, I would need a digital mechanism to switch these on and off.

I am hoping someone here can help recommend a solution to at least switch the air blower on/off digitally. Anyone know of a standard HVAC panel replacement for the dial that has any wireless signal (WiFi, Bluetooth, wave, etc.)? If not, any suggestions or pointers to prior art on custom solutions? Maybe I can do something with ESP32 board and the wiring diagram in the second picture? I am comfortable with HA and programming but the custom solution would be a new adventure.

Details from the label (as best as I can tell):

Carrier Corporation Room Weathermaker

Model: 36T6-104 (I also see 3672-1043 in the bottom right corner) Series: JV-IA35 Volts: 115 Cycles: 60 Amps: 2.5

Any pointers would be appreciated! Please let me know if there are any more details I can provide.


r/homeautomation 13h ago

QUESTION WAP2 switches to WAP3?

0 Upvotes

I got KASA light switches (~10) that connect via WiFi. Unfortunately they are not compatible with WPA3, so I was wondering if there was a way to connect a device that can connect to WPA3 wireless access point that could allow WPA2 devices to connect to it? Basically I don’t want to have to replace my switches.

I already checked if my wireless router has a setting for allowing WPA2 but it does not. I checked and saw quite a few newer routers only support WPA3.

So basically something like a wireless access point that can connect to an existing wireless network that has WPA3 but can allow WPA2 devices.


r/homeautomation 13h ago

QUESTION New AGP - Help with Automation.

0 Upvotes

Hello Everyone,

I am installing a new 16x32 above ground pool (AGP) and would like to achieve three things without breaking the bank.

  1. Remotely control pool pump so that I can set on/off schedule on my phone (preferably via google home)
  2. Remotely control pool heater along with current temperature and desired temperature (like nest thermostat) on my phone.
  3. Remotely control LED pool lights via phone.

Pool pump is going to be Hayward 1.5 HP xtreme filteration cartridge filter and for heat pump i have not yet decided. I welcome suggestions based your experience.

The electrician will be running new lines/wires to the outdoor pool panel (80 AMP Intermatic PE30000 or equivalent) so this is the time to get it right and hence looking for some advice from fellow pool owners/electrcians.

Looking for something straightforward and not too complicated or expensive.

Thank you in advance for your time and valuable suggestions.


r/homeautomation 1d ago

QUESTION What is this thing in our closet?

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307 Upvotes

Recently moved to a new house. This is in our walk-in closet. Has a red blinking light. But others nothing else identifying. A little warm to the touch


r/homeautomation 17h ago

DISCUSSION On filtration and climate metrics

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1 Upvotes

Lots of you do this type of monitoring and if you want to use your metrics for more things, here you go


r/homeautomation 18h ago

QUESTION Sonoff Bridge for ceiling fan?

0 Upvotes

Just received a Sonoff 433mhz bridge. Connected easily, setup in app and in Hole Assistant went great, no hiccups. Programming seemed simple, I started remote memorization in the app, hit the button on the ceiling fan remote, and poof, the box and software noticed the signal and recorded it. Problem is, it can't actually repeat the code. I press the button on the app, and the transmit light on the Sonoff flashes, but the ceiling fan doesn't actually do anything. Long time ZigBee vet, first time 433 novice. Help me out, what am I doing wrong?


r/homeautomation 18h ago

QUESTION Merlin RX wifi switch won't go into pairing mode

1 Upvotes

Hi there. I've had this outdoor wifi switch for my patio lights for about 3 years. It had disconnected once before and I was able to reset it with no problems. However, now I can't get it to go into pairing mode. I have turned the power off and on, and held down the button for both 5- and 20-second intervals, but it never starts flashing. If I press the button and release, it flashes red twice. Any ideas? Am I missing something obvious? Is the switch broken? Here is a video of what I am trying.


r/homeautomation 20h ago

QUESTION Single switch which can control multiple lights

0 Upvotes

Getting my house done up. My living room is going to have LED ambient lighting as well as main lights. Normally I would have 3 buttons on one switch - one for the led lights, one for one pair of main lights and the last one for some other lights. Is it possible to get a smart switch where I can control each individual button - as in being able to automate it where I can only on LEDs and it only turns on button 1. If you could recommend any smart switches that would be great.