Living off the grid offers a unique blend of freedom and sustainability, and our cabin exemplifies this with its innovative power solution. Absent from the traditional electric grid, all of our electrical needs are met through solar energy, harnessed and managed with exceptional efficacy thanks to Victron’s state-of-the-art systems. Victron…
Category: Smart home
Smart home
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Navigating Smart Home Connectivity: A Comprehensive Comparison of Wireless Protocols
In the ever-evolving landscape of smart home technology, the choice of wireless protocol becomes a pivotal decision, influencing the seamless connectivity and interoperability of devices. Let’s delve into the intricacies of Z-Wave, Zigbee, Thread, Matter, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, examining their origins, features, and applications to empower you with the knowledge…
Smart home
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Smart gingerbread houses
OK, maybe a gingerbread house can’t be very smart. But the goal has long been to be able to control the lights in the gingerbread houses with the help of Home Assistant. So now it was time to do something about it. This is a fairly simple job. All one…
Smart home
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Internet in the cottage
We have a good old-fashioned cottage in the mountains, without running water or electricity. There is hardly GSM coverage in the cottage. But for a long time, we have wanted the option of internet.We have tried different solutions, everything from an amplifier on the Wi-Fi signal from a farm on…
Integration
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Aqara FP2 presence sensor
I just got an Aqara FP2 presence sensor, and here is how I added this sensor to Home Assistant. Note – this sensor is using WiFi. The first thing you need to do is download the Aqara Home app on your phone (if you don’t already have it…).You need this…
Automation
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Fuel prices
Update – this does not work anymore. The owner of “Drivstoffappen” has changed the API, so this won’t work any longer. It is possible to see the fuel prices in Norway in Home Assistant! This solution is based on an API from the “Drivstoffappen”. This is an application into which…
Integration
Smart home
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MariaDB
By default, the setup in our Home Assistant installation has been to use the SQLite database. But there is a slightly faster (and better?) Database, namely MariaDB. Fortunately, setting up MariaDB on Home Assistant is a very easy job. BUT, be aware that when you do, you will lose the…