Rosemary Orchard and her HomeKit smart home hacks

Watch on YouTube

Things that dragged me down the rabbit hole

• https://philhawthorne.com/making-dumb-dishwashers-and-washing-machines-smart-alerts-when-the-dishes-and-clothes-are-cleaned/
• https://yalehome.co.uk/smart-locks/conexis-l1/
• Generic Thermostat
• “When my door is open for 1 minute, turn off the heating”

Add Ons: https://github.com/RosemaryOrchard/home-assistant-config/blob/main/addons.md

Approximate List of smart things:

• Air Fresheners (smart plugs, come on for 5 minutes at a time)
• Blinds – IKEA for the regular ones, and Aqara E1 controllers for my vertical blinds (they open and close, as well as tilt, 2 controllers combined with a template)
• Curtains – mostly SwitchBots, because that’s what I could get. Upgraded the living room to the new Aqara ones recently and they are much more powerful.
  • https://www.aqara.com/eu/product/roller-shade-driver-e1
  • https://www.aqara.com/en/home.html
  • https://uk.switch-bot.com/pages/switchbot-curtain
  • https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/cat/electric-blinds-44531/
• Power monitoring plugs TPLink and ​​KP115. Can’t get them anymore, managed to get the HS models on eBay and the KP on Amazon through luck. TPLink removed the local network option so I can’t update them, but they work like a charm. They monitor:
  • Washing Machine
  • Tumble Dryer
  • Dishwasher
  • 3D Printer
  • Shredder (reminders to empty/lubricate)
• Lights: Hue in overhead lights, IKEA bulbs elsewhere. Meross 

Presence with HomeKit, there are a few options:

• HA App
• Expose an input_boolean to HomeKit, and use an Automation for “when I arrive Home” and “when I leave Home” to toggle it (very reliable)
• Network detection
• iCloud

Have yet to figure out if I want zones for places I travel to frequently outside of “the office” and “my parents”. Thinking some local shopping areas would be good—tie into Grocy to check the list and prompt me of those items if there are any.

Other things which I have found useful

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/switch-bot-api-integration/270550/9?u=rosemaryjayne

3D Printing

• https://www.stlfinder.com/model/ikea-tradfri-e14-small-glass-KBucUfhZ/3172572/
• https://www.stlfinder.com/model/eufy-wireless-doorbell-cam-peephole-mount-T43VAwUM/4167597/

Up Next

• Automating shopping lists/meal planning with Grocy. Already have some things hooked up like my dishwasher detergent and water jug filters through HA automations.
• ESPHome:
  • https://esphome.io/components/sensor/xiaomi_ble.html?highlight=miflora
  • https://community.home-assistant.io/t/switchbot-bot-curtain-meter-contact-motion-mqtt-esp32-bridge-local-control/286468
• Scheduling the robot vacuum based on either leaving the house or not being in a meeting at work. Just upgraded the machine so the new one has mapping—meaning I can tell it not to vacuum my office and the hallway next to that while I work, and then go back and do just that area later in the day. 
• Magic Mirror: https://www.waveshare.com/13.3inch-magic-mirror.htm

Home Assistant for my Parents

• https://frenck.dev/diy-smart-doorbell-for-just-2-dollar/
• Reolink Cameras
• Sonoff Zigbee Stick
• Aqara Temperature Sensors

Rosemary’s Links

https://rosemaryorchard.com

https://www.relay.fm/automators

https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today

https://nestedfolderspodcast.com/

http://twitter.com/rosemaryorchard 

https://reddit.com/u/rosemaryorchard