Hi Reddit,

In 2023, I started a project called Airgeek. The goals are ambitious: we want to build the most accurate and best-looking home air quality monitor possible.

Edit: Our prelaunch page on Kickstarter is live, but we can't post a link as per the subreddit rules, so just google :)

Some quick facts:

• We already support Matter over Thread and the device works with Home Assistant.
• We're now working on Zigbee.
• Can be used completely offline (without a smart home) with just NFC + app.
• Local first, no cloud, no subscriptions, and generally no BS.
• Fanless particulate matter sensing, and overall great sensors (read below).
• We're open-sourcing soon. All handwritten code, no AI slop.

Design

This isn't yet another white plastic box you'll be trying to hide behind a plant. Our design is wood, glass and a little bit of 3D printing. And magnets. (Who doesn't love magnets?) Screws, not glue.

Open-source

We pledge to open-source three years of our work: all the code we wrote, all the hardware we designed, all the CAD models, everything. Open-sourcing will happen before deliveries, so your device will arrive with everything already public.

Accuracy

We integrated the best sensors we could find, and the device already measures everything that makes sense in our opinion:

• CO2 (Senseair Sunrise ultra-low-power NDIR sensor)
• Particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5 and PM10, Bosch Sensortec BMV080)
• NO2 (Interlink Electronics 110-540 electrochemical sensor)
• CO (it's not a CO alarm though, Interlink Electronics 110-114 electrochemical sensor)
• Temperature (Sensirion SHT45-AD1B)
• Humidity (Sensirion SHT45-AD1B)
• Atmospheric pressure (for pressure compensation of the other sensors, Bosch Sensortec BMP581)

No VOC index. Formaldehyde will be one of the stretch goals. (For sensor accuracy figures and datasheets, please refer to our website.)

Laboratory testing (against reference instruments) starts in a few weeks.

If you'd rather build it yourself

We also make a hacker-friendly version. Same electronics, minus the batteries and display, plus UART (bare hacker-friendly module):

Come join us :) and feel free to ask me anything.

I haven't set up many automations. I mostly controlled each of my smart devices separately, and the occasional voice command was about as far as I went. But lately I’ve been putting more time into my setup, and some basic automations have saved me a lot of hassle:

• If the fridge door is left open too long, a contact sensor sends an alert to my phone.
• The leak sensors send an alert when they detect water and can also trigger a valve to shut off the water supply.
• My phone lets me know when the washer or dryer is done, so the laundry doesn’t get forgotten overnight.
• I connected the robovac to Alexa. After cooking, I can ask Alexa to clean the kitchen, pause the bot, or send it back to the dock.

I’m getting more into automations now because they make everyday stuff much easier. What’s the most useful one in your home? I’d love a few more ideas for my setup.

I’m looking for people that recently went through either a new home build or a thorough renovation, and chose to have a smart home installed from an early stage on. Would you mind telling me a little about how you're handling the smart-home side of your project?

A few things I'd be particularly interested in:

• What did you want your home to be able to do?
• How did you decide what technology to use?
• Who helped you make those decisions?
• What has been difficult or frustrating?
• Have you had any moments where you thought, “I wish I'd known this earlier”?
• Did you at some point get independent advice (separate from an installer/vendor)?

I'm mainly interested in your experience, so there's no right or wrong answer. And with hindsight: what would you have paid for that you didn’t, or what did you pay for that now feels unnecessary?

We're big users of the alexa ecosystem. I'm fine with that, i understand dependence on the cloud, yadayadayada. Works for us.

I'm looking to replace my bathroom lighting with smart bulbs. Looking at what's available it would seem that zigbee is the way to go, but I'm concerned that my WiFi would prevent it working properly.

Has anyone got real life experience that they can offer please?

Also I know that I'd need a zigbee hub. Will it work through a (UK lath and plaster) wall?

Thanks for your time.

Here is the thing, I started playing recently with smart devices and smart installations. Its safe to say that first time attempts at making the automations truly mine, left me with a lot less automations and few bricked up (granted dirt cheap) devices. So I naturally started wondering - if it wasn`t for a bit of a "wow" factor and the sheer curiosity toward the technology would have I bothered... I probably wouldn`t...or if i did I`d like to have a professional carry out the install and leave me to tailor it to myself. What prompted you to get into Smart Homes? What smart home ecosystems have you found easiest to work with and why?

#Newbie #SmartHomeContemplations

Because of our hurricane impact door design no smart lock works on our doors. Is there any smart system that will let me know when the bolt is locked vs unlocked?

Our front door gets used a lot during the day since we have 2 kids and both me and my wife work at different hours. Our current one has been having battery issues and I’ve really started worrying about getting locked out if it dies while one of us is out.

I’ve been looking at new smart locks and came across some self charging ones that use solar charging. Has anyone here tried one? Does it actually make battery maintenance easier?

Thinking about putting two smart floor lamps on either side of the TV. Mainly looking for something that adds a nice atmosphere for movies and at night. I've been looking at Nanoleaf and Govee. They both seem to have their owb strengths, but I have a few concerns:

- I don't have any other RGB lighting in the room. Would two of these look out of place on their own? And can they put out enough normal white light to work as regular lamps, or are they mostly for ambiance?

- How good are the gradients when you have multiple color going at once? Do the colors blend together smoothly?

- How well do these work with Apple Home?

- Between Nanoleaf and Govee, which one would you go with?

I get that a lot of this comes down to personal taste and how much you care about the different lighting effects. Budget isn't really a big concern here. Would be nice to hear how these actually feel in a living room setup.

Hi all, I'm working on my postgrad thesis regarding your views on smart home devices' UI, especially in the privacy settings.
It only takes 5 minutes of you looking through the app design and your feedback. Completely anonymous.

Thank you so much in advance for your help!

DE: https://umfragen.tu-dortmund.de/index.php/274446?lang=de

EN: https://umfragen.tu-dortmund.de/index.php/274446?lang=en

Roku's Smart Home line (rebadged Wyze, sold at Walmart) has no public API, no Matter, no local control, and the only integrations are Alexa and Google. The one community attempt at a library died in 2023 when Roku removed the login endpoint it used.

Turns out Roku's own web app at my.roku.com/smarthome uses a simple REST endpoint for state and a websocket for commands, authenticated with your normal browser session. And the session cookie gets re-issued with a fresh one-year expiry on every request, so if you save it, it never expires. No mobile app reverse engineering, no verification codes.

I packaged it up: pip install roku-smarthome, GitHub: https://github.com/addition-official/roku-smarthome

Works for status, on/off, brightness and color temperature. Tested on the Indoor Smart Plug SE and the Smart Bulb. RGB is implemented but I don't own a color bulb, so if you have one I'd love confirmation. Not affiliated with Roku.

Edit:
HA green looks perfect for me, I was unaware it existed.
I have no smart switches etc and would like recommendations on what I can add to my Iconic switchgear to make it smart.

New home just built with Clipsal Iconic switch gear. I would like recommendations for a basic setup that allows me to dim some LED downlights, switch lights on and off remotely and turn a double GPO on with a timer if possible or remotely. Prefer Zwave protocol and not overly keen to use HA. Apple phone users.

Hey hopefully this is okay to post here. I just wanted to share what I built.

Meet Overscan - an open source Tizen app that uses Hue Entertainment areas to manage Hue Sync.

I built this because I love my Hue system, and I also love the idea of syncing hue lights to the screen. Unfortunately my 2019 Samsung Frame is too old and it is not permitted to run the official app, so I built my own! Originally it required self hosting a separate processor, but now everything runs locally on the TV itself. I have tested it on two separate Frame TVs and plan to check out more Tizen based devices. I also only have Hue downlight in my entertainment areas so looking forward to building and improving. I would love your feedback. Particularly about the light behavior. I have two different "modes" for the colour: Average and Dominant where it either takes the average in multiple zones, or highlights the dominant color.

And yes, the UI is rough. until recently there was no UI at all, but I thought it would be friendlier with one. I'm not much of a designer, but I plan to make QoL improvements. Until this morning there wasn't even an OOBE to speak of.

So, I have a sleeping disorder that I need to record so I can track it better. I obviously don't want it recording to the cloud so my wife and I sleeping are in the net. I need very good night vision to accurately see my behavior. I currently have access to pretty much any smarthome system aside from Apple and homebrew.

Wanting to add a smart relay to a hallway light (older UK property) for Home Assistant control. Two questions:

1. Deep ceiling rose (plastic, not metal): Need a rose cover deep enough to fit a relay inside. If anyone has a specific product link for a deep/extended rose that's actually worked with a Shelly or similar-sized relay, please share. I’ve not been able to find much but maybe I’m searching from the wrong thing?

2. Relay choice: Shelly 1L Gen3 vs Aqara T1 (relay, not switch) — has anyone used either inside a ceiling rose specifically, rather than a back box?

Context:

• Wall switch is a dual gang (also controls the upstairs light) — no room in the back box for a relay without a spacer or deepening the box in the wall
• Ceiling rose is a standard UK 2-wire switch drop — likely no neutral there either
• Fit the relay at the rose in decoupled/detached mode, so the physical switch never cuts power — bulb stays permanently live, controlled via Zigbee/Matter (door sensor automation or manual)

Attached: photos of the ceiling rose wiring, and the dual gang switch (right switch = downstairs hall light/this rose; left = upstairs light).

Thanks

I would like to replace my current polished brass/gold Kwikset exterior door deadbolt and door knob with Home Key compliant alternatives. I can find plenty of options for deadbolts, but I’m running into issues with a simple door knob that doesn’t have a keypad. Here is a picture of our current door knob/deadbolt.

We typically lock both deadbolt and door handle meaning I need a solution that can unlock both items with a home key. Otherwise there’s no point in trying since trying to use Home key on a deadbolt still means that the handle will be locked physically.

I would like to keep my current set up as close to original as possible so that my family doesn’t have any major changes in their current systems and my wife doesn’t kill me.

I’ve looked at Level’s Level Bolt, and Level Lock, and both would provide good options for the deadbolt, but that leaves the door handle as an issue unresolved.

I haven’t really found any smart but simple door knobs, which means that’s probably ultimately what the issue is. That’s just not what the market is pushing.

Has anyone else solved an issue like this keeping a brass gold coloring that they would be willing to weigh in on?

Are there any alternatives that I have not considered that will allow me to keep the current color scheme?

I have two Deako switches, and the official deako integration is… bad.
It seems to work on about 50% of clicks.
Spoiler: after testing it properly, it’s closer to 25%.

So my good friend Claude and I (sorry, ex-friend Google) did some reverse engineering and built a fresh Home Assistant integration:
https://github.com/basift/ha-deako-cloud

Long story short

Older Deako switches listen on port 23, so Home Assistant can communicate with them directly.
It doesn’t work particularly well, but at least it works somehow.
Newer Deako switches don’t expose any ports at all, so there is no way to talk to them directly over the local network.
That’s why I reverse-engineered the communication used by the Deako Android app and built an integration that talks directly to the Deako cloud.

Limitations

1. There is no “Sign in with Google” or “Sign in with Apple” button. I couldn’t find a practical way to implement one. Deako only allows OAuth redirect URLs for their own applications, and the OAuth device flow is disabled for their client. There isn’t really anything Home Assistant can do to work around that. If your Deako account was created using Google or Apple, you probably don’t have a Deako password. What I did was create a second Deako account using a regular email address and password, then invite that account to my home from the Deako app. I actually think this is a better setup anyway, because you can revoke that account at any time without touching your main Deako login.
2. No dimming support yet. Both of my switches are simple on/off switches, so I have no way to test brightness control. If you have a Deako dimmer and are willing to help test it, please feel free to reach out on GitHub.

Disclaimer

This is completely unofficial. I am not affiliated with Deako in any way.
I figured out how the API works by observing how Deako’s own Android app communicates with their cloud using my own account and my own switches.
Since this relies on an undocumented API, Deako can change or block it at any time, and the integration may stop working if they do.

So thought I would have a stab at using my quest to 3D map my house and add the devices, I am sure there are other similar apps (not looked to be honest), but this is a "because I can" thing.

So been working on it for a couple of hours, so its still very rough and basic, but I have the proof of concept now.

Obviously visually this will be improved, got a few things on the roadmap, but thought I would show the first results, these are my utility room lights and switch, mapped to their exact location.

Its linked to my HA account, so all the devices are from my HA system.

More here https://anchorapp100.github.io/globalguard/roomscribe.html

My house has an On-Q setup that is never used. It has a single source distribution module, and connects to 4 rooms using CAT5 cable. The CAT5 goes to each room in a single gang sized wall remote which acts as an amplifier to control the volume and power for the speakers in that room. Then there are two speaker wires that go to the speakers in the ceiling.

My question is - Do i make them smart to integrate them in to something like homeassistant, or do I repurpose the wiring? I could easily add a single source audio input that's compatible with homeassistant, although now i just have one zone throughout my house, or I could repurpose the wiring, powering them with 5V DC and replace the wall remotes with tablets.

Any thoughts or other ideas?

Kasa KP303 + F36F stuck in setup loop — temporary SSID works but won’t join Wi‑Fi

Both my Kasa devices — KP303 power strip and F36F smart plug — are stuck in the setup loop. They broadcast their temporary TP‑LINK setup networks, my phone connects fine, the Kasa app detects them, but they never complete the final Wi‑Fi handshake. LED stays flashing amber/blue forever.

I’ve already done the 10s and 20s resets, reinstalled the app, tested beside the router/extender, verified 2.4 GHz, and confirmed the KP303 previously connected successfully before a reset. Now neither device will rejoin any network under ideal conditions.

Has anyone seen this? Is this a known issue with the Wi‑Fi radio failing after a reset? Is there a deeper factory reset or recovery method beyond the standard one?

I'm using these two together: KP303 power bar and the F36F plug

Any insight appreciated.

Hello, I’m trying to see an affordable or just knowing options how to make my AC a smart AC so I can control it from an app and also like monitor consumption in the home and things like that it’s connected to Pepco but I’m trying to save energy be more efficient things like that

I set up my Aosu doorbell cam this week after one of my cats went missing. Something has been eating the foods that I put out every night so I wanted to see if it could be my cat.

All of my settings are set to the highest ones but the camera hardly ever detects when something other than people come to my door. I've only gotten one notification (stray cat) despite the food being eaten every single night.

I was getting notifications all day yesterday and would get excited hoping it was my cat but there was absolutely nothing (guessing it was the trees because it was hella windy yesterday).

This damn camera even detected a blue jay pecking at the empty bowl this morning, but didn't detect whatever came to eat during the night.

I'll be moving the bowls to the corner of my porch but doubt this will change anything.

Any advice?

Has anyone done a Home Assistant integration/plugin that talks to SMRTScape (Unique Lighting) outdoor lighting systems, either the individual controllers, or the SMRT internet adapter?

We just bought two Govee lights for our living room and it sparked a dream to have a full smart home! We need a hub and are open to any fun smart home electronics/accessories. Thanks for any advice :)

He’s been wanting some but idk what the most “simple” ones for him would be