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Gadget Wisdom

Category: Smart Home

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Govee Link Sensors- A Simple Leak Monitoring Solution

In a recent post, my fellow writer on this site wrote about Govee leak sensor for leak monitoringvacation home temperature monitoring. The focus there was temperature and humidity. But there is a more urgent monitoring need. Leak monitoring. There are a lot of choices for leak sensors in various price points and using various technologies. The sensors my fellow writer used were wifi based and require an app.

Going With Govee Leak Sensor

Using an app doesn’t bother me, but it being the only option worries me in terms of longevity. So I opted for Govee Water Leak Sensors. You can buy them by themselves, or with a wifi gateway. These sensors transmit at the common frequency of 433Mhz which means a simple usb dongle can pick it up and integrate it into any system, in addition to using the wifi gateway with app. I’ve since bought and installed them for many relatives.

Govee, however, has a wide range of technology. They offer their Leak Sensor 2s, which use LoRa technology on the 915Mhz band, which is a low power technology with extended range. But for the most part, I can pick up the older version on all around the house. I don’t need the extra range LoRa might offer. Ability to integrate is more important to me.

What can you do with integration? If you have a cutoff switch for your water, you can trigger it to close. You can notify more than one person, very flexibly. Not just phone notifications, sirens, flashing lights…whatever. The hardest part of home automation is designing the automation. The tools have gotten better, but the planning can be the challenge.

In the end, integration or not, the Govee classic Leak Sensor is frequently on sale, it is reliable, and has alerted to water leaks behind toilets and sinks on numerous occasions. Place one anywhere there is running water. Use the wifi option to be alerted when you are far away.  Consider as well a remote water shut off device that will allow you to shut off your water remotely; perhaps we will discuss one in a future post.

Published on January 16, 2025
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Vacation Home Temperature Monitoring: Ensure All Is OK From Far Away

Vacation Home Temperature Monitoring

Owning a vacation home or a second home is a wonderful luxury, but managing your home when you are far away comes with its own set of challenges—especially when it comes to maintaining proper environmental conditions. This is where the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer Thermometer(Model STH54) becomes an invaluable tool.

With its ability to monitor both temperature and humidity, this smart device allows you to keep an eye on your property remotely, offering peace of mind and helping you avoid costly issues. Here’s how I use this vacation home temperature monitoring solution to protect my distant home.

Safeguarding My Wine Cellar

One of the first places I installed the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer was in my wine cellar. Proper storage conditions are critical for preserving the quality of wine, and even slight fluctuations in temperature or humidity can have a significant impact.

Using the hygrometer, I’m able to track real-time temperature and humidity levels from my phone, no matter where I am. The app’s customizable alarms notify me immediately if conditions deviate from my set parameters, ensuring my wine is always stored in ideal conditions.

Monitoring Plumbing for Burst Pipe Prevention

Another strategic placement for the sensor was near plumbing. In colder climates, pipes are at risk of freezing and bursting when temperatures drop too low, and when gone for months there is no need to keep the house fully heated. Even though I drain my pipes and turn off the main, I want to be sure that these areas of the house don’t drop too low. By positioning the X-Sense hygrometer near vulnerable areas, I can monitor temperatures remotely and receive alerts if they approach freezing. This gives me time to act, whether it’s adjusting the home’s heating system(also remotely) or contacting someone nearby to check on the property.

Simple Setup and Seamless Control

Setting up the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer was surprisingly simple. After unboxing the device, I downloaded the companion app and connected the base station to my home’s Wi-Fi network.  Then I was able to pair each of the three sensors with the base station and place them. Within minutes, I was able to view data, set alarm thresholds, and start monitoring my property. The intuitive app makes it easy to adjust settings and view historical data, providing a comprehensive view of environmental conditions over time.

Peace of Mind, Wherever You Are

With the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer, being far away my second home has become significantly less stressful. Knowing that I’ll be notified of any potential issues gives me peace of mind, whether I’m hundreds of miles away or just down the road. It’s a small investment that has already paid off by helping me maintain optimal conditions for my property and prevent potential disasters.

If you’re looking for a reliable, easy-to-use solution to monitor temperature and humidity at your vacation home, the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer is a tool worth considering. I have found it to be an indispensable tool for vacation home temperature monitoring.

Published on January 16, 2025
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State of the Open Home 2024

On Saturday, the annual State of the Open Home occurred. I got a chance to watch the stream afterward, and took away some interesting notes.

The State of the Open Home is the annual briefing by the Home Assistant developers on the state of that project, and has gradually expanded to their other umbrella projects. Which is what has lead to them announcing the Open Home Foundation. They’ve transferred over 240 projects, including Home Assistant, ESPHome, Zigpy, Piper, Improv Wi-Fi, Wyoming, etc to the foundation, and collaborate with projects like WLED, Zigbee2MQTT, ZwaveJS, etc. The for-profit arm of Home Assistant, Nabu Casa, is a contributor to the foundation, but has no direct control over it.

From what I can deduce, this seems to be in direct response to concerns that the Home Assistant project would be taken in a commercial direction as Nabu Casa tries new initiatives. It also preserves the privacy and choice philosophies Home Assistant is founded on.

They also mentioned the roadmap for Home Assistant as well, with moving toward additional improvements in usability.

I think I will be talking a bit more about Home Assistant in the future. It is mostly a hobbyist system today, but they are making the attempt to make it easier for more casual users, with the Home Assistant Green and other efforts. They did mention the Green will be more commercially available in future as well.

Published on April 22, 2024
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Take Control Of Your Garage Door With Rage Against the Garage Door Opener

https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/4663918/288449523-9ddf3da2-9eac-4be0-beed-11867dc8d446.png

Rage Against The Garage Door Opener(RATGDO), is a board created by Paul Wieland that gives you local control of a Chamberlain/Liftmaster garage door. It also supports other garage doors with some additional equipment. The ratgdo board is an ESP chip, and inserts itself in between the circuit board in the motor and the safety sensors and the button/control panel on the wall. It then learns to communicate with the components. I ordered this device, which is now frequently back ordered, last year, and finally got to installing it this weekend.

I haven’t spoken to the developer directly, but how did this board, which is a sudden boom side business for him, become so? It starts with Chamberlain announcing they would be blocking access to their API for home automators.

The board offers:

  • Open/Close Functionality
  • real time status of door
  • the ability to partially open or close the door
  • Obstruction sensor status
  • Motion Sensor status

If you can wait for an item on backorder, I recommend this device if you have the right sort of garage door to ensure peace of mind in regard to the status of your door.

 

 

Published on February 12, 2024
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Review: AirGradient Open Air Outdoor Air Quality Kit

In my previous post, Finding The Right Outdoor Air Quality Monitor, I laid out my decision making process for purchasing the AirGradient Open Air outdoor air quality monitor kit.

Much to my surprise, right after I ordered the kit, which included 2 PMS5003T particulate sensors, and added an SGP40 NOx and VOC sensor, they stopped selling the kit I purchased. The new version bundles the SGP40 and instead of a second PMS5003T, a SenseAir S8 NDIR CO2 sensor.

The interesting thing about having an S8 and an SGP40 outside is that they are not measuring what you want them to measure per se. The CO2 sensor isn’t sensitive enough to measure exact CO2 in the atmosphere, better suited for inside, but like inside, elevated CO2 levels indicate other things.

So, to the device…I was able to easily assemble it in only a few minutes. Then came the software. By default, AirGradient loads it up with their own software that hooks up to their own dashboard. I loaded ESPHome on instead. Fortunately, multiple enthusiasts had configuration files for ESPHome, so it was set up in record time and reporting data, and mounted outside. With the air vents on the bottom, instead of my version, on the side, it should hopefully be resistant to the weather.

This was an incredibly simple build, supports customizable firmware, and was integrated into my Home Assistant and WeeWX installation just as quickly. I am already planning to purchase additional units for future projects.

 

Published on January 23, 2024
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WeeWX Version 5.0 Released- Should You Upgrade Now?

WeeWX released version 5 of its Weather Station software. While there were a lot of foundational improvements, as usually indicated by a major version change, there is little here in terms of showstopping features. Which is fine, this is a stable project, showstopping features are not what is expected. But a lot of essential updates and refactoring. A few highlights:

  • Minimum Python version is now 3.6. Considering the previous minimum hit end of life in January of 2020, this is sort of a necessity. Python 3.6 hit end of life at the end of 2021. Python is currently at 3.12, which was released in October of 2023 and will not hit end of life until 2028. But in my experience, if you don’t have a reason to drop support for an older version, is there a reason just because it isn’t supported any longer? It can be a slow gradual process. For me, WeeWX supporting 3.0 meant I didn’t have to install multiple versions of Python.
  • A new utility, weectl, replaces all the individual utilities.
  • Package installs now use systemd…Systemd has been a staple on Linux systems for over a year.
  • Several Enhancements for Derived Types, including a fix to an issue related to an Air Quality Index calculating extension

A worthy update which should improve the performance and stability of your weather tracking system.  While an upgrade is not immediately necessary, it would be worthwhile to update your installation of WeeWX to version 5.0 in the next few months.

Published on January 15, 2024
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Throw Away The Key- Should You Be Switching to a Digital Lock?

In my exploration of home automation, locks and cameras are always the most concerning when it comes to privacy and security. With all the hacks and exploits you hear about, trusting a third-party with the keys to your house can be a scary thing. Having control of your security is important. Every time I’ve compromised on control in the name of convenience, I’ve regretted it.

So, rather than starting with Smart Locks, I’m starting with the concept of digital locks in general. I’ll get to smart locks in a subsequent post.

What are Digital Locks?

The term can be somewhat confusing, because a digital lock is not necessarily electronic, it can be mechanical. It refers to a lock that is opened using a combination keypad over a key.  Some people still prefer a mechanical digital lock. Why?

  • Electronic deadbolts are usually battery powered…what happens when the battery dies?
  • They often contain a motor to turn the bolt, and this part can wear out or otherwise over time meaning more frequent replacement.
  • Mechanical Options are also popular with Observant Jews as they would refrain from using electronic devices on Saturdays and holidays.

A digital lock replaces something you have…a key, with something you know…a code, although many of these locks still offer a key override. But this is nothing new. For years, one of the entries to my building has been through a garage, with a keypad on the outside to open it. More and more people are moving to locks that don’t require a traditional key for at least one entry into their home. In my follow-up where I get into Smart Lock technology, these do not just include built-in keypads, but using your phone to unlock, fingerprint, etc.

Digital locks have also become increasingly popular for short term rentals, such as AirBnB, as providing a code is easier than key exchange, and changing the code is a trivial matter. The Smart digital locks allow remote changing of the code and the others allow changing at the unit itself.

Are Digital Locks Safer than Keyed Locks?

The traditional keyed lock itself is inherently risky in itself. An expert lock-picker can pick a lock rather quickly. It is possible the absence of a key may actually be more secure, because there is nothing to pick.

But all this doesn’t mean you can’t bypass a digital lock in the same way most people bypass keyed locks, it just means you can’t do it with a pick. In most cases, the biggest security of a lock, is not the key. Most criminals are more likely to use brute force to break in over picking the lock. So, a key question in any lock purchase is hard it is to brute force it. For example, Consumer Reports tests their door locks with a 100 pound steel battering ram, and test both with and without a reinforced box strike plate. Their recommendation, by the way is to invest in reinforcing against a brute force attack as well as a hardened lock that is not easy to drill or otherwise break.

Again, that doesn’t mean a determined individual can’t get in. Security is often about making things harder, not impossible.

 

Published on January 7, 2024
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Home Automation Obsession: Introduction

For the past few weeks, I’ve been in the midst of an ever escalating home automation kick. It started with one repair, and spiraled into a massive upgrade.

But, I feel the need to document it. Partly because of what happened last time. Years ago, I had X10 home automation devices in my home. I had a control mechanism hooked up to a computer.

And then I ripped it out and didn’t look back. But why did I do that? Let’s see.

  1. The computer control mechanism was serial and no one was using serial ports anymore. The newer USB controllers happened to be less than compatible with my operating system, Linux.
  2. X10 used power line signaling as its primary source of control. This meant that any noise on your electric lines…including your washer/dryer, would disrupt signals. Noise could be interpreted as instructions to turn things on and off.
  3. The protocol dates from the 70s and isn’t as robust as it could be.

 

A lot of the stuff I’ve switched to now is Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. I assume most people know what Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is, so let’s cover the other two.

Z-Wave dates from 2001, Zigbee from 1998. Z-Wave has greater range than Zigbee, both are mesh networking protocols, offer encryption, and require pairing with a radio in order to function.

The Wink hub, which I use, has both Zigbee and Z-Wave radios. The new Amazon Echo Plus announced this week has a Zigbee radio. Increasingly, people are looking to add these radios into routers, voice assistants, etc, to give those devices the ability to control smart devices.

Being as I am afraid of being left behind if a company or standard bites the dust…remembering X10, I’ve connected my Wink setup to a computer based setup and equipped that computer with a bluetooth, z-wave, and zigbee radio of its own. This means I could transfer devices over to it if Wink shuts down, and I can build a Frankenstein-like network of devices that the computer can connect, even if their manufacturers are not interested in doing so.

So, for the last few weeks, I’ve been adding integration after integration…before I actually set up any sort of automation. Lowes has been running a clearance sale on Sylvania smart bulbs(I went to three different Lowes and bought what I wanted) and I’ve added more controlled lights.

Amazon boxes have been coming every day bringing new pieces to extend this system, and I’ve been connecting up other connected devices, such as my weather station, weather forecasts, Google traffic data, etc so I can use it to have decisions made.

Even my personal website could theoretically send a signal when something occurs…Imagine my lights flashing when I have a comment or something.

So, a lot to cover.

Published on September 29, 2017
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