Rod AlcidonisPublished on January 4, 2023Subscribe to my YouTube channelBuy me a beerCalculating time is an essential part of creating smarter automations for your smart home. Imagine you want to know how long your HVAC system has been running over a certain period of time. To do this, you need a way to calculate the… Continue reading How to Measure On-time Duration of Your Smart Home Devices in Home Assistant with a Reusable Python Utility Method
Category: Tutorials
How to Create a Home Assistant Automation to Make Your Dumb Fireplace Smart!
Rod AlcidonisPublished on December 24, 2022Subscribe to my YouTube channelBuy me a beerA fireplace at home makes a cold winter night cozy and comforting. However, if left unattended for a long period of time, such as when you leave home or go to bed, it can become both an energy sucker and/or a fire hazard.… Continue reading How to Create a Home Assistant Automation to Make Your Dumb Fireplace Smart!
40 Must-Have Tips for Setting Up Your Smart Home
Rod AlcidonisPublished on December 15, 2022Subscribe to my YouTube channelBuy me a beerIn this article, I want to share with you 40 tips you cannot afford to miss while setting up your smart home, starting with purchasing, security, installation, performance, integration, compatibility, and usability. Purchasing 1. Follow a plan: Before you start buying and installing… Continue reading 40 Must-Have Tips for Setting Up Your Smart Home
How to Create a Custom Sensor in Home Assistant to Show the Day
Rod AlcidonisPublished on December 15, 2022Subscribe to my YouTube channelBuy me a beerIn this tutorial, I will show you how to use Appdaemon to create a custom sensor in Home Assistant that displays the day of the week. You may be interested in creating such a custom sensor if you have the need to show… Continue reading How to Create a Custom Sensor in Home Assistant to Show the Day
Home Assistant automation to detect motion on an Arlo security camera and turn a light on and off
Rod AlcidonisPublished on October 21, 2022Subscribe to my YouTube channelBuy me a beerIn this tutorial, I will be showing you how to create an automation in Home Assistant to detect motion on an Arlo Security Camera and to turn the front door light on when motion is detected and off when motion is inactive. You… Continue reading Home Assistant automation to detect motion on an Arlo security camera and turn a light on and off
Automation to Detect Person, Packages, Animal, and Vehicle on an Arlo Camera and Announce the Detection on a Sonos Speaker
Rod AlcidonisPublished on October 14, 2022Subscribe to my YouTube channelBuy me a beerIn this tutorial, I will be showing you how to create a Home Assistant automation to identify person, vehicle, animal, or package on your Arlo camera and then announce the object to your household on a Sonos speaker. I am using Appdaemon to… Continue reading Automation to Detect Person, Packages, Animal, and Vehicle on an Arlo Camera and Announce the Detection on a Sonos Speaker
Getting Days by Name in Home Assistant and Checking Whether the Day Falls on a U.S. Holiday
Rod AlcidonisPublished on October 12, 2022Subscribe to my YouTube channelBuy me a beerHave you ever found yourself configuring an automation in Home Assistant and you needed to find out what day is today, yesterday, and tomorrow, or whether any of those days fell on a U.S. holiday? That kind of information is unfortunately not intuitively… Continue reading Getting Days by Name in Home Assistant and Checking Whether the Day Falls on a U.S. Holiday
Using NFC Tags in Home Assistant to Create Reminders in Google Calendar
Rod AlcidonisPublished on October 11, 2022Subscribe to my YouTube channelBuy me a beerThis automation uses an NFC tag to create a reminder on my Google Calendar to change the Family Room Lock’s batteries in six months. I am using Appdaemon to program the automation, which is one of the automation engines in Home Assistant, and… Continue reading Using NFC Tags in Home Assistant to Create Reminders in Google Calendar
Five things to Know Before Getting Started With Smart Home Technology
Rod AlcidonisPublished on May 10, 2022Subscribe to my YouTube channelBuy me a beerThere are a few things I wish I had known before starting my smart home journey. If you are a new user, you likely will encounter similar challenges along the way. I am sharing my experience to motivate you to take the plunge… Continue reading Five things to Know Before Getting Started With Smart Home Technology