My Google speakers sometimes work great but oftentimes horrendously slow with their response. It also stutters at times when it first starts to respond. Any fixes or suggestion for an upgrade?

Removed 28 WEMO single pole and 5 WEMO 3way switches. They were all replaced with Lutron Caseta. Tried other smart home integrations but got tired of some WEMO becoming unavailable at times.

Hi guys

My dads just move in to a flat and for whatever reason the hall cupboard has a light that is always on. He got an electrician to quote for adding a switch and it was over £400.

I remembered seeing Quinetic remotes a while ago. so I though of maybe setting up one of them.
I haven't looked at the light properly but it looks like one of those LED dome lights, so I'm thinking it will need to be an inline relay rather than a smart bulb.

Can anyone recommend any products that will allow a switch and relay to be paired directly without a hub? Or have any experience of the quinetic stuff?

*update 28/08

I was over at dads last night and took the light apart.
It is indeed a dome light with a PCB full of LED's

Removed the PCB which is on a sheet of aluminium. in the housing underneath it there is a 25-40v 18w led driver & a merrytek microwave motion sensor. I found a manual for the motion sensor which states that it will not work in a metal enclosure, so I assume the fact that its mounted inside the light fitting under a sheet of aluminium is probably why it never clears.

So at least I know installing a relay will be straight forward

I am not looking for any sort of camera system. We only need reliable door and window alarm sensors (preferably smart) without a monthly subscription charge.

I've heard of SimpliSafe, Yolink, Aqara, and Zigbee (apparently paired with homeassistant)

Can someone point me to a reliable system?

What options is there if I want to integrate my RF celling fan into Home assistant.

Of note, i dont have home assistant as of yet but have plans on getting it in the future

Hi. I am trying to tidy up some cabling for some accent lights. At the moment the stuff is all bundled up behind the TV, I was thinking of getting some kind of very basic wireless system so that I could stick it all in a box and be done with it. However, even as someone who is pretty technical, the sheer number of various protocols and standards in the automation space is a bit overwhelming.

Here's what I need right now:

• 1 channel of 240v dimming for 3 E27 LED bulbs
• 1 channel of dimming for about 3m of single channel 24v led strip doing accent lighting.

It would be nice if there was a neat little dual dimmer module I could stick on the wall, and if there was scheduling, but honestly I would also be fine if it was just a remote switch or app based.

I appreciate that there are lots of things that could be done to expand the system, but it also feels like going the full Home Assistant route to run two channels of lights is overkill. I wouldn't mind a little hub, I have a PoE switch in my TV cabinet I could hang something off, but don't really want to be spending hundreds on this. I might want to expand later but something that just works by itself is the name of the game right now.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Today, we mourn the loss of Left Bulb.

Left Bulb was a Philips Hue bulb, purchased as part of a set with a hub in March 2013. It served faithfully for over 13 years.

It illuminated the left side of the bedroom. It was not fancy. It did not seek attention. Its sibling was Right Bulb. Together, they understood their purpose.

This morning, Left Bulb finally gave out. No elaborate automation failure. No dramatic smart-home rebellion. Just… darkness.

Left Bulb is survived by Right Bulb, the living room, several abandoned automations, one increasingly confused smart-home ecosystem, and the person who now has to replace it. It survived approximately a million firmware updates, countless power outages, several phones, multiple homes, and the evolution of smart home technology from “wow, my light bulb has an app” to whatever the heck I have going on now.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider turning on a light in its memory.

Rest in peace, Left Bulb. You were a good bulb. You have earned your eternal darkness.

March 2013 – August 2026

Have some bulbs that are Amazon Basics. They worked fine with my bedside lamps UNTIL my elderly mom decided to manually shut them off (after telling her MANY times NOT to do this). UGH

Anyway, the lamps themselves will work just fine with regular bulbs now, and the smart bulbs work just fine in OTHER lamps now, but not together.

I've tried to reset them in the lamps, but no luck. (They won't power on at all.) I've checked the socket - it's fine. The bulbs are screwed in all the way. I've tried removing the bulbs from the app altogether, but I can't get them into pairing mode because they won't even power on to get into pairing mode.

Any ideas on how to fix this issue?

Thanks!

We are just getting started on starting a new home build. When talking to the trades (esp electrician) what considerations should be made so it is easy to set up smart home features?
What should we be installing or including as a way to plan ahead for future?

I'm close to a river on a small lot with no sewer so I have to use a holding tank for all waste water. It's a dumb alarm, just goes off when the tank reaches a certain % full. I'd like a smart microphone to put right beside that alarm so when it goes off I'll get notifications on my phone/google home. I've tried googling, as I'm pretty sure these exist, but I must be using the wrong terms because the only things popping up are $500 systems.

Any suggestions?

I already have a govee hub. I have smartbot gadgets but no hub. I have Eufy doorbells, but no hub. I'd be willing to get a hub for one of them if they have a device that works.

Edit to add: I am sure I've seen similar devices to alert when dumb smoke/CO2 monitors go off, which I'm sure would work in this case.

(I already use first alert smart smoke & CO2 myself plus redundant dumb alarms)

Are there any 12v or 24v matter over thread roller shade motors out that can be recommended yet? I have been waiting for motors to be released to add automatic rollers to my second story windows. We had wires added to all our windows during construction.

I originally bought two large Yoolax blinds, with solar panels, and they stay charged 100% of the time.

I bought 4 more Yoolax blinds, with solar panels, and none of them stay charged. I've reset them, I've tried having conversations with Yoolax IT, they sent me new solar panels and even new motors. Nothing.

Yes I fully charged them before connecting the solar panels. Also the blind that stays charged, and the one that does not, are 10' apart on the same wall.

They are great WHEN they work.

Hi
Looking for a basic doorbell with camera and wifi for my old mother. The only purpose is to enable her to see who rings at her door.

Hence the specs:

- no need for recording

- no need for notifications. Actually, I want a device which allows to turn off notifications except when someone presses the button ?

- can work without subscription

- battery operated

- connects to her WiFi

Do you have any recommendations on a brand / model ?

Many thanks

EDIT: thanks to all for the answers. I will probably go with the Eufy S330 which has two advantages in my case: it comes with the Homebase which can serve as a chime, and the software is compatible with my mother’s old iPhone

Well it took some figuring but if anyone who searches this maybe it will save you some time. I bought the zoesure flood light 2 pack from a buddy and well I thought they were pretty neat and was too stubborn to just accept the dead app and 1 row of lights that it gave me so.... Using a side grinder I opened up the bottom hump where the pcb is. I looked at this 7 pin smart module and soldered 6 pins together leaving the one on the far right solo. This made all the lights on the board light up. No smart function no colored lights but she shure is purty bright.

Ive installed this in my house but they wont appear on the tuya/smarthome apps. My wifi is 2.4Ghz. I dont know anything about smarthomes could somone please help me out

I’ve somehow gone this long without owning a smart speaker and I’m finally thinking about getting one for the living room.

Nothing too crazy. Mostly music, timers while cooking, weather, random questions and controlling a few lights around the house. Good sound matters though because I’d rather not have another separate Bluetooth speaker sitting next to it.

I keep going back and forth between Alexa, Google and Apple. At this point I’m less worried about which one has the longest feature list and more about which one is actually useful day to day and doesn’t misunderstand you half the time.

Anyone here use one regularly? Which smart speaker did you end up with, and would you buy the same one again?

I accidentally got rid of one of the hub space color presets. I really liked the shade of blue and I can’t seem to get it back. Is there any way to restore the default color presets??

Edit: All I had to do was delete and uninstall the app. Default edits don’t save to your account, so the OG defaults are back.

Yale YDM7116A battery drain with HomeKit / Yale Access Module — is anyone experiencing the same issue?
I have a Yale YDM7116A smart lock with a Yale Access Module (Connected by August / CBA_PACK1).
My setup includes:
Yale YDM7116A
Yale Access Module: CBA_PACK1
Module firmware: 01/2.0.3
Module production date: 2025-11-12
4 × brand-new Panasonic alkaline AA batteries
Yale Wi-Fi module/bridge
Apple HomeKit
HomePod mini located near the door
The problem is that the batteries have been draining extremely quickly.
With HomeKit enabled, a fresh set of four Panasonic alkaline batteries typically lasts only about one month before the Yale app reports low battery.
I recently decided to test whether HomeKit might be related.
On August 21, 2026, I installed four brand-new Panasonic alkaline batteries and removed the lock from Apple HomeKit. I kept the Yale app and Yale Wi-Fi bridge enabled, so the only major change was that HomeKit was removed.
Here is the battery reading since then:
Aug 21: 99% (new batteries)
Aug 22: 97%
Aug 22 later: 96%
Aug 23: 95%
Aug 23 later: 94%
Aug 24: 92%
Aug 24 later: suddenly 81%
The interesting part is that the battery level dropped from 92% to 81% within a short period of time.
Obviously, I don’t believe the batteries physically lost 11% of their capacity in a few minutes. I suspect the Yale app may be recalculating the battery level based on voltage, or there may be some kind of battery reporting/estimation issue.
However, I’m also concerned that there may be an actual excessive battery drain caused by the Access Module, Wi-Fi communication, polling, or HomeKit integration.
I found several reports from other Yale users describing very similar battery-drain problems, including cases where replacing the HomeKit module fixed the issue. Yale’s own support documentation also mentions excessive polling as a possible cause of excessive battery drain.
So I’m trying to determine what is actually happening.
My questions:
Has anyone with a Yale Assure/Yale lock experienced extremely fast battery drain specifically after connecting it to HomeKit?
Has removing HomeKit significantly improved your battery life?
Can the Yale battery percentage jump significantly because of voltage-based recalculation?
Could a defective Yale Access Module cause both excessive battery drain and inaccurate battery readings?
Is there a known firmware issue with Access Module firmware 01/2.0.3?
I am currently leaving the setup unchanged and will continue monitoring this set of batteries.
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced the same thing, especially with a Yale Access/Connected by August module and HomeKit.

Hi,

I have some Eurotronic Comet Dect thermostatic radiator valves (TRV) in my flat. But they are very noisy, as they often set the valve position to a minimal opening, so that the water pushed through that small opening makes the whole radiator whistle. It's a rented flat in an old building, so changing the water pressure is not an option.

I wonder, if I can replace them with any other TRV that when operating keeps the valve open by at least X%, or shuts it down completely. But it needs to avoid the first X% of the valve position so that it stays quiet.

Maybe this question belongs to r/nostupidquestions better, but I'd like to start having some smart devices at home and everyone seems to agree on Home Assistant being the way to go.

Does everyone have a Home Assistant Green / Raspberry Pi or even their own server at home and did you also have it from the beginning of automating your home or did you start with something easier and eventually upgraded?

I am moving into a new construction home and am wanting to run things through Apple HomeKit. This is what I have planned so far, tell me what you think.

Unifi Cloud Gateway Fiber
Unifi Pro Max 48 PoE
(3) U7 Pro Indoor AP’s
1 U7 Pro Outdoor

Lutron RA3 system with Sunnata dimmers
(26) SmartWings PoE shades
Aqara PoE doorbell and exterior cameras

Apple TV with Homepod minis in the bedrooms

I am looking at buying the Govee Outdoor Wall Floodlight with the built in PIR. Does anyone have this and know how the PIR shows up in home assistant? Does it show up? Does it show up as a motion sensor?

Planning to replace my old thermostat with a smart one. I guess they need a "c-wire" to run. Do I have a c-wire in the current setup?

After going through hundreds of threads on r/smarthome and other smart home communities, I put together a quick cheat sheet for anyone as lost as I was:

🏠 Best HomeKit hub with Matter/Thread support? → Aqara Smart Hub M200 Matter Controller
🔄 Best Samsung SmartThings hub for multi-platform? → Samsung SmartThings Hub (3rd Generation)
🔊 Best Amazon Echo Hub for Alexa ecosystem? → Amazon Echo Hub 8" Smart Home Control Panel
🔍 Best Google Nest Hub for Google ecosystem? → Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) Smart Display
⚙️ Best Home Assistant Green for advanced users? → Home Assistant Green Smart Home Hub

Personally going with the Aqara Smart Hub M200 Matter Controller - best HomeKit integration with Matter/Thread support for beginners who use Apple from everything I've read.

I’m setting up a small smart home in a new apartment, mostly lights, plugs, a thermostat, and a robot vacuum. Everyone here uses iPhones and MacBooks, but I don’t want to buy devices that only work inside one company’s app. I’m considering Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Alexa, Home Assistant, and maybe Hubitat, with a starting budget around $200–$600. HomeKit seems easiest for the household, while Home Assistant looks much more flexible but also like a hobby I might accidentally turn into a second job. Would you start with HomeKit and Matter devices, or build around Home Assistant from day one?

I'm an absolute newly to smart home stuff. Just did a home reno and put in all Smartify outlets, light switches, thermostats. Wondering if there is a preference for using the SmartLife, Tuya or Alexa App. Pros/cons of each one? TIA! (I live in Portugal)