Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Rewiring a Christmas Tree for WLED Lighting

 


This is a companion post for my YouTube video on creating a WLED lit Christmas tree from an original pre-lit, three section artificial tree.

Monday, November 15, 2021

ESP8266 vs. ESP32 with WLED

 

This blog article is an overview of the testing parameters and setup for comparing the ESP8266 and the ESP32 when used with standard WLED and the sound-reactive version of WLED.  To see the results, I highly recommend you watch the YouTube video that shows the various feature and performance differences.

Saturday, November 6, 2021

Halloween Props with Moving Head and Sound

 


These animatronic props have LED eyes that change color, a rotating head and optional sound that all activate via motion detection.  Alternatively, on board motion can be disabled and all features controlled via automation (like Home Assistant) using MQTT.

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

My Retro Arcade Build

 


I've had a few folks inquire from my YouTube video highlights if I have more information on the build of my own Retro Arcade machine.  And I do!  In fact, I have a separate blog that provides the full journey... from planning, acquiring the parts, the cabinet construction, lighting, control panel wiring and more!  You can find the full details (and there are lots!) on my adventure at https://retroarcadebuild.blogspot.com/

Sunday, October 10, 2021

Transforming an IT Shop with WLED Lighting

 











Background

Our IT shop recently relocated to a new space.  This space had previously been configured as a engineering classroom.  As we began to move into this space, it became apparent that the harsh, non-defused fluorescent lighting was going to be an issue for folks that stared at a screen all day.  

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Automated Garage Lighting

 


I became frustrated with our overhead garage lighting due to a lack of a switch at the exterior service door to turn on the lights when entering from outside.  In addition, the lights were occasionally left on overnight, burning at a whopping 845 watts!  This was my adventure in solving these issues through automation.

Saturday, September 18, 2021

Smart Plug vs. Switch vs. Relay?

 



If you are new to the smart home scene and have done a little YouTube or other web browsing, you might be asking why would I use a smart switch or smart relay instead of the simple smart plug.  Read on, or watch my YouTube video, for more info on when you might select a particular device over another in your smart home.

Saturday, August 7, 2021

Sound Reactive RGB Floor Lamps

 


In this post, I'm going to cover creating your own DIY sound-reactive LED/RGB floor lamps that have all the features of commercial Govee version (and more) at less than 1/2 the cost.

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Parking Assistant with MQTT and Vehicle Presence Sensors

 


This blog actually covers two related, but separate projects.  The first is a digital parking assistant for the garage and the second is vehicle presence detection.  These can be used independently or in conjunction within your home automation platform, like Home Assistant to create automations or other routines.

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Simple Motion-Activated LED Stair Lighting

 


There are many how-to articles and videos on creating LED stair lighting.  But many of these require substantial modification of the existing staircase or adjoining walls.  I wanted to create a similar effect using WLED, ESPHome and Home Assistant that didn't require modifying my existing stairs.

Saturday, June 12, 2021

You've got mail! A mailbox sensor for Home Assistant


Would you like to have an announcement made, or to receive a notification on your phone when the mailman has visited and left your daily delivery?  There are now commercial options available, but you can easily build your own local device for around $35 and integrate it into Home Assistant with voice announcements via Google Home or Amazon Alexa.

Friday, May 7, 2021

Home Automation and the Family Acceptance Factor

 

Source: Quora

What is Family Acceptance Factor and why is it important?

Family Acceptance Factor is today's preferred terminology for the original 'Wife Acceptance Factor' (or Wife Approval Factor).  The original WAF was coined in the 80's and generally referred to large stereo speaker systems or emerging home theater setups that could dominate the living or family room.

The smart home community has latched onto this concept in terms of assuring that the technology that you may wish to install into your home automation system will have a high Family Acceptance Factor.  If it doesn't, you will be fighting an uphill battle on future projects, be met with frustration and potentially anger by other household members and, if not handled properly, could seriously curtail your desire to build a true automated smart home.

Thursday, April 15, 2021

WS2812b LED Matrix Clock, Scoreboard and More

 



Time & Temperature, Countdown timer, Scoreboard and Text Display


Yet Another Clock!

After building a 3D printed clock, scoreboard and more, I wondered if I could adapt this code for an LED matrix I previously built for WLED.  The answer was a resounding 'yes'... and the matrix that was rarely used before is now on 24/7 and is a great addition to the man cave!

Sunday, March 14, 2021

A Virtual Window for a Windowless Basement

 


Creating a Virtual Window

When the pandemic hit, like many others, I found myself working from home fulltime.  While I have dedicated office in my home, I quickly realized that this office space was not conducive to working 8+ hours a day, mixing Zoom meetings with email and other work.  Therefore, about a month into the process, I opted to create a better all-day workspace in our finished basement.  While this was a much better and larger space for working all day, the one drawback is that our basement has no windows.  I'd spend the entire day in this space with no idea if it was sunny, raining, windy or calm.  I knew that some of the cruise lines had begun placing "virtual windows" within their interior cabins with a live camera feed to make those spaces feel less claustrophobic.  So. I wondered if a creating and installing a virtual window next to my workspace would do the same for me, trapped all day in a windowless basement.

Saturday, February 13, 2021

3D Printed Clock, Scoreboard and more with Home Assistant Integration

 

Clock, Countdown Timer, Temperature and Scoreboard


Yet another 7-segment LED Clock








You can find a multitude of variations on a 7-segment LED clock on YouTube and other web sites.  In fact, this one is an enhancement and variation of the original design by YouTuber Leon van den Beukel, but adds features like local push button control, a host of additional default settings and optional Home Assistant (or other  system) integration via MQTT. View a short highlight of the features on my YouTube video