I went deep into the DIY smart home rabbit hole, and after the microSD card of my HomeAssistant Pi failed, I came out of that hole and noticed that most of what I've done was pretty much not needed.<p>I had a dozen IKEA Tradfri switches and custom rotary encoders controlling everything in my house. From Tradfri bulbs to WLED RGBW LED strips, to 433MHz controlled plugs and Snapcast multi-room speakers. I even had switches that started random playlists on Spotify, or showed the weather and next bus stop on my Fire TV.<p>The only thing that I still use from that pile of waste is the motion controlled warm-white LED strip I soldered myself and flashed using ESPHome, because:<p>• it turns on when I enter the bathroom and it's brighter than most bulbs<p>• after bedtime it only turns on at 20% brightness<p>• it's local only, standalone, no Linux or hub needed<p>• I rarely have to manually adjust it, and for that it has a physical rotary encoder, no smartphone app needed<p>• it just works, I don't have to debug/restart/troubleshoot anything<p>Almost every friend that stayed the night and used our bathroom, asked me where they can buy such a thing, and I ended up creating 1-2 strips for each because there's nowhere to buy this set of features at a moderate price.<p>But I'm getting tired of soldering these strips for everyone, I'd love to buy a ready-made product that's at least similar in features (and price: ~$30)<p>Which is why I'm asking, what smart-home hardware have you bought (or hacked) that really made your life easier?
Do you have a write up on what you created?<p>I’ve bought a few of these, the battery lasts a long time. They stick on. I’ve got a few in the hallway, in the bathroom, on the stairs. They only come on at night and are timed to stay on - <a href="https://us.eufy.com/products/t1301" rel="nofollow">https://us.eufy.com/products/t1301</a><p>To answer your question, I still have hue bulbs, set on timers for night lights and wake up lights.
I automated my coffee machine using an Arduino to brew my coffee in the morning so it's ready by the time I'm downstairs. I've been meaning to do a write up of it for a while