This is a tale of unusual shortsightedness and a lack of planning for appropriate details that is later redeemed with what I hope will be a solution for others in the same situation. I recently got a new television, same size as the old one, but as soon as I tried to put it on…
Category: Smart Home
Turn a single temperature dehydrator into variable temperature with a smart switch
I purchased this Presto Dehydro many years ago and have used it a few times. It works, and I thought I would be okay with the single temperature, but it was ultimately just disappointing. Foods tasted a little on the overcooked side rather than something, well, good. I mainly use it to dehydrate home grown…
Voice Activated Motorized Curtains, Cheapest Solution, no Hub
Required materials: Add-a-Motor D80 – $100 Wemo Mini Smart Plug – $30 Heavy Duty Traverse Curtain Rods – $50 If you don’t already have one, Amazon Echo Dot There are some very expensive solutions out there for motorized curtains, most come with a RF, Z-Wave or IR remote that would require an additional hub to…
Voice Activated Sunrise & Sunset Emulation with Smart Lights
I’ve slowly been equipping my Amazon Echo, aka Alexa, with connected hardware, and the next step was a smart light for the bedroom. I wanted a bulb that was full color, required no hub, integrated directly with Amazon Echo and had IFTTT integration. The only bulb that fit that criteria was the Lifx Multicolor Wi-Fi Smart…