Roland “Accidentally” Installed Home Assistant, Then Automated Everything

0:05 [SPEAKER_01]: Hello and welcome to the home assistant podcast. [SPEAKER_01]: My name is Phil and join me as usual about Raham. [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, go ahead. [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, good. [SPEAKER_01]: And today we're joined by Roland. [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, going. [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, thank you. [SPEAKER_01]: Good, and you?

0:19 [SPEAKER_01]: Good, thank you. [SPEAKER_01]: But before we get started, here's a quick word from our sponsor, home business is a cloud by Nebuchadse. [SPEAKER_01]: If you've ever tried to set up remote access the hard way, dynamic DNS, reverse proxies, self-scientificates, Nebuchadse is the easy button.

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1:09 [SPEAKER_01]: We've got a link in the description. [SPEAKER_01]: This episode is also sponsored by our friends at a Pollute Automation, makers of open-source smart home sensors built for the home assistant ecosystem. [SPEAKER_01]: The official SP home starter kit is now available, and it is the easiest entry into making your own sensors.

1:27 [SPEAKER_01]: It is designed and built by the open home foundation with a Pollute Automation. [SPEAKER_01]: Profits help fund the open home foundation, which owns and maintains home assistant, [SPEAKER_01]: While you there, be sure to check out Apollo Automation's cast-one, build for music assistant and make anything with a line-in input, a smart speaker.

1:50 [SPEAKER_01]: If you're deep into home assistant or just getting started, definitely check them out at ApolloAutomation.com. [SPEAKER_01]: Roland, thank you so much for joining us today, whereabouts in the world you're joining us from. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm from the heart of Europe, I'm an ulcer. [SPEAKER_01]: Nice.

2:07 [SPEAKER_01]: When you write into us, you describe that you accidentally installed home assistance, so you are here by accident today. [SPEAKER_01]: Would you want to give it a back story and how you could have someone does actually accidentally install home assistance? [SPEAKER_02]: yeah, it was never intended.

2:25 [SPEAKER_02]: I thought it did the way that everybody else does and I thought my way was the way nearly everyone would have done it but [SPEAKER_02]: with your podcast, I found out, no, the normal way is for the Psyllite. [SPEAKER_02]: For me, it was the fridge. [SPEAKER_02]: So I had this fridge to come to home assistant.

2:48 [SPEAKER_02]: I have an old fridge and they say, change it, change it, it's old one, it needs more energy, yeah, but how much energy exactly. [SPEAKER_02]: So my first thing was, yeah, bought a bunch of shellys, these old shellys, the shelly plaques. [SPEAKER_02]: 4.5 for pack, yeah, one got for the fridge, one for the dishwasher, one for the washing machine and time.

3:13 [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, I'm a programmer and I love open source, I love data, I love to see the data. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't want it on the shelly cloud. [SPEAKER_02]: So what did local and by then the shelly plucks didn't have the function to have a history. [SPEAKER_02]: So we needed something to get a history out of it.

3:34 [SPEAKER_02]: First idea, yeah, program something. [SPEAKER_02]: then thought, there might be something out there, and did a quick Google search, installed the first thing was no great, and a problem, I know Linux, so no problem, but after half an hour didn't, wouldn't run. [SPEAKER_02]: Then installed the second thing I think was something like [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to your smart home.

4:08 [SPEAKER_02]: well yeah it worked and how did I get the shell is in so while searching while how to get them in they popped up and just accepted and yeah I'm still stuck with it. [SPEAKER_02]: Let's put it this way. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah I love that so what was your so you said you had a fridge that you wanted to get started with was there we were trying to keep that fridge going like we trying to get some what we were [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, the idea was how much energy the fridge really uses for, you have the, when you have a meter on the fridge, you see, it uses no power or 100, but it goes up and down.

4:54 [SPEAKER_02]: So, I need a long time measurement. [SPEAKER_02]: And when I measured the water to know, [SPEAKER_02]: What's with the light? [SPEAKER_02]: What is when I open it? [SPEAKER_02]: What is when I don't open it? [SPEAKER_02]: What is one cool inside and so on. [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, this was my brain works.

5:09 [SPEAKER_02]: I wanted long times the districts. [SPEAKER_02]: This was the ultimate goal for it to see what in new fridge would spare me in money for their electricity bill. [SPEAKER_02]: And I have to say with this shell is I could have bought a lot of [SPEAKER_00]: So did you do this more for understanding the value of buying a new fridge and then to help you decide whether you need a new fridge or not?

5:39 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: Is that the idea? [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: This was the ultimate goal for everything. [SPEAKER_02]: I kept it for five, five, five more years and I exchanged it last year because the multiple sold out. [SPEAKER_02]: Not the electricity. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

5:55 [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: But on this way, like I said, it's still one number washing machine, which is in the basement. [SPEAKER_02]: So every time you want it to know, is the washing machine done or not? [SPEAKER_02]: You have to open door to the basement here. [SPEAKER_02]: Here, here for one minute, because every minute you get a beep from the washing machine.

6:13 [SPEAKER_02]: So you don't know if it's done or not. [SPEAKER_02]: Now we get a notification, washing machine finished. [SPEAKER_02]: dishwasher finished, and so on. [SPEAKER_01]: You just went on the snowball, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Like you've started with the one thing. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: What does that snowball like I think if I'm looking at my notes here, you say it, you're now at around 270 devices in home system.

6:33 [SPEAKER_01]: We've got 200 helpers. [SPEAKER_01]: Lovely. [SPEAKER_01]: 100 automations. [SPEAKER_01]: Yep. [SPEAKER_01]: Does that feel manageable to you, like, with... [SPEAKER_02]: I rather from a program of point of view, I would rather have a big, more control or without them. [SPEAKER_02]: It's not the all the automations in the list.

6:55 [SPEAKER_02]: I have no group, but... You know, more tree-like would be more manageable, I think, for... [SPEAKER_02]: I had heard some guests, so from users, so my system is not very big compared to others. [SPEAKER_02]: But yes, it could get overwhelming because when it don't know what's happening, you don't remember where you put the special code for this and that.

7:28 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and that's one of the things that I'm struggling with like trying to, I've got things halfway built in the UI. [SPEAKER_01]: Half things are still in YAML, like for my YAML codes, I've got all split out in packages. [SPEAKER_01]: But then when you bring things back to the UI, there's no folder structure, right?

7:43 [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it can categorize things, you can label things, but... [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's one of the things I'm missing from the UI is, you know, there's the full structure, there's the YAMO, the packages, right? [SPEAKER_01]: You can do. [SPEAKER_01]: Using packages, we're using code or the UI for your automations.

8:01 [SPEAKER_02]: Mostly the UI, so I'm a programmer, but don't want to go into code. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: I tried to. [SPEAKER_02]: In the UI, I opened the Yamalati to end update because this language was a ginger, what it's called? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and I do lose a little bit. [SPEAKER_02]: So when it's complicated, I have to go in there and write lengths of code.

8:34 [SPEAKER_02]: It wouldn't be manageable. [SPEAKER_00]: So, you talked about wanting to, you know, collect and store all this data, more for long-term statistics and all of that. [SPEAKER_00]: So, are you doing anything with that data in that, like we discussed earlier, what you said was you wanted to understand how much your devices are using and stuff like that.

9:00 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you doing anything with that data to try and figure out like he's my device getting like less efficient or like doing anything for like, is it time to replace it? [SPEAKER_00]: Any and where there are any insights around that kind of stuff that you not on the purtivized places. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm doing it for the whole house.

9:19 [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I have. [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, let's say full blown in a few minutes. [SPEAKER_00]: Let's start. [SPEAKER_02]: I have solar panels on my house and then I got an electric car, then about some batteries, and we have something it's called an energy community. [SPEAKER_02]: So it's a mode if the neighbors need power, [SPEAKER_02]: And you have access power, you can sell them your power to directly to the neighbors.

9:49 [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, wow. [SPEAKER_02]: So, and with this in mind, it's the normal things, some programs, a EVCC or something, didn't work for me. [SPEAKER_02]: So, I build a complete management system. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't want to charge the batteries in the morning. [SPEAKER_02]: like everybody else, no more normally when you have access, you charge the batteries, I do a peak shading.

10:21 [SPEAKER_02]: So in this case calculate the whole day in advance, what would the weather for casting see how much power will get on which hour and where to cut this peak and to get the [SPEAKER_02]: and the lower part to my neighbors because when I export power it's not good when I export it at noon because everybody else has excess power at this time as well so it won't be used that much.

10:59 [SPEAKER_02]: So when I export power it's best to export in the morning and in the evening. [SPEAKER_02]: and so we have to make the battery charge with the excess power at noon, but not in the morning. [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, that's the car at the house, and so on, there are a lot of calculations in there.

11:20 [SPEAKER_01]: Are all those calculations done inside home, or is home assistant feeding the data elsewhere? [SPEAKER_02]: No, everything done in home assistant, [SPEAKER_02]: the hourly data of a day, for example, and I found this string in home assistant, maximum to 125 bytes, every program and those those.

11:50 [SPEAKER_02]: So I made a CSV file of this string. [SPEAKER_02]: So I have every hour or half an hour, I have one value, [SPEAKER_01]: and so it can store the whole day in one string and then I'm guessing that's that's where your templates come in right so then you're getting that CSV out exploiting it.

12:13 [SPEAKER_01]: What are your rules then so are you doing something to the night before to your forecasting based on previous day like how is it looking at the historical data from a year ago? [SPEAKER_01]: How's it build out that forecast? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, um, yeah, first I have the historical data of my house of the usage per day, because you have a different usage on Monday than on a Sunday.

12:40 [SPEAKER_02]: So I have it per day, per hour per day. [SPEAKER_02]: And so I know what my house might [SPEAKER_02]: consume. [SPEAKER_02]: I get the weather forecast from the weather forecast. [SPEAKER_02]: I get the sun. [SPEAKER_02]: From the sun. [SPEAKER_02]: I get the solar power. [SPEAKER_02]: This is done over in your network.

13:03 [SPEAKER_02]: How I... [SPEAKER_02]: how many watts I will get for which watts per square meter, sun and so on. [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, so I know what might come out, and I know it at midnight from the first of the first of the first start of the day, for the rest of the day. [SPEAKER_02]: I have Android Auto and I have Home Assistant there and I have a button as I want to charge the car.

13:40 [SPEAKER_02]: I'm coming home. [SPEAKER_02]: This releases the car charger and tells the battery while the car is not here. [SPEAKER_02]: Charge as much as you can because you won't get much afterwards. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, so it's gone to that level. [SPEAKER_01]: So now your home knows, OK, you need to charge the car.

13:57 [SPEAKER_01]: So we're looking at how much reserves do what you need, like the house is now adapting to the needs of the car, the house, taking into account the forecasting, that is amazing. [SPEAKER_02]: This goes even this far, that when my. [SPEAKER_02]: Car is under 50% that might work, the home system sends me a notification say, hey, if we come home at 4 o'clock, we have to match this much power for your car.

14:24 [SPEAKER_02]: If we come home 3 o'clock, it will be this what, this much. [SPEAKER_02]: You need it because your car is half empty. [SPEAKER_02]: Would your home come home early? [SPEAKER_02]: And if I say yes, [SPEAKER_02]: Charge now, he will come at 4 o'clock. [SPEAKER_01]: Hmm. [SPEAKER_01]: That's really cool.

14:45 [SPEAKER_01]: Have a live, will have you found this to be? [SPEAKER_01]: Have you found edge cases where it just doesn't work? [SPEAKER_01]: Or has it been rock solid for you so far? [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, it's pretty solid, as solid as a weather forecast can be. [SPEAKER_02]: So, uh, sometimes [SPEAKER_02]: I come home and in the evening the battery is just 80% 70% but pretty okay to me so for these special moments yeah.

15:17 [SPEAKER_00]: that's interesting. [SPEAKER_00]: It's, I really like that, like that automation of just going to go in through saying, okay, let's look at it based on the forecast person, but because you see what we hear, it's like, hey, great. [SPEAKER_00]: If it's going to be cloudy today, then do whatever, right?

15:34 [SPEAKER_00]: But you've gone it. [SPEAKER_00]: I've never heard that part where it's like, hey, I'm at work right now, and maybe you should leave early. [SPEAKER_00]: You're like, one of those kind of things. [SPEAKER_00]: It's just, uh, [SPEAKER_00]: that's really interesting and it's really cool. [SPEAKER_01]: Are you using any AI to do any of this calculation either?

15:51 [SPEAKER_01]: Or is this as all done home-missistant templates? [SPEAKER_02]: I tried to build these templates with AI. [SPEAKER_02]: And it spent more time repairing whatever I told. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, where did to my coach then actually getting something useful out of it? [SPEAKER_02]: The biggest problem once was when he built an entity where I said, no, I don't need it.

16:24 [SPEAKER_02]: And because I said, I don't need it, it deleted three others. [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, talk about so how did you how did you get to this point where you like grew it from these shallies into all of these different entities right like how long of a period was that and it was slowly building up it was slowly slowly building up [SPEAKER_02]: What blew it up here?

16:54 [SPEAKER_02]: My ceiling windows. [SPEAKER_02]: I have a roof windows. [SPEAKER_02]: I had a problem with them. [SPEAKER_02]: They just opened a closed without any, it didn't know why. [SPEAKER_02]: And then the motor broke because [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know which company you couldn't go at in, you couldn't re-program it, you couldn't do nothing with it.

17:27 [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, found this cool thing, it's called ESP Home. [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, I do electronics and I was in Arduino at that time, so bought some cheap [SPEAKER_02]: homocystened with ESP home with my weather station and so on. [SPEAKER_02]: So it's not only the silo windows, it's also the uh, Venetian blinds, I think it's called this horizontal once.

18:02 [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, the starts just to, yeah, I want to get it up and I want to get it down. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, up and down is good. [SPEAKER_02]: But these blinds have to problem when there's a lot of wind. [SPEAKER_02]: Then the break and we have one, this is four meters long. [SPEAKER_02]: So 50 kilometer wind can break them.

18:23 [SPEAKER_02]: So I want you to, if there's wind, go up. [SPEAKER_02]: But this liquid vegetation, it takes some time. [SPEAKER_02]: Because for the value is in homocessant. [SPEAKER_02]: And in summer, we have this small summer storms. [SPEAKER_02]: So you see it, you smell it, you everything. [SPEAKER_02]: But it comes very, very, very fast.

18:54 [SPEAKER_02]: I needed a message that this storm is approaching before it really hit us. [SPEAKER_02]: and go to the lightning detection. [SPEAKER_02]: There's a lightning detection app somewhere. [SPEAKER_02]: And now, if a lightning is in about 10 kilometers of my house, then a house go to a emergency mode, clean clothes or windows, go up and so on.

19:19 [SPEAKER_01]: Have you considered adding the lightning detection then to your battery charging say, say, hey, this is long coming today. [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe we should put some extra power into the batteries. [SPEAKER_02]: I think the better here is very chaotic, and in recent times it's even more. [SPEAKER_02]: If there's a storm 30 kilometers away, you see it, but it won't hit us.

19:46 [SPEAKER_02]: So this is, you can't really say, now it will come here. [SPEAKER_02]: You have to depend on the forecast for exactly this region in Austria with the, we have the Alps here, we have flat land, we have everything in a very small minus so the weather, it has really small sections. [SPEAKER_02]: So what is weather here doesn't have to be weather in 1 kilometer.

20:12 [SPEAKER_02]: Interesting. [SPEAKER_00]: So it's not even like, it's not even reliable to use like common weather services. [SPEAKER_00]: You kind of almost need your specific areas like like something local so that you can have it for your house. [SPEAKER_00]: Almost. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you have we have from the Austrian weather services from the Gitu's Fiat Australia.

20:32 [SPEAKER_02]: We have a very fine detailed map. [SPEAKER_02]: fill the rest API and scrape it and so I got for my region for my local region. [SPEAKER_02]: It's not 100% reliable, it will be but helps. [SPEAKER_00]: So you see you're using an echo it. [SPEAKER_00]: weather station house happened because I was actually looking at those.

20:57 [SPEAKER_00]: I think I'm on the at some point I might want to build my own weather station, but again, that's time and effort and so on. [SPEAKER_00]: What was the decision? [SPEAKER_00]: Like why did you do that instead of building your own, I said you're into yes, we're home and all that. [SPEAKER_02]: Because he used it on the other home assistant, he used a home and so on project.

21:21 [SPEAKER_02]: I met him in a university of Applied Sciences, and we have an energy-to-alight called. [SPEAKER_02]: This is a tour bus, it's a car trailer, with solar panels, with wind power, with everything. [SPEAKER_02]: Then I'll go in there. [SPEAKER_02]: had to build some shellies and had something to control the shellies and read the better station and of course just a small mini PC and the home assistant and done.

22:00 [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so now I'm going to hold the whole. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, this is the easiest way. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so now you've literally got a mobile home assistant out, you know, propaganda rising everyone to get onto home assistant essentially. [SPEAKER_02]: I had a lot of discussions about what is the system, how do you control it, and yeah.

22:24 [SPEAKER_02]: I had a lot of discussion. [SPEAKER_02]: If I would sell home assistant, I think it's, yeah, it would be great. [SPEAKER_01]: So, do you do like experiments in this? [SPEAKER_01]: Like is this a way for you to test out new ideas or is it literally just for demonstration purposes for students?

22:42 [SPEAKER_02]: This is purely demonstration. [SPEAKER_02]: Testing ideas is in my home. [SPEAKER_02]: and at work, I just use things that work and almost isn't just works. [SPEAKER_02]: I think I have two three or more instances of home assistant at work, different purposes, different ideas. [SPEAKER_02]: So one is just for monitoring the power of the university.

23:12 [SPEAKER_02]: We have a lot of shellys, I think, over 30 shellys 3AM. [SPEAKER_02]: And we monitor every power outlet and just to see where can we [SPEAKER_02]: where is the access power, where is why do we use so much power and new thing is that we get number of people which are logged into the access point at this certain place.

23:43 [SPEAKER_02]: So I have a 3D map where I can in home assistant, where I can then see how much people are logged in and can relate this to the power usage. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that's cool. [SPEAKER_01]: So then you can get based on a number of people there. [SPEAKER_01]: So I can wear S-Men that can use this amount of energy.

24:03 [SPEAKER_01]: That's great. [SPEAKER_01]: And did you instigate installing a home assistant there? [SPEAKER_01]: Or did someone else bring it along and queue it then? [SPEAKER_02]: No, what does it get for me? [SPEAKER_02]: It's just blah, blah, blah, blah. [SPEAKER_02]: It was purely on my. [SPEAKER_02]: But I found out that the technical department also had an home assistant running in the background.

24:19 [SPEAKER_02]: So, we're still in a total idea of on our home assistant. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, we have an instant out now, problem. [SPEAKER_02]: We know it's funny. [SPEAKER_00]: I guess it makes sense, right? [SPEAKER_00]: Because it brings a lot of these tools kind of together just to get started from, especially when you're like, hey, I care about graphing something or collecting this data or automatically reacting to some data.

24:43 [SPEAKER_00]: So it makes sense that from an academic perspective or even from an internal use perspective that they want to do that. [SPEAKER_02]: The biggest problem normally is when you have multiple devices from multiple vendors and these won't talk with one with one center station, only 16 is such a center station which can talk to nearly every device and they get more by hour.

25:15 [SPEAKER_02]: they get more. [SPEAKER_01]: Wow. [SPEAKER_01]: So can you just describe that dashboard that is there? [SPEAKER_01]: So is that a customized dashboard that you've got for the lab there or is it something that it's just straight out of how I'm assistant? [SPEAKER_02]: It's always straight home assistant.

25:30 [SPEAKER_02]: So it's nothing custom, nothing on top. [SPEAKER_02]: So if you have home assistant, you have home assistant. [SPEAKER_02]: So I don't want to [SPEAKER_02]: It has everything inside, it has the security, the log-insystem. [SPEAKER_02]: I can add people there, so why build something custom on top of something that really works?

25:55 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that makes sense. [SPEAKER_01]: What sort of, uh, if I was, because you've described yourself as data driven and this something I would love to get into, um, to make my house or data driven as well. [SPEAKER_01]: I'd like to think I am, but I don't think I am as the special tool level.

26:14 [SPEAKER_01]: What data would you want someone that was starting wanting to do this today? [SPEAKER_01]: What do you think they should start with the data to collect with? [SPEAKER_01]: Would be energy, something else? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, my way was energy, so I think it's the, it's the easiest data you can collect.

26:32 [SPEAKER_02]: You have all the devices, some devices, give you energy, some, yeah, installationally or whatever. [SPEAKER_02]: So you have the information, you have, if you have a PV, a photo, a Votec, then you get the information. [SPEAKER_02]: You can gather the information and then look at it. [SPEAKER_02]: Have a look at the devices, have a look at the data, what it comes out was, what was the idea why is it peaking and so on.

27:08 [SPEAKER_02]: And from this you can build automation side of it. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think. [SPEAKER_01]: So for me, I have, you know, the standard stuff. [SPEAKER_01]: I've got the energy monitor on the dishwasher on the washing machine, but I'm not doing anything apart from the notification. [SPEAKER_01]: So I'd love to get to a point where I can have the house go, okay.

27:28 [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe because I don't have solar, right, because I get solar, this would be ideal, but, you know, okay, you're going to have this X-masters energy run the dishwasher in this day, right, or one that's photoring that day. [SPEAKER_01]: which are really like from your perspective you have that forecast and capability.

27:45 [SPEAKER_01]: So you can go to that level and say, hey, I do it during this time and say that energy, which I think is fantastic. [SPEAKER_02]: The idea that the data is there, yeah, I cool, but the devices cannot do it. [SPEAKER_02]: So, I can power on the dishwasher and the dishwasher says, okay, now I'm powering it on, what should I do?

28:09 [SPEAKER_02]: That somebody needs to be there and press the button, but there's an even better information. [SPEAKER_02]: I have a wife and she's with this old. [SPEAKER_02]: See, is in-home assistant, she loves the home assistant, she loves the functionality, she loves that she has nothing to do with it.

28:28 [SPEAKER_02]: So the house works for itself. [SPEAKER_02]: And she knows she looks, okay, how is the better forecast? [SPEAKER_02]: How much power do we make? [SPEAKER_02]: She looks. [SPEAKER_02]: And she programs the dishwasher nearly every device as a button start, not now, but into ours. [SPEAKER_02]: Yep, I look into the way, um, yeah, and that's what I do too, right?

28:52 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, not as many things as I do, but yeah, it's like, all right, I want this to finish in the morning when I wake up, um, do that. [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, yeah, that's what you mentioned your your wife there. [SPEAKER_01]: Um, how has your, like, people living with you? [SPEAKER_01]: How have they gone with, you know, bringing in hope?

29:12 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, this isn't too the house, like you just mentioned there that, [SPEAKER_01]: your wife is very accepting of it, has there been any automations that you've designed around the family to help them around the house? [SPEAKER_02]: I tried, but I found out that not interfering with my family is I think the best idea, help and support the family.

29:38 [SPEAKER_02]: For example, now it's [SPEAKER_02]: Nostra, yeah, it's summer and we had a hell of a summer. [SPEAKER_02]: We brought about a little climate device. [SPEAKER_02]: It's a monoblock. [SPEAKER_02]: It's called a little climate where it pulls warm air in and blow cold air out and then another hose.

30:06 [SPEAKER_02]: It blows the warm air out and yeah, this is now and the upper. [SPEAKER_02]: When it's okay, when we have too much power and we have a certain temperature outside and the temperature trend is rising and the nights won't cool off and so on, then it turns it on. [SPEAKER_02]: So there's automatic how it should cool and when should it start to cool and these little things have a problem because they have excess water [SPEAKER_02]: and somewhere you have to turn the ball and let the water flow out.

30:50 [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I have to drain it. [SPEAKER_02]: So I have the drainage, so I have a bucket. [SPEAKER_02]: And I know for every minute it runs, this bucket will fill up 0.15%. [SPEAKER_02]: So with the shelly, I know when it runs and I calculate how full the bucket is. [SPEAKER_00]: and send me an notification bucket full, and so that's cool, it's funny because that's almost a very basic use, but I don't know how many people do that, right?

31:27 [SPEAKER_00]: Like take the, you know, how much, how much ever you've drained the first time and then divided by, [SPEAKER_02]: how long it's been running right and it's funny I did nearly the same now on long because yeah drought and heat and yeah the grass is dying and the mother and law which lifts the lift down lifts blow us she said you don't need to more to long but the law more is just the automatic it's a nothing more [SPEAKER_02]: I can bring it in home assistant, but I have to know when the grass is too long.

32:09 [SPEAKER_02]: I did nearly the same calculation, but first I calculated the moisture of the ground according to the rain and sun and so on and according to the moisture I calculate the growth of the [SPEAKER_02]: high it should look. [SPEAKER_02]: So it's basically digital twin of the grass. [SPEAKER_01]: It's interesting.

32:38 [SPEAKER_01]: I find that over winter the grass can stop growing and then once summer and spring hit it goes absolutely crazy. [SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know if it's [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, maybe that's a point for you. [SPEAKER_01]: He's waiting for me. [SPEAKER_01]: I'll enter it right like get a camera just look at the grass Get a camera really low enough.

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34:37 [SPEAKER_00]: So, Roland, I want to know, I want to understand your philosophy around building your smart home, right? [SPEAKER_00]: So, again, you're taking this data to driven approach, you're really quantifying things, which honestly, I'd probably say you're out of all of our guests we've had in the past, you're probably up there in terms of how much you're taking this data driven thing.

35:01 [SPEAKER_00]: So, how do you, do you find that stuff ends up getting too complicated or do you find that it's like, okay, now that I have this information, I can go in and distill that to a simpler way, right? [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just trying to think if any of our listeners wanted to do something similar, how would they do that?

35:20 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, without necessarily having that dot, [SPEAKER_00]: super tech savvy type of mindset. [SPEAKER_02]: I always start first looking at data and then I get one one value out of it. [SPEAKER_02]: So I take one entity, one helper, one automation, normally it's a helper that the problem is [SPEAKER_02]: calculating in home assistant.

35:47 [SPEAKER_02]: Home assistant hasn't this much calculating opportunities here. [SPEAKER_02]: So I always end with a template helper. [SPEAKER_02]: And then I get new values out of it. [SPEAKER_02]: And I look at these values. [SPEAKER_02]: And I try to distill the information to get data-related is a clean signal.

36:11 [SPEAKER_02]: I need more, more of a clean signal, and the more information I have, the more I can go then into deep and okay, now I have this information, now I can build an automation out of it. [SPEAKER_02]: So the goal is always the automation, no, okay, not always, something to do with the fun. [SPEAKER_02]: But the goal is normally always the automation which should help [SPEAKER_02]: the people here.

36:37 [SPEAKER_01]: So when you're building these templates out are you trying to end with a basically like a decision, yes or no, like to run and actually going in the mindset of, I want to know whether I should charge the batteries, yes or no, or if you've got another way that you're going around on this.

36:57 [SPEAKER_02]: Normally, I get to start this float values, so it's never a yes or no decision, I can then take any value into a yes or no because of a threshold, but I need the how much is it. [SPEAKER_02]: I have one value that's defined, is it more summer, plus one? [SPEAKER_02]: Or is it more winter, minus one?

37:35 [SPEAKER_02]: And so extreme summer is plus one. [SPEAKER_02]: We had a lot of plus one here. [SPEAKER_02]: And everything in between. [SPEAKER_02]: So in spring and in autumn, we'll get around 0 and plus minus whatever. [SPEAKER_02]: And then I can say, OK. [SPEAKER_02]: above 0.9, it's a hot summer.

37:56 [SPEAKER_02]: So in the morning the shade should go down, but only on a 0.9, above 0.9 and above, because otherwise I want the sun in, I want to warm the house. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't want to cool it. [SPEAKER_02]: If it's really 1.0, [SPEAKER_02]: then start up the climate and the climate controller and and cool it actively.

38:23 [SPEAKER_02]: And the same as for the winter. [SPEAKER_02]: I also made an years behind device that's controlling all of the heating in in this house. [SPEAKER_02]: We got a new pellet heater and [SPEAKER_02]: I just tell him on or off I don't want the heating system to interfere with my house because normally you have one dial in one room and in this room you have this dial and this is for the whole floor.

38:53 [SPEAKER_02]: And I have to convince my mother and law that she has to turn the heating down on the heating system itself that all the other rooms will get warmer. [SPEAKER_02]: the radiator. [SPEAKER_02]: She should turn the radiator down in this room where it measures, so all the others room can get warmer and she doesn't understand it and it isn't understandable.

39:22 [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, it took it all my hands and now home assistant is defining where and how much and in what temperature [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's cool. [SPEAKER_01]: So, so when you're saying it's predictive heading and cooling, like, is it predicting what the temperature in the house is going to be or what it's predicting, what the outside temperature is to then no, I can't eat a offset inside temperature by this.

39:55 [SPEAKER_01]: I have to wait for a cast. [SPEAKER_02]: This was the first start for the weather forecast. [SPEAKER_02]: I wanted to know how the weather will be like. [SPEAKER_02]: So in spring, for example. [SPEAKER_02]: when it's getting warm day, you can't predict sometimes it's warm day, sometimes it's a cold day, you come from the night, the night we have, let's say, minus anything degrees and then you get a lot of sunshine and their house will heat up and we have a thermal solar on the roof as well and you will get a lot of warm water.

40:33 [SPEAKER_02]: So I don't want the heating system to heat up the buffer, [SPEAKER_02]: in the morning because it's cold in the morning. [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, I know. [SPEAKER_02]: But I have to tell the system, no, don't eat. [SPEAKER_02]: It's so real soon, get warmer. [SPEAKER_02]: I see the sun. [SPEAKER_02]: I know that the world is at the sun and that it's heating up the system.

40:55 [SPEAKER_02]: Let the thermal solar heat up the buffer, because if the buffer is eating the grease or more, you won't get anything. [SPEAKER_02]: You can then, in the evening say, okay, in the evening, yes, we won't get any more to masala, to sandis gone. [SPEAKER_02]: So now you can heat up the rest.

41:14 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, this is cool. [SPEAKER_01]: So it's a completely different issue. [SPEAKER_01]: I have that. [SPEAKER_01]: So here in Melbourne in the like spring and autumn months, we can have like the opposite point where we've got really cold mornings. [SPEAKER_01]: then really warm afternoons and on home assistant like I'm tripping those thresholds where in the morning you'll have the heater on only to know that it's going to be 2021 degrees that day so by the afternoon turns around it's going to turn the air conditioner on so that I'm cooling the house in the middle of the day but then heating it at night and in the morning [SPEAKER_01]: So it sounds like these sort of rules could help me here to be able to just tell the house to back off a little bit and go, you know what, yes, you can hit it in the morning, but don't cool it in the day, right, because it's going to get colder later on.

41:58 [SPEAKER_02]: So even though don't hit up so much, so you don't have to cool it. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly. [SPEAKER_01]: I really like this. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, because you're essentially a reversing what you've done, right? [SPEAKER_00]: Like you're paying to heat it, and now you're paying to cancel that heat it, but you're just paid for it.

42:15 [SPEAKER_00]: It's, it's, uh, yeah, trust me nuts. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: I agree. [SPEAKER_00]: I agree. [SPEAKER_01]: And I know that it's rules of coming to place because over summer I'll be like, oh, it's really warm in the house and you just edge the thresholds down a little bit and edge them down a little bit more, but then when the shoulder season's come back in, it's all throwing out a whack.

42:35 [SPEAKER_02]: That's why after this is summer in winter index, the rules change over this index. [SPEAKER_02]: So the rules change whenever summer I have different rules than in spring, autumn, and then the winter comes to completely different rules. [SPEAKER_02]: minus 1, the heating system does not tell, okay, this room is warm, let's keep it, no, heat it up by minus, we have at this window, by at minus 15 degrees and I took the smaller heating system because technically it should work and with a good thing with good home assistant, [SPEAKER_02]: Look at out a bit different.

43:24 [SPEAKER_00]: So let me change gears a little bit here. [SPEAKER_00]: So I've recently moved into this home, so there's literally no automations or anything right now. [SPEAKER_00]: From a data perspective, what should I measure? [SPEAKER_00]: What should I care about? [SPEAKER_00]: I know obviously we're in a very different place being being in Toronto and all that, but to get to this point of kind of where you are [SPEAKER_00]: Let's call them the data-driven automations, right?

43:55 [SPEAKER_00]: Which, again, because I do think there's a ton of value in understanding that data and distilling that to an automation, just even from like an energy savings or anything like that, where should I start? [SPEAKER_00]: What should I care about measuring first? [SPEAKER_02]: First, this always depends what's the pain point, what's the goal, what do you want to achieve?

44:20 [SPEAKER_02]: I heard you guys talking a lot of presents. [SPEAKER_02]: It is a thing when you have automated lights. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't have any automated lights here. [SPEAKER_02]: I have a light switch and I press it and yeah, the light is on the light switch. [SPEAKER_01]: The light switch? [SPEAKER_01]: No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

44:38 [SPEAKER_01]: You're the wrong podcast. [SPEAKER_01]: Master Alden, but this, get rid of the light switch. [SPEAKER_01]: Automate that. [SPEAKER_01]: I have, but it's worth this. [SPEAKER_01]: I have to credit technology. [SPEAKER_02]: I have two automated light switches. [SPEAKER_02]: One is Shelley RGB.

44:52 [SPEAKER_02]: We, RGBW, sorry. [SPEAKER_02]: for channel 24 volt lead strip light in the back room and one of my kids room I also have automated lights. [SPEAKER_02]: Also, RGPB videos and we light the different brightness and so on and yeah, I have it. [SPEAKER_02]: I have some automations, it's pretty cool, so when I plug in my phone at night, I go to sleep, go to sleep, plug in my phone and charge it, the phone from my environment is older charging, let's go out.

45:36 [SPEAKER_02]: So, sleeping mode, but yeah, for me, for example, I don't need presents, if you have flights, if you have automated flights, the presence is one of the best things here you can start with. [SPEAKER_02]: So, you get a lot of information, maybe for more for some to much information, [SPEAKER_02]: for the kids.

46:06 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, are you monitoring if I'm at home or not? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: I wanted to have them a while to found, but yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: It's more for the automation center on the back. [SPEAKER_01]: So do you think like Rohan should then just start off with at least Energy Monitoring if something he wants to go to he'd like to build the data story around his new house would be Energy Monitoring and Energy Monitoring is one of the easiest way and I think it's [SPEAKER_00]: it already is.

46:51 [SPEAKER_00]: It already is. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I completely agree with you. [SPEAKER_00]: It's and that's on the list and I've realized in this house there's a lot of things to monitor from an energy perspective, so it's almost like I've had to take a step back and be like, what, okay, weird, it's start, right?

47:09 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's, uh, so, [SPEAKER_02]: I have now one Shelley which is measuring the energy directly after it comes in my into my house. [SPEAKER_02]: So this is the, I measure everything. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: And from this point of view, you see the, what is called in the energy monitor, I have to unresolved unknown devices.

47:33 [SPEAKER_01]: I have encountered, yeah, I think it's unaccounted, yeah, yeah, yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: the the the smaller this part is the more you know about the house yeah yeah I agree yeah that's actually fair point that's what I'm trying to do like I've managed you monitor is all over the house but I still have a big chunk like it's grey on that graph right and I'm like I need to get that down I suspect it is mostly my air conditioning unit [SPEAKER_01]: But I don't know, right?

48:04 [SPEAKER_01]: Could be the oven. [SPEAKER_01]: Could be something else. [SPEAKER_01]: All right. [SPEAKER_01]: I've got the major players. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, the server, the the fridge, you know, even my computer here like I've got them all tracked and I can see them on the energy dashboard, but yeah, getting rid of the everything else.

48:20 [SPEAKER_01]: I think he's very important. [SPEAKER_02]: I also have a shaly on this busy. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, on the pace of getting itself. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, the problem is I had two light switches for the PC to turn off because when turn on the whole PC, I have two monitors, I have a surround sound, I have the PC and when you start it on, it draws so much power initially that the breaker flips.

48:50 [SPEAKER_02]: and it also flips the inside there as the home of my whole server think, so not good. [SPEAKER_02]: And so I have two switches, one switch on the PC and one monitor, the other monitor and the the surround sound. [SPEAKER_02]: So now I replace it with a shaly and tap and just tap into the switch, PC will go on.

49:17 [SPEAKER_02]: and the bad thing, when I turn down the PC, the more the shell demonet was it and sees, okay, there's not much power and homocystened, then cuts all things and the whole PC is power down. [SPEAKER_02]: and it can also power up and power down the thing on my phone. [SPEAKER_01]: When you turn on the, so have you got a button to then start that whole process or okay, turn everything off only allow the computer to turn on first and then bring up the other devices.

49:49 [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I have one pattern in the shelly, so it's not our home. [SPEAKER_02]: It's directly programmed in the shelly. [SPEAKER_02]: One pattern, turn on one size is, don't put shelly. [SPEAKER_02]: It is a relay, this will be two relays. [SPEAKER_02]: And it turns on the first relay. [SPEAKER_02]: And there's a logic inside.

50:09 [SPEAKER_02]: If there is a certain amount of power on the first relay, switch on the second relay. [SPEAKER_02]: So I have a little time variance. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and it's not time-based. [SPEAKER_00]: It's actually energy-based so that if something takes longer or something like that, then you're still safe.

50:28 [SPEAKER_00]: Otherwise rather than just assuming like 10 seconds, there's something, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Who owns the logic for that? [SPEAKER_01]: Is that in, if you've done some code on the Shelley themselves, or with her assistant monitoring those values? [SPEAKER_02]: The switch on is in the Shelley itself.

50:43 [SPEAKER_02]: I can also switch it off with a double tap and inside the shelly local first and this really means local first and the home assistant is watching the whole procedure and if something goes wrong home assistant or if for the switch off the shelly doesn't know when the if the PC is starting or if the PC is shutting down it doesn't notice but if home assistant [SPEAKER_02]: can say if the power is below, now switch both shallies off.

51:19 [SPEAKER_02]: So I don't have to care any more about switching the monitors and so off. [SPEAKER_02]: So come here, tap everything runs. [SPEAKER_02]: Shut down the busy and go away. [SPEAKER_01]: I got a work here. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm just trying to think like, if you weren't there with someone know how to turn on your computer.

51:38 [SPEAKER_01]: No crap, I'm no problem. [SPEAKER_01]: The switch is very present here. [SPEAKER_02]: My wife is the second computer. [SPEAKER_02]: Just the case. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: What would you want to start with your house? [SPEAKER_01]: If you're looking at your brand new house and you want to be dotted-driven about your new house or what would you want to get out of it?

51:59 [SPEAKER_00]: I think I agree with Roland around getting the energy data in. [SPEAKER_00]: My problem is if I want to do something like that, I want to go all in on it and like that gray bar that you're talking about fill like the unknown or or uncounted That would bother the heck out So it's like, but this is also why I don't start things right because it's like, oh, it's going to be it's this big undertaking whatever so But I do think that's going to be from a data perspective that's going to be something that I do want to understand especially [SPEAKER_00]: Just again, it's a fresh start, so there's room to do that.

52:45 [SPEAKER_00]: Not that I couldn't in my previous place, so it would just be, again, that was different kind of priorities. [SPEAKER_00]: And then I also want to understand, again, like some of the bigger power consumers, right? [SPEAKER_00]: Like so, again, for example, I have a swimming pool in this place, I didn't in my previous place, so the pole pump uses a lot of energy.

53:05 [SPEAKER_00]: So something like that, I want to, that is actually very high on my hit list right now. [SPEAKER_00]: Just because I haven't received my first power bill yet, and I'm not looking forward to that or my first gas bill for the for the heater for the pool. [SPEAKER_00]: So it's yeah, so that's that's kind of where my head is at.

53:25 [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that's where I want to have that's where I want to start. [SPEAKER_00]: I think I want to do a high power energy monitoring relay on that on that like right from the breaker for the for the pool. [SPEAKER_01]: stuff and yeah and then figure that out so sounds like you're going to be doing a whole bunch of templating like Roland's been doing.

53:49 [SPEAKER_00]: I think so I think so and and [SPEAKER_00]: The annoying part about this is that I can only use that for six months out of the year, right? [SPEAKER_00]: Cause again, or thereabouts, right? [SPEAKER_00]: Cause again, the winter, you'd close the pool and so on right of those, you're by trees, et cetera.

54:06 [SPEAKER_00]: So, but at least for that period of time, I want to make sure that I have data, so I can actually more intelligibly do things. [SPEAKER_02]: So, I think, yeah, at least that's where my head's at. [SPEAKER_02]: for the pool you could also measure the water quality and according to the water quality you can then decide if the pool pump has to run and minimise the time for the pool pump.

54:35 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah and I think that would be like a phase two of that understanding. [SPEAKER_00]: Well right now I want to because I've realized that [SPEAKER_00]: This is very ripe for automating, at least that water quality part because that's something I'm realizing I have to do once every, I don't know, whatever week or something like that.

54:55 [SPEAKER_00]: So just to understand those kinds of things. [SPEAKER_00]: So there's a lot of stuff that I think is going to be coming surrounding that pool and and how I can hopefully not spend a ton of money on that. [SPEAKER_00]: that so far in the couple of weeks of ownership of this house that hasn't gone too well in terms of the not spending money on that.

55:15 [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm hoping to change that. [SPEAKER_02]: It's not easy changing a house when you're something like this in home assistant because just imagine it's you don't know how you would use your house. [SPEAKER_00]: on the phone to stop? [SPEAKER_00]: Totally, and we've been here less than a month at this point, right?

55:37 [SPEAKER_00]: Like we've lived in it for, I think, two and a half, three weeks, and then we've owned it for like a week longer than that, right? [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, it's, it's, uh, that's the hard part, right? [SPEAKER_00]: It is, is I don't know, even in the winter, like I don't know how this house is going to act in the winter, like, do I need to care about, you know, [SPEAKER_00]: do I have sufficient heat, is there, is there going to be, you know, as my insulation sufficient, those kind of things, right?

56:04 [SPEAKER_00]: So I've been trying to think of a way to measure how effective my insulation is, and the house is built in 1990, I believe, right? [SPEAKER_00]: So over time, again, things like your insulation and your roof start to compact and be less effective and stuff like that. [SPEAKER_00]: So [SPEAKER_00]: Um, but, you know, I do have the home inspection reports and stuff like that and even the home inspector was like, you know, just measure it out, see how it feels and then and then figure it out, right?

56:36 [SPEAKER_00]: So it's like, you know, it seems to be a lot more qualitative than quantitative and, uh, and I, I similar to kind of your line of thinking, Roland is, [SPEAKER_00]: I'd like it to be more quantitative, like I want to be able to measure that, and say, yes, this is effectively great. [SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, I think it's got to be a mix of both, right?

57:01 [SPEAKER_00]: It shouldn't be all one or all the other, I think. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I don't know. [SPEAKER_01]: It sounds like you sort of worrying about automating a lot of stuff. [SPEAKER_01]: You just need to get senses everywhere. [SPEAKER_01]: temperature sensors in every room, energy monitors, the pH level, monitored while you're doing things manually, right?

57:19 [SPEAKER_01]: And then try and work out the patterns. [SPEAKER_00]: 100% 100% I've got, I've got my one Apollo Air Quality sensor that did I've got, but I think I'm going to get a few more, and then put them around around the different rooms. [SPEAKER_00]: At least in the rooms, again, at this room, like my office, and then my wife's office, and then the bedrooms, at least to start.

57:41 [SPEAKER_00]: And maybe one in the kitchen too, and then you're not doing that. [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, I totally agree, right? [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I'm not rushing to build automations and stuff. [SPEAKER_00]: Also, I need to change all my light switches. [SPEAKER_00]: That's like, I actually can't automate anything right now, even if I want to do.

57:58 [SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of the bulbs in this house, I'm noticing as like, a lot of them are burnt out. [SPEAKER_00]: And then some of them, a lot of them are actually incandescent bulbs. [SPEAKER_00]: which speaking about like energy savings, I'm like, okay, that's, you know, not great from the front.

58:17 [SPEAKER_00]: And then so as I'm going around and I'm like, I'm finding more lights as I like open up things and like, oh, okay, this is a straight up bulb from, I don't know, probably like the nineteen nineties, there's something like that. [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, I don't know how this hasn't burnt out yet, [SPEAKER_00]: again, baby steps right right now.

58:39 [SPEAKER_01]: So, Roland, what's on your hit list for this year? [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you've got your hidden cooling done, the batteries were okay. [SPEAKER_01]: What, what are you trying to what we should optimize on the next frontier? [SPEAKER_02]: I have nothing special on my list now. [SPEAKER_02]: So it's it's not that I have a list of things I want to do.

58:59 [SPEAKER_02]: They just happened, they just happened. [SPEAKER_02]: yeah then I start working on it. [SPEAKER_02]: All come with a new idea or just look at the data and see looks fishy. [SPEAKER_02]: We should do something about it and that it can happen to be a project. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm a radio alarm clock with an ESP home, self-built radio alarm clock.

59:43 [SPEAKER_02]: Whoa, okay. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, have some problems with the woodworking. [SPEAKER_02]: But the program is nearly done. [SPEAKER_02]: So it should measure the light because I don't want the leads, [SPEAKER_02]: the max, the normal deal is a max brightness and on day and not on night. [SPEAKER_02]: So no, I want them to be adaptive and I want to control some things in the house here from there.

1:00:15 [SPEAKER_02]: So some switches, some patch switches and so on. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: This is a small, I think, [SPEAKER_00]: yeah of course it's it's it's it's a lifetime project it's it's it's uh it's like having a child right it's it just it needs a little bit of care and feeding and then there's like constant progression now and yeah oh you want to evolve it right so it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's

1:00:52 [SPEAKER_01]: If you have to start again tomorrow, would you do anything differently? [SPEAKER_01]: Would you take, would you? [SPEAKER_01]: Would you wish you had done something differently? [SPEAKER_01]: I got something different now. [SPEAKER_02]: I think I would have the ideas. [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, of course.

1:01:10 [SPEAKER_02]: I will make it more beautiful, more compact, more no it will get the same mess. [SPEAKER_02]: Look at the same mess. [SPEAKER_02]: The tidy end of the day. [SPEAKER_01]: over closely to this right eventually. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah this is yeah it's convenient now. [SPEAKER_02]: So I don't care about much things the house is working for me and this is for me it's the major goal so I don't have to do things I don't have to think about opening the window in the morning because it's hot in here it is hot and the window opens in the morning.

1:01:45 [SPEAKER_02]: Just plug in the car and now it's charged and because the car is charged, the car charge a switch is off and the battery knows now I can take normal energy it just works. [SPEAKER_01]: the house is yet adapting around you right instead of having to adapt around the house. [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, normally nobody sees the homocyst and working.

1:02:14 [SPEAKER_02]: This is the, for me, it's the magical. [SPEAKER_00]: And then I agree with what you said around like the point of it, the whole thing is to work for you and your family, right? [SPEAKER_00]: Like, like, or everybody living in the house, right? [SPEAKER_00]: And if it's not doing that, then either A is pointless or B, there's something that needs tweaking, right?

1:02:34 [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I think that's a good, you know, tidbit, right there. [SPEAKER_00]: It's funny because, again, as we moved into this house, my wife, even like pretty much every day at this point, she's like, I hate that I can't, that the lights don't turn on automatically. [SPEAKER_00]: I hate that they don't turn off automatically when I say goodnight.

1:02:54 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, and usually she's been, she's been going to bed earlier than I have. [SPEAKER_00]: So it's like, what's been, you know, it'll be, [SPEAKER_00]: Me sitting down here. [SPEAKER_00]: We don't have any TVs mounted up or anything yet, so it's You know me on my phone sitting on the couch watching Netflix or something and And then at night I'm like flick flick flick flick pull pull right turning off all lights and then I'm like Okay, I'm in the dark so now I'm used if I flash light to go up to stairs.

1:03:21 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there's still boxes and stuff right so I don't I don't know That I'm not gonna like stub my toe we hitting you know trying to get up the stairs like trying to get to the stairs [SPEAKER_00]: And that kind of thing, right? [SPEAKER_00]: So it's, you know, I think that right now, it from a quality of life perspective, is I will say there is nothing to make your partners realize how valuable it is until it's gone, right?

1:03:47 [SPEAKER_00]: So it's, yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: If it suddenly doesn't work, then you see, you see what the whole department reacts. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, exactly. [SPEAKER_01]: But you describe your home assistant set up well as stable. [SPEAKER_01]: Is it? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Don't you barely, yeah, would have a, if home, you don't really rock up and home assistant's down.

1:04:09 [SPEAKER_01]: And this sort of motion hasn't kicked off if I did pretty stable. [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, for me, home assistant is, [SPEAKER_02]: a very stable system. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't like if it is in the settings it tells one update. [SPEAKER_02]: I hate this. [SPEAKER_02]: I have to install it immediately.

1:04:29 [SPEAKER_02]: So 2026.9 running on my home assistant without a hassle. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, I have the same problem you do around you, so I hate when it tells us an update. [SPEAKER_02]: So I have to install it restart it, I have to do it, this is something I don't know. [SPEAKER_02]: I think one time I had a problem with it, but it resolved very fast.

1:04:55 [SPEAKER_02]: The biggest problems I had was some hex components, I think, but [SPEAKER_02]: It's, it is the on and my house depends on it. [SPEAKER_02]: So in winter when I turn the specie off, it gets cold in here. [SPEAKER_02]: So I need it. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, Roland, thank you so much for sharing the story today.

1:05:18 [SPEAKER_01]: We really appreciate you coming on and sharing it. [SPEAKER_01]: We wouldn't have a podcast, it wasn't for people like you coming on and sharing the stories. [SPEAKER_01]: If you're listening and want to share the story too, feedback at home, this isn't.fm, or if you like the form on home, this is.fm, and you can be like Roland as well and talk with me in Roland.

1:05:36 [SPEAKER_01]: Shoot the stuff about home, this is it. [SPEAKER_01]: It's been fun. [SPEAKER_01]: Cheers.