Controlling Bathroom Exhaust Fans With Honeywell Humidity Sensors

Automation and technology are amazing, but is automation in your mind the basics, such as lighting, you might ask Alexa or Google Assistant to turn on something. These are science experiments, purely because it involves an utterance, the magic in automation is when it ‘just’ works. No asking, just like Event Driven Architecture, it happens … Read more

Tracking State Without Feedback Loops

Throughout my automation journey there is one thing I always strive for, that is full duplex communication. The ability to send a message, but also receive a message from a device. This need, often in many cases influences technology choices. Which TV will I buy? Why will I build an irrigation controller over buy? Automation … Read more

Installation and Integration of a Hydreon RG-11 Optical Rain Sensor with a PLC & HomeAssistant

This is an article I have been meaning to write for some time. I guess I haven’t as this sensor has been something that has just worked out of the box and hasn’t skipped a beat in almost 5 years. I use OpenSprinkler to drive my irrigation and I will soon share how I integrate … Read more

A Journey in to MQTT With Roller Shutters, Mosquitto, HomeAssistant & Low Powered Micro-Controllers

Its been a journey over the last 10 years in driving heat out of the top story of my house. From double glazing, heavy drapes and window film, keeping temperatures cool and the house dark in summer has been a challenge for our north facing windows (the master bedroom). Near 6 months ago I decided … Read more

Controlling A PLC With Amazon Alexa

I recently purchased an Amazon Echo which is a hands-free speaker you control with your voice. Amazon Echo connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, provide information, news, sports scores, weather, and more—instantly. It’s the ‘more’ this article will explore. Unlike other services, Alexa exposes itself via the Alexa Skills Kit According to … Read more

Reading Exetel Usage Data With PowerShell

The de facto standard for control in house is our PLC, things mainly happen autonomously, but when things don’t happen magically the tool of choice is a smart phone running NetIO. NetIO is a multi platform smartphone application, a generic remote controller for almost everything. It simply sends and reads strings over a network socket. … Read more