use a smart switch to turn off a lithium battery charger
I know that I ought not leave things powered on. Knowing that is easier than remembering that an e-bike or drone or laptop battery is still connected. Below I show how to turn on...
Category: home & garden
this motion detecting night light tells Home Assistant when you pass by
The very popular, but hardly-known Xiaomi nightlight, which lights up a dark space when you pass, now has a ‘smart’ version. A night light is nice on a dark stairway and toe-saving on a...
diet: keep a graph of your weight changes with a Huawei smart weighing scale
A ‘smart scale’ that records my weight to a phone might be seen as ‘gadgety’ but when you’re dieting, a weight record is satisfying and very encouraging. A downside is that the scale doesn’t...
Brompton rear rack bag – KlickFix alternative to the front carrier
The good idea to mount a Swytch electric kit battery on the Brompton front luggage block had consequences. I’d lost a bestest way of carrying a bag. Finding an easy-on, easy-off bag for the rear...
convert a bicycle to an ‘e-bike’ or electric powered bike
when you want an e-bike and you don’t want another bike:
iPad LCD magnifier or microscope for SMD soldering or other close work
, If you’re a casual electronics hobbyist like me, the idea of using a LCD magnifier or microscope may seem attractive. For example this music spectrum display kit requires soldering 240 SMD LEDs, with...
the Google Fit app helps record walking tracks, sleep, weight, bike rides and calories
topics on this page: what do I eat? how does my weight change? do I get enough sleep? where did I go today? how does my body react to exercise? introducing Google Fit You...
Huawei Watch and Huawei Band 6 – useful, affordable smartwatches of 2021/2
If you’re looking for a smartwatch consider the Huawei Watch / Huawei Band / family of wearables If you’ve yet to get yourself a smartwatch I’ll have a guess at the reason. One negative...
sync Huawei Health watch data into Google Fit; Google Drive or fitness tracker apps like Strava
… but then I found that I could see my Huawei data in apps such as Google Fit and Google Drive. With the Health Sync app acting as a go-between, you can connect different...
Robot arms reach out to the Raspberry Pi: this is art
What’s going on? Hec, I’m in a room with robot arms and fingers twitching as they respond to social media. THIS can only be art but it’s art powered by makers. Tucked away is...
addressable LED light strips put to use
There are LED strip lights where every LED can be doing something different with the result that you can create peculiar effects. You can start with a commercially available kit but after a while...
addressable LED light projects
There are ‘analogue’ LED lights on a tape that do a fine job of creating interesting lighting. All the LED lights on the strip usually do the same brightness or colour. There are also...
Dim display problem on large LED digital clock
The digits at one end of a large LED clock displayed much more dimly than they ought. I’d say they were about half the brightness – and it was quite a puzzle. The clock...
Jura coffee machine repairs
… how to service or replace the brewing unit on a Jura coffee machine and other fixes. It might be assumed that if you can afford the BMW of coffee machines, you can afford...
Cheesecake – Jewish style
Some cheesecakes are set with gelatin and have smooth, jelly-like texture. This cheesecake is baked and sets due to its whipped egg. When chilled it has an appealing dry, soft, crumbly texture. I use...
owning a marquee – garden tent
A garden marquee is quite the thing in times not only when only outdoor mixing is allowed but also when you live in a climate with rainy summers. This page collects my experience of...
Sandstone patio – install, seal and maintain
Here is advice to save money without affecting what you end up with. In short: your patio is going to end up looking like it was going to end up. Many tradespeople have a...
Countax mower repairs – C600 – year 2008
A page where I record successful repairs as they happen. The parts list on my 2008 C-series is downloadable below. Steering Problem – can’t steer The Countax steering mechanism is surprisingly simple – a...
how to know when the washing machine has finished
If you need to know when a device, like a dryer or washing machine has finished working, get a ‘smart plug with energy monitoring‘. Amazon list many of them but whichever brand you get,...
automated fade up dimmer for analogue LED Strips – using a MOSFET and ESPhome
This ceiling ‘coffer’ is lit by four 5m LED strips cut down to size fitted in 2017. If you wanted really, really bright light, these analogue white LED strips were the thing to get....
what is the temperature of your oven? how to cook reliably with an inaccurate oven
Ovens may have digital controllers or analogue temperature controllers and cooks seem to have blind faith in their settings. In this household the cooks were burning food so I checked the oven temperature. It...
how to integrate 433MHz temperature & humidity sensors with Home Assistant
A home automation platform, such as Home Assistant, allows you to make temperature v time graphs using sensors that you might place around the home. Monitoring temperatures allowed me to get my heating devices...
XANES 2606-8 headlamp review and instructions
This insanely bright headlamp / flashlight is excellent for hobbies, camping and cycling. Here are a few instructions to use it well This flashlight (aka torch) requires 2 x 18650 Lithium cells which have...
coping with 18650 batteries with and without button tops
I discover my bicycle headlamp wasn’t working because some 18650 batteries have a button top. Oh my, that was embarrassing to admit The 18650 ‘battery’, like many batteries, is named according to its dimensions....
use Google lens to search the Internet using a picture or photo
Here’s what to do when a restaurant asks you to scan a QR code for their track and trace (written in 2020). And here’s how to identify a plant, an animal and lots more....
T4EU1C and Home Assistant
a 3-gang wall switch for your home automation – using eWelink, T4EU1C and Home Assistant I got to a point where I had plenty of ‘smart’ lights and gadgets but few switches. But then...
project: plot the temperature of your fridge-freezer, pet home or fermenting wine on a history graph in Home Assistant
In a previous project I set up temperature sensors in my room and sent the data via Bluetooth to Home Assistant, the home automation platform. Home Assistant is software that can record measurements and...
recycle laptop 18650 lithium batteries in a DIY power bank
If you could look inside an old replaceable laptop battery pack like this you’d find 4 or 6 cells. Usually the cells are 18mm diameter, 65mm long and are called 18650 lithium batteries. Each...
the buttons to press to reset a Toshiba laptop when the lithium battery can’t be removed easily
Sometimes a laptop goes into a comatose state that no amount of charging or on-offing can end. If the laptop has a removable battery the solution might be to try the following in order...
project: plug-in energy meter with graphs of energy use over time
‘Smart meters’ and metering devices usually measure the electricity used by the whole house*. However I prefer to pay attention to the electricity used by individual devices, such as a combination oven, fan heater...
best uses for a smart socket
smart sockets have uses. A smart socket adds a little cleverness to a table lamp or electric heater. The printer upstairs takes five minutes to warm up so switching it on by remote control...
433MHz smarter letterbox – for when you don’t want to walk to the letter box
see also more about 433MHz devices The letterbox is five doors and fifty metres from my desk. The uncertainty of the post lady arriving in the afternoon means that I make wasted journeys to...
estimate energy bills – the cost of living
This quick post is for anybody wondering how much money they need to put aside for energy. If you don’t use electricity for keeping warm, your summer and winter electricity bills will be similar....
smart sockets vs smart bulbs – introduction
smart bulbs and sockets have select uses. A smart socket adds a little on/off cleverness to a table lamp, electric heater or the printer upstairs that takes five minutes before it’s warm and useful....
calculate how long is the day
… and see how to add features to the Home Assistant display An interest in solar energy is a possible reason to record the sun’s azimuth and the time of sunset. Home Assistant can track...
project: smart thermostat – nest and hive
The Google nest thermostat (or its Hive equivalent) are devices which I’d be happy to pay for and recommend. I could easily make something that turned on the heating with temperature as it is...
comparing the cost of fuels for heating
I am the person who wants to know if using an electric fan heater in one room costs less than heating the whole house using gas*. At parties I can keep a sofa to...
project: an immersion heater that turns itself when the water is hot – using a Sonoff POW relay.
Domestic hot water can be heated by a gas or oil central heating boiler or by an electrical immersion heater. I take advantage of half-price nighttime electricity and use an immersion heater. In this...
