run your own image AI with StableDiffusion automatic1111
visitors this year: 78 want to DIY? Because I have daily uses for image-AI, I’ll explain below how I set about installing it ‘for free’ on a pretty good PC made for gaming. AI...
Category: home & garden
set up sonoff RF bridge to respond to 433MHz devices and send alerts via Home Assistant
visitors this year: 123 it’s not hard to make use of old or inexpensive 433MHz RF devices so that you can use them with modern smart home devices. For example, a 443MHz bell push...
monitor home heating when you have multiple thermostats and smart radiator valves (TRV)
visitors this year: 410 control all your smart thermostats from the Home Assistant dashboard When you have several thermostats there’s a need to see them at a glance. Home Assistant has a ’tile card’...
measure heating oil use (or water tank level) with a A02YYUW ultrasonic sensor
visitors this year: 350 This tank level sensor produces surprising detail about my heating oil usage. It’s a bit like a smart meter for oil so I now know say, how many litres I...
Home Assistant … set up a Bluetooth proxy in the ESPHome dashboard
visitors this year: 677 what you need to set up a Bluetooth proxy A Bluetooth proxy requires almost any of the ESP32 development boards you can find at maker shops or Amazon. You need...
use a Switchbot water leak detector without a hub in Home Assistant … set up a Bluetooth proxy in ESPHome
visitors this year: 197 You can connect the Switchbot water leak detector with Home Assistant without the need for a Switchbot hub. The detector uses Bluetooth and wifi to send out its alarms which...
Google Nest can’t connect to Heat Link – ‘failed to connect to Heat link’
visitors this year: 949 The Google Nest thermostat dial can have a wired connection and/or a wireless connection with the Heat Link base. A loss of wireless connection is a rare event and it...
adjust the room lights when the TV goes on and off – Home Assistant
visitors this year: 423 Smart devices often find their best uses in Home Assistant ‘automations’. ‘Automations’ are better known as ‘routines’ and they make quite unrelated devices interact with each other as will be...
3D printing got more good – the ‘Creality K1C’ is fit for purpose and ticks many boxes
visitors this year: 797 why the Creality K1C impressed can’t you think of any any negatives? For a critical reviewer, bringing more experience I’d point you to Daniel’s ‘CROSSLINK’ channel on YouTube. This is...
connecting a second wi-fi router your home network
visitors this year: 171 The situation: in addition to the router that serves your home with internet you’ve another router that could perhaps improve your wireless or wired coverage. The extra router could be...
jura E8 coffee machine – tips
visitors this year: 91 This page records my notes on a jura E8 (eg 2024 model 15662 / 15661). If you’re repairing a jura machine these notes on the jura F90 may to be...
a water supply borehole – the plumbing
visitors this year: 374 Houses and farms in remote places pump their water from an underground source. I don’t have a choice in the matter – a borehole comes with costs in maintenance and...
get water from a borehole – the electrics and control bit
visitors this year: 555 Remote homes and farms can get their water from a borehole – years ago the owner of my house drilled the garden until they found a water source. Today I...
how virtualisation and containers are useful: tips to start using proxmox – and adding Frigate NVR
visitors this year: 798 why a server? what can I use a home server for? a vpn, a router, an ad-blocker, storage for backups, a photo library, a music server, a printer server, a...
cinnamon balls recipe – a jewish sort of biscuit – no fuss
visitors this year: 590 Growing up in Whitechapel, London in the 1950’s there were several Jewish bakeries – Rinkoffs and Kosoffs and another were yards away but today there’s that many in all of...
receive a notification of your Home Assistant IP address
visitors this year: 1,020 TLDR: one morning too often I’ve woken to find that my ‘smart’ things has gone stupid and they haven’t turned on because the Raspberry Pi running Home Assistant has gone...
smarter home heating with thermostatic radiator valves (TRV) and a review of the ‘tado’ TRV
visitors this year: 734 With today’s energy issues it feels unnecessary to heat rooms we aren’t using. Back in the day we fitted thermostatic radiator valves (TRV) to radiators in central heating systems. We...
food: panettone faq
visitors this year: 192 what’s the best way to eat panettone? By mouth. Or face first. does panettone come from Germany? No. It comes from Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and if you have money, Waitrose...
basic arithmetic in Home Assistant to calculate how much heating oil I need and when I need to order heating oil
visitors this year: 1,316 My boiler burns heating oil from a tank and unlike the ‘gas’ that most homes burn it’s finite – so when it’s gone I’m cold. Ordering heating oil is tricky...
sound & motion activated LED light strip for a staircase
visitors this year: 602 WS2812B strip – INMP441 microphone – WLED SR software – ESP32 board shopping list for these motion activated stairway lights – see photos wiring diagram for a microphone controlled LED...
how can I keep a Krispy Kreme doughnut for tomorrow?
visitors this year: 78 Krispy Kreme doughnuts are meant to be eaten fresh at room temperature within 12 hours. It’s no surprise that I cannot find any official advice on keeping Krispy Kreme doughnuts...
chinese style spring roll recipe
visitors this year: 73 I bought a packet of rice paper and was surprised at how doable it was to use it to make spring rolls. This lazy version is inspired by a few...
unfortunately you wear out boots by walking – repair attempt on Quest Mens IsoGrip Leather Waterproof Hiking Boots – from Mountain Warehouse
visitors this year: 512 These walking boots were so exceedingly comfortable and waterproof that more was the disappointment when a wet walk ended with wet socks. In their one year of life these ‘waterproof’...
crispy chilli
visitors this year: 29 weirdly crunchy, rather hot but not as hot as it might be crispy chilli avocado on toast + crispy chilli mash an avocado over two pieces of toast, add crispy...
save time and energy on food prep with a microwave oven
visitors this year: 106 A collection of time-saving uses for a microwave for food preparation warm your plates in the microwave Take the chill off a couple of plates by giving them 60 seconds...
smoke alarm – 433MHz RF sensor for Home Assistant & Sonoff RF Bridge
visitors this year: 338 This smoke alarm piqued my interest as a way to create an smoke/fire alert when I might be elsewhere. It’s unbranded and labelled as “C50D/W (1527, can skip code)” which...
calibrate and fit a Vl53L0X time of flight sensor to measure water or oil tank level
visitors this year: 2,881 Here is a tank level sensor that’s more useful than anything you can buy. This post focuses on my housing and the calibration for a basic sensor to measure oil...
ginger nut biscuits – recipes in fewer words
visitors this year: 48 No munchies for tonight’s telly watching? This recipe makes 16 biscuits. Do in two batches if you’ve no self control Set the oven to 180°C In a small bowl melt...
measure heating oil usage with a Vl53L0X time of flight sensor and display on an energy dashboard
visitors this year: 4,388 how to make a heating oil tank level sensor that’s more useful than anything you can buy. This sensor… Background: homes like mine use diesel oil as a fuel to...
measure heating oil usage with a sensor and display on an energy dashboard – easy
visitors this year: 2,395 how to make a heating oil tank level sensor that’s more useful than anything you can buy. This sensor… Background: homes like mine use oil as a fuel to keep...
using outdoor IP cameras for home security and monitoring: PoE
visitors this year: 555 tips on choosing cameras and using POE / passive POE and waterproofing the connection. how do I record activity from cameras? Buying a security camera system isn’t just for professionals....
replace original Brompton brake lever with the latest (2013) brake lever
visitors this year: 181 If you’re as puzzled as I was about upgrading to the latest (2013) Brompton brake levers, this post aims to unconfuse. My cost, using Brompton clone parts was £17 plus...
use a smart switch to turn off a lithium battery charger
visitors this year: 1,744 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...
this motion detecting night light tells Home Assistant when you pass by
visitors this year: 3,900 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...
walk resources – coffee and pub stops and public rights of way
visitors this year: 156 places to drink and snack places to park Cambs & Herts council public rights of way maps South Cambs & North Herts cafes and pubs
light up the staircase with an LED strip and tasteless light effects
visitors this year: 1,194 see version 2 of this project here My initial want was for the stairs to have soft glow lighting … but what the hec, LED strip lights do more than...
diet: see your weight changing with a smart weighing scale
visitors this year: 951 A ‘smart scale’ that records my weight to a phone might be seen as ‘gadgety’ and unnecessary but I’m now many months into this and think it’s fabulous. Almost fact:...
buy the correct screw threaded adapters to mount a microphone and GoPro on a tripod or stand
visitors this year: 437 GoPro, microphone and camera fittings are so ridiculously different, so here are some pointers to help buy the right bits to mount them. In all cases, even a GoPro (below)...
Brompton rear rack bag – KlickFix alternative to the front carrier
visitors this year: 3,522 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. Searching for an easy-on,...
convert a bicycle to an ‘e-bike’ or electric powered bike
visitors this year: 1,191 when you want an e-bike and you don’t want another bike:
