jura E8 coffee machine
visitors this year: 11 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...
Category: home & garden
plumbing around a water supply borehole
visitors this year: 9 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...
electrics and control of water from a borehole
visitors this year: 26 Remote homes and farms can get their water get their water from a borehole – years ago the owner of my house drilled the garden until they found a water...
how virtualisation and containers are useful: tips to start using proxmox
visitors this year: 86 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
visitors this year: 58 Growing up in Whitechapel, London in the 1950’s there were several Jewish bakeries within yards of us – today there’s fewer than a few in all of London. For me...
receive a notification of your Home Assistant IP address
visitors this year: 132 TLDR: one morning too often I’ve woken to find that my ‘smart’ things haven’t turned on because the Raspberry Pi running Home Assistant has gone stupid and inaccessible. Your Home...
smarter home heating with thermostatic radiator valves (TRV) and a review of the ‘tado’ TRV
visitors this year: 111 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: 57 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: 346 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: 228 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: 30 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: 34 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: 61 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: 9 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: 65 A collection of time-saving uses for a microwave for food preparation Tip: when you have more stuff to heat, or the food is on a plate, give it a further...
smoke alarm – 433MHz RF sensor for Home Assistant & Sonoff RF Bridge
visitors this year: 200 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: 1,353 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: 26 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: 2,708 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: 2,050 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: 300 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: 136 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: 1,353 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: 2,477 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: 124 places to drink and snack places to park Cambs & Herts council public rights of way maps
light up the staircase with an LED strip and tasteless light effects
visitors this year: 866 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: 737 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: 80 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: 2,495 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: 982 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
visitors this year: 241 , 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...
the Google Fit app helps record walking tracks, sleep, weight, bike rides and calories
visitors this year: 747 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?...
Huawei watch, Huawei watch fit new and Huawei Band 6 – useful, affordable smartwatches for 2022
visitors this year: 202 If you’re looking for a smartwatch, look at the Huawei Watch / Huawei Band 6 / Huawei Watch Fit New wearables If you’ve yet to get yourself a smartwatch I’ll...
sync Huawei Health watch data into Google Fit; Google Drive or fitness apps like Strava or Komoot
visitors this year: 11,497 … I can now see my Huawei health data in Google Fit and Google Drive. The Health Sync app acts as a go-between, and connects Huawei health to several other...
Robot arms reach out to the Raspberry Pi: this is art
visitors this year: 252 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...
addressable LED light strips put to use
visitors this year: 226 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...
addressable LED light projects
visitors this year: 259 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...
Dim display problem on large LED digital clock
visitors this year: 735 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...
jura coffee machine repairs
visitors this year: 683 … how to service or replace the brewing unit on a Jura coffee machine and many other fixes. It might be assumed that if you can afford the BMW of...
Cheesecake – Jewish style
visitors this year: 3,298 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,...
