Hey r/homeautomation,

I built a flip-down mount for a kitchen tablet. It hangs under the wall cabinet, I pull it down to cook and push it back up flat when I’m done. The display wakes up by itself when it comes down and goes off when it’s stowed.

The mount

• A Ganter GN 437 friction hinge (40 mm) holds the tablet at any angle.
• The hinge is bolted to a 2 mm aluminium plate with two countersunk M3 screws, and the plate is glued to the back of the tablet with 3M VHB tape. Nothing is drilled into the tablet.
• Two stacked pot magnets in the cabinet floor hold it when it’s flipped up.
• A short 90° flat USB-C cable and a USB-C coupler stay fixed on the tablet, so only the charging cable moves. It loops over the hinge axis and runs under the cabinet, covered with furniture film in the cabinet colour.

I screwed the hinge and the magnets into the cabinet floor. Gluing them is the recommended way, I just didn’t.

The app

The tablet runs a small Android home app made for this mount. It reads the accelerometer: flipped down past 50 degrees it wakes the display into the recipe list, flipped up it locks the screen. The rest is a kiosk view of my self-hosted Mealie (no app bar, big buttons for meal plan and shopping list) and offline voice commands in cook mode, German only for now. It only talks to your own Mealie server, other hosts are blocked.

Limits:

• Tested on one tablet only, a Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite (SM-T220, Android 14). The wake-up needs a few adb commands, some of them Samsung-specific. They’re all in the README.
• It’s built around Mealie. Without a Mealie server the app has nothing to show.

Build guide with parts list, drawings and photos: https://it-baer.github.io/mealie-kiosk/

Repo: https://github.com/IT-BAER/mealie-kiosk

The robot vacuum cleans every day, the cat feeder handles breakfast, the litter box scoops itself, the sprinklers run on schedule, the lights come on before dark, and the curtains close at night.

Of course, I’m the one refilling the vacuum and feeder, emptying the litter bin, cleaning sensors, and fixing a sprinkler head when one gets clogged.

Still worth it though. A few minutes here and there keeping everything running beats doing all of those repetitive chores myself.

Couldn't find anything online so I designed this.

Concealed mounting, charging, functional buttons and all.

Feel free to use the print model 😊

https://makerworld.com/models/3431782?appSharePlatform=copy

Johnson Controls discontinued the GLAS cloud in March 2026. The thermostats still run, but the app and remote control are dead. I've been trying to get local control back on a residential SiO2-10000: HVAC, temperature, humidity, VOC, CO2, occupancy, and eventually Home Assistant.

Write-up is here

The phone app never talks to the thermostat on the LAN. Settings changes, including a BACnet enable flag, port, instance, and device name, used to go through myglas.io, which no longer resolves. The thermostat itself still looks up datap-iothub.azure-devices.net and opens TLS to port 8883. A certificate signed locally for that name was rejected. This panel has no BACNet page.

The firmware does have a BACnet stack. After a factory reset it sent two BACnet frames (a network-number query and a COV notification, device instance 1), then ignored Who-Is. Johnson Controls' BACnet documentation only lists the commercial models SiO2-01000, SiO2-01100, and SiO2-00100. Older posts describe residential units being controlled over UDP in a way that looks like BACnet, so that path used to work on at least some firmware.

I am not a professional. Anyone who is interested in helping get these thermostats back up and running as advertised, please shoot me a message and/or check out the github repo

Thank you!

Does anyone have a suggestion for an electronic smart lock for a sliding glass door in the pictures?

My house was built in 1972 (Dayton, Ohio area) and has an older style water shutoff valve in the basement utility room. Are there any automated water shutoff valves designed to work with this older type of valve or will I need a plumber to install a new valve? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We use our Apple TV as a home hub and it's been functioning this way for months. Our matters devices (blinds, outlets, lights, etc) connect to it.

It's been power cycled, restart via the settings, and it's still connected to our wifi network.

On the apple home app I can still control our devices (open and close blinds, turn lights and outlets on and off)

However at the top it says that the Home Hub is Not Responding and all my automations have broken. I also can't change automations since it says it won't connect to the hub.

Does anyone have recommendations for me that don't require rebuilding the whole thing?

Our house has a working M&S intercom system which I think used to have the compatible doorbell (missing when we moved in). The wiring to the absent doorbell from the control panel works. If I briefly contact the yellow and green wires, then the chime rings out across all intercoms. My voltmeter reads ~24V DC across this connection. The red and black wires are presumable for the speaker.

I’m currently using an Aqara g400 smart doorbell. I really like the doorbell overall, but my only criticism is it comes with its own single wireless chime speaker and it’s really hard to hear it in most of our house.

Would it be possible to use a smart relay (I picked up an Aqara Dual Relay Module) to make the connection briefly between the yellow and green wire as an automation after pressing the doorbell? It feels possible, just not sure how to wire it.

Hi all — looking for advice from people who’ve been here.

Setup: Control4 lighting and audio, C4 intercom, EA-3 controller running the zones, Episode Response Series DSP, Episode receiver, plus cameras. Located in the Greater Toronto Area.

Problem: I leaned entirely on my integrator for the design and install. Early on it was fine — they said to flag small issues and they’d fix them remotely. That’s stopped. Now minor app or config changes come with a service fee, which I’m fine paying, except the work still doesn’t get done and my calls go unanswered. Current examples: a smart switch that won’t respond via the app, and several cameras that never show up in the app at all.

I have no access to the programming, so I can’t touch any of it myself.

Two options:

1. Become my own dealer. I’m willing to put in the learning time — is this realistic for a homeowner? And how do I get the current integrator off my account? Their info still shows in the app.
2. Switch integrators. No new hardware wanted, just someone to take over and configure what’s installed. How hard is the transfer, and does the outgoing dealer have to cooperate?

Any experience with either path would be appreciated. GTA dealer recommendations welcome too.

Hi everyone!

I'm researching smart-home technology and would love to hear from people who use automations regularly. I'm more interested in real-world experiences than product specifications.

A few things I'm curious about:

Connectivity: Have your automations ever stopped working because your internet, Wi-Fi, or hub went down? Which ones continued working, and which ones depended on the connection?

Reliability: Have you had routines fail, sensors miss something, or automations behave unexpectedly? How did you fix it, or did you end up finding a workaround?

Privacy and trust: Do you consider where your devices send data when setting up your system? Would you sacrifice some features for local control? And how comfortable are you relying on automations without manually checking that everything worked?

Long-term support: Have you ever had a device lose functionality because its manufacturer discontinued a service or stopped supporting it?

I'm still learning about this, so I'd appreciate hearing about anything from minor annoyances to more serious reliability issues. I'm particularly interested in what you've experienced firsthand.

Thanks for sharing! : }

We are in the middle of a pretty extensive renovation project. Most walls are open. Budget wise we were thinking of manual shades/blinds, but I absolutely despise opening and closing them all the time and motorizing them is something I always wanted to do.

Should we put in the wiring yes or no? It's pretty cheap to do it now, it would be crazy expensive to do in the future. Problem is: where do we hide the wire until we install the motorized blinds? Which kind of wires would you put in that's future proof enough? For those of you that wired them, was it worth it?

Also, our house is in a pretty urban area. Most of my neighbors have alarms on their windows, should we put twice as much wire while at it??

Thank you!

Long story short I need to automate a gate that needs to be controlled beyond the range of the regularly bundled radio remotes.

I haven't found anything very interesting but I've seen some images of cheap motors with their enclosures open and the electronics seem very, Very replaceable.

The final system would involve a few weird mix of copper/fiber IP to the gate/controller plus LoRa remotes (possible lora backup devices on the gate "new" controllers themselves).

Not sure about the final circuit yet (depends on how I get to talk to it).

Anyone YOLOed something like this before?

Buying 2-3x cheap motors and replacing the electronics is probably cheaper than finding a niche motor from an obscure brand somewhere.

This magic mirror also serve as a smartphone hub. Does’nt use any commersial system like Home Assistent - but a custome system built from scratch using Python, JavaScript and React. The homemade sensor modules run a simple C++ program to communticate with the backend hub. This is the current and first version of the system 😄🛠️

Hello everyone. ok so this house is like 20 years old. Still has the original clear glass. Never even put up curtains. why? because the back used to be empty. nobody could see in, so i just left it. free light, whatever.last year i thought about changing it but kept putting it off. then last month i heard they're building new houses right nearby. instant panic. like, the second i turn on a light in the living room, anyone can see everything. sitting on the couch felt weird all of a sudden. privacy just gone.First thing i did was call a guy to quote replacing the glass with frosted. he took one look and said the old frames can't handle it. tearing it all out would cost a few grand, make a huge mess, and take like two weeks. i was like nope, not trying to redo my whole house for a window.

then i went to a friend's place for tea. he had these motorized zebra shades from Kincmo. he kept saying good things about them. so i played with them for a while. honestly? the light coming through the stripes is actually really nice. like waves, kinda soft. and it works with Apple Home, so i can control it from my phone. that part is convenient.But now i'm stuck. yeah the features are cool, but this house is 20 years old. would these modern motorized shades look out of place on old windows? too weird?Pic is from when i test fitted them. what do you guys think? also anyone who's used these, How long do the motors usually last? i really don't wanna swap stuff out again in a few years. should i just suck it up and replace the glass, or keep the shades?

not really sure where this is supposed to go, so don't mind me. if it's the wrong place, please dont roast me .

Since this morning I can't login into mydlink app: it says "no internet connection" or "error, try later".

Clearing cache or even app data does not work too.

Internet portal is stuck as well.

Hi all,

We’re undertaking a substantial home renovation in the UK and want to incorporate smart home automation while the property is being rewired.

We initially went down the Loxone route, but costs are becoming difficult to justify. For example, the specified dimmable spotlights are coming in at approximately £150 each, with around 70 required — that’s £10,500 on spotlights alone!

We’re not necessarily looking for the cheapest solution, but something reliable, flexible and reasonably priced without being locked into expensive proprietary hardware.

What we’re looking to achieve:

Lighting
Approximately 70 dimmable spotlights, preferably DALI-2 or a similarly reliable alternative.
Motion/presence sensors to automatically control lighting in hallways, bathrooms, staircase and other suitable areas.
Low-level lighting at night for bathrooms, staircase, landings and bedroom pathways.
Time-based lighting scenes, with different brightness levels depending on the time of day.
LED strip lighting for kitchen cabinets, media walls, wardrobes, niches and feature lighting.
Conventional wall switches that continue working without an app.
Freedom to use third-party light fittings.

Heating and Air Conditioning
Individual room/zone temperature control.
Automatic heating to maintain desired temperatures.
Underfloor heating and radiator integration where applicable.
Air conditioning integration, including room-by-room temperature settings.
Coordinated heating and cooling to avoid systems working against each other.
Scheduling and temperature adjustments based on time of day and occupancy.

Security and Access
CCTV integration, ideally with local recording and remote viewing.
Electric gate control, including remote opening and closing.
Video intercom/doorbell integration.
Ability to view cameras and manage access through a central interface.
Potential automation based on presence, time or security events.

EV Charging and Energy
Integration with one or more electric car chargers.
Smart charging schedules and potential load balancing.
Monitoring household energy consumption.

General Requirements
Wired-first installation wherever practical.
Reliable local operation without relying on cloud services.
Centralised control through an app or wall-mounted tablet.
Physical switches and manual overrides for essential functions.
Ability to expand or modify the system in the future.
Preferably an open or brand-agnostic architecture rather than complete dependence on one manufacturer.

System Architecture and Design
One of our main requirements is finding someone experienced who can design the complete smart home architecture, rather than simply supply and install equipment.

Ideally, we’d want:
System architecture and recommended platforms.
Wiring diagrams and cable schedules for first fix.
Lighting control design, including DALI compatibility.
Sensor positioning and control logic.
Heating, AC, CCTV, gates and EV charger integration.
Hardware specifications and bill of materials.
A system that can be installed and maintained by competent electricians/integrators without being tied to a single supplier.

For a project of this size, would you recommend Loxone, KNX, Home Assistant or a hybrid approach?

Is there a significant advantage to KNX/DALI over something like Home Assistant with Shelly Pro or other wired controllers?

Can Home Assistant realistically serve as the central platform for all these systems without compromising reliability?

How would you approach lighting to avoid paying £150 per dimmable spotlight?

Would you keep critical functions such as heating, lighting and gate access independent of the central automation platform?

Does anyone have recommendations for independent UK-based or remote smart home system designers who could produce the architecture, wiring specifications and bill of materials?

Ultimatelyq, we’re looking for 90–95% of the functionality of a premium smart home system without necessarily paying premium proprietary prices.

We’re more interested in getting the architecture right now than buying into a particular ecosystem.

Would appreciate any experiences, recommendations or lessons learned from similar projects.

Thanks!

Hello. I have a lighted mirror with touch buttons on the face. Is there a way, or what is the best way, smart capability? I've read a smart relay won't work.

Looking at options for 5 tall windows and perhaps an 8 foot tall slider (if available). Has to be somewhat custom because the windows are taller than 72” which seems to be the off the rack limitation. Do not have any smart home stuff such as Alexa and don’t plan on it if possible. Can you get automation with a remote and maybe just use an iPhone? Don’t have a tight budget but not looking to spend 20k either.

Edit: Did not mean to suggest I received a quote for 20K. I just want a simple system with easy configuration. Trying to avoid multiple add-ons which drive up the total cost. I am okay with basic white.