81–90 of 155 posts
Person just wanted to automate a few "dumb" appliances but ended up building his own system (software and hardware) to do this. I wish I had time to bike shed like this. Just learning, tinkering, and enjoying life.
Bikeshedding is wasting time on trivial and pointless efforts or discussions. It's a bad thing. :)
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Tracking and other such indignities removed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FSFBSXY
Sorry, I just used the copy link button on Amazon
I'm just, you know, sort of neurotic about certain things, and I know I'm not alone here on HN. :)
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So that's a funny thing, your blinds are on the inside of your house so the sun energy is hitting them and dissipating from there. Hopefully your blinds are white and reflecting more of it out than the other surfaces it would otherwise hit. But if you want to make a real temperature difference you need blinds on the other side of the insulated box otherwise known as an awning.
If you've ever encountered German rolladen you'll forget all about awnings.
- You never have to move them
- In the summer (when the sun is higher) it blocks out lots of sun
- In the winter (when the sun is lower) it lets in more sun
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Sorry, I just used the copy link button on Amazon
Thank you for the link and the recommendation! I'm just, you know, sort of neurotic about certain things, and I know I'm not alone here on HN. :)
I just want to share that these are by far the best home automation you can have. I love my smart lights, hacked together smart humidifier, smart fans (the vornado dc fans with outlet switches), intake air pump, and air quality monitoring. But nothing has the quality of life impact of smart blinds. It’s the best, and probably only, way to reliably keep your sleep schedule in sync. Smart lightbulbs - four of the brigh…
"I doubled up the relays feeding the main motor and the heating coil, which gives a lot more headroom on the amperage" ...That's not how that works. One of the relays is going to close first, and those set of contacts will take all the load. Similarly, one set is going to bear all the drama from breaking the connection (and with the motor, there's inductive kickback.) The correct way to do this is to look up the moto…
Again, not a viable commercial design, but not insane with proper supervision either.
I was curious how you knew about the leak sensor so I did a quick search, and see you're just making things up to complain about -- that model has a turbidity sensor (which I suspect are the NC wires you noticed), but no leak sensor. Oh no! His water might be too turbid! Also the fill valve is wired inline with the float switch (in the machine itself), so it's double-covered for overflow prevention. Flooding seems highly unlikely.
The flaky connections he mentions are the 3 volt ones -- again, not a fire risk. Common for low-voltage contacts like that to get flaky in commercial devices too (e.g., face-plate contacts for thermostats, etc) and without disastrous outcomes. The high-voltage/amperage connections he uses are plugged into the OEM harness, so the same connectors as the OEM motherboard. So, again, seems like you're just making up things to complain about.
I don't want to encourage people to mess with mains power if they're not adequately informed, but it's also not a magical domain you can't learn about with a little research and caution (easier in the US than the UK...). And his gadget worked for years, by the sounds of it, which is better than any commercial appliance I've bought in the last decade...
But I agree he's probably gambling on the home insurance issue, even if his device(s) isn't at fault...
I just want to share that these are by far the best home automation you can have. I love my smart lights, hacked together smart humidifier, smart fans (the vornado dc fans with outlet switches), intake air pump, and air quality monitoring. But nothing has the quality of life impact of smart blinds. It’s the best, and probably only, way to reliably keep your sleep schedule in sync. Smart lightbulbs - four of the brigh…
The blinds shown under this article are pretty ordinary vinyl type blinds that leak a ton of light. I wish I could find blinds thick enough to behave like cardboard over windows, that could also be opened on a daily cadence. At this point I gave up on blinds and put a shirt over my eyes to sleep. I thought about just covering the windows permanently but I don't relish that idea.
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The blinds shown under this article are pretty ordinary vinyl type blinds that leak a ton of light. I wish I could find blinds thick enough to behave like cardboard over windows, that could also be opened on a daily cadence. At this point I gave up on blinds and put a shirt over my eyes to sleep. I thought about just covering the windows permanently but I don't relish that idea.
Curtains.
I’d recommend a double rod, a blackout curtain on the rod closest to the window, and a “pretty” curtain on the outer rod. Gives you best of both worlds. Functional and pleasing, like at a hotel.
If you want something less jank I suggest this https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2071225 3d printed gear box with a servo that sits inline with the shaft. Invisible outside of the blinds if you route the cables correctly. I controll mine with esphome and home assistant rock solid for years