Hey, anyone use the newer Govee products that are Matter enabled in Home Assistant? How much control does HA have on these products? How much are you forced to use the Govee app?

First thing I do when I get a smart appliance is scan it with nmap. This has revealed some interesting Easter eggs, like my Davis instruments air quality sensors having a local REST API.

Doing the usual scan against my GE washer and dryer shows that port 53 is listening. What could that be for? Is there a way I can at least query their status locally or something?

When I got the washer and dryer I was excited about the smart home features because getting an alert when my laundry is done or starting the washer remotely so the clothes are done when I get home are genuinely useful features. However, last time I checked the app none of that was available, so I just have these Trojan horses in my home spying on me with no benefit in exchange. Their app wanted my freaking mailing address when I signed up for their mandatory account, so the features mentioned above are the least they could offer in exchange for my digital soul. But I digress.

My fridge is in a similar situation. It commits the additional cardinal sin of ONLY being controllable via the app, with no on-board temp or filter status indicators whatsoever.

When I open my Activity log, all I see is "Time changed" recorded every minute. In the attached screenshot a lot of stuff happened just now, otherwise it would be only Time Changed. Is there a way to not to record Time events into the activity log?

Been using tp-link smart plugs for a moment. Not really had any problems with them but i want to move to something such as z-wave or a ZigBee. Something that is totally local and does not require a different app on my phone.

I recently sold my house that had some Nest cameras which I was very happy with. I'm closing on a new place and had planned to get new Nest cameras for it, but this morning I received an email from Google with the following text. I don't want AI integration for my cameras, so will be looking for a different solution.

Nest Aware is being upgraded to become Google Home Premium, evolving from a camera subscription into a service for your whole home. We’re unlocking the power of AI to make your home smarter, safer, and more effortless with Gemini for Home.1,2

With Gemini for Home, your Nest Cams and Doorbells, and compatible smart home devices get more powerful AI security features, and your Google and Nest speakers and displays get a more helpful voice assistant.1,3

What’s new?

Google Home Premium unlocks a range of new capabilities with Gemini for Home across your smart home devices. We’ve also brought new improvements to all Nest Cams.1

Standard plan (formerly known as Nest Aware)

• Gemini Live immersive conversational AI1,3
• Easy home automations with Help me create1,3,4
• Intelligent alerts with zoomed-in previews1
• 30 days of full event video history1,5 ‌

Advanced plan (formerly known as Nest Aware Plus)

• AI descriptions explain each camera event1,3,6
• AI notifications update alerts with a description1,3,6
• Ask Home video history search1,3,6
• 60 days of event-based history and up to 10 days of continuous video recording1,5 ‌

Learn more about Google Home Premium, device eligibility, and new features here.

1 Some features available initially on select devices in select countries and languages, and expanding through early 2026. Learn more.

2 Subscription services may be required for certain content.

3 Requires Google Home app, Wi-Fi, and internet connection. Features subject to change; available in select countries and languages. Gemini features work independently of Gemini apps. Check responses for accuracy; results may vary.

4 Home automations may require additional enrollment and setup, and depend on working internet, Wi-Fi and service availability for compatible smart home devices (sold separately) included in the automations.

5 Some features, including mobile and browser notifications, remote control, and sound detection, video recording, video streaming and video history require the Google Home app and working internet and Wi-Fi.

6 Requires Google Home Premium Advanced plan.

Hi! I hope this post is on-topic enough. I've just moved into a flat in Germany and its thermostat has an incredibly loud clock ticking every second. My landlord allows me to replace it, so I looked for options and learned it uses a proprietary interface (Vaillant 7-8-9) and my only real option is from the brand Tado. I e-mailed them and confirmed their V3+ wired model is compatible... but costs 220€; way above my budget. However, if I set the site to Germany the price drops to 100€.

Before spending so much on a device (100€ is still a lot!), I'd love to check whether I can use it with Home Assistant. I recently installed it on a spare SBC and got the zbdongle-e working, ready to start connecting things. I found (cw: AI image) this blog post that says it works by having HA emulate Apple's HomeKit, does this mean it should work fine, regardless of the zbdongle-e? Should I be aware of any caveats to this approach, or to the Tado thermostat itself?

Thanks :)

Currently, I have an automation that turns on my air conditioner for 37 minutes, every 3 hours. However, during that time, I cannot do anything like update, HAOS, etc. Because it breaks the timer, and then I have to manually shut it off.

The sensor i have let's you set zones which work width wise but not height. What i would like to do, if able, is mount the sensor waist height or a little higher and block the top and bottom of the sensor so i only have the middle 20° being used. Can this be done with foil or metal?

Just wondered if anyone on here is using a HA compatible one.
Zigbee or Z-Wave would be fine.
Unfortunately, the controllers I got with the main control unit are Heatmiser.
They use Zigbee, but the manufacturer's own implementation which requires buying and running a proprietary hub (and sod that!)
Rather annoyingly, the controllers are pretty functional!
The manifold wiring centre itself (UH4) just works by connecting 240v lines, so shouldn't be too hard to have HA connecting the right loops at the right time.

I've considered just doing this with shelly relays and setting up a thermostat in HA, so if anyone has homebrewed an interesting solution, I'd also be interested to hear!

I have a dishwasher that does not open automatically when finished. I can detect when it is finished through a power adapter, but need to open it somehow. Any tips? Is fingerbot strong enough?

Hi everyone, I've been able to get for free a one year subscription at perplexity. It offers to create an AI agent I can save (not sure proper wording, not English native) mainly to help me maintaining, fixing or creating some automations, dashboard items, ... To do so I need a prompt that will tell exactly how it should react but since i never really dig into AI yet, I'm looking for some guidance to set it up correctly

I have an automation that when triggered turns on a scene that sets my lights a specific way. Then the automation waits for a second trigger.

I noticed that the automation doesn’t continue after the second trigger, so I looked at the trace, and it looks like the scene setting step of the automation times out: “error: Timed out when calling async_turn_on for bulb xyz: <class ‘TimeoutError’>

It looks like this bulb xyz was dropped from my zigbee network, which isn’t always the most stable. So it’s not exactly uncommon.

So how do I safeguard my automations from being broken by a single piece of a scene being offline?

I'm looking into adding a video doorbell and some security cameras and want to integrate with HA. I have some cameras that came with the house, but I don't think they will work. The system has been discontinued and I don't have the "base unit" that connects them. If there is a way to use them, I'd be happy to find out if they are operational and use them. Web search has not helped.

My first priority is a video doorbell. I don't really understand much about how it works, and there is a lot of conflicting information out there. I have a wired doorbell, and I could probably manage to figure out how to run a data line if needed.

I want it to play nicely with any future system. The current camera system is wired, and I'm happy to run new wires if needed. I have plenty of storage on my home PC server, and I'd prefer to use it.

Any guides out there that really cover the overall process?

• must not add insane amounts of cost to my power bill
• Has to be upgradable if I need to add upgrades to the hardware in the future
• Has a speaker
• may want to possibly also set up node red but it depends on if I need it or not because I may just be fine with home assistants automation
• has to have wireless connectivity
• mainly setting this up to add automation around my reolink cameras linked through the reolink home hub for example getting a second camera in the same area to start recording when one detects motion or link other smart home security products like sirens or floodlights

Hi all,

I'm looking for zigbee temp and humidity sensors that work with HA, are pretty accurate and either are mains powered or have use a battery that can be recharged e.g. AA or AAA.

I like the Sonoff SNZB-02D, but they use disposable coin cell batteries.

One I found that looks like it might fulfill these criteria is

https://3reality.com/product/temperature-and-humidity-sensor-with-digital-lcd-display/

But they're kinda spendy. Anyone have any recommendations?

Hi all,

I’m looking for a reliable smart plug with current/energy monitoring that meets these requirements:

• Ideally <1s time resolution (I need fast updates, not just averaged every few seconds.)
• Wi‑Fi connectivity preferred, with MQTT client support out of the box (similar to how Shelly devices can publish to a local MQTT server when the load current changes. I'd rather not have to poll a device's HTTP endpoint a few times per second.)
• Provisioning/config: Bluetooth for setup would be a big bonus (I think the Shelly Plug S Gen3 can do this, too.)
• Reliability/manufacturer: Needs to be from a well‑supported brand or at least something that’s proven stable and not a "cheap no‑name" option.

I’ve been testing a few devices already. Most average power consumption over longer periods, while e.g. newer Shelly devices come frustratingly close to being exactly what I need.

Does anything on the market provide sub‑second resolution for current measurement? Most consumer plugs I’ve tried either average readings or only publish once every few seconds, which isn’t quite enough for my use case (measuring transient behavior and categorising operating modes of certain appliances).

Has anyone come across a plug that ticks these boxes? Or maybe a hidden configuration with Shelly devices that I’ve missed?

Thanks a lot for any help!

Edit: What I’m actually looking for is a fast response time to significant changes in power consumption (by more than a set amount or a percentage), so a high sample rate within the plug. A constant delay until the message is sent out wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Does anyone have much experience with robot lawnmowers? I've been considering one, but trying to find info now involves digging through a lot of AI slop.

Id prefer one that plays nicely with HA, as well as not internet dependant. It's also for a small garden (50m²).

The best bet I've seen so far is to modify a yardforce mower with open mower. What other (good) options are there?

Hi,

What I'm trying to do is that if someone sends a message on my telegram with the text: "/todo (name-of-task) (due-date) (due-time)" (example: /todo empty the dishwasher 16-08-2025 14:00)

to get that in node-red and put that in vikunja via an http-request (or if you think there's something better, please advise)

I'm getting problems in the form of "message not found" and/or "malformed token" (that last one is a bit longer but you get the point)

The token works with a curl command, so I guess it's ok. I tried adding the headers to each http request in my flow and also tried leaving the headers empty and putting them in the function. Same result.

Can you help me out?

code located at: https://pastebin.com/suT710Yn

Has anyone got any recommendations for a small wired speaker that would be good to connect to the Voice Preview Edition. I'm really enjoying it, but just wish the audio quality could be better.

Also are there any other improvements that you can recommend I add to it?

I created a very simple hacky card to download and display Met Office rain images for a few hours ahead. It is probably very buggy so use at your own risk :) Unfortunately the API only supports the whole UK or Europe at the moment so can't zoom in. But I find it quite useful.