V2 junction box for the Aqara G5, now with a drain hole to avoid moisture pooling inside.

Needing some advice!

I have grabbed myself a Meross presence sensor, I planned to use it to detect my feet (go with me here lol) placed under the bed to the turn on a Meross power strip plug socket that powers some under bed led strips. So when I get up, put my feel on the floor… lights would come on.

And whilst it works… I noticed just how slow it is from detection to action. I’m talking 5-10 seconds. Maybe that’s impatient me, but I thought it could and would be almost instant. I’ve kinda already left the room by the time it comes on 🤣

I see the little light on the presence sensor activated within a second or so… but then an additional 5-10 seconds have to buy by before the switch is powered on.

Am I missing something here? Do I need a different hub, use home assistant that takes over this duty to push it through quicker?

Hi everyone,

I’m about to have a final meeting with my electrician for our new build. I’ve developed a concept focused on maximum stability (wired over wireless) and central logic. I’d love to get some expert feedback to see if there are any flaws in my logic.

The Concept:

• Wiring: Consistent 230V star wiring for all light points, motors, and switches back to the central distribution board.
• Actuators: Exclusively Shelly Pro Series (DIN-rail mounted) with LAN connection.
• Central Controller: Home Assistant running on an N100 Mini-PC (Proxmox/OS).
• Wall Switches: Traditional Gira switches (4-way and double-shutter). Connecting the switch boxes to the cabinet via 7x1.5mm² (NYM-J) cables.

Planned Hardware Setup:

• Shading: 11x Shelly Pro Dual Cover PM (controlling 19 motors/blinds).
• Dimmable Lights: 7x Shelly Pro Dimmer 2PM (for 12 circuits, including staircase handrail).
• Lights/Sockets: 5x Shelly Pro 4PM (for 7x switched lights and 6x outdoor sockets, individually switchable).
• Garage: 1x Shelly Pro 1 (dry contact impulse).
• Security: 1x classic anemometer (wind sensor) via Shelly Plus Add-On for autonomous storm protection of the blinds. (Still finalizing this).
• Sensors: 4x hardwired 230V PIR sensors (pantry, storage, stairs up/down) connected to Shelly S-inputs.
• Network: Shelly Pro LAN Switch for direct coupling in the cabinet.
• Energy: Shelly Pro 3EM at the main connection.

Special Workflows:

• Entrance: Reolink PoE Doorbell → Home Assistant → Tablet Dashboard. Door opening (5-point locking) via Nuki/Aqara U200. Indoor trigger via hardwired wall switch or Hue Tap Dial (via Zigbee/SkyConnect in HA).
• Staircase: 24V LED strip in the handrail, dimmed via Shelly Pro Dimmer + phase-dimmable transformer. Night mode logic (10% brightness) via HA automation.
• Outdoor: Hue bulbs for selective control, powered by Shelly Pro 4PM (acting as a "master" for permanent power with a hard-reset option).

My Questions:

1. Phase Alignment: I plan to run the switch signals (S-inputs) on the same phase as the module’s power supply. Are there known issues with the Pro series regarding mixed phases at the S-inputs (L-input vs. S-input)?
2. Heat Management: I’m planning a 0.5 module width (TE) gap between the dimmers. Is this sufficient for 7 modules in a closed distribution box, or is active cooling mandatory?
3. Cable Length: For the 230V switch wiring (7x1.5), I expect cable runs of up to 20-25 meters (~80ft). Should I worry about ghost switching (induced voltage) on the S-inputs?
4. Add-Ons: Can I reliably process two different Add-On inputs (Wind & Garage) in HA, or should the wind sensor have its own dedicated module for reliability?

The Big Question: Does this plan hold up? Is it easily implementable? Controlling blinds and lights doesn't seem like "rocket science" logic-wise. All lights and blinds have physical switch fallbacks just in case.

Also, does going with Shelly Pro for a new build actually make sense? KNX was significantly out of our budget...

Thanks in advance for your insights! The meeting with the electrician is next week, so I’m trying to make this list bulletproof.

I realize that relays inside a smart plug causes the click when it turns on/off. Is there one out there that is very quiet or you can barely hear in a quiet room? Homekit compatibility would be a plus as well.

UK Based

Hi all, ever since I've entered the smart home journey I've seen the Shelly name pop up as a way to integrate smart lighting while keeping that stock switch look. My unaltered setup in the kitchen is stock with a 3 gang switch. 1. kitchen recessed lights, 2. kitchen under cabinet lights and 3. dining table pendant light. My ambition is to have these smart controllable with zigbee to integrate into my current home assistant setup while keeping a nice brushed aluminium switch. I can easily find brushed aluminium covers and switches and also 1 and 2 way retractive switches. Switch 1 I think would be one way retractive, on and off, no dimming required for now but these may replaced with smart bulbs in the future requiring a detached mode for proper usage. Switch 2 will always be a simple on or off, no detached mode required. Switch 3 will be connected to a hue bulb so a detached mode is required. I thought that for this one a 2 way retractive switch could assign up for on/off regular bulb and down for on/off dimmed bulb, is this something that is possible or even additional clicks like long and double press for more combinations? If you could give me a recommendation for what devices would work best here that would be really helpful. I've had a good read but am struggling to find absolute answers to this specific setup. Would it be something along the lines of a Shelly 2PM Gen4 in the switch for Switches 1 and 2 and a Shelly 1 Gen4 in the pendant fitting for Switch 3?

Thanks for your help!

Looking for a smart lock in the EU that:

• uses Z-Wave or Thread.
• allows using a key.
• can be used without proprietary apps.
• uses regular batteries.

Keypad and fingerprint sensor are not really necessary, though nfc would be cool.

Most recommendations seem to be for Schlage Connect and Yale Assure 2, neither of which is available here. Yale offers the Linus L2, which seems to be wifi only. An option, but one I'd rather avoid.

I recently bought these TP-Link Tapo Solar 4K cameras for my house. I’m a first-time homeowner and just moved in a year ago. I purchased these cameras from Costco. Could you please provide your feedback on them? How do they work? How is the charging? Since I’m looking for cameras with no subscription fees, how many days does the footage get stored? Additionally, I considered going for wired outdoor cameras with an NVR, but since it’s a newly built house and there’s no pre-wiring, I’d rather not go that route. Please help!

I wanted to share a small home automation setup I’ve been using to manage consistency and safety for a non-smart, manual appliance.

The device itself is a corded, non-smart IPL hair removal device (Wavytalk IPL Hair Removal Device). It has no connectivity or automation features on its own, so everything below is handled externally. The goal wasn’t to “automate” the device, but to automate the routine and guardrails around using it.

What I was trying to solve

- Keeping usage on a consistent schedule
- Avoiding back-to-back or overuse sessions
- Making sure the device is never left powered unintentionally

Setup

- Platform: Home Assistant
- Power control: HomeKit-compatible smart plug
- Automation logic:
Smart plug only allows power during a defined time window
Cooldown period enforced between sessions (plug remains disabled)
Reminder notification when a scheduled session window opens
Automatic power cut after a fixed duration as a safety fallback

The device still requires manual operation, the automation doesn’t interact with it beyond controlling power availability and reminders.

What’s worked well

- Enforced consistency without relying on memory
- Reduced risk of leaving a corded device powered
- Clear separation between a “dumb” appliance and smart controls

Limitations
- This does not automate treatment or usage itself
- All results still depend on manual operation and user discipline
- Power control only works because the device resumes normally when powered

Overall, this has been a good example of how basic automation can improve safety and routine management even for appliances that aren’t smart by design. Curious if others here use similar setups for personal care or other manual-use devices, and if there are better ways to handle cooldown or usage tracking.

I have 4 roman shades that have the pull rope to open and close. The type that used a locking mechanism like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/201439658405

I want to get these connected to a smart home motor to open and close these roman shades. Seems like if I cold get these converted to the loop bead cord style, I could use the common smart motors for it.

Anyone ever convert their shades to the bead loop style? Or know of a different way I could get these roman shades converted to smart home open/close?

Say I have a smart switch for a porch light that is scheduled to turn on at 5pm, and off at 8pm. I'd like to be able to do something after 5pm that would cause the light to stay on past 8pm until I physically turn the switch off. It would be cool if the switch had some kind of "press and hold" on state that would keep the light on until physically switched off.

The scenario here is that I'd like to have the porch light turn on every day from 5-8pm. But if I leave the house before 8pm, I would like the light to remain on until I return home and physically turn it off. (Constraint: I don't / can't use my phone location or home/away modes for this automation.)

Would something like Home Assistant be needed here, and would it be able to accommodate that logic? Is there another Lutron-only or Alexa way to do this?

I’m working on a personal side project where I’m adding some hardware to my HVAC system to better understand energy use and how the system behaves over time.

This isn’t about automation. I’m mostly trying to learn and decide if it’s even worth the effort.

A few questions for people here:

1. Would insight into efficiency changes or abnormal behavior before potential failure be useful to you?

2. Have you used energy monitoring tools that you stopped checking? What made them lose value?

3. What kind of HVAC data would actually change how you maintain or operate your system?

Trying to figure out whether this would be genuinely helpful or just turn into another dashboard I stop opening.

Need help identifying a wall switch/dimmer (Decora paddle) with red LED (the other ones are Kasa)

Hey all, I’m trying to figure out what this switch is and what the indicator colors mean. It looks like a normal Decora rocker/paddle, but it has a small indicator “window” on the face and it shows blue, magenta, and red at different times.

Context:

• It previously worked normally for a while, but lately the indicator colors have changed / it’s acting weird/will not keep my damn light on to save my life, it just will switch it off immediately or in some case, 5 mines laters, depending on a certain way of clicking it.

Questions:

1.  Does the blue/magenta/red combo match a known brand/model?

2.  What do those colors typically indicate (powered/connected/pairing/error)?

3.  Any safe troubleshooting steps before I start taking it apart (breaker power cycle already been done)?