finalbillybong's recent activity

  1. Comment on Where do you all go for gaming news? in ~games

    finalbillybong
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    I rather like SkillUp’s This Week in Video Games series. All news, no fluff and I often hear about games that would otherwise have passed me by from the Put this On Your Radar section. Other than...

    I rather like SkillUp’s This Week in Video Games series. All news, no fluff and I often hear about games that would otherwise have passed me by from the Put this On Your Radar section. Other than that I flick between Eurogamer, PCGamer and Gamespot.

    9 votes

  2. Comment on How do you like your smart home setup? in ~tech

    finalbillybong
    (edited )
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    I have quite a large smart home set up. It’s based around the open source software Home Assistant. I run HAOS on an Intel NUC along with Coral USB for my Frigate installation. I try to stick to...

    I have quite a large smart home set up.

    It’s based around the open source software Home Assistant. I run HAOS on an Intel NUC along with Coral USB for my Frigate installation.

    I try to stick to using locally run devices as much as possible to avoid any issue with control if my internet goes down. I would say I’ve managed to get around 85% of my devices running locally with the remaining 15% being things are not critical to my homes operation (Amazon Echos, Robot Vacuum).

    For me a smart home is not truly smart until it can react to situations based on my needs. This means more than simply a remote control home but a home that intelligently reacts in the correct way as required. As an example Home Assistant is in control of my solar PV and battery install. It will decide whether the battery needs charging or discharging overnight based on the day ahead solar output, battery level and my usage. Perhaps it’s going to be overcast all day. Home Assistant will look at my estimated days usages and charge the battery to the appropriate level while also leaving space to capture any solar that may be spare. Perhaps tomorrow is going to be very sunny and I already have a full battery towards the end of the day. In that case Home Assistant will discharge the battery into my EV whilst also leaving enough juice to get me though until the sun comes up the next day, and all manor of variations in between the two I just described. HA is also in charge of starting my appliances based on slate output too so I am always washing my clothes and cleaning my dishes on solar power.

    That’s not to mention automated blinds, curtains, lights, locks, vacuums and heating.

    All of the above have automations and HA will make decisions on what needs to be switched on, opened or closed, heated or cooled based on information it gathers from sensors around my home.

    To me that’s what a smart home is. One that can provide additional savings and convenience to me and my family and be way more than just ‘turn lights on with Alexa’.

    Edited to correct some typos and add additional information.

    9 votes

  3. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tildes

    finalbillybong
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I joined today so it’s definitely growing. Much like the rest of the newbies I migrated from Reddit due to the API charges.

    I joined today so it’s definitely growing. Much like the rest of the newbies I migrated from Reddit due to the API charges.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tildes

    finalbillybong
    (edited )
    Link
    That I have to scroll all the way to the bottom of a thread to leave a comment. Edit: I’ve read the docs and now understand and agree with the decision to have it at the bottom, underneath the...

    That I have to scroll all the way to the bottom of a thread to leave a comment.

    Edit: I’ve read the docs and now understand and agree with the decision to have it at the bottom, underneath the comments.

    5 votes