From firmware 1.5, Shelly has added functionality that allows devices to communicate with another one without a server, hub or cloud between them. They call this Direct-Device-to-Device communication (DDD). Clearly, this is another powerful tool for your smart home, and allows many additional options. Getting Started Initially, I was hesitant to use…

One of the big advantages of smart lights is the ability to control each one individually, in groups or all at once. When I leave the house, I can hit a switch to turn them all off, using a Group. If I want to take it further, I can use…

The best thing about having smart speakers plumbed into your Home Automation ecosystem, is the ability to send messages depending on a trigger or situation. One thing that I think is fantastic, is announcing to the family that I’m home once I pull into the driveway. …

MQTT is a useful protocol for smart home technology, being designed for the Internet of Things (IoT). It’s a lightweight messaging transport layer that is ideal for connecting remote devices with a minimal network bandwidth — this last part is helpful, as our smart homes are likely to have many…

Home Assistant allows for Text-To-Speech (TTS) functionality, which is ultra powerful and can provide essential alerts (e.g. weather changes) or just act as your personal Jarvis/Friday. In this guide, we’re going to create a script to make an announcement on a specific speaker with helpful wardrobe information. Getting Started This guide builds…

I believe that LED Lightstrips are the best way to enhance the lighting in a room. With LEDs there are a myriad of options, from 5v dumb-white LEDs to 24v individually-addressable RGBW strips. For this guide, we’re going to focus on the simplest option, being a strip of warm-white “dumb”…

After measuring temperature and humidity, the next step in measuring and tracking the air in your home might be air quality. Air quality is broad - comprising dust, pollen, pollutants, VOCs and even gas, smoke and carbon monoxide. For this guide, we’re going to focus on the more general aspect…

When I think about the future, it always features a Smart Home AI Personality telling me it’s too hot to wear jeans aside — saving me from melting in the midst of the summer heat. …

In this guide I’ll demonstrate how to use the very useful Shelly EM as a power and energy monitoring input into your Smart Home. The Shelly EM is one of Allterco’s solutions for power monitoring, and allows the monitoring of two channels/circuits via Current Transformer (CT) clamps. …