Home lab: Mac mini, HA OS and Zigbee

Mike joins Phil and Rohan to share how he hides smart tech in a 1953 mid‑century home so it looks analog but works like magic. Plus: Roborock tricks, leak sensors that turn rooms blue, HomePod TTS vs Sonos ducking, Samsung Frame art‑mode headaches, and running full HA OS in a VMware Fusion VM on a Mac mini.

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Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA221

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Chapters

00:00:00 Welcome

00:03:00 Lighting gateway and Hue hack

00:05:30 Sneaking tech and dance reveal

00:08:00 From HomeKit/HomeBridge to HA

00:10:30 Dashboards and camera setup

00:12:30 Bulbs vs switches in 50s home

00:14:30 Bathroom fan and comforts

00:16:30 Homelab and Zigbee backbone

00:19:00 LLMs and announcements

00:21:30 Laundry alerts and Mac lab

00:25:30 Presence sensing strategy

00:28:00 Leak sensors and water safety

00:31:00 Light signals around the home

00:33:00 Roborock automations and hacks

00:40:30 Bedroom presence routines

00:43:00 Bayesian sensors and design

00:49:50 Time Machine and Frame TV

00:54:30 Pool fountain control

00:56:30 Power and crawlspace cabling

00:59:10 Party trick and outro

This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors

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Products Discussed

Philips Hue bulbs and lightstrips: https://amzn.to/4k7paur

Aqara T2 wall switch: https://amzn.to/4jUTZm1

Samsung The Frame TV (43"): https://amzn.to/4t5mTnr

Zigbee main water shutoff valve (generic): https://amzn.to/4aURldj

Aqara water leak sensors: https://amzn.to/3Nest6A

Aqara door/window sensors: https://amzn.to/49hmu9B

Third Reality sensors: https://amzn.to/455ZR5F

Ecobee thermostat with room sensors: https://amzn.to/4t4XYjO

Bond Bridge (ceiling fan RF hub): https://amzn.to/3YAbHBm

Aqara roller shade controllers: https://amzn.to/3O8ihwI

Level Lock: https://amzn.to/3ZcU3Ug

SwitchBot Lock (with keypad/fingerprint accessory): https://amzn.to/4a55H92

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

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Rohan Karamandi

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @rohank9

Buy Rohan a Coffee

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