Hiding Smart Tech in a 1950s Home: Mike’s Home Assistant Journey
Home Assistant Podcast
Pool fountain control puzzle
Mike describes the manual variable fountain valve and attempts to craft a partial‑turn actuator solution.
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.
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
Twitter: @philhawthorne
Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com
Rohan Karamandi
Twitter: @rohank9
This episode contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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