Derived from my astronomical observation deck on the top of my roof, I developed another hobby: Home Automation.
After my observation deck was running smoothly – I even can start and control imaging sessions from my living room or, even while on the road – a new thought came to my mind:
Why is the coldest, most un-livable room in my house the one that offers perfect remote control and automation?
This was the initial spark to ignite my enthusiasm for home automation and while I already had some parts of my house automated (e.g. electrified window shutters or, motorized valves for my heating system), these islands of automation didn’t collaborate at all. So I started learning about smart home systems (most of them being provider-specific islands of their own not talking to any other), MQTT, Node Red and tried to bring my existing islands together and teach them how to listen and talk to each other.
After several months and even years of tinkering, I am pretty happy with the state of my smart home and I hope I can share some insights in this part of my blog.