Devices
Hardware index
Every model referenced by a published recipe, with the protocol it speaks and the role it plays. Nothing here is sponsored or affiliate-linked.
matter
Application layer over Thread or Wi-Fi; the only protocol here that reports a real cover position and a settable current.
| Model | Link | Role in this chain |
|---|---|---|
| Bidirectional grid meter (CT clamp or the inverter's own meter) | wired | Provides the signed grid power value; a one-directional meter cannot tell export from import. — Divert solar surplus to the hot water cylinder instead of exporting at 4 ¢ |
| Ceiling-mounted closed-loop photosensor (0-10 V) | wired | Reads the combined daylight plus electric light on the work plane, which is the value the loop must hold constant. — Daylight harvesting: electric light follows the window |
| Chain window actuator (24 V) with a Matter module | wired | 24 V chain actuator, wired because a battery unit would need charging on exactly the nights it is needed. — Night cooling purge that pulls in cool air only when it helps |
| CO₂ sensor with NDIR measurement | wired | NDIR, not eCO₂ from a VOC estimate; a bedroom purge decision based on estimated CO₂ will open the window when it should not. — Night cooling purge that pulls in cool air only when it helps |
| DALI or 0-10 V dimmable driver with a Matter bridge | wired | Wired control is required here: Zigbee dimming at 12 % tends to flicker on cheap drivers and cannot hold a stable low level. — Daylight harvesting: electric light follows the window |
| Hybrid inverter with a settable reserve floor | wired | The reserve floor is the lever here; an inverter without a settable floor cannot implement this recipe at all. — Storm reserve: pre-charge the battery and shed discretionary loads |
| Indoor speakers with TTS support | wired | Hall and kitchen speakers are enough; announcements in bedrooms are counterproductive at night. — Door left open: timed escalation instead of an instant alarm |
| Inovelli White Series 2-1 Dimmer | wired | Matter-over-Thread dimmer on the hall circuit; keeps a local binding so the wall switch still works with the hub down. — Arrival warm-light handoff on the hall mmWave |
| Matter door contacts on every exterior door | wireless | One per exterior door; a single shared contact cannot name which door is open, which is the whole point of the escalation. — Door left open: timed escalation instead of an instant alarm |
| Matter smart relay with power metering (e.g. Shelly or equivalent) | wired | Switches and measures the immersion load; the measurement is what closes the control loop. — Divert solar surplus to the hot water cylinder instead of exporting at 4 ¢ |
| Outdoor temperature sensor | wireless | Supplies the 'should this door be open at all' check, which shortens the first two stages in freezing weather. — Door left open: timed escalation instead of an instant alarm |
| Solar inverter with export metering (optional) | wired | Allows charging to follow PV surplus during the day, which is a separate recipe but shares this hardware. — EV charging that yields to the oven without stranding the car |
| Somfy Sonesse 30 with a Matter bridge | wired | Mains-powered blind motor; Matter gives a real position percentage rather than the timed-press approximation that RF-only motors use. — Lux-adaptive blinds that hold 300 lx on the desk, not a fixed percentage |
thread
Fast reporting and long battery life, but a border router per floor or handoffs stall for seconds.
| Model | Link | Role in this chain |
|---|---|---|
| Aqara Door and Window Sensor P2 (Thread) | wireless | Door contact used as an OR trigger because a closed utility door can block PIR entirely. — Dark-room occupancy boost for a windowless utility room |
| Eve Motion (Thread) | wireless |
Fast reporting over Thread; its 400 ms report is what makes the entry light feel instant. — Dark-room occupancy boost for a windowless utility room Zone A and C sensors; battery powered, Thread router-capable so they also strengthen the mesh. — Room-following light that tracks you along the corridor |
| Indoor/outdoor temperature pair | wireless | Provides the ΔT condition that keeps the purge from running on a -10 °C January morning. — Whole-flat CO₂ purge with a 9-minute cross-ventilation window |
| NDIR CO₂ sensors (e.g. Aqara or Aranet-class) on Thread where possible | wireless | Four units: living room, main bedroom, second bedroom, kitchen. Kitchen readings are excluded from the mean during cooking. — Whole-flat CO₂ purge with a 9-minute cross-ventilation window |
| Outdoor temperature and wind sensor | wireless | Provides the wind chill input that makes an exposed north wall run freeze at 4 °C air temperature. — Pipe-freeze guard: trickle the far tap and warn before the line drops to 2 °C |
| Pipe-clamp temperature sensor, insulated over the clamp | wireless | Clamped to the copper and covered with pipe insulation; an uninsulated clamp reads air temperature and warns far too late. — Pipe-freeze guard: trickle the far tap and warn before the line drops to 2 °C |
| Thread border router (HomePod mini or SkyConnect) | wired | Single border router for the corridor mesh; a second one is kept as a cold spare because Thread partition merges are the usual cause of 2–3 s handoff stalls. — Room-following light that tracks you along the corridor |
| Thread motorised tap or valve on the far end of the run | wired | Opens to a calibrated trickle; a standard solenoid gives full flow, which wastes 200+ litres a night. — Pipe-freeze guard: trickle the far tap and warn before the line drops to 2 °C |
| Thread smart relay behind the ceiling fixture | wired | Mains-powered relay that also acts as a Thread router, which keeps the mesh healthy in a room with metal appliances. — Dark-room occupancy boost for a windowless utility room |
| Thread window actuators | wired | Chain actuators on the two opposing windows; these are the only two that produce useful cross-flow in this flat. — Whole-flat CO₂ purge with a 9-minute cross-ventilation window |
zigbee
Cheapest sensors, mains-powered routers in every room. Weak at holding very low dim levels on cheap drivers.
| Model | Link | Role in this chain |
|---|---|---|
| Aqara T1 illuminance sensor | wireless | Desk-height lux sensor aimed at the ceiling to read reflected light rather than direct sun. — Lux-adaptive blinds that hold 300 lx on the desk, not a fixed percentage |
| Bedroom zone sensor (any presence sensor) | wireless | Tells the system when to start protecting the sleeping person from noise and light. — Bedtime taper: the house dims itself as rooms empty |
| Capacitive soil-moisture probes at 15 cm depth | wireless | Capacitive, not resistive: resistive probes corrode in weeks and their readings drift upward as they fail. — Irrigation that skips a zone when the soil is already wet |
| Counter-height lux sensor | wireless | Mounted under the upper cabinets, pointing down at the work surface, shielded from the window so it reads task light. — Overcast compensation for a north-facing kitchen |
| Cylinder temperature probe on a 1 m immersion pocket | wireless | Strapped to the cylinder's pocket, not the pipe, so it reads stored water rather than flow temperature. — Divert solar surplus to the hot water cylinder instead of exporting at 4 ¢ |
| Desk-level lux reference (Zigbee, for calibration only) | wireless | Used at commissioning to calibrate the ceiling sensor's reading against a real work-plane measurement. — Daylight harvesting: electric light follows the window |
| Door contact on the dishwasher | wireless | Gives the 'loaded and closed' signal that replaces a manual button press for households that prefer it. — Dishwasher deferral to the cheapest two-hour tariff window |
| Home/away presence (aggregate) | wireless | Only the aggregate home/away boolean is used, so the audit cannot infer who is in which room at night. — Nightly phantom-load audit that finds the 38 W you forgot about |
| IKEA TRADFRI bulbs on a Zigbee coordinator | wireless | The taper targets; they accept 4 s transitions smoothly, which is what makes the dimming invisible. — Bedtime taper: the house dims itself as rooms empty |
| Inline flow meter on the irrigation main | wired | Confirms each zone actually delivered the commanded litres, which is how a blocked dripper line is detected. — Irrigation that skips a zone when the soil is already wet |
| Kitchen zone presence sensor | wireless | Non-imaging occupancy so the compensation only runs when someone can see the result. — Overcast compensation for a north-facing kitchen |
| LED strip on a Zigbee CCT controller (e.g. GLEDOPTO or Gledopto-class controller) | wireless | Under-cabinet strip; choose a controller that supports a real 1 % minimum so the 10 % floor is accurate. — Overcast compensation for a north-facing kitchen |
| Mailbox contact sensor | wireless | The most reliable delivery signal available; a mailbox lid opening is a much better trigger than motion alone. — Package watch: porch event to a 40-second clip, no continuous recording |
| Metering plugs with 0.1 W resolution | wireless | Resolution matters: a 1 W resolution plug cannot distinguish a 0.4 W phantom from zero, and most of the interesting findings are between 0.5 W and 5 W. — Nightly phantom-load audit that finds the 38 W you forgot about |
| Second humidity sensor in the hallway (reference) | wireless | Absolute humidity only makes sense as a difference; the hallway sensor is what turns a weather change into a no-op. — Bathroom fan that runs until the humidity gradient flattens |
| Sonoff SNZB-04P door contact | wireless | Front door contact that supplies the departure-direction clue. — Departure standby sweep with a 12-device check list |
| Sonoff ZBMINI-L2 in the fan isolator switch | wired | Switches the fan's permanent live; the isolator switch above the door stays functional for a person standing on a chair. — Bathroom fan that runs until the humidity gradient flattens |
| Third Reality Smart Plug Gen 2 (Zigbee) | wireless | Power monitoring plugs on the TV, desk and printer shelf; the sweep uses their reported wattage to confirm the device really went off. — Departure standby sweep with a 12-device check list |
| VELUX-style exterior lux probe (any Zigbee illuminance sensor) | wireless | North-facing outdoor lux reference used to decide whether it is genuinely dark outside. — Arrival warm-light handoff on the hall mmWave |
| Weather station with rain detection | wireless | Rain flag plus outdoor temperature from the same mast so the two readings are consistent. — Night cooling purge that pulls in cool air only when it helps |
| Whole-house energy meter | wired | Provides the total that the individual plugs are reconciled against; the gap is the un-metered load. — Nightly phantom-load audit that finds the 38 W you forgot about |
| Window contact (any reed sensor) | wireless | Blocks the loop while the window is open, when the blind would hit the frame. — Lux-adaptive blinds that hold 300 lx on the desk, not a fixed percentage |
| Zigbee coordinator with mains-powered routers (e.g. a Zigbee smart plug per room) | wired | A mains-powered router in every room keeps the sweep from timing out on the far end of the house. — Departure standby sweep with a 12-device check list |
| Zigbee humidity sensor with 0.1 % RH resolution | wireless | Must report at least every 60 s; a 5-minute reporting interval cannot resolve a humidity gradient. — Bathroom fan that runs until the humidity gradient flattens |
| Zigbee leak pucks with a local buzzer | wireless | Battery-powered pucks under each wet appliance; the local buzzer matters because it works even if the hub is down. — Leak-triggered main shutoff with a 4 litre flow threshold |
| Zigbee multi-zone irrigation controller | wired | Six-zone controller with per-zone duration commands; the controller's own rain sensor input is left unconnected so the automation owns the decision. — Irrigation that skips a zone when the soil is already wet |
| Zigbee smart plug rated 16 A with energy metering | wireless | Switches the appliance and confirms the cycle actually drew power; a dishwasher that 'ran' at 0 W did not run. — Dishwasher deferral to the cheapest two-hour tariff window |
zwave
Used here where range and confirmation matter: garden runs, valves, radiator heads, alarm hardware.
| Model | Link | Role in this chain |
|---|---|---|
| Fail-secure smart lock with a mechanical override | wired | Must unlock on power loss or on command; a lock that fails locked would trap people in a fire. — Smoke and CO alarm: egress lighting, unlock, and silencing the HVAC |
| Fibaro Dimmer 2 (or Z-Wave module) for the bollard group | wired | Provides the trailing-edge dimming the 2700 K bollards need at low levels. — Twilight path lighting keyed to sun elevation, not a clock |
| Garage door controller with a local radio | wired | Opens on command even with the internet down, since the automation never leaves the LAN. — Smoke and CO alarm: egress lighting, unlock, and silencing the HVAC |
| Outdoor temperature sensor on a north wall | wireless | The weather-compensation input; a sensor in sunlight will disable the boiler in winter. — Radiator-by-radiator balancing from room temperature curves |
| Power-monitoring module on the transformer circuit | wired | Confirms the circuit is actually drawing current, which is how the automation detects a tripped breaker rather than assuming success. — Twilight path lighting keyed to sun elevation, not a clock |
| Room temperature sensors, one per room, 1.2 m height | wireless | Separate from the valve heads — a valve head's own sensor sits 10 cm from a hot pipe and reads 3 °C high. — Radiator-by-radiator balancing from room temperature curves |
| Whole-house ultrasonic flow meter | wired | Non-invasive clamp-on sensor; gives litres per minute at 0.1 L resolution, which is what the 4 L/min threshold needs. — Leak-triggered main shutoff with a 4 litre flow threshold |
| Z-Wave interconnected smoke and CO alarms | wired | Mains-powered with battery backup and a Z-Wave radio; the interconnect wire is what makes all of them sound, not the smart layer. — Smoke and CO alarm: egress lighting, unlock, and silencing the HVAC |
| Z-Wave motorised ball valve (1") | wired | Mains-powered actuator with position feedback; a spring-return valve without feedback would leave you guessing whether it actually closed. — Leak-triggered main shutoff with a 4 litre flow threshold |
| Z-Wave thermostatic radiator valve heads (e.g. Danfoss Ally or Eurotronic Spirit) | wireless | Seven heads, one per radiator. Z-Wave is used because it reports the valve's actual opening percentage, which the learning script needs. — Radiator-by-radiator balancing from room temperature curves |
| Zooz ZEN71 relay in a weatherproof box | wired | Switches the low-voltage transformer's mains side; Z-Wave 800 series has enough range to reach the garage from the back of the garden. — Twilight path lighting keyed to sun elevation, not a clock |
wifi
Reserved for devices that need bandwidth or a vendor API: cameras, chargers, weather feeds, inverters.
| Model | Link | Role in this chain |
|---|---|---|
| Aqara FP2 | wireless |
Living room and kitchen zone sensors; their zone output is what the occupied-room count is built from. — Bedtime taper: the house dims itself as rooms empty Zone B (mid-corridor) mmWave sensor, used because a still person in the doorway must not drop the light. — Room-following light that tracks you along the corridor 60 GHz mmWave presence sensor, ceiling corner mount, 3 s debounce configured in the vendor app. — Arrival warm-light handoff on the hall mmWave |
| Day-ahead price feed (any tariff API) | wired | Publishes the next 24 hours of prices at 13:00 each day; the recipe only needs the next 14 hours. — Dishwasher deferral to the cheapest two-hour tariff window |
| Guest SSID on a separate AP or VLAN | wireless | Client association on the guest SSID is the presence signal that keeps guest mode alive. — Guest mode: local recording only, cameras pause in private rooms |
| HEPA supply unit with a motorised damper | wired | Maintains positive pressure; a recirculating purifier cannot keep pollen out of a leaky flat the way positive pressure can. — Pollen lockout that closes windows before the count spikes |
| Laser particle counter configured for pollen-sized fractions | wireless | Reports PM2.5 and the 10–40 µm fraction; the coarse fraction is the one that correlates with pollen rather than traffic. — Pollen lockout that closes windows before the count spikes |
| Local NVR on an isolated VLAN | wired | Stores clips with a 14-day retention; nothing is uploaded and the NVR has no outbound route. — Package watch: porch event to a 40-second clip, no continuous recording |
| Local NVR with a dedicated VLAN | wired | Records to local storage on an isolated VLAN that has no outbound internet route. — Guest mode: local recording only, cameras pause in private rooms |
| Mode 3 charger with an OCPP or local API current setpoint | wired | Must accept a current setpoint in amps; a charger that only offers start/stop cannot modulate and will trip the fuse. — EV charging that yields to the oven without stranding the car |
| Motorised ball valve on the mains top-up line | wired | With position feedback, so the automation can prove the valve closed rather than assume it. — Rainwater tank top-up and pump protection on a level probe |
| PoE porch camera with a local ring buffer | wired | PoE for power and data; a battery camera cannot provide a 10-second pre-roll. — Package watch: porch event to a 40-second clip, no continuous recording |
| Pressure-based level probe (0.1 % full-scale) | wired | Measures hydrostatic pressure at the tank base, which is unaffected by foam, condensation or the tank's shape — unlike ultrasonic sensors in a humid tank. — Rainwater tank top-up and pump protection on a level probe |
| Reolink E1 Pro (or any camera with a mechanical privacy shutter) | wireless | Indoor cameras with a physical shutter, so 'off' is auditable to a guest rather than a promise. — Guest mode: local recording only, cameras pause in private rooms |
| Severe weather warning feed | wired | Provides 6–12 hours of lead time for wind and flood warnings, which is far more useful than frequency deviation alone. — Storm reserve: pre-charge the battery and shed discretionary loads |
| Tank pump with a dry-run protection input | wired | An external dry-run input is the physical backstop if the automation's lockout fails to actuate. — Rainwater tank top-up and pump protection on a level probe |
| Whole-house current transformer on the main tails | wired | Reads total import at the main tails; a circuit-level meter misses the oven's contribution. — EV charging that yields to the oven without stranding the car |
| Window actuators (same as the night-cooling recipe) | wired | Shared hardware with the night-cooling recipe; the lockout boolean is what arbitrates between them. — Pollen lockout that closes windows before the count spikes |