Protocols in use
Five radios carry the recipes on this site. Each one is chosen for what it does well, and each one has a known failure mode that the recipe is written around.
Matter
used in 4 Recipes
Application layer over Thread or Wi-Fi; the only protocol here that reports a real cover position and a settable current.
- Divert solar surplus to the hot water cylinder instead of exporting at 4 ¢
60000 ms · mains - Night cooling purge that pulls in cool air only when it helps
180000 ms · mains - Lux-adaptive blinds that hold 300 lx on the desk, not a fixed percentage
90000 ms · mains - Arrival warm-light handoff on the hall mmWave
850 ms · mains
Thread
used in 1 Recipes
Fast reporting and long battery life, but a border router per floor or handoffs stall for seconds.
- Room-following light that tracks you along the corridor
600 ms · mixed (2 × battery, 1 × mains)
Zigbee
used in 3 Recipes
Cheapest sensors, mains-powered routers in every room. Weak at holding very low dim levels on cheap drivers.
- Departure standby sweep with a 12-device check list
45000 ms · mains - Nightly phantom-load audit that finds the 38 W you forgot about
60000 ms · mains - Bathroom fan that runs until the humidity gradient flattens
2000 ms · mains
Z-Wave
used in 3 Recipes
Used here where range and confirmation matter: garden runs, valves, radiator heads, alarm hardware.
- Smoke and CO alarm: egress lighting, unlock, and silencing the HVAC
4000 ms · mains - Twilight path lighting keyed to sun elevation, not a clock
30000 ms · mains - Leak-triggered main shutoff with a 4 litre flow threshold
9000 ms · mains
Wi-Fi
used in 0 Recipes
Reserved for devices that need bandwidth or a vendor API: cameras, chargers, weather feeds, inverters.
- nothing published in this column yet