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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2023

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  • I had a Kenmore (I think the mfg was Char Broil) for 29 years and only had to change out the burners and the like once. The bottom tray finally rusted and it needed some other t.l.c. but no parts could be found. I got a Pit Boss pellet/gas combo at the end of last season. Smoke side is awesome, Gas side is good with some unevenness (hot & cold spots). The whole thing seems to be well built with heavy gage powder coated or anodized aluminum parts. Will see how it holds up.








  • I also have a VPN set up to my home network that I can connect to with my mobile devices. once connected I use the HA mobile app pathed to my local HA server IP. I don’t use HA cloud or any other cloud service. It works well for me, I obviously can’t get notification on the mobile when not connected but I have not had a need yet. If/When I'm do want notifications I would most likely explore, e-mail, e-mail to SMS, SMS API or something that won’t involve external servers. I would not want to send sensitive info via SMS but a shot alert that said there is something to look at like “HA Alert: Motion detected cam 1” or such would be fine.










  • Update: Got this working without any cloud services. Turns out Sylvania lighting (LEDVance) has an alternate firmware that is an HomKit device that does not require any external cloud, server, etc. Any HA install with bluetooth enabled can pair with it and you don’t need to set up Apple home or a Sylvania account.

    1. Download the Sylvania smart home app. (don’t set up an account)
    2. Open the app and click the “HomeKit” button. (All this is going to do is scan for unpaired bluetooth smart+ devices)
    3. You should see a list of the Smart+ devices with an ⚠️ to the right of it
    4. Click on the device to update the firmware to the HomeKit firmware
    5. That is all the Sylvania app is needed for so you can delete once all your devices are firmwares are updated
    6. In HA install the HomeKit bridge, you don’t need to pair it with Apple just install it.
    7. Make sure your device is near (within 20ft) of your HA bluetooth transceiver and/or an ESP32 bluetooth proxy connected to your HA
    8. Once the device is detected you will get a new device notice, open the new device integration and click configure.