Same here. I put two in the lights on our porch, and they’ve worked great for at least 2 years now. And we get high and low temperatures here.

I meant including gas.

Looks like there’s one, the Nissan Versa.

I mean, are there any cars available in the US for just $20k? I’m pretty sure a base Mazda 3 was more than that when we bought ours five years ago (before the pandemic, and ours is a higher trim model). I don’t think they’re making the really small cars any more (like the Toyota Yaris).

Short version, I’m skeptical of this price point for even a small pickup. Great if they can do it.

You actually can nearly do that. Facebook inexplicably showed me how a few weeks ago. If a friend reshares something, you’ll see it, but it removes all groups, etc. It was stunning how little content actually comes from friends.

On the Facebook site (I’m sure it can be done via app, too, but I didn’t look), click on the menu near the top right, then click Feeds (under Social). Then click on Friends on the left.

Oh yeah. “You’re safer being ejected from the car in a crash. My cousin’s ex husband’s sister’s daughter survived a crash that way!”

I’m a little surprised Trump hasn’t signed the “Asbestos Fibers Are Our Friends” Executive Order.

“Many economists are saying that the market was due for a correction…”

I’ve seen that comment a few times in the last few days. They’ll say ANYTHING to support Dear Leader.

Good luck!

Well how did it go?

Mine decided to randomly start rebooting about a year ago. :( Tried everything I could think of to get it to work normally, but nothing helped. I couldn’t rely on it, so I had to replace it. Like you, I hadn’t planned to replace it any time soon.

In the US, if you don’t have the loyalty card, you’re paying more for groceries. For the stores we use, any sale prices are contingent upon using the loyalty card. This can add up to $5-$10 per order.

Shadow runs lemmy.ca, and states that it is lemmy.ca signups. He’s certainly in a position to have the information available, unlike some random lemming like myself.

Man my local bicycle shop is looking for mechanics, and I’m like…could I afford that instead of my current desk job?

I’m qualified; I’m pretty good mechanically, except for wrapping bar tape. I’m slowly getting better at it, but I’m definitely not to the professional standard a bike shop would want. But I’m sure they’d make me practice that.

I have two thoughts on the pellet level - both measuring from the top. I have a few OpenGarage devices and a SaltSentry. Both essentially do the same thing, measure the distance between the sensor and the next object it encounters, but they are different methods - the SaltSentry uses a time of flight sensor, and from what I can tell from the pictures, it’s just that small little thing at the point of the device. The OpenGarage uses a larger ultrasonic sensor.

Look how small and cheap those time of flight sensors are on a small breadboard (I literally just found those). Mount that on the underside of the top of the hopper, run some wires to an esp32 or similar, config it, and boom, I think.

Our detached garage has a propane furnace (one of those that hangs in the corner of the room). I just recently put a Shelly 1 into the thermostat circuit to control it, then I tried to attach a temperature sensor to it, so it can act as a thermostat…then I found that you need the Shelly Add-on to actually attach a sensor to it… So I got the Shelly Plus Add-On…but that’s for a later generation of Shelly 1 than I currently have…so my next purchase will be a newer generation Shelly 1 to replace the Shelly 1 I already…yeah, this has been a frustrating experience. And I’m not a huge fan of Shelly after they took an order and my money and never delivered the product in 2023. So, if I buy Shelly, it’s only via Amazon now.

We should start a “home automation pellet stove” community, now that there are at least two of us.

Mine has all electronic controls. I use a power monitoring plug to detect if it’s running and turn on a nearby ceiling fan if so. It also counts how long it has been running to let me know when to clean it (~150 hours of run time). I have a Shelly 1 connected to the thermostat wires, and a temperature sensor elsewhere the room tied together in HA to make a thermostat to control the stove. I have a fairly complex script that sets the pellet stove’s temperature based on various factors like time of day, outdoor temperature, etc. If the thermostat doesn’t call for heat for half an hour, the pellet stove automatically shuts down and will restart if heat is called for (this functionality is built into the stove).

I’d like to monitor the level of pellets, and I’d like to have control of the level - it can run on levels 1-5, controlled by a push button. I normally keep it on 2, but on a really cold morning, jacking it up to 4 or 5 would be helpful - and make it even more critical I monitor the level of pellets.

Hmmm that is really odd. Since I addressed the interference issue, the only major issue I’ve had with any Aqara device (including door sensors, temperature sensors, one vibration sensor, one water presence sensor, and a few wall switches) is the vibration sensor, which I damaged the battery cover, so it doesn’t close properly and keep the battery in place correctly. So that one is my fault. I have had a door sensor and water presence sensor drop off the network occasionally, but that’s rare.

Heck I even have a second network set up in my RV (sensors only) and it seems to be reliable as well. But the metal shell keeps much of the signal contained, I’m sure.

I wonder if there’s something else in your area that’s interfering with it.

I just ordered one of those MHCOZY relays, hoping to use it in my RV to control the furnace (via the thermostat connection). Glad to hear they are reliable!

Either that, or you have wifi interference.

I had all kinds of issues with my zigbee network until I switched my wifi to use channels 1 and 6, and Zigbee to use 24 or something like that. Since then, it has been rock solid.

I can confirm their light switches and door/window sensors work as well.

The fan just turns on low when the pellet stove is running, nothing so fancy as changing the speeds based on the stove setting. But that could be accomplished indirectly by just looking at the temperature in the area - if it’s a few degrees higher than, say, the living room, turn up the fan speed.

In an ideal world I’d be able to control the setting on the stove remotely - there’s a button to change the setting, which a switchbot could theoretically do. Of course to do that reliably, HA should know what the current setting is. I haven’t really looked into this much.

But, yeah, I do wish I had a way to track the pellet level to alert me when it’s getting low. I have a Salt Sentry to monitor the salt in the water softener, with a gauge in HA, and it warns me when it’s getting low. Which is great (when it works, sometimes it stops responding). I’m not sure if it would work as well for the pellets - the pellets would be right up against the sensor when it’s full. Another option might be a weight sensor under a leg - I have no idea if this is even feasible, but if is, it should be able to detect the 40 lbs change (noting that there’s some ash left in the stove, so the 40 lbs doesn’t completely disappear).

I use the power monitoring plug for a lamp in the living room that is dumb, but it has a 433 mhz remote. The power monitoring detects whether it is on or not. I have one of those Sonoff 433 mhz transmitters, so with the power monitoring plug I can control the light. This also means it can be part of my “vacation” mode where it perhaps turns on at some point in the evening, then turns back off. Also, it turns on when first connected to power, so I can do an automation that sends the “off” command at night if the house is in Vacation mode and the light is on.

I don’t really have it set up yet, but in theory the power monitoring plugs could warn me if the freezer stops working (or is running constantly), the sump pump stops working, etc. I have the power monitoring in place, but not the automations to detect issues.