Garage Doors, E‑Ink Dashboards, and Entity Chaos with the Evil Genius Dave Slusher

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Oct 30, 2025

Join Dave Slusher, a seasoned podcaster and smart home enthusiast, as he shares his journey through home automation. He dives into the challenges of building a reliable Zigbee mesh and his year-long quest to perfect a Z-Wave mailbox sensor. Discover how Dave replaced a malfunctioning garage door opener with RATGDO and ESPHome. He also unveils his creative use of e-ink displays as Home Assistant dashboards and explores clever automations to tackle peak electricity pricing. Perfect for DIY lovers and tech enthusiasts!

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ANECDOTE

Mailbox Sensor Trial And Triumph

Dave tried Zigbee for a 100m mailbox sensor and fought unreliable intermittent connectivity for a year. He finally solved it by switching to a Z-Wave LR coordinator (ZWA2) which provided the needed range and reliability.

INSIGHT

Automation Matures Toward Optimization

Automations shift from 'can I make it' to 'how can I optimize and save' as your system matures. Dave used calendar-driven automations to avoid charging during his utility's costly peak hour pricing.

ADVICE

Buy For Home Assistant Compatibility

Check Home Assistant compatibility before buying IoT devices and prefer local protocols like Zigbee or Z-Wave. Choose cameras with accessible RTSP streams and avoid devices that lock you into vendor cloud-only features.

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