# Home automation

A smart home should make the house easier to live in, not give you another thing to fix. I set up systems that run locally wherever possible, so your lights still work when the internet or a manufacturer's cloud service doesn't.

## What I can help with

- **Home Assistant:** a new install, or tidying up one that's grown messy.
- **Lighting and switches:** smart bulbs, wall switches and scenes that still work for guests.
- **Blinds and plugs:** schedules and routines based on the time, the sun or who's home.
- **Voice and phone control:** Apple Home, Google Home and voice assistants working from one system.
- **Dashboards:** a wall panel or tablet that shows what matters and nothing else.
- **Reliability:** fixing devices that drop offline, and backing up your setup.

## Why local control matters

Devices that depend on the cloud can slow down, stop working during an outage, or lose features when a company changes its service. Where a device supports local control, I'll use it. Where it doesn't, I'll tell you before you buy it.

## Before you buy anything

Send me a list of what you have or what you're considering. Some devices work together far better than others, and a quick check is cheaper than replacing them later.