Not the things that you depend on, but automations that are just for fun
I mean. I tell HA “To play that song I like” and it plays “Lone Digger” by Caravan Palace. Back in the olden days of Google Home I had a routine called “shut up” that would turn off the mic if I told it to (if a show or audio playing mentioned “hey google”.
A couple of years ago I lived in a house with a few friends that we rented from one of their parents. They had a somewhat extensive homeassistant setup. We set up a couple of fun automations.
-Enter 8675309 on a keypad by the door - Play the song at full volume
-Enter 911 - Play police sirens at gradually increasing volume
-Enter 420 - Play that one sample of Snoop Dogg saying “smoke weed every day.”
-Leave the fridge or freezer door open for more than five minutes, start playing Dare to be Stupid by Weird Al at full volume and set all of the lights to red.
When I first setup my Christmas tree lights on a smart switch I created an automation with Google Home where you’d tell Google to turn off the Christmas tree, Google would respond “Ho ho ho… ho”
I set up a smart plug to turn a lamp on when I started a print on my bambu printer and then it turns it off when it finishes. More so testing the automation stuff, but I eventually want to do more things.
turn on fan to exhaust fumes
well maybe not silliest but the funniest automation backfire i have. the silly part is the name.
i had an automation that called “MLG PRO” that would adjust all my living room lighting to green and purple and play a goofy THX-like sound when i woke up the xbox. what i didn’t realize is that the xbox updated itself nightly.
i happen to sleep in the living room as well. a couple of nights after i had set up the automation i was woken up by colorful lights and the custom sound at like 2am. i was certain the aliens had finally come to take me away. what a confusing way to wake up…
Dealt with something similar with my rgb bulbs in my bedroom. Flashed ESPHome on the bulbs and since they were on light switches I set them to come on as a shortcut. Need the light on and don’t have your phone? Just flip the switch off then back on. Have a power flicker or an outage you get bright lights from 7 rgb bulbs set to full blast. Wake up to burn your retinas bright light at random times of the night.
I use the bulbs as a wakeup sequence that shows weather via color and temperature as well. Then some others light up in order 25% every couple minutes. Then turn off after a certain amount of time. If I sleep through it I’m generally sick or that tired and need the extra rest, I use my phone’s alarm function for the have to be up and moving fallback.
I had a Marvin Gaye protocol. All the lights in the house would go out, certain lights would come back on dimly and Sexual Healing would start playing.
On Christmas morning, when the motion sensor in the hallway next to the living room is triggered, it slowly turns on the Christmas tree, turns on the stereo, sets the stereo volume to 0, starts a Christmas music playlist, then slowly turns up the volume.
Sounds magical! Nabu, play Imagine Dragons.
My fancy toaster came with dire warnings to not leave it plugged in when it’s unsupervised, presumably because the cut-off on the mechanical timer can fail. Instead I plugged it into a smart socket with an automation to kill the power if there’s a continuous draw for more than 4 minutes.
Not for fun but probably my most pointless. Other than when I was testing it I don’t expect this automation to ever fire.
That did used to be a reasonably common failure scenario for mechanical toasters. I would have hoped it’s not anymore
I built a pressure plate in my bed so when I get in bed after the sun has gone down it puts my adaptive lighting in sleep mode, and turns off all the lights in the house.
I never understood how people can do this unless they live alone.
I specifically have two automations that I run as I’m getting in bed (manually, either through a widget on my phone or via voice command): one for if I’m the last person in bed and one of my wife is still up and hasn’t come to bed yet so it doesn’t turn out all the lights on her.
Nabu announces, “The great fire orb has retreated” every evening at sunset.
This is fucking glorious! Hahaha
I have an NFC take at the bottom of the stairs that I scan before going up for the night. It turns off all the appropriate lights downstairs, bedroom lights on upstairs, sets the air filters, etc. But it also has the voice assistant tell me good night and to sleep well. Because I apparently need that to happen.
None of that is pointless. It sounds useful and reassuring.
I guess he means the NFC could be a simple push button. The rest, I agree. I would need something similar
When my girlfriend is over and the freezer door is open, I play ice ice baby. It never fails to cause some eye rolls
It’s not pointless, but needlessly silly: as part of the alarm system, in addition to the standard siren, the home audio system turns on and plays Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me” at full volume.
At 7pm on school nights, one of a number of versions of “Hushabye Mountain” is played, if music isn’t already playing.
Even though I live in a studio apartment, when my doorbell goes off (dumb doorbell with a tiny mic next to it) I have HA set the alarm volume to max on both my phone and tablet and send an alarm trigger. It sounds like a bunch of sirens going off whenever someone rings the doorbell. But it’s not entirely pointless, because I wear noise-cancelling headphones all the time whenever I’m home, so there’s always a chance I won’t hear the doorbell going off.
my daughter’s heart shaped mirror (DIY pixel strip) rotates a rainbow for her to get out of bed
I have the same thing for my son (well, not a heart but the great A’tuin)
That’s definitely a basic necessity and not pointless.
