HOMELAB · THE BILL

The House Hardware Bill

One rule governs every choice here: local-first — the house keeps working when the internet doesn't. This page is the dashboard; the ledger and the system pages hold the rest. Everything rejected along the way lives in the research stacks, not here.

phases 1–2 ≈$1,700 decided · network ≈$945 on the AT&T date · projects as they come · updated jul 19 2026

The Rundown

  • ◆ decided Smoke/CO interconnect set, six units ~$250–300 — the audit found zero detectors in the house; it's first money spent, ahead of everything else on this bill.
  • ◆ decided Mini-split: TOSOT Cosmo 9k, 120V ($595) — the budget pivot off the Mitsubishis; the full saga, pick, and install runbook now live on their own page.
  • ○ open Network waits on the AT&T install date — the UCG Fiber chain and two APs (~$945) sit ready to order the day it's on the calendar; full 2.5G to every AP, a 10G spine underneath.
  • ◆ decided Attic sequenced: contract-out removal, DIY middle, blow-only-in — a panel SPD and a Zigbee water-valve actuator ride along while the panel's already open.
  • ● running The alerter runs, unarmed — NWS polygons every 45s, Sonos wired, a daytime test still ahead of the word to arm it.
On this page

Where Things Stand

running · decided · open · next buy

Running 2 · alerter + announcer Decided ~$2.7k gadget tier Open Attic + windows + AT&T Next buy Smoke/CO ~$280

The alerter polls NWS warning polygons against our rooftop every 45s (unarmed until the word is given) · the Sonos announcer (CLI + API) · the hub kara, now UPS-shopping · still waiting on the AT&T install date, window count, the Spire rebate call (833-841-4639), and a kara compute check before the Frigate someday.

The System

senses → hub → acts

SENSES THE HUB ACTS TEMPEST · WEATHER NWS · WARNING POLYGONS AIRGRADIENT · NURSERY CONTACTS · PROBES RADONEYE · BASEMENT SMOKE/CO · FIRE KARA HOME ASSISTANT MQTT · ZIGBEE UPS-BACKED LOCAL-FIRST SONOS · ANNOUNCE PRINTER · MORNING SLIP LIGHTS · SWITCHES MINI-SPLIT · CLIMATE WHOLE-HOUSE FAN
The crimson path is the one that matters: a warning polygon or a smoke/CO trip → hub → every speaker in the house.

The Parts

the detail, filed where it belongs

Ledger → Every line item on the bill in one filterable table — status, phase, price, running totals. the whole bill · one table Climate & Envelope → The ecobee plan, the attic project (removal → your window → blow), baffles, windows, and the whole-house fan's second life. The mini-split now has its own deep dive — see below. office · attic · windows · fan ≈$700 + projects Resilience → The fire & CO gap the audit found — fixed first — then the tornado alert pipeline (built, unarmed), the Tempest, the weather radio floor, UPSes, the generator ladder, radon watch, leak & freeze sensors, and a valve that shuts itself. fire · storms · power · water · air 15 items · ≈$1,700 Rooms → The nursery's comfort panel, the kitchen printer and its morning slip, the exterior lights, instrumenting the pit properly, and a new Entry & Everyday set — entry contacts, a silent doorbell, caregiver scene buttons, and laundry end-of-cycle alerts. nursery · kitchen · outside · deck · entry ≈$800 Backbone → Home Assistant on the hub, the Zigbee radio, energy monitoring, the fun radio, an off-box backup for the hub, and what a voice assistant looks like here — the network's brain lives on its own page now. hub · radio · energy · voice ≈$320 + hub gear Network → Fiber to closet to every corner — the gateway verdict (UCG Fiber over Ultra), the PoE switch and its sneaky adapter, the closet, the attic drops, and the cutover plan. gateway · switch · aps · drops · closet ≈$1,210 all-in Mini-Split → Three picks and two funerals before TOSOT — the saga, the pick and why it beat the field, 120V wiring, and the install runbook from lineset to commissioning. the saga · the pick · the runbook ≈$950 all-in Windows → Fifteen openings of 1955 aluminum single-pane, guilty as charged — block-frame ordering, the brick-inset install sequence, brand tiers, glass strategy, and the bay and picture-trio decision rules. ordering · install · glass · the specials $4.5k–15k material-only · count pending Everything → the full index — every page, section, and part. A–Z · filterable

The Phases

phased — spend nothing first, then spend where it compounds

PhaseWhatRuns
0 · Chores HA + Mosquitto containers on kara · DHCP reservation for the hub · ecobee install · 2.4GHz IoT SSID · slide a Deco toward the deck (interim recteq fix) · ID the mystery ESP32 $0
1 · Spine & Safety Smoke/CO interconnect set leads — the audit's zero-detector gap, fixed first — then the UPS pair, SAME weather radio, Zigbee PoE coordinator, leak sensors, freeze sentinel, kitchen printer, and RTL-SDR ≈$870
2 · Senses & Everyday AirGradient kit, nursery sound node, Aqara FP2, WeatherFlow Tempest, plus the new entry contacts, silent doorbell, caregiver buttons, and laundry sensor ≈$730
2.5 · Network UniFi chain (UCG Fiber + Flex 2.5G PoE + two U7s) keyed to the AT&T date; drops + closet prep land earlier, in the attic window ≈$945 + $265 prep
3 · Projects Mini-split TOSOT Cosmo 9k, attic (contract + DIY-middle + blow), windows, exterior lights, whole-house fan cover, radon watch, panel SPD, water-valve actuator, generator + interlock (later) as they come

The full line-item accounting — every row, every status, running totals — lives on the ledger: the real thing, line by line →

What It Buys

the point of all of it

  1. The tornado override — a warning polygon touches this roof and every speaker says so, calmly, at volume. The one automation allowed to wake the house.
  2. The morning slip — weather, calendar, todos, and Walter's overnight log, printed and torn off with the coffee.
  3. Nap-aware hush — presence in the nursery ducks every announcement automatically.
  4. The evening flush — cooler outside than in, window opens, the whole-house fan does the AC's job for pennies. Windows-first is enforced by silicon now.
  5. Silent failures made loud — the radon fan, a leak under the sink, a freeze near the line set: the house says something before it becomes a story.
  6. The smoke that speaks — a triggered alarm reaches every room and phone, not just the hallway ceiling.

Full research with sources and every alternative considered: homelab/research/09 in the stacks. Rejected gear stays rejected there, not cluttering here.