Very rarely does an idea come along that truly revolutionises shedworking. Today, we're delighted to share with you one such invention, the Shed Message Service as devised by IBM software engineer and home automation devotee James Taylor who has recently become a shedworker. Frustrated by shortcomings of a wireless doorbell setup, he has moved on up to an LED light box scenario using Local Bytes smart plugs. He explains how the system works:
Obviously the only message was “Tea!” which was good, but what if there was cake instead? I wouldn’t want to be ambushed! So a little bit of Home Assistant hacking later, and I now have a selection of messages using an input select helper.
Turning the smart plug (LED sign) on with the big tea button automatically sets the dropdown to “Tea!” (the original and still the best) and turning it off resets the dropdown. So now I just have to check Home Assistant when the sign lights up to get the message and, even more amazingly, someone in the house is daft/lovely enough to make tea and use the Shed Message System!
Hard to believe there will be a better garden office invention this year, or indeed this decade.
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