Hi, I'm Robert.
I've spent my career in technology, currently as a Clinical Scientist in healthcare computing at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. Sheffield Home Tech is how I do the same kind of work closer to home.
It started because friends and neighbours kept asking, and I've kept it small on purpose: one person, who remembers your setup and answers the phone next time.
Evenings and weekends, across south-west Sheffield: Dore, Fulwood, Ecclesall, Whirlow, Millhouses and nearby.
Get in touch
What I run at home
I'm wary of selling anyone a large smart-home project, because I know what one costs to build and to keep running. Mine is listed below, and it's what the advice is based on. Ask about any of it and I'll tell you what it cost and whether it was worth doing.
- Home Assistant The hub the rest of it runs on. Everything stays local to the house, with no monthly subscription and nothing that breaks if a manufacturer goes bust.
- Battery & tariff A home battery that charges on cheap overnight rates. Predbat works out the schedule.
- Heating Controlled room by room, so the house heats where people actually are.
- Lighting Scenes that follow the time of day. The wall switches still work like ordinary switches.
- Blinds They follow the sun and the time of day on their own.
- Plex media server Films, TV and music stored in the house and streamed to any screen, at home or away.
- Energy monitoring Per-device figures for what each thing actually costs to run.
- Backups The whole lot, backed up automatically.