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Saving a Fail-Safe Motorized Valve
Even “fail-safe” components have an expiration date. After eight years of flawless service, a critical motorized valve in my setup failed to close. This post dives into the internal “magic” of supercapacitors and gearboxes, why a secondary safety layer (and Loxone) saved my wallet, and a step-by-step guide to upgrading your valves with a €3 replacement part.
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Softub energy efficiency
Have you ever wondered how energy efficient a Softub is, or how long it takes to warm the water up? Unlike most hot tubs, Softub has no dedicated heating element. Instead, it uses waste heat from the pump motor to warm the water, which is in a sense very clever design. On the other hand, Read more
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Softub water treatment: chlorine, bromine, or PHMG?
A practical, real-world look at Softub water chemistry after testing chlorine-free PHMG and returning to dichlor. Covering maintenance, smell, pH stability, liner impact, and what actually works in a hot tub. Read more
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Local Weather Service Emulator
Loxone’s official Weather Service is convenient, but it’s a paid and closed system. People typically bundle the purchase together with the Weather station, but that wasn’t the case back then. If you’re happy to manage your own forecast source (for example from a public API like MET Norway’s Locationforecast), you can emulate the official service Read more
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Fengtu WQX7 Ultrasonic Weather Station
In my previous post, I shared the challenges of finding a suitable replacement for my aging mechanical wind speed sensor. This post will share my experiences with the new ultrasonic sensor, including my observations, technical details, and insights that might be helpful if you encounter a similar situation. Comprehensive Weather Data with the WQX7 WQX7 Read more
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Looking for ultrasonic wind speed sensor
Traditional mechanical anemometers employ moving parts, which are susceptible to wear and tear, potentially leading to sensor failure. In contrast, ultrasonic wind sensors operate without moving parts, ensuring reliable and stable operation over the long term with minimal maintenance requirements. If you are considering an upgrade from a mechanical anemometer to an ultrasonic one like Read more
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Automating EV charging with Loxone: Avoiding solar battery discharge
This article addresses a common scenario: you own an electric vehicle and a home wallbox, but prefer to charge your car exclusively with surplus solar energy or directly from the grid, avoiding the use of energy stored in your photovoltaic battery. I’ll try to showcase how I automated this using Loxone home automation. If you Read more