Control server & dashboard
One server runs the house, with a custom dashboard on a wall screen, a laptop or your phone.
01 Home automation · Devon, UK
Home automation that works without the cloud.
I build home automation around your house: lighting, heating, media and voice control tied into one system that runs on your own hardware, keeps working when the internet doesn’t, and doesn’t need a cloud account for every lightbulb.
02 How it works
Most smart home kit is sold one gadget at a time, each with its own app, its own account and its own server somewhere else. It works until the internet drops, the company changes its plans, or you need six apps to turn the lights off.
I do it the other way round. A control server in your home ties the lighting, heating, media, sensors and the third-party kit you already own into one system with one dashboard. Where nothing off the shelf does the job, I build the missing piece: a relay, a dimmer or a sensor made for your installation.
Because it all runs locally, it’s quick, it’s private, and it carries on when the internet doesn’t. You get the documentation and the source code, so the system is yours to keep, change or hand to someone else.
03 What I build
One system, not a drawer of apps.
Lighting & heating
Switching, dimming and schedules, using affordable off-the-shelf kit where it does the job and custom relay and dimmer nodes where it doesn’t.
Offline voice control
A voice assistant that runs entirely inside the house. Nothing you say is sent to the cloud.
TV & media
TV and media control from the same dashboard as everything else.
Network filtering
Ad and tracker blocking at the network level, for every device in the house.
Sensors & automations
Sensors where they’re useful, and rules that act on them, all in the same system.
04 Built already
Real systems, running every day.
Anonymised, but all real.
Home · Control server
Whole-home control server
A custom dashboard running the house: lighting and heating, TV and media control, a voice assistant that works fully offline, and network-level ad and tracker filtering for every device.
- Linux server
- Docker
- Custom web UI
- Offline voice control
Hardware · Firmware
Wi-Fi relay and dimmer nodes
Wi-Fi switching and dimming modules that all share one firmware, so every unit behaves the same and adding another one is quick.
- Microcontrollers
- C++
- HTTP API
05 Questions
Fair questions, straight answers.
What happens when the internet goes down?
Not much. The system runs on hardware in your home, so lights, heating and voice control carry on. Only things that genuinely need the internet, like streaming, stop.
Can it use the smart devices I already have?
Usually, yes. I design around what’s already there and bring third-party kit into the same system rather than replacing it for the sake of it.
How much does it cost?
Every house is different. You get a written scope and a clear price before anything is built, and I’ll always include the most affordable option that does the job.
What if I want changes later?
You get the documentation and the source code, so you’re never locked in. I offer support and updates too, if you want them.
06 Other services
Whatever else the job needs.
- 02
Custom hardware nodes
Microcontroller-based relays, dimmers, sensors and PoE cameras, designed around your installation.
- 03
Monitoring & dashboards
Live views of what’s running, what’s idle and what’s wrong, on a wall screen, a laptop or a phone.
- 04
Bespoke software & web
Web servers, integrations, internal tools and websites, written to fit how you work.
- 05
Networking, servers & Docker
Networks set up or sorted out, servers specified and supplied to fit the job and the budget, and services run on your own hardware in Docker rather than rented from the cloud.
Got something that needs building?
Tell me what you’re trying to do. I’ll reply with honest next steps. No pitch, no obligation.