Home tech
Home tech setup
My own house runs on solar, a battery and a UniFi network, with Home Assistant tying it together and a small server in the cupboard that holds the family's photos and files and runs the apps I've built for my partner and me. I can set up yours too: I help pick the hardware, install it and get it working.
Smart home
Lights, sensors and routines that run from the house itself.
Zigbee and sensors
Motion, doors, temperature, leaks: picked and paired.
Lights and low-voltage
Smart switches, lighting and low-voltage devices, chosen and installed.
Home Assistant
Set up with routines that fit how you live.
Energy
Solar, battery and self-consumption advice, based on what I run myself.
Network and cameras
The part everything else depends on, done once and done well.
Wi-Fi and wiring
UniFi planned for the whole house, so every room has a good signal.
Cameras
Doorbell and cameras that record to a box in your home. Watch from your phone, with no monthly plan.
Separate networks
Guests and smart devices each get their own network, kept apart from your laptops and phones.
Remote access
A private VPN (WireGuard or Tailscale), so you can reach home from anywhere and nobody else can.
Home lab
A small, quiet server at home, running the everyday services you'd otherwise sign up for.
Photos
Immich backs up every phone in the family, with search, albums and sharing.
Files
Nextcloud or Syncthing keeps files in sync between your devices, and lets you share them.
Passwords
Vaultwarden: one password manager for the whole family, on your own server.
Ad and tracker blocking
Pi-hole or AdGuard Home blocks ads and trackers for every device in the house, the TV included.
Media
Jellyfin or Plex for your own films, series and music, on every screen.
Family apps
A shared calendar, shopping and to-do lists, meal plans and chores, in one place for the household.
Local AI
An AI assistant on your own hardware: ask it questions, search your documents or talk to your home, without anything leaving the house.
Your own apps
Something your family needs that no app quite does? We'll build it together and run it on the same server. That's how Energy, Noter and Agenter started.
Why run your own?
Google Photos, iCloud, Ring and the rest are good services, and for a lot of people they're the right choice. Running your own isn't better. People do it for different reasons:
- 01
It lives with you
Your photos, files and camera footage stay in your house, on hardware you own.
- 02
You decide when it changes
A redesign, a price rise or a service that closes down doesn't change your home unless you want it to.
- 03
It works offline
Lights, cameras and routines run locally, so they keep working when the internet doesn't.
- 04
Fewer subscriptions
You pay once for the hardware, instead of a monthly fee for each service.
No room for a server?
Renting, sharing a flat or just starting out? The same services can run on a small server rented in Europe, under EU privacy law. I set it up the same way, and you pay the hosting directly.
Backups that run themselves
Everything is backed up every night, with one copy at home and an encrypted copy off site. Before I hand it over, I restore a file with you, so you know the backups work.
How it works
How it works
- Tell me about your home and what you'd like it to do
- A walk-through and a plan, with a hardware list and a quote
- I install and set it up
- A handover so you know how to use it
Area and price
On site across Noord-Holland and the Randstad, and further afield for the right project. Planning help, and servers in Europe, work from anywhere. Every job is quoted after the walk-through, and you pay for the hardware and any hosting.
Tell me about your home
A few lines about your home, and what you'd like it to do, is plenty to start.
Email me