So here we are in October. COVID-19 is still with us and I am still working from
home. Meanwhile, summer has quickly changed to autumn. The leaves are falling as
are the temperatures. My house was the model home for our neighborhood, and what
would have been the garage was finished in and used as a sales office. So when
we bought the house, I was like, perfect, a perfect spot for an office!
But the problem is that, because it was a garage, it’s not connected to the
house’s HVAC system. In the summer there is a mini-split that keeps the whole
area cool. But it’s kind of loud. However, I do have some of these DeLonghi Oil
Radiators to use in the winter which provide abundant, silent heat without
using very much power. But the downside is that they take awhile to warm up.
Wouldn’t it be cool if I could have them turn on an hour early and “pre-warm”
the office? Well, to get the obvious part out of the way, yes, there is timer
functionality, but that is not nearly as cool as tying it into the rest of my
smart home. But it has a remote. What if I could find a way to use Home
Assistant to send IR commands to the heater?
Turns out you can!