A lot of 100% self-hosted home automation. (I absolutely hate how every device wants to install another app on your phone and you have to create an account, etc... No, I will no download your app in order to be able to integrate with Home Assistant! If I can't use the product after you've either gone out of business or chosen to no longer support the device on your "cloud" offering, then I'm not interested in buying it.)

For context, I already have a Home Assistant setup. I have replaced ~35 switches with either Zigbee or Z-wave controlled switches, and have a dozen other Zigbee devices. I've gone all-in, so to speak. I hate the Z-wave fan controllers, but they were the only option for what I needed. Z-wave is completely unreliable in my system, but I love the Zigbee stuff! I have automated everything from my pool pump to my garage doors, to my exterior lighting, and I absolutely love it!

As such, I have 6 things that I am planning to build, if I get the time:

1. A digital mixer for my pre-wired whole house home audio. (When I bought my house it had a lot of cool stuff, but it was all older. Oh, and the previous owners took the sound control system, so none of my speakers work.) I want to build a digital mixer that can control 16 channels in, 16 channels out, capable of sending any audio source to any channel, wholly controlled over my Zigbee network. I've already been working on a circuit design on EasyEDA, and sourced the ICs that I want to use, but I have to have time to test and iterate on the design. I'm anticipating spending $500 just to build my own, but I think I can build 2 for that cost, so I'll take one to my church and put it in line with the existing mixer so that I can control it from the front (I'm the pianist) for the weeks that we don't have a sound guy.

2. A self-hosted control for my sprinkler system. There's already a few on the market, but you have to download their app. My last system lasted 15 years... If I buy one of these "you can control it with the app!" systems, then how long will they continue to update their app and maintain their servers?

3. Tying into my current hard-wired security system. I'm sick of paying for subscriptions. I want to be able to turn on lights (Zigbee controlled switches) automatically when my motion sensors (which are already wired into the house) pick up movement. I want my home assistant to be able to remind me when I leave and forget to turn on the alarm, and then be able to turn it on from my phone.

4. Video surveillance of my property. No Ring, Nest, SimpliSafe, Wyze, or Arlo. I don't trust any of them. I want my system that is 100% under my control. I'll pay for the cameras. I'll pay for the hardware... I don't care. It's just a pain trying to figure out how to build one that will integrate with my existing Home Assistant server.

5. A self-hosted digital media server. Yes, they already exist, but I have to figure out how to incorporate it into my intended setup. In short, if/when I move, the home automation system would stay with the house, but I would want to take the media server system with me.

6. Electricity use monitoring. Every DIY option that I've seen requires you to use their app. Why is this so difficult? My data should never have to leave my own house! That, and most monitoring solutions are very limited in their inputs. I have a lot of circuits (like maybe 70?) in 3 electrical panels. Most monitoring solutions cost several hundred for 6-12 monitors. My house isn't exactly that big, either... it was just built and added on to at different times. For this one, I already have parts on order to start building my own. We'll see how far I get.