Hey everyone, I just wanted to share my recent experience with the Govee Christmas tree lights! They’re absolutely amazing, and I got myself a set as well. But then I started thinking about how cool it would be to have RGB LED string lights on my car. I’ve seen others with lights all over their cars, but I thought it was too much and definitely an eyesore during the day when the lights are off. So, I took it to another level and hid them so they’re not so noticeable in the day but super cool at night. I even got an extra battery supply and a converter for the outlet plug—game on! 
I’ve also been exploring some smart home automation tips. For instance, I’ve been using MQTT for communication with my ESPHome devices, but I’ve noticed that when we lose power, all my devices default to OFF. This is a problem, especially during the night if the fan is on before the power cut. It just stays off even after the power is back. Has anyone else experienced this? I’d love to hear if there’s a way to retain switch states during a power failure.
Another thing I’ve been curious about is counting the number of Zigbee devices connected, including those that are unavailable. I use Zigbee2MQTT and I’m looking for the best approach to do this. Does anyone know a template or a built-in function that can help with this? I’d appreciate any suggestions!
On a lighter note, I’ve been experimenting with integrating my Hue bulbs with Govee devices. It’s been a fun challenge to create seamless automation scenarios. I’d love to hear about your experiences and tips for combining different brands in a smart home setup!
Let’s keep the conversation going—what are your favorite smart home hacks or automation success stories? I’d love to hear from you all!