Welcome to my annual “State of My Smart Home” update for 2026. Every year, I look back and think I didn’t make that many changes, and every year, I’m proven wrong. The past year proved to be a period of steady yet meaningful improvements. Much of the work focused on strengthening my home’s technical foundation while also bringing more health and finance technology into my daily life. It was a reflective year that reminded me how a smart home is not only about gadgets and automations, but also about building systems that support a healthy, secure, and efficient lifestyle.

As always, this update walks through the upgrades I made in 2025, the ongoing maintenance that kept everything running smoothly, a snapshot of my current smart home inventory, and my plans for 2026.

My smart home background

I write about changes in my smart home frequently. If you want additional context behind the evolution of my smart home, these articles are a great place to start:

• My Smart Home Evolution Series — These articles talk about how I got into smart homes and how my smart home developed into what it is today
• 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 smart home update articles — These articles detail the changes I made and my plans for my smart home over the past three years
• Updating My Home Lab — This article details the basis for my current home lab infrastructure

The changes I made to my smart home in 2025

Every year, I initially think that I didn’t make many major upgrades. Then I start writing this article and realize how much actually changed. Here are the highlights from 2025.

Added a new Proxmox host

I introduced a new Proxmox host to my home lab using the Beelink EQi13 Pro mini PC (here’s my review of the unit). This compact, efficient machine has been a solid addition to my virtualization environment, and I have plans to use it even more in the future.

Migrated Home Assistant from a Python virtual environment to Home Assistant Operating System

After years of maintaining Home Assistant Core inside a Python virtual environment, the time finally came to move on to a more manageable installation method. I migrated everything to Home Assistant Operating System running inside Proxmox. The process wasn’t without hiccups, but it was absolutely worth it.

This was the single most impactful smart home upgrade I made this year. Maintenance is now easier, updates are simpler, and the overall system feels more stable.

Upgraded to the Pixel 10 Pro Fold

My Pixel 9 Pro Fold died unexpectedly. Google replaced it, but with Black Friday pricing and trade-in credits available, I took the opportunity to upgrade to the Pixel 10 Pro Fold (here’s my review of it and some accessories). So far, so good. I especially like the PixelSnap support and improved wireless charging.

Adopted more health tech

Two devices made a meaningful impact on my health routines this year.

• The first was the Withings BPM Vision blood pressure monitor, which integrates well into my daily habits. You can read about it in my Withings BPM Vision review, and you can see how it fits in my fitness journey.
• The second was the Stelo glucose biosensor, which helped me better understand how my body responds to food and activity. I wrote about that experience in my Stelo glucose biosensor article.

Added more filtration and air quality monitoring

SwitchBot sent me their Smart Air Purifier Table, which pulled double duty as both a table and an air purifier. Its Home Assistant integration and compact design made it a welcome addition. You can learn more in my SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review.

Installed a weather station

This year, I installed the Sainlogic SA7 weather station. It provides reliable, hyperlocal weather data that has already proven useful for outdoor planning and smarter automations. My full thoughts are in my Sainlogic SA7 weather station review.

Improved financial tracking habits

I took my financial tracking up a level in 2025 by moving to Monarch Money. It fits naturally into my workflow and has become one of the most valuable apps I use. You can learn why and how it might be useful for you in my Monarch Money review.

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Added Pebblebee trackers

I decided to step into tracking devices with Pebblebee’s rechargeable Bluetooth trackers. They integrate well with Android and help me keep tabs on luggage, bags, and other everyday items. You can read more in my Pebblebee trackers review.

Broadened my home tech ecosystem

I picked up a refurbished System76 Pangolin laptop that has been a reliable Linux machine for my workflow. I like having a Linux laptop, and I’ve always been happy with System76’s devices.

Additionally, I tested the SURGOAL heated hardshell jacket, which has been a surprisingly useful addition during winter walks and commutes. My full take is in my heated jacket review.

The never-ending cycle of smart home maintenance

Upgrading and maintaining a smart home is a year-round project. I spent plenty of time updating firmware across devices, routers, controllers, and LED systems. I continued updating Home Assistant, Docker containers, Proxmox virtual machines, and operating systems.

One standout item was upgrading Proxmox to version 9.1 to stay current. Fortunately, the upgrade went smoothly.

Moving to Home Assistant Operating System also reduced my long-term maintenance workload and keeps me on a supported installation path.

Inventorying my smart home

Here is this year’s updated device count compared to last year.

Category	2025 Count	2026 Count	Change
Total devices on network	183	187	+4
Home Assistant automations	167	190	+23
Home Assistant integrations	55	58	+3
Z-wave devices	43	43	0
Zigbee devices	6	6	0
Shelly relays	11	11	0
Wi Fi smart plugs	19	19	0
Security cameras	13	13	0
Smart bulbs	11	11	0
Flood sensors	4	4	0
WLED devices	11	11	0

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The biggest jumps came from automations. I guess I added a lot of functionality over the year. Some of the things I added were NFC tag automations for quick actions and some automations to put inspirational quotes on my Google Nest Hub every hour. Integrations increased slightly as well. The System76 laptop, air purifier, blood pressure monitor, and a couple of other small additions contributed to the growth of total devices.

My smart home plans for 2026

Every year, I sketch out plans, knowing that some will evolve or change as my needs shift. Here is what I plan to tackle in 2026.

Deploy a new Graylog LXC container

My current Graylog Docker container is outdated, and upgrade attempts have failed. I will be installing a new Graylog instance as an LXC container on my Beelink Proxmox host. Installation should be quick, but configuring everything and setting up alerting will take time.

Upgrade several Ubuntu machines to Resolute Raccoon (26.04)

Ubuntu’s next LTS release arrives in 2026. As usual, I will upgrade my desktops, servers, and VMs. These upgrades often turn into multi-day projects, but staying on an LTS release is important for stability and security, and I only have to do it every two years.

Move to an NVMe NAS

I plan to modernize my home storage by adding a quieter, more compact, lower-power NVMe NAS as my primary system. My current TerraMaster NAS will become a backup destination. If you want to know more about the TerraMaster F5 221 that currently serves as my primary storage, here is my review.

Fix the Zigbee ceiling fan that fell off the network

One of my Zigbee ceiling fans decided to permanently wander off into the void this year. I need to either re-pair it, replace it, or try a new integration method. I have two of them, but one of them just doesn’t want to show up as an active Zigbee device. If you want to learn more about the fan setup I use, see this article.

Clean up my Home Assistant code

My Home Assistant scripts and automations have grown organically over the years, which means I now have technical debt to address. I will be refactoring code, removing old entities, and organizing things into a cleaner, more maintainable structure.

Build new Home Assistant dashboards

Home Assistant has added a lot of powerful UI features recently. I have not redesigned my dashboards in a couple of years, so this feels like the right time to refresh them.

Look for new ways to incorporate AI in my smart home

I plan to explore new Assist-based Home Assistant automations and experiment with emerging AI capabilities. I’ll look into local AI processing, better natural language controls, new tools, and other creative uses that enhance my smart home.

Networking upgrade considerations

Last year, I briefly considered moving part of my network to 2.5GbE or even 10GbE. The speed gains would be nice, but the cost is high, and the benefits for my current workload are limited. Instead, I plan to invest my budget into the new NAS and maybe upgrade smaller parts of my network over time.

Final thoughts

2025 turned out to be a year of important behind-the-scenes improvements and meaningful additions to my health and financial tech ecosystem. As always, a smart home is never truly finished. There is always a project waiting to be tackled, an automation ready to be improved, or a new device worth trying. I look forward to sharing my changes with you along the way.

What smart home upgrades are you planning for 2026? I’d love to hear about them in the comments or on X/Twitter.