How was your 2025... and what are you looking forward to in 2026...?
For me a lot of non-HE/HA stuff in 2025, so not so much to reflect on in that space...
Wil be nice to spend more time on projects if I can in 2026...
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My main time suck for 2025 was our kitchen reno. It included adding some Inovelli on/off switches to provide power to 10 LED Strip controllers, a dimmer for a new light and an Aqara FP2 to detect presence in certain areas and help control those lights & LED’s.
Next year, I plan to change 10 of my Inovelli (and some Lutron) dimmers to the new Inovelli mmWave dimmers. Really looking forward to receiving them!
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Annoyingly I can't find your Kitchen reno.... Which was such a big thing... 
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Looking back I bought 12 Moes wifi matter bulbs, looking forward to discover how to turn from red to white on Hubitat instead of an insipid pink, at the moment Alexa does it perfectly
That will be a good day...When we finally turn pink into white...
Mrs Alexa can, and with ease
Glad you found a solution, albeit up in the clouds....
It would be a lot easier if Hubitat could do it, why can't they?
Sounds like a topic of it's own. if it isn't already...
This year I completely automated a new greenhouse with every sensor and control I could think to put into it, I added an automated deck fountain filler, and I built a Zigbee standing fan recently using a four relay Zigbee board. I rewrote a lot of my automation apps over this year as well, using better or simpler ways to do things.
I found I can do the below in Groovy to get a device wrapper from an app device setting name, using a value from a map that contains the scenes data for that device, and then pass the device wrapper and values to a method to command the device.
def devices = sceneMap."${scene}".collect{entry -> entry.value}
devices.each{device ->
def thisDevice = settings?."${device.d}"
commandDevice(thisDevice, device.s, device.l)
}
This is a much cleaner way of doing it than how I was doing scene executions before, where I was relying on mapped device label names to match up devices in a multi-input map of devices. Now I just build the setting name and get the device wrapper directly from the map data device value, since I also use the same device setting name in my scene map as the device name.
My Hubitat controlled heat failed for the first time in two years of using it, just a few weeks ago. The 7-32v input on the Zigbee relay board failed, and it was being powered by the 24v furnace power supply. I had added another standard relay board that would switch all zone valves back to being connected to the thermostats should the Zigbee board fail, but as it worked out I never tested that fail-safe board wiring, and it was not wired right. So my heat failed when it was 8 below zero and I only noticed hours later when going to bed that it seemed a bit "too" cool in the house! I manually rewired the thermostats back in until I got a new board two days later. I tested the fail-safe board this time, it now works as expected if the Hubitat board loses power.
Turns out that the old furnace board still worked from the 5v usb input, which I only found after replacing it, so that is the board I put in the standing fan last week for Zigbee control, as well as giving me a use for the rf remote that came with the new furnace board.
I'm probably buying a C8 Pro next year, I would have bought one when then they first came out but I had just bought a C8 before they made the C8 Pro announcement.
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I’d love to see the HE9 that can handle matter by itself without something like an Alex or Apple TV devices. Also wi-if devices including the Aqara FP1 as it has mappable zones.
I’d also like to see the Visual Rule Builder beefed up (for example you can have sunrise/sunset as a condition to start a rule, like turning on/off a switch or bulb, but there is no sunrise/sunset condition to then end the rule to turn it back off/on). Also explicit if/then/else “cards” to build rules to rival the Rule Machine.
I have virtually all the rules I need right now, but a constant quip by reviewers is the UI (albeit vastly better now than in years past) and their love for flows like Homey Pro. If nothing else, a robust VRB would garner much more praise for HE from them (and motivate them to do new reviews), thereby attracting more users, and thereby helping to guarantee their longevity.
Happy holidays to all and hopes for a great new year.
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I know if I buy a C8 Pro next year, one month later they will announce a new hub like they did right after I bought my C8 
There is no ZWave 9 release announced, but hopefully we will get a new hardware offering that is still based on Zwave 8, like a "C8 Ultimate" version that has a Bluetooth connect radio, a Matter coordinator, and be a Thread border router... well, we can dream.
Could you please buy the C8 Pro now then? I’m always looking forward to the next hub! 
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Perhaps that is the takeout from his topic....
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It’s on sale, so a good time to do so! 
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We've built six buildings in about 18 months on our property, but I think we're done now. It will be nice to NOT write many checks to contractors in 2026! The entire property is off grid and I designed and installed those solar power systems myself (except for 16 of the 64 panels that I had a crew install because of the height). I got the three main buildings done but still have small systems to install in three of the buildings (sauna, tractor barn, greenhouse) so those will be part of my 2026 focus. I also plan to get our greenhouse up and running and put in a decent garden this year, automating some of that, of course. I have to have a hip replaced this spring and that might slow me down for a day or two. If it works out, I think I might take up hiking.
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