If you’re interested in 3D printing, you probably recognize brands like Bambu Lab, Creality, Prusa, and Elegoo. But a decade ago, the brand on every 3D printing nerd’s lips was MakerBot.

The reason many of us build smart homes and tinker with microcontrollers is to make the mundane feel a little more special. Though these projects are far from necessary, they can bring a bit of magic to your everyday routines and teach you a thing or two along the way.

Finding novel uses for your 3D printer is one of the best ways to burn through a few rolls of filament, so I’m always on the lookout. Though these household hacks definitely fall into the “nice to have” category, anything that makes the boring jobs easier is worth a look.

As someone who is very fond of my smart home setup, I’ll be the first to admit that a lot of it is surplus to requirements. Rarely would I recommend everyone install color-changing bulbs or relinquish control of the HVAC to just a smartphone app or a Home Assistant integration.

I don’t currently have any visible clocks on display in my house. I’m never without my watch or phone, and I decided that if I were to sacrifice some space for a dedicated timepiece, it would need to be something special, different, or interesting.

Occasionally rebooting your router and modem is pretty normal, and some routers even have a reboot schedule function that can take care of this for you. Though problematic network equipment should be replaced, adding a smart plug to your setup can save you effort and even automate the entire process.

Stop letting old devices rot in a drawer and bring them back to life with the help of an inexpensive microcontroller and some code. The ESP32 is perfect for this task.

Are you putting up with pesky household problems? The ones you’ve almost forgotten about, but that make a massive difference to your quality of life when they’re finally fixed?

I added my Bambu Lab 3D printer to Home Assistant as soon as I realized I could, but it wasn’t until after doing so that I realized what I’d been missing out on. How you go about this depends largely on which printer you own, but there’s an integration out there for most printers.

In my search for a media center front-end, Home Assistant server, media server, and do-everything-else computer, I briefly considered buying a Raspberry Pi. Then I caught wind of the used Mac mini market, and it was clear which direction made more sense.

Battery-powered tools are now powerful enough to tackle most jobs, with an ever-growing range of options from impact drivers to nail guns and everything in between. These live in your shed or garage when you’re not using them—but this could be a big mistake.

It’s been an interesting year for 3D printers. We’ve had brand new models, updated favorites, and several companies making big strides to push the technology forward. We’ve also had some disappointments that have me feeling a little more skeptical than I was last year.

The 1GB Raspberry Pi 5 was introduced in the midst of a RAM crisis that has seen prices of the once-affordable single-board computer hit the roof. You can still get your hands on one for $45 (for now), and your investment can pay for itself in a matter of months if you use it to ditch your subscriptions.

PLA is the cheapest, safest, and arguably most versatile 3D printing filament, but it’s not without its drawbacks. In addition to being a poor choice for prints that live outside or need to withstand heat and direct sunlight, PLA can deform over time.

Most modern 3D printers meet or exceed the bar of satisfactory print quality, making it a relatively trivial metric for comparing models. If you’re shopping for a printer right now, you’ll want to consider some other things instead.

Another year, another IFA conference. How-To Geek is scouring the halls of Messe Berlin to uncover all the new innovative tech at IFA 2026. Through our search, we've managed to go hands-on with the slimmest portable SSD of all time, super-long-lasting hybrid batteries, the first batch of RTX Spark laptops, and more.

Whether your homelab consists of an ISP-provided router and a mini PC or a whole rack that takes up the corner of your spare room, it could always benefit from a few considered upgrades.

It’s no secret that a good percentage of thefts are opportunistic in nature. Thieves target items that are easy to grab, so a good defense often boils down to making items less inviting.