Table of Contents
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| 023 | 2026-05-28 | published | Keep It Techie | Keep It Techie | The IT Guy Show 023 | Josh from Keep It Techie joins me on the practical realities of homelab ownership: cost-benefit, apartment constraints, colocation trade-offs, and when to build. | Josh Lacey of Keep It Techie and I break down the real cost-benefit of running a homelab and whether it's time to bring the lab home. | Josh Lacey | creator of Keep It Techie |
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Abstract
Home labs have evolved from hobbyist experiments to essential infrastructure for tech professionals, but knowing when to build one, and how, isn't always clear. Josh from Keep It Techie joins me to discuss the practical realities of homelab ownership: the cost-benefit calculations, the apartment constraints, and the decisions that actually matter when you're running real workloads. From colocation trade-offs to gigabit fiber potential, we break down my current setup and explore whether it's time to bring the lab home.
Hook
Homelabs went from hobby to real infrastructure, but nobody tells you when it actually makes sense to build one. Josh from Keep It Techie helps me do the math.
Agenda
The Homelab Philosophy
- Why build a homelab in 2026?
- Subscription fatigue and the self-hosting renaissance
- When does a homelab make financial sense?
Josh's Journey
- How Josh got started and how his setup evolved
- Lessons learned from mistakes and upgrades
- Content creation around homelab projects
Eric's Current Situation
- Proxmox, Dell PowerEdge R720 in colocation: pros and cons
- 3GB Google Fiber: untapped potential?
- Current workloads and the apartment dilemma: noise, heat, space
The Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Colocation costs vs. home power bills
- Hardware depreciation and refresh cycles
- Hidden costs: cooling, UPS, networking gear
Practical Decision Making
- Apartment-friendly strategies, noise, and thermal management
- When to upgrade vs. when to relocate
- Building for current needs vs. future proofing
Keywords
home lab, self-hosting, infrastructure, plex, colocation, data center, gigabit fiber, dell poweredge, apartment homelab, local llm, keep it techie, home networking, hypervisor, power consumption
Links
- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/itguyeric
- Keep It Techie: https://keepittechie.com
- 45 Homelab: https://45homelab.com/
- Cloudflare: https://www.cloudflare.com/
Blog Post
Homelabs went from weekend hobby to real infrastructure, but nobody hands you the math on when it actually makes sense to build one. Josh from Keep It Techie joined me to work through it, using my own setup as the example.
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A few things worth carrying away from this one:
- When a homelab pays off. We talked through subscription fatigue, the self-hosting renaissance, and the point where running your own gear beats renting someone else's.
- The real costs. Colocation versus a home power bill, hardware refresh cycles, and the hidden stuff like cooling, UPS, and networking that nobody budgets for.
- The apartment problem. Noise, heat, and space are the constraints that decide whether the lab comes home, and we got honest about mine.
If you're weighing whether to bring the lab home or leave it in colo, this one gives you the questions to ask.