Can't go wrong with a pi. I'm using a pi4 for mine with a sonoff usb ZigBee dongle. Can't give you accurate power consumption but it'll be fairly minimal I would think.
I relate hard to this. Same general trend as you but I'm in web dev.
When I started, we built sites in tables before Ajax was a thing. Then there was the golden age of standards and jQuery before the JavaScript framework wars. Recently it's just been absolute new tech overload turning keeping up with latest developments into its own full time job.
Then came along ai, being the new IoT and getting shoved into things it has no right being in. Combine that with pressure on using it to ship faster and 'reduce costs' has soured me a fair bit.
It does produce more code but I've no real confidence in its output and quickly lose track of the codebase because I'm not making the granular detailed decisions that build up a project. Combine that with it hallucinating functions that don't exist, making up requirements and generally just being fairly mediocre at best is making the job not what I signed up to do. But, the powers that be have bought into the hype and usage must continue until morale (and profits) improves.
Like you, I've no real alternatives so have to stick with it for the time being.
I was finding that at nights I would make dinner and park myself on the couch watching YouTube for 3-4 hours. Nothing specific, just whatever the algorithm was feeding me. It was not a good time and I think it added to the general sense of being burned out. Combine that with general world events over the last few years and it's just a mental shit show waiting to happen.
Like you, I decided to try something physical and I took up watercolour painting recently just to have some sort of non screen related hobby I could do at nights. I was never good at art in school so figured the abstract nature of it might be a good fit and I've been really enjoying it. Yes, I'm still watching bits of YouTube but in a more targeted way.
I would highly recommend something creative and analogue to anyone reading and relating to your post or mine.
There's a nice feeling of seeing your skills improve and having something tangible to show for the time spent rather than the distant memory of consuming some random digital media you weren't actively seeking out.
I liked his channel for the radio stuff and occasionally watched wire reports about international events. With recent American events that have popped up on my feed over the last few weeks, he's swan dived into the kool-aid.
I feel this is an attack on me personally