I’ve been playing around with something called Home Assistant this week. It’s like Alexa, HomePod, etc, but it’s all open source and runs on the local network(with optional cloud-based control).
I bought a cheap wifi IR blaster from Amazon for ¥1500(£10) and flashed it with something called Tasmota. Tasmota devices have a web admin page where you can change settings, check logs, etc. I got fed up of messing around with the MQTT stuff needed to get Tasmotized devices chatting and decided to try ESPHome which has its own API but everything is done by editing YAML files.
If that all sounds like gibberish, it’s because it is. Nonsense, really.
Anyway, Home Assistant(HA) is the brains of the outfit. It’s a nice web server where you can connect up your stuff and create automations, scripts, etc. It’s still early days for me but it seems to have lots of features and an add-on store. It can also integrate with all kinds of things like KODI and Spotify. There’s even an add-on that checks your Nintendo wish list for price drops. It could flash all your ceiling lights on/off when EDF World Brothers drops below 50%
After much fiddling and fondling, I’ve got the IR blaster set up so I can control my AC, room fan, TV and ceiling light from the iPhone. That’s groovy but the novelty soon wears off. I’m currently working on automation to adjust the AC at night:
We keep the AC at 28 but I usually need it a bit colder to fall asleep.
Now I can set it to 27 and head to dreamland, then HA will change it to 28 a few hours later and direct the airflow away from me.
Other projects I’m considering:
- turning an old remote into a universal remote. iPhone screen is ok in a pinch, but nothing compared to physical buttons
- putting the IR blaster on a wall and using it as a repeater for remote controls that aren’t too sensitive(AC) or are blocked by something(TV’s IR is partially blocked by the sound bar)
- having HA turn our room fan back on after the forced shutoff(8 hours)
I know this functionality is available elsewhere, and I’m not that paranoid about cloud shenanigans, but it’s fun to tinker and I can buy cheap devices from different manufacturers and flash them to work with the existing setup.
Anyone dabbling in home automation/smart home stuff?
I bought a cheap wifi IR blaster from Amazon for ¥1500(£10) and flashed it with something called Tasmota. Tasmota devices have a web admin page where you can change settings, check logs, etc. I got fed up of messing around with the MQTT stuff needed to get Tasmotized devices chatting and decided to try ESPHome which has its own API but everything is done by editing YAML files.
If that all sounds like gibberish, it’s because it is. Nonsense, really.
Anyway, Home Assistant(HA) is the brains of the outfit. It’s a nice web server where you can connect up your stuff and create automations, scripts, etc. It’s still early days for me but it seems to have lots of features and an add-on store. It can also integrate with all kinds of things like KODI and Spotify. There’s even an add-on that checks your Nintendo wish list for price drops. It could flash all your ceiling lights on/off when EDF World Brothers drops below 50%
After much fiddling and fondling, I’ve got the IR blaster set up so I can control my AC, room fan, TV and ceiling light from the iPhone. That’s groovy but the novelty soon wears off. I’m currently working on automation to adjust the AC at night:
We keep the AC at 28 but I usually need it a bit colder to fall asleep.
Now I can set it to 27 and head to dreamland, then HA will change it to 28 a few hours later and direct the airflow away from me.
Other projects I’m considering:
- turning an old remote into a universal remote. iPhone screen is ok in a pinch, but nothing compared to physical buttons
- putting the IR blaster on a wall and using it as a repeater for remote controls that aren’t too sensitive(AC) or are blocked by something(TV’s IR is partially blocked by the sound bar)
- having HA turn our room fan back on after the forced shutoff(8 hours)
I know this functionality is available elsewhere, and I’m not that paranoid about cloud shenanigans, but it’s fun to tinker and I can buy cheap devices from different manufacturers and flash them to work with the existing setup.
Anyone dabbling in home automation/smart home stuff?