Integrating KNX with Home Assistant (HA) is the “gold standard” for professional-grade smart homes. While Wi-Fi and Zigbee are great for hobbyists, KNX offers a hardwired, decentralized backbone that works even if HA is offline. To bridge these two worlds,…

Build an ESP32 air quality station for Home Assistant using SCD41 or SCD30 for CO₂, SGP40 for VOCs, and SDS011 for PM2.5, with clear wiring, ESPHome setup, MQTT alternatives, dashboard examples, and practical automations for healthier indoor air. If you…

Learn how to use ESP32 with LoRa for long-range remote sensing in Home Assistant, with practical node and gateway design, MQTT topics, YAML sensors, and reliability tips for garden, well, or shed monitoring Wi-Fi is great indoors, but it often…

A huge amount of serious home energy hardware speaks Modbus RTU over RS-485: With one ESP32 and a cheap MAX485 (RS-485) transceiver, you can build a gateway that: This guide covers: 1. Modbus RTU & RS-485 in 2 minutes 2.…

If you’ve ever forgotten wet laundry in the washing machine for 3 hours, you already understand the value of this automation. Laundry machines and dryers have a very distinct power signature: By monitoring power, Home Assistant can reliably detect: This…

A classic doorbell can be upgraded into a smart doorbell with just: With Home Assistant you can: This guide covers: 1. Hardware Overview Base setup (no camera): Optional add-on: ⚠️ If your doorbell is powered by mains voltage, only work…

Turn a garage door or sliding gate into a smart Home Assistant device with ESP32, a relay, and a reed switch, adding remote open/close control, closed-position feedback, notifications, and practical safety automations A lot of garage doors and sliding gates…

12V LED strips (RGB or RGBW) are one of the easiest ways to add smart lighting to a room – behind the TV, under cabinets, around the bed, or as indirect ceiling lighting. With an ESP32, a few MOSFETs, and…

An ESP32 with an IR LED and a small IR receiver can replace multiple remotes: This guide shows how to: 1. Hardware Required Important: Don’t drive an IR LED directly from an ESP32 GPIO at full current – always use…

A simple boiler or electric heater can behave like a full smart thermostat using: This guide shows how to build a room or boiler thermostat with: Both DS18B20 (wired, accurate, great for pipes/tanks) and SHT45 (room temp/humidity) are covered. 1.…