Smart Home

Real-world smart home builds with Home Assistant, sensors, and integrations that survive past the honeymoon period.

The Zigbee binding trick that keeps lights working when Home Assistant dies

Zigbee binding lets switches control lights directly without a hub. Covers Zigbee2MQTT and ZHA configuration, group binding, and common pitfalls.

Turn a cheap wall-mounted tablet into your smart home command center

Build a smart home control panel from a cheap Android tablet and Fully Kiosk Browser. Tablet picks, PoE and USB-C mounting, and room-ready layouts.

You won't believe your home's radon levels: a $150 ESPHome detector reveals them

Build a DIY radon detector with the FTLab RD200M pulsed ion-chamber sensor, an ESP32, and ESPHome firmware, then track readings live in Home Assistant.

Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition review: is the $59 box ready for daily use?

One-year review of the $59 Voice Preview Edition: fully local wake word detection, sub-second response, far-field mic array, and zero cloud calls.

Sync your EV charging with solar production in Home Assistant

Build a PV-surplus EV charge controller in Home Assistant that auto-adjusts current, talks to wall boxes and inverter APIs, and handles edge cases.

Smart thermostat under $30: DIY with ESP32, no subscription

A fully local smart thermostat from an ESP32, BME280 sensor, and relay, run by ESPHome and Home Assistant. No cloud, no subscription, under $30.