Finally! Sonoffs work with Home Assistant without changing the firmware!

Non-Flashers rejoice!  There’s a custom component for Home Assistant that lets you use Sonoff Devices without changing the firmware, and best of all, it doesn’t use the cloud either :0   Let me give you 2 min of DIY smart home history. Way back in 2017 Sonoff made the cheapest smart switch (they still do)….

Home Assistant 101 – The introduction you’ve been waiting for

As the title indicates, this is an introduction level video. My purpose is to explain the basics of smart home control options and then talk a bit about Home Assistant. What it is, and why you would want to use it. This is really about creating a “Smart Home”.  Having a smart home means you…

Connecting Google Home w/o Home Assistant Cloud

Before starting ensure the following: – * Home Assistant configuration has to be externally accessible with a hostname and valid SSL certificate * Ensure you are logged into your preferred google account in your browser and mobile device. First we need to create a project titled “home assistant” with the help of Google Actions https://console.actions.google.com/…

|

Presence Detection with Life360 (or OwnTracks if you prefer)

Presence Detection: One of the most useful, and yet elusive, features of a good Smart Home is location tracking.  For as long as I’ve been involved in the DIY Smart Home community (which admittedly hasn’t been very long), there has been a clamoring among the people in search of the “best” way to incorporate location…