How Andrew Rebuilt His Solo Smart Home When a Roommate Moved In
Home Assistant Podcast
Privacy and simple presence for housemates
Andrew describes tracking his roommate via a hard-coded IP presence approach to avoid phone tracking and apps.
Andrew joins Phil and Rohan to share how he outgrew Apple HomeKit and built a powerful multi-user smart home in Home Assistant. We cover presence detection with ESP32s and sensors, ditching MyQ for a Meross garage opener, Yale smart locks, bathroom humidity fan automations, and fun ESPN sports goal alerts.
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA223
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Chapters
00:00:00 - Welcome, Sponsors, Intro
00:02:00 - Andrew’s Tech Beginnings
00:05:00 - From Apple Home to HA
00:08:00 - Breaking HomeKit Limitations
00:11:00 - Hardware: Pi to Proxmox
00:14:00 - Backups, Restores, Cleanup
00:16:30 - Multi-User Automation Challenges
00:19:00 - Presence Without Phone Tracking
00:22:00 - Buttons, Switches, Voice Balance
00:25:00 - ESP32 Presence And Motion
00:29:00 - Bathroom Humidity Fan Logic
00:33:00 - Sensor Health & Batteries
00:36:00 - Lighting Philosophy & Accents
00:39:00 - WLED, TV Backlights, Aesthetics
00:41:30 - Goals For The Year, Wrap-Up
This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors
Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa
Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Configuration is via the User Interface so no fiddling with router settings, dynamic DNS, or YAML.
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Products Discussed
Meross Smart Garage Door Opener (with reed sensor): https://amzn.to/4ratgV5
Third Reality Smart Switch (Toggle/rocker add-on): https://amzn.to/4kupS4S
Aqara Temperature & Humidity Sensor: https://amzn.to/4twysV1
Philips Hue Dimmer Switch: https://amzn.to/3MskUZN
Philips Hue Lightstrips: https://amzn.to/465QhA5
Govee Floor Lamp: https://amzn.to/4rfMRDv
Hosts
Phil Hawthorne
Twitter: @philhawthorne
Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com
Rohan Karamandi
Twitter: @rohank9
This episode contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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