How Andrew Rebuilt His Solo Smart Home When a Roommate Moved In

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.

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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.

Zooz

If you're looking to upgrade your smart home - you can’t go past Zooz! Zooz offers a range of affordable and innovative devices, including water leak sensors, water valve controllers, smart plugs and scene controllers.

For the best prices on all Zooz products, head over to https://thesmartesthouse.com

Notion

Notion is an AI-powered, connected workspace for teams. Notion brings all your notes, docs, and projects into one space that just works. Try Custom Agents now at https://notion.com/homeassistant

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

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @rohank9

Buy Rohan a Coffee

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