Home Assistant Podcast

Join hosts Phil Hawthorne and Rohan Karamandi as they explore the newest Home Assistant releases and the latest Home Automation news. Featuring guests who use or contribute to Home Assistant, the podcast aims to inspire new ways to make your home smarter.

  1. 187 Automations, 300 Devices: Josh’s Smart Home Assistant Journey

    DEC 16

    187 Automations, 300 Devices: Josh’s Smart Home Assistant Journey

    Josh from Josh’s Smart Home joins Phil and Rohan to unpack a 300-device Home Assistant setup running on Home Assistant Green. We dive into the move from SmartThings, building a reliable Zigbee mesh, energy automations with Tesla Powerwall and a smart pool pump and theatre room presence. Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA215 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:22 - Meet Josh 00:02:18 - Early smart home missteps 00:04:12 - SmartThings and Lutron 00:05:54 - WebCoRE ends, HA begins 00:09:29 - Home Assistant Green setup 00:09:34 - Zigbee mesh with Aqara 00:12:55 - Theater gear quirks 00:14:18 - Theater automation philosophy 00:22:02 - Time-of-use energy automations 00:23:00 - Powerwall + solar in HA 00:26:31 - ROI and arbitrage 00:28:28 - Tesla automations 00:32:42 - Dashboards and voice control 00:37:19 - Washer/dryer and doorbell alerts 00:40:37 - 187 automations, time saved 00:44:20 - Motion and humidity control 00:48:56 - Measuring automation impact 00:50:02 - Smart blinds convenience 00:50:19 - Yarbo mower and snowblower 00:58:43 - Security and utility uses 01:06:59 - Starting Josh’s Smart Home 01:10:27 - Automation content plans 01:12:45 - Top new-build tips 01:15:56 - Designing and building 01:21:26 - Where to find Josh 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 Products Discussed Reolink Video Doorbell: https://amzn.to/4a7LIId Apple TV 4K: https://amzn.to/4prsT7n Narwal robot vacuum and mop: https://amzn.to/3KgSaSK UV insect light traps: https://amzn.to/484CNEY Yarbo robotic core with mower/snow modules: https://amzn.to/3LOtOQV 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 This podcast 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. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 22m
  2. From Alexa to Assist: NetworkChuck’s Smart Home with Frigate, UniFi, and AI

    DEC 9

    From Alexa to Assist: NetworkChuck’s Smart Home with Frigate, UniFi, and AI

    YouTuber NetworkChuck joins Phil and Rohan to break down his real-world Home Assistant setup: migrating off Alexa, building a Home Assistant voice assistant (with a Terry Crews voice clone!), wiring Frigate to Reolink cameras, and using UniFi + AI to debug Wi‑Fi chaos. We also compare Node‑RED vs n8n, talk Plex vs Jellyfin and NAS headaches, inventory with Grocy, mmWave presence, ESP32 room presence, and how local AI stacks up against GPT/Claude for home automations. Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA214 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 - Welcome 00:02:30 - Network Chuck’s background 00:06:30 - Discovering Home Assistant 00:10:30 - Toilet paper saga automation 00:14:30 - From Alexa to Home Assistant Voice 00:20:30 - Frigate cameras and Reolink lessons 00:27:30 - Face and plate recognition ideas 00:32:00 - Local AI models vs cloud 00:39:00 - Family adoption and analog rebounds 00:43:30 - Presence, phones, mmWave, ESP32 00:48:30 - Halloween thunderstorm and Plex fun 00:52:30 - Node-RED vs n8n in automations 00:58:00 - Plex vs Jellyfin and NAS woes 01:05:30 - Grocy, inventory, and shopping hacks 01:12:00 - Air quality, energy, and next steps 01:18:00 - Enterprise talk and 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 Products Discussed NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs (dual GPU local AI rig): https://amzn.to/4a5Lf9w Smart locks: Nuki Smart Lock: https://amzn.to/47VH6nj Smart locks: Level Lock: https://amzn.to/3XtPdBz Smart locks: August Smart Lock: https://amzn.to/4id1ovK 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 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. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 25m
  3. Home Assistant 2025.12: Labs, Smarter Automations, Real‑Time Energy and Frenck

    DEC 2

    Home Assistant 2025.12: Labs, Smarter Automations, Real‑Time Energy and Frenck

    We’re closing out the final Home Assistant release for 2025 with Frenck and a massive Home Assistant 2025.12. Home Assistant Labs, purpose‑specific triggers and conditions, a smarter automation UI, real‑time power flows in Energy, Android Auto/Widgets improvements, tons of new integrations, and more. Plus hardware talk: ZBT2, Zigbee 4, and Matter.js joining the Open Home Foundation. Watch this episode on YouTube https://homeassistant.fm/HA213 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome 00:03:30 Frenck’s streaming cadence and creator burnout 00:06:45 Moving houses: keep or strip the smart home? 00:10:46 EV charger dilemma & e‑waste perspective 00:12:50 2025 recap: guests, sponsors, community 00:15:50 Home Assistant ZBT-2 launch, Zigbee 4 headlines, migrations 00:19:10 Open Home Foundation structure & focus areas 00:22:59 Matter.js joins OHF and why it matters 00:24:59 Arduino policy changes & the ESPHome angle 00:25:34 2025.12 overview and Labs introduction 00:26:44 Home Assistant Labs: opt‑in previews, backups, feedback 00:31:55 Purpose‑specific triggers & conditions explained 00:40:50 New automation UI: target‑first and context‑aware 01:03:17 Home dashboard upgrades & the new For You sidebar 01:13:21 Energy dashboard: live power flows and water devices 01:19:40 Android: Add to Widgets & Android Auto favorites 01:23:13 ESPHome entity IDs standardized for new devices 01:24:17 Pet tech: Tuya litter boxes and assorted updates 01:25:10 OpenAI model update, SQL templates, UI card tweaks 01:27:49 New integrations roundup (Hue BLE, Victron BLE, more) 01:32:18 Template helper deprecation, repairs, migration path 01:35:38 Integration removals: Domino’s & Hive alarm changes 01:36:54 32‑bit/supervised deprecation & migration guidance 01:40:25 CES plans, upcoming episodes 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 Products Discussed Home Assistant ZBT2 (Zigbee radio): https://amzn.to/4pLxykT Lutron Caseta light switches: https://amzn.to/48rNmSN 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 This podcast 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. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 43m
  4. From Pi to Blue, we’re revisiting Courtenay Watson

    NOV 25

    From Pi to Blue, we’re revisiting Courtenay Watson

    We’re revisiting Courtenay, who was last spoke to on Episode 45 six years ago. She’s here to share six years of Home Assistant progress: moving from Raspberry Pi to Home Assistant Blue, mastering the Energy Dashboard with MQTT, surviving cloud outages on Tuya, and restoring from backups in minutes. Watch this episode on YouTube https://homeassistant.fm/ha212 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:04 2019 setup recap 00:03:31 Hardware: Blue and N2+ 00:06:00 Real‑time energy tracking 00:12:00 Breaker chaos, disaggregation 00:16:30 Dashboards and thermostat 00:22:00 Tuya cloud lighting 00:27:30 Offline behavior, habits 00:29:30 Less YAML, more UI 00:33:30 Backups and restore 00:38:30 Z‑Wave LR range talk 00:41:30 LoRa and Meshtastic 00:42:00 Hubs, Matter/Thread woes 00:48:00 Voice assistants: then vs now 00:51:00 Everyday control patterns 00:55:00 Advice for new users 00:59:30 Recorder and data 01:03:07 Six‑year roadmap and robots 01:06:14 Wrap‑up and contact info 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 Products Discussed Raspberry Pi 2 Model B: https://amzn.to/43Dppq4 Ecobee Thermostat: https://amzn.to/3XtOTCR Shelly energy monitoring clamps: https://amzn.to/488TjDX Sense Home Energy Monitor: https://amzn.to/4re7oss Home Assistant Connect ZWA2 (Z‑Wave radio): https://amzn.to/3MfPzsP Meshtastic LoRa nodes: https://amzn.to/4ihcSyy 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 This video 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. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 6m
  5. Inside the Open Home: Darren Griffin

    NOV 18

    Inside the Open Home: Darren Griffin

    Go inside the Open Home Foundation with Darren, the web developer behind Home Assistant’s sites. From keeping the various Open Home Project websites online to automating his own home, we cover a lot in this one. Watch this episode on YouTube https://homeassistant.fm/ha211 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. Support Rohan and Phil on Patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro, sponsors, Darren’s role 00:07:12 Community contributions beyond code 00:12:30 Remote culture at Open Home 00:20:30 Privacy, cloud devices, risks 00:27:30 Digital IDs and translation dilemmas 00:33:30 Early Home Assistant days 00:38:30 Frigate, cameras, smart automations 00:48:05 NSPanel Pro door previews 00:54:30 Zigbee, Z-Wave, and locks 01:01:00 mmWave presence and zones 01:06:30 ESPHome projects and 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 thesmartesthouse.com Notion Notion brings all your notes, docs, and projects into one connected space that just works — it’s seamless, flexible, powerful, and actually fun to use. With AI built right in, you spend less time switching between tools and more time creating great work. Try Notion, now with Notion Agent, at notion.com/homeassistant 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 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 10m
  6. Brewing With Home Assistant: From Modbus PIDs to ESPHome Fermentation Control with Greg Martin

    NOV 11

    Brewing With Home Assistant: From Modbus PIDs to ESPHome Fermentation Control with Greg Martin

    Greg joins Phil and Rohan to share how he built a brewery control system with ESPHome and Home Assistant: Modbus PID retrofits, ESP32-based temperature control with one-wire probes and 24V valves, Bluetooth gravity sensors via proxies, pressure management, and full on-site HA installs with PoE satellites. Watch this episode on YouTube https://homeassistant.fm/ha210 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. Support Rohan and Phil on Patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro, sponsors, and Greg’s background 00:05:30 From Modbus PIDs to ESPHome brewery control (gravity, pressure, 1‑Wire) 00:10:45 Turning it into a business: pilot installs, testbeds, and scale 00:15:45 Local-first architecture: on-site Home Assistant, PoE satellites, Bluetooth proxy 00:22:30 Hardware talk: Blue/Yellow/Green, mini PCs, RAM needs, migration plans 00:28:00 Home automations: locks, Reolink presence, candles, sump/dehumidifier monitoring 00:35:00 Water and power: AI-on-the-edge metering, overuse alerts, three-phase pumps & contactors 00:42:00 QoL automations: fish-feeding sensor, night stair lighting, backup ideas 00:49:30 Fun stuff: ESPN team goal lights, polling vs. streaming delays, event triggers 00:55:00 Data + reporting: Utility Meter, History Stats, InfluxDB, AI ideas, alerts, 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 thesmartesthouse.com 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 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    59 min
  7. Home Assistant 2025.11: Improved target picker and energy pie charts

    NOV 4

    Home Assistant 2025.11: Improved target picker and energy pie charts

    In this episode Phil and Rohan break down Home Assistant 2025.11. We cover the revamped Automation UI with the new target picker, naming options on dashboards, the new Energy pie chart, update progress indicators, and an upgraded Home dashboard. Watch this episode on YouTube https://hasspodcast.io/ha209 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. Support Rohan and Phil on Patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro, sponsors, livestream 00:02:30 - Open Home news, GitHub 00:06:00 - Eltako joins works with program, Yellow retired 00:12:30 - LinknLink eMotion mmWave sensors hands-on 00:23:30 - AWS outage smart beds 00:27:00 - Plex debate, privacy 00:31:00 - Smart plugs and 3D printers 00:35:00 - Energy monitoring, CT clamps 00:38:30 - 2025.11 automation updates 00:44:30 - Smoke/CO relay project 00:47:30 - New integrations roundup 00:51:30 - Breaking changes, Python 00:54:00 - Neato cloud shutdown 00:56:30 - Wrap-up and outro 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 thesmartesthouse.com 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 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    57 min
  8. Garage Doors, E‑Ink Dashboards, and Entity Chaos with the Evil Genius Dave Slusher

    OCT 30

    Garage Doors, E‑Ink Dashboards, and Entity Chaos with the Evil Genius Dave Slusher

    Podcaster Dave Slusher joins Phil and Rohan to share hard-won smart home lessons: building a reliable mesh, solving a 100m mailbox sensor with Z-Wave Long Range and the ZWA2, and retiring MyQ with RATGDO + ESPHome. We also cover using an e‑ink terminal as a Home Assistant dashboard. Watch this episode on YouTube https://hasspodcast.io/ha208 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. Support Rohan and Phil on Patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:23 Guest intro: Dave Slusher’s podcasting origin story 00:04:59 Discovering Home Assistant  00:07:20 Hardware journey: Raspberry Pi 3/4, SD crashes, backups, staying on Pi 00:09:40 ZWA2 portable capability 00:11:10 Zigbee mesh realities 00:13:56 The mailbox quest 00:19:16 Power monitoring the lawnmower + adding Z‑Wave plug to the mesh 00:20:31 Beating peak electricity pricing with calendar‑driven automations 00:24:50 Buying for Home Assistant 00:31:26 Audi e‑tron HACS 00:33:00 ‘Terminal’ e‑ink display 00:41:11 Fun APIs: Domino’s throwback and accidental developer‑friendly brands 00:44:25 Update strategy + restoring from backups when an upgrade breaks boot 00:46:26 Entity naming conventions, device vs entity IDs, and maintainability 00:49:18 The router kill‑switch: renaming a plug and unintended automations 00:52:19 Ping watchdog automation for internet recovery (8.8.8.8) 00:54:58 Labels, documentation, and making a smart home family‑friendly 01:00:00 Selling a smart home: what stays, what goes, and account handoffs 01:02:16 First device nostalgia: Sonoff relay, app sprawl, and converging on HA 01:07:52 Next projects: buying with purpose, reliability over novelty 01:10:00 Mac mini (Linux Mint) homelab, Synology vs Docker, consolidating services 01:12:18 Package tracking with 17Track, long strings, and dashboard rendering 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 thesmartesthouse.com Notion Notion brings all your notes, docs, and projects into one connected space that just works — it’s seamless, flexible, powerful, and actually fun to use. With AI built right in, you spend less time switching between tools and more time creating great work. Try Notion, now with Notion Agent, at notion.com/homeassistant 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 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 24m
4.9
out of 5
69 Ratings

About

Join hosts Phil Hawthorne and Rohan Karamandi as they explore the newest Home Assistant releases and the latest Home Automation news. Featuring guests who use or contribute to Home Assistant, the podcast aims to inspire new ways to make your home smarter.

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