Homeautomation on Baldarn's

Local home automation, cloud AI: I want to be in control

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday I got my hands on the air conditioning units.

The AC units, locally

The goal was to run them locally with Home Assistant. Four wires, a connector and a system I keep at home, without depending on the manufacturer’s service.

It’s something I care a lot about: owning my devices, under my control. If the manufacturer shuts down its service tomorrow, I can still turn on my air conditioner.

A bracelet that listens to everything: I'd want one, but only running locally

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A bracelet that listens to what I say, transcribes it and prepares a summary for me. Would I want one? Yes. But on one condition.

The usefulness

I can see how useful it would be. I say I need to do something tomorrow and it offers to put it in my calendar. I already use automatic meeting summaries in Meet, and devices like Omi are heading in this direction. Then there are glasses and all the other gadgets on the way.

Home automation, artificial intelligence and agents: the future of the smart home

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve started making YouTube videos, and the first topic could only be the one I’ve been passionate about for years: home automation.

Hardware, software and DIY

If you follow this blog, you know: I’ve spent quite a lot of time taking apart relays, flashing ESPHome and configuring Home Assistant. DIY home automation is a world where hardware and software meet, and where you get to decide how your home should work.

Water meter

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hello! How can you monitor the water that arrives in your house? What if a leack happend?

With a water meter you can count live how much water is being used and fastly detect leackage!!

Hardware

yf-DN40 Water meter (aliexpress link)

Esphome configuration

The configuration was really simple, I followed a github repo to get the esphome configuration that I nedded

I used a spare esp8266 nodemcu that I have running on my desk

Check for finished appliances using just one global power meter

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I only have a single power meter, connected to my main power line.

So I cannot single out the various appliances by power consumption; but I came up with a simple way of telling if a power-consuming appliance has completed, like my tumble drier which is in my basement.

First create an input_boolean, this will hold the state that an appliance is on.

Go to Settings, Devices and services, then Helpers, and click Create helper.

Smart thermostat

Sun, 15 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Here we are again with a practical guide to start your #homeautomation journey!

Shopping list

esp32 ~ 8 euros
BME280 (humidity, temperature, pressure) ~ 4.5 euros
BME680 (humidity, temperature, pressure, gas) ~ 7.5 euros

Positioninig

The best position for you sensor will be at ~ 1.5 m from the ground (the typical height for thermostats)

Home assistant

Here is the #esphome configuration for your devices

TODO

Initial setup

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Here we are again with a practical guide to start your #homeautomation journey!

Shopping list

raspberry pi ~100 euros
usb c power supply (3.5A recommended) ~ 15 euros
SD card (64GB class 2 recommended) ~ 15 euros

Home assistant

You can install #homeassistant in your raspberry pi. Here the official guide

I strongly suggest the installation with the operating system, but if you are confident and want to play more with your raspberry, you can install a distro and then install #homeassistant. Your call!

Smart Alarm

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Today I will give you an idea for a smart functionality of your smart alarm! The automatic activation and deactivation of the alarm! Why do you have to manually enable the alarm? With some #homeassistant magic you can automatically enable it when you leave home and disable it when you come back!

Alarm hardware

snzb-03 Motion sensor
snzb-04 Door/window sensor
zzbridge Zigbee bridge

Pro/Cons

wifi vs zigbee

wifi is low cost, but battery expensive and not decentralized. You could not reach all your devices