Home Assistant Podcast

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Hiding Smart Tech in a 1950s Home: Mike’s Home Assistant Journey Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

Mike joins Phil and Rohan to share how he hides smart tech in a 1953 mid‑century home so it looks analog but works like magic. Plus: Roborock tricks, leak sensors that turn rooms blue, HomePod TTS vs Sonos ducking, Samsung Frame art‑mode headaches, and running full HA OS in a VMware Fusion VM on a Mac mini.

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Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA221

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Chapters

00:00:00 Welcome

00:03:00 Lighting gateway and Hue hack

00:05:30 Sneaking tech and dance reveal

00:08:00 From HomeKit/HomeBridge to HA

00:10:30 Dashboards and camera setup

00:12:30 Bulbs vs switches in 50s home

00:14:30 Bathroom fan and comforts

00:16:30 Homelab and Zigbee backbone

00:19:00 LLMs and announcements

00:21:30 Laundry alerts and Mac lab

00:25:30 Presence sensing strategy

00:28:00 Leak sensors and water safety

00:31:00 Light signals around the home

00:33:00 Roborock automations and hacks

00:40:30 Bedroom presence routines

00:43:00 Bayesian sensors and design

00:49:50 Time Machine and Frame TV

00:54:30 Pool fountain control

00:56:30 Power and crawlspace cabling

00:59:10 Party trick 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 https://thesmartesthouse.com

Products Discussed

Philips Hue bulbs and lightstrips: https://amzn.to/4k7paur

Aqara T2 wall switch: https://amzn.to/4jUTZm1

Samsung The Frame TV (43"): https://amzn.to/4t5mTnr

Zigbee main water shutoff valve (generic): https://amzn.to/4aURldj

Aqara water leak sensors: https://amzn.to/3Nest6A

Aqara door/window sensors: https://amzn.to/49hmu9B

Third Reality sensors: https://amzn.to/455ZR5F

Ecobee thermostat with room sensors: https://amzn.to/4t4XYjO

Bond Bridge (ceiling fan RF hub): https://amzn.to/3YAbHBm

Aqara roller shade controllers: https://amzn.to/3O8ihwI

Level Lock: https://amzn.to/3ZcU3Ug

SwitchBot Lock (with keypad/fingerprint accessory): https://amzn.to/4a55H92

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Smart Home Products

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

Home Assistant 2026.2: New Home Dashboard, Apps & our CES2026 wrap Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

We break down Home Assistant 2026.2: the Home Dashboard is now default, the new Command‑K command palette, a dedicated Matter dashboard, and add‑ons renamed to Apps. Plus: CES 2026 highlights, the Open Home Foundation device database and a Google Home outage.

Watch this episode on YouTube

Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA220

Support the Podcast

Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon.

https://homeassistant.fm/patreon

Share your story

Chapters

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:00 CES Highlights and Shoutouts

00:06:00 Device Database and Open Home

00:11:30 Cloud Outage and Local Control

00:13:50 Listener Feedback and Tips

00:21:20 2026.2 Release Overview

00:23:20 Home Dashboard Becomes Default

00:26:45 Command Palette and Shortcuts

00:29:40 Matter Dashboard and Apps Rename

00:32:40 Automations, Cards, and Buttons

00:37:10 Music Assistant, Media, Sponsor Break

00:41:10 New Integrations Roundup

00:46:25 Breaking Changes: Groups, Tuya

00:49:38 Closing Thoughts and Predictions

This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors

Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa

Zooz

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

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Rohan Karamandi

Twitter: @rohank9

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Inside the Works With Home Assistant program with Miranda Bishop Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

Miranda from the Open Home Foundation takes us inside the Works With Home Assistant program: how devices are tested, why the badge matters, and how vendors—from startups to big brands—can get certified. We cover Zigbee vs Z‑Wave vs Matter, badge misuse, regional device coverage, and Miranda’s own fun automations.

Watch this episode on YouTube

Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA219

Support the Podcast

Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon.

https://homeassistant.fm/patreon

Share your story

Chapters

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:20 Miranda’s path to HA

00:08:00 CES stories and community

00:14:30 Moving program to Foundation

00:22:30 Fees, pushback, endorsement?

00:29:30 Guidance, safety, and testing

00:36:30 Zigbee, Z‑Wave, Matter realities

00:43:00 Big brands, IKEA, relationships

00:50:30 Cloud integrations, Genie

00:55:30 Miranda’s home and automations

01:03:30 Blinds, garden, robots

01:10:00 Regional coverage and filters

01:15:30 Badge misuse and enforcement

01:20:30 2026 goals and wrap‑up

This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors

Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa

Zooz

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

Products Discussed

Home Assistant Connect ZWA2 (Z‑Wave radio): https://amzn.to/3MfPzsP

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Rohan Karamandi

Twitter: @rohank9

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

From SimpliSafe to Matter: We’re re-visiting Aaron Jan 20, 2026

Show notes

Aaron returns to share how his Home Assistant setup evolved from endless tinkering to a rock‑solid system that runs his family life. We cover Z‑Wave provisioning, ESPHome vs off‑the‑shelf reliability, RATGDO for garage doors, HA Green/Yellow, voice‑first routines, and the rise of AI‑powered helpers.

Watch this episode on YouTube

Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA218

Support the Podcast

Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon.

https://homeassistant.fm/patreon

Share your story

Chapters

00:00:00 - Welcome, guest intro

00:02:30 - Aaron’s Home Assistant dev journey

00:06:30 - Life change and HA evolving

00:10:30 - HA Green/Yellow setup ease

00:14:30 - Proxmox vs appliance hubs

00:18:30 - Remote radios and antennas

00:22:30 - AppDaemon to UI automations

00:26:30 - AI helpers and sensors

00:30:30 - Dashboards vs default view

00:34:30 - Voice and automation-first

00:38:30 - Community ideas and sharing

00:42:30 - Maintain vs rebuild strategy

00:46:30 - Vacuum and dishwasher flows

00:50:30 - Guest mode with Shortcuts

00:54:30 - ESPHome vs plug-and-play

00:58:30 - Z-Wave provisioning

01:02:30 - Local-first hardware wins

01:06:30 - Matter, cameras, standards

01:10:00 - Open-source continuity, advice

This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors

Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa

Zooz

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

Products Discussed

Home Assistant Connect Z-Wave (ZWA2) antenna: https://amzn.to/48PrphT

Ubiquiti Protect cameras: https://amzn.to/4asHXxt

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Rohan Karamandi

Twitter: @rohank9

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Artem’s Energy‑Smart Automations Without the Chaos Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

By day Artem works for JetBrains, developing coding IDEs for software professionals. But today we want to learn about his smart home, and how he is using Home Assistant to make it more energy efficient

Watch this episode on YouTube

Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA217

Support the Podcast

Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon.

https://homeassistant.fm/patreon

Share your story

Chapters

00:00:00 - Welcome, sponsors, guest intro

00:02:30 - Developer life and new home

00:06:30 - Shutters and first automations

00:12:20 - Wi‑Fi presence and WAF/PAF

00:17:30 - Cabling regrets and PoE lessons

00:21:30 - Zigbee over Ethernet; IKEA fix

00:25:58 - Dynamic tariffs, solar and battery

00:33:20 - Smart appliance scheduling

00:41:00 - mmWave presence sensors

00:45:20 - Doorbell NFC and Nuki lock

00:50:10 - Wishlist, Hue and wiring

00:53:10 - Climate tuning and valve fix

00:58:40 - Versatile thermostat and wrap‑up

This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors

Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa

Zooz

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

Products Discussed

Ubiquiti UniFi Protect G4 Pro Doorbell: https://amzn.to/4aT1IhF

Aqara FP2 mmWave presence sensor: https://amzn.to/4s4M4WM

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Rohan Karamandi

Twitter: @rohank9

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.

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Home Assistant 2026.1: SendSpin, new Home Dashboard improvements and presence using labels Jan 06, 2026

Show notes

Rohan and Phil are here to break down the 2026.1 release. We’re talking Home Dashboard improvements, a new multi-room audio protocol from Music Assistant, and of course some Zigbee quirks thrown into the mix

Watch this episode on YouTube

Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA216

Support the Podcast

Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon.

https://homeassistant.fm/patreon

Share your story

Chapters

00:00:00 - New Year, housekeeping, sponsors

00:03:00 - SendSpin: open sync audio arrives

00:10:00 - Cross‑ecosystem sync caveats

00:14:00 - Voice PE audio and DIY speakers

00:16:00 - Listener Q&A and AI log help

00:20:00 - 2026.1 mobile Home dashboard

00:24:00 - Purpose‑specific triggers expansion

00:27:00 - New integrations

00:31:00 - Labels/templates for presence

00:37:00 - Protocol hubs, Matter, graphs, devices

00:41:00 - Breaking changes, EcoWitt PSA, CES

This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors

Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa

Zooz

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

Products Discussed

Roborock Q7 robot vacuum: https://amzn.to/4bkyEjo

EcoWitt weather station: https://amzn.to/4jBcX0M

Sonos One: https://amzn.to/4pmsz9H

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Rohan Karamandi

Twitter: @rohank9

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

187 Automations, 300 Devices: Josh’s Smart Home Assistant Journey Dec 16, 2025

Show notes

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

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

Zooz

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

Rohan Karamandi

Twitter: @rohank9

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

From Alexa to Assist: NetworkChuck’s Smart Home with Frigate, UniFi, and AI Dec 09, 2025

Show notes

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

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

Zooz

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

Rohan Karamandi

Twitter: @rohank9

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Home Assistant 2025.12: Labs, Smarter Automations, Real‑Time Energy and Frenck Dec 02, 2025

Show notes

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

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

Zooz

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

Rohan Karamandi

Twitter: @rohank9

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

From Pi to Blue, we’re revisiting Courtenay Watson Nov 25, 2025

Show notes

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

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

Zooz

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

Rohan Karamandi

Twitter: @rohank9

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.

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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