Home Assistant Podcast

Roland joins Phil and Rohan to share how a simple attempt to measure an old fridge's energy use led to a deeply data-driven Home Assistant smart home. Energy monitoring, solar forecasting, home batteries, EV charging, ESPHome, weather data and templates are all used to make his home smarter.

Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA251

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
00:02:01 An accidental Home Assistant install
00:06:04 Scaling devices and automations
00:08:04 Solar forecasts and battery control
00:16:46 ESPHome windows and storm protection
00:21:03 Home Assistant at the university
00:26:16 Starting with energy data
00:29:08 Cooling buckets and digital grass
00:34:52 Turning data into automations
00:37:19 Summer-winter heating and cooling
00:43:52 Measuring a new home
00:47:21 Whole-home energy and smart PC
00:52:16 Pool monitoring and house insights
00:59:07 Future projects and stable automation
01:04:26 Updates, reliability and farewell

This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors
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

Apollo Automation
Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box.

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. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com

Want Phil to help with your smart home?
You’ve heard him troubleshoot Home Assistant on the podcast. Now you can book him to troubleshoot yours. From broken automations and confusing YAML to dashboards, devices, and complete smart home setups: https://smarthomecto.com

Products Discussed
Navimow robotic lawn mower: https://amzn.to/4d7phni
Apollo Automation ESPHome Starter Kit: https://esphome.io/starter-kit/
Apollo Automation Cast 1: https://apolloautomation.com/products/cast-1-audio-casting-device
Shelly smart relays/switches: https://amzn.to/4tfoHdE
Shelly One relay: https://amzn.to/4wUFxj6
Products we Recommend

Hosts
Phil Hawthorne
Website
Twitter: @philhawthorne
Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com
Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi
Website
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.

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

How do you make Home Assistant resilient when an update fails or your primary server goes offline? Phil and Rohan talk with Adrian from Western Australia about his dual Home Assistant setup, webhook heartbeat failover, Git-based YAML configuration, and a 12V battery-backed home network.
Adrian has shared some notes on his setup here:  https://docs.na.id.au/ 

Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA250

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
00:02:00 Adrian's Home Assistant origin
00:05:00 12V battery-backed infrastructure
00:08:00 Presence and smart-light logic
00:13:00 Wi-Fi scale and interference
00:16:00 Matter, LIFX and 433MHz
00:21:00 Alarm integrations and appliances
00:29:00 Home Assistant high availability
00:34:00 Zigbee, MQTT and Matter
00:39:00 Git, YAML and device naming
00:44:00 DHCP reservations and static IPs
00:47:00 EV charging and roller shutters
00:51:00 Upgrades and family installations
00:55:00 Local AI and language learning
00:59:00 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. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com

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

Apollo Automation
Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box.

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Want Phil to help with your smart home?
You’ve heard him troubleshoot Home Assistant on the podcast. Now you can book him to troubleshoot yours. From broken automations and confusing YAML to dashboards, devices, and complete smart home setups: https://smarthomecto.com

Products we Recommend

Hosts
Phil Hawthorne
Website
Twitter: @philhawthorne
Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com
Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi
Website
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.

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

Rob joins Phil and Rohan from New Zealand to share how he replaced 15 smart-home apps with Home Assistant. Discover his AI-assisted workflow using VS Code, Claude Code, Codex, Git, YAML documentation, solar optimisation, camera-powered number plate recognition, and a resilient smart-home network.

Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA249

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
00:02:00 Escaping the app overload
00:07:00 First automations and Wi-Fi devices
00:10:00 Batteries, presence sensors and vacuums
00:17:00 UniFi network and Home Assistant upgrade
00:20:00 Solar, Modbus and energy optimisation
00:23:00 AI coding workflow with VS Code
00:33:00 OpenCode, MCP and custom workflows
00:37:00 AI documentation and automation intent
00:42:00 Fail-safe smart home design
00:45:00 AI camera gate recognition
00:50:00 Security, modes and alarm integration
00:54:00 Backup power and future projects
01:01:00 Advice for a new setup

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. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com

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

Apollo Automation
Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box.

Want Phil to help with your smart home?
You’ve heard him troubleshoot Home Assistant on the podcast. Now you can book him to troubleshoot yours. From broken automations and confusing YAML to dashboards, devices, and complete smart home setups: https://smarthomecto.com

Products Discussed
AirGradient air-quality sensor: https://www.airgradient.com/
Home Assistant Connect ZWA2 (Z‑Wave radio): https://amzn.to/3MfPzsP
Aqara FP300 presence sensor: https://amzn.to/3LpkZ02

Products we Recommend

Hosts
Phil Hawthorne
Website
Twitter: @philhawthorne
Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com
Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi
Website
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.

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

Home Assistant 2026.9 is here. Maps suffer an unexpected turn of events and easier Modbus integrations arrive. Activity history gets some love. Nabu Casa subscribers can start testing a new and improved speech to text provider via Labs.

Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA248

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
00:01:46 Home Assistant map outage
00:05:57 Community Day, Apollo and iOS
00:10:19 Mailbag: locks, pools and moving
00:18:13 AI assistants versus closed ecosystems
00:23:43 Proxmox upgrade compatibility warning
00:29:04 Home Assistant Cloud and Modbus
00:35:04 Dashboard updates
00:38:12 History, accessibility and Matter maps
00:43:39 New integrations and release 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. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com

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

Apollo Automation
Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box.

Want Phil to help with your smart home?
You’ve heard him troubleshoot Home Assistant on the podcast. Now you can book him to troubleshoot yours. From broken automations and confusing YAML to dashboards, devices, and complete smart home setups: https://smarthomecto.com

Products Discussed
Apollo Automation ESPHome Starter Kit: https://esphome.io/starter-kit/
Apollo Automation Cast 1: https://apolloautomation.com/products/cast-1-audio-casting-device
Home Assistant Connect ZWA2 (Z‑Wave radio): https://amzn.to/3MfPzsP

Products we Recommend

Hosts
Phil Hawthorne
Website
Twitter: @philhawthorne
Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com
Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi
Website
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.

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

Sofia lives in a Home Assistant smart home, but she didn’t install it. We’re breaking down what its like on the other side of the fence and how open communication and involvement make for a happier smart home.
Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA247

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 Introduction
00:02:00 Home Assistant origins
00:04:00 Philips Hue beginnings
00:06:30 Building automations together
00:09:00 Sensors and safety alerts
00:12:00 Magic mirror project
00:15:00 Apple Home scenes
00:18:00 Home Assistant usability
00:21:00 Privacy and stability
00:24:30 Voice control and wrap-up

This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors
Apollo Automation
Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box.

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. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com

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

Want Phil to help with your smart home?
You’ve heard him troubleshoot Home Assistant on the podcast. Now you can book him to troubleshoot yours. From broken automations and confusing YAML to dashboards, devices, and complete smart home setups: https://smarthomecto.com

Products we Recommend

Hosts
Phil Hawthorne
Website
Twitter: @philhawthorne
Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com
Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi
Website
Twitter: @rohank9
Buy Rohan a Coffee

This episode contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on this link 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