Awesome
Home Assistant configuration
Add-ons
Hacs integrations
- Sonoff LAN - for camera control
- AccuWeather - since DarkSky is shutting down its API
Automations
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Turn something on or off when you lock/unlock your Windows workstation
In my case I'm turning off Surface docking station because it constantly turns off and on my monitor(s) when Windows is locked. Real example from my configuration is here.
On the windows box I use tiny script which sets up everything for you: Invoke-WebhookOnLock.
Automatic backups on USB drive
I was using Samba Backup add-on for a long time to automate backups and put the backup files on a different device. Once the device failed I was looking for the solution to put backups on USB stick. It turned out that HA doesn't support mouting USB devices by default. So here is the final solution I have found and which works:
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Mounting USB
You can manually mount USB if you have enabled HA SSH access (not via the add-on! you can read more here).
The alternative is to use the solution presented in the gist here. Nice thing about it is that it will automatically mount any USB you stick into the port and it will make it available for docker containers.
- Format USB stick (FAT/EXT4) and label the drive "CONFIG"
- Create udev folder
- Download the gist file and put it inside created folder
- Insert USB to the port on your HA device
- Go to
Configuration > Addons, Backup, Supervisor > System > Host, click on the dots button and choseImport from USB - Remove the USB stick
- If you want to use the same USB stick you need to rename it (drives with "CONFIG" label won't be mouted). Ofcourse you can remove the
udevfolder now.
Note: Now if you plugin your USB the drive will be mouted in
/mnt/data/supervisor/media/XXX. Where XXX is the drive label name. -
Exposing share - use "Samba Share" add-on
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Automatic backups - use "Samba Backup" add-on
This add-on has to be installed manually. More info here.
E.g. I have formatted USB stick and I labelled the drive "BACKUPS". So add-on configuration looks as follows
Devices
| Connection | Brand | Model | Photo | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WiFi | ||||
| Sonoff | S20 |  | Smart plug; ESPHome firmware | |
| Sonoff | Touch |  | Smart wall switch; ESPHome firmware | |
| Shelly | 1 |  | Smart switch; ESPHome firmware | |
| Tp-Link | HS110 |  | Smart plug with energy monitoring | |
| Broadlink | RM mini 3 |  | IR remote controller (not configured yet) | |
| Sonoff | GK-200MP2-B |  | IP camera; Pan-tilt controlled via Home Assistant | |
| D-Link | DCS-932L |  | IP camera | |
| RF433 | ||||
| RFXCOM | RfxTrxE |  | USB RF transceiver | |
| OWL | OWL Intuition Gateway |  | Energy monitoring via CT (current transformer) sensor | |
| Nexa | LML-710 |  | Doorbell | |
| Nexa | LWST-605 |  | Wall switch | |
| ZigBee | ||||
| Phoscon | ConBee II |  | USB ZigBee transceiver | |
| Aqara | RTCGQ11LM |  | Human motion sensor | |
| Aqara | WSDCGQ11LM |  | Temperature and humidity sensor | |
| Aqara | QBKG04LM |  | Smart wall switch (2 gang) connected to mains (no neutral version) | |
| Aqara | QBKG02LM |  | Smart wall switch (2 gang) battery powered | |
| Aqara | MCCGQ11LM |  | Door sensor |
Devices used in the past
| Connection | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wifi | Tp-Link HS100 | Used in the past mainly with Domoticz and I switched to Sonoff S20 in the same time when I've migrated to HA |
| RF433 | Telldus TellstickNet | Both mainly for connecting with Nexa devices. It was working but just partially - RfxTrxE works much better with Nexa and other RF devices. |
| RF433 | CoTech motion sensor | Battery lasts for 2-3 months. Not convenient to use as different ID sent when motion is detected and different when there is no move any more |
| RF433 | Nexa (random devices) | Smart sockets, motion detectors, wall switches, remote controls, etc. Replaced all with ZigBee devices. The main drawbak of RF is that you never know if the signal reached the device or not. |
Configuration
ESPHome
Tips for beginners:
- After adding new deive in ESPHome Dashboard refresh the page
ESP32-Wroom-32D
Alexa
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Used Alexa integration for controlling Echo devices.
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Home assistant lights and switches exposed via Emulated Hue integration.
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Tip: It is easier to manage smart devices via alexa website than the mobile app.