Looking to integrate Alexa into Home Assistant as a media player? Want Alexa to read back custom notifications? The Alexa Media custom component makes it possible and this guide will walk you through the setup process. Adding this custom component to Home Assistant will allow your Alexa device to appear as a media player entity…
Tag: SmartHomeIdeas
What Can I Do With Home Assistant? (7 Awesome Ideas!)
Looking to join the amazing Home Assistant ecosphere and wondering what sort of things it can do besides turn on a bulb? Or perhaps you already use Home Assistant and would like some more awesome ideas? There is no doubt that Home Assistant is a powerful tool for smart home automation. Whether you are new…
Super Quick And Easy Home Assistant DIY Thermostat
Recently I wrote an epic post on how to design your own DIY HVAC control system, covering many different types of system in detail. This post is ideal for the enthusiast who is looking for the complete guide. However I realised that some folks might prefer a nice quick and easy tutorial for building a…
LED Strip Lights Under The Sofa (Great Smart Home Ideas!)
I have been wanting to add a LED strip under my sofa for quite some time now. The plan is to link it in Home Assistant so that it mirrors the settings for the LEDs behind my TV cabinet. I have had mixed results with LED strip, sometimes it can be tricky to get it…
Super Home Assistant Dashboard! (Tablet Setup For Beginners)
If you are looking to convert a tablet or Raspberry Pi into a super-cool dashboard controller for Home Assistant then you have come to the right place! In this tutorial we will cover all of the steps necessary to get HADashboard up and running. Once installed you can convert any device with a web browser…
The Ultimate Home Assistant DIY Thermostat Guide For Single Or Multiple Zone Heating
Why spends hundreds on a smart thermostat when Home Assistant has the power to control all of the necessary hardware and it’s absolutely free?! I agree that the Google Nest looks beautiful but if you really want to wow your friends, why not mount a tablet to the wall and make an awesome looking dashboard!…
How To Simulate A Sunrise With Home Assistant
It is possible to simulate a sunrise in Home Assistant using a simple script and smart bulb. We can trigger this script at any time so that a beautiful sunrise effect can be enjoyed at any time, even if it is still dark outside. In this tutorial we will create a simple script to simulate…
How To Make A Dumb Switch Smart (This ONE Thing Makes It Possible!)
What if I told you that you can control not only all of your smart lights but all of your smart devices with your existing dumb light switch without needing to rewire anything? Too good to be true? Home Assistant is the fantastic platform that makes it possible. New to Home Assistant? Start here. In…
Can You Make Dumb Lamps Smart? (This Method Will SURPRISE You!)
Most websites will just tell you to put a smart bulb in an existing fixture… but what if there is another way? What if your favorite lamp doesn’t take a traditional bulb? In the first part of this article we looked at the inner workings of a lamp that utilises LED strip and covered some…
