Roland “Accidentally” Installed Home Assistant, Then Automated Everything

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.

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

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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

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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

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Rohan Karamandi

Website

Twitter: @rohank9

Buy Rohan a Coffee

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