DIY Smart Home
DIY Smart Home
Build a Smart Light Dimmer with ESP32 and a Rotary Encoder in Home Assistant
I’ve always loved the tactile feel of a good knob. While voice commands and smartphone apps are convenient, there’s something deeply satisfying about physically turning a dial to dim the lights. I wanted to bridge that gap between the digital smarts of Home Assistant and the physical world. So, I set out to build a custom smart light dimmer with ESP32 and a rotary encoder. The goal was simple: a knob that not only controls my smart lights locally but also stays perfectly in sync with their state in Home Assistant.
Turn ESP32 Into a BLE Beacon Scanner for Presence Detection in Home Assistant
Turn ESP32 Into a BLE Beacon Scanner for Presence Detection in Home Assistant Before we begin: This guide assumes you have Home Assistant already set up and are comfortable with basic ESPHome configurations. I’ve tried nearly every presence detection method in my smart home journey - from WiFi-based tracking that drained my phone battery to GPS solutions that were anything but reliable indoors. That’s when I discovered the magic of BLE beacon scanning with ESP32 for room-level presence detection.
DIY ESP32-Based Motion Sensor for Home Assistant Security Automations
Ever walked into a dark room and wished the lights would just know to turn on? Or wanted a simple way to alert you when someone’s lurking near your front door? That’s where a DIY ESP32-based PIR motion sensor comes in. I recently built one to integrate with Home Assistant, and it’s been a game-changer for my home security automations. Here’s how you can do it too—no PhD in electrical engineering required.