Home Assistant Podcast

Mike joins Phil and Rohan to share how he hides smart tech in a 1953 mid‑century home so it looks analog but works like magic. Plus: Roborock tricks, leak sensors that turn rooms blue, HomePod TTS vs Sonos ducking, Samsung Frame art‑mode headaches, and running full HA OS in a VMware Fusion VM on a Mac mini.

Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA221

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
00:03:00 Lighting gateway and Hue hack
00:05:30 Sneaking tech and dance reveal
00:08:00 From HomeKit/HomeBridge to HA
00:10:30 Dashboards and camera setup
00:12:30 Bulbs vs switches in 50s home
00:14:30 Bathroom fan and comforts
00:16:30 Homelab and Zigbee backbone
00:19:00 LLMs and announcements
00:21:30 Laundry alerts and Mac lab
00:25:30 Presence sensing strategy
00:28:00 Leak sensors and water safety
00:31:00 Light signals around the home
00:33:00 Roborock automations and hacks
00:40:30 Bedroom presence routines
00:43:00 Bayesian sensors and design
00:49:50 Time Machine and Frame TV
00:54:30 Pool fountain control
00:56:30 Power and crawlspace cabling
00:59:10 Party trick and outro

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. Configuration is via the User Interface so no fiddling with router settings, dynamic DNS, or YAML.

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

Products Discussed
Philips Hue bulbs and lightstrips: https://amzn.to/4k7paur
Aqara T2 wall switch: https://amzn.to/4jUTZm1
Samsung The Frame TV (43"): https://amzn.to/4t5mTnr
Zigbee main water shutoff valve (generic): https://amzn.to/4aURldj
Aqara water leak sensors: https://amzn.to/3Nest6A
Aqara door/window sensors: https://amzn.to/49hmu9B
Third Reality sensors: https://amzn.to/455ZR5F
Ecobee thermostat with room sensors: https://amzn.to/4t4XYjO
Bond Bridge (ceiling fan RF hub): https://amzn.to/3YAbHBm
Aqara roller shade controllers: https://amzn.to/3O8ihwI
Level Lock: https://amzn.to/3ZcU3Ug
SwitchBot Lock (with keypad/fingerprint accessory): https://amzn.to/4a55H92

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

Rohan Karamandi
Website
Smart Home Products
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

We break down Home Assistant 2026.2: the Home Dashboard is now default, the new Command‑K command palette, a dedicated Matter dashboard, and add‑ons renamed to Apps. Plus: CES 2026 highlights, the Open Home Foundation device database and a Google Home outage.

Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA220

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
00:03:00 CES Highlights and Shoutouts
00:06:00 Device Database and Open Home
00:11:30 Cloud Outage and Local Control
00:13:50 Listener Feedback and Tips
00:21:20 2026.2 Release Overview
00:23:20 Home Dashboard Becomes Default
00:26:45 Command Palette and Shortcuts
00:29:40 Matter Dashboard and Apps Rename
00:32:40 Automations, Cards, and Buttons
00:37:10 Music Assistant, Media, Sponsor Break
00:41:10 New Integrations Roundup
00:46:25 Breaking Changes: Groups, Tuya
00:49:38 Closing Thoughts and Predictions

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. Configuration is via the User Interface so no fiddling with router settings, dynamic DNS, or YAML.

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

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

Rohan Karamandi
Website
Smart Home Products
Twitter: @rohank9
Buy Rohan a Coffee

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

Miranda from the Open Home Foundation takes us inside the Works With Home Assistant program: how devices are tested, why the badge matters, and how vendors—from startups to big brands—can get certified. We cover Zigbee vs Z‑Wave vs Matter, badge misuse, regional device coverage, and Miranda’s own fun automations.

Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA219

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
00:03:20 Miranda’s path to HA
00:08:00 CES stories and community
00:14:30 Moving program to Foundation
00:22:30 Fees, pushback, endorsement?
00:29:30 Guidance, safety, and testing
00:36:30 Zigbee, Z‑Wave, Matter realities
00:43:00 Big brands, IKEA, relationships
00:50:30 Cloud integrations, Genie
00:55:30 Miranda’s home and automations
01:03:30 Blinds, garden, robots
01:10:00 Regional coverage and filters
01:15:30 Badge misuse and enforcement
01:20:30 2026 goals and 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. Configuration is via the User Interface so no fiddling with router settings, dynamic DNS, or YAML.

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

Products Discussed
Home Assistant Connect ZWA2 (Z‑Wave radio): https://amzn.to/3MfPzsP

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

Rohan Karamandi
Website
Smart Home Products
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

Aaron returns to share how his Home Assistant setup evolved from endless tinkering to a rock‑solid system that runs his family life. We cover Z‑Wave provisioning, ESPHome vs off‑the‑shelf reliability, RATGDO for garage doors, HA Green/Yellow, voice‑first routines, and the rise of AI‑powered helpers.
Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA218

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, guest intro
00:02:30 - Aaron’s Home Assistant dev journey
00:06:30 - Life change and HA evolving
00:10:30 - HA Green/Yellow setup ease
00:14:30 - Proxmox vs appliance hubs
00:18:30 - Remote radios and antennas
00:22:30 - AppDaemon to UI automations
00:26:30 - AI helpers and sensors
00:30:30 - Dashboards vs default view
00:34:30 - Voice and automation-first
00:38:30 - Community ideas and sharing
00:42:30 - Maintain vs rebuild strategy
00:46:30 - Vacuum and dishwasher flows
00:50:30 - Guest mode with Shortcuts
00:54:30 - ESPHome vs plug-and-play
00:58:30 - Z-Wave provisioning
01:02:30 - Local-first hardware wins
01:06:30 - Matter, cameras, standards
01:10:00 - Open-source continuity, advice

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. Configuration is via the User Interface so no fiddling with router settings, dynamic DNS, or YAML.

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

Products Discussed
Home Assistant Connect Z-Wave (ZWA2) antenna: https://amzn.to/48PrphT
Ubiquiti Protect cameras: https://amzn.to/4asHXxt

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

Rohan Karamandi
Website
Smart Home Products
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

By day Artem works for JetBrains, developing coding IDEs for software professionals. But today we want to learn about his smart home, and how he is using Home Assistant to make it more energy efficient

Watch this episode on YouTube
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA217

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, sponsors, guest intro
00:02:30 - Developer life and new home
00:06:30 - Shutters and first automations
00:12:20 - Wi‑Fi presence and WAF/PAF
00:17:30 - Cabling regrets and PoE lessons
00:21:30 - Zigbee over Ethernet; IKEA fix
00:25:58 - Dynamic tariffs, solar and battery
00:33:20 - Smart appliance scheduling
00:41:00 - mmWave presence sensors
00:45:20 - Doorbell NFC and Nuki lock
00:50:10 - Wishlist, Hue and wiring
00:53:10 - Climate tuning and valve fix
00:58:40 - Versatile thermostat and 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. Configuration is via the User Interface so no fiddling with router settings, dynamic DNS, or YAML.

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

Products Discussed
Ubiquiti UniFi Protect G4 Pro Doorbell: https://amzn.to/4aT1IhF
Aqara FP2 mmWave presence sensor: https://amzn.to/4s4M4WM

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

Rohan Karamandi
Website
Smart Home Products
Twitter: @rohank9
Buy Rohan a Coffee

This podcast 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