I have a lot of ESP32 boards around my home, working as Bluetooth proxies or powering soil moisture sensors.The beauty of ESP32s is that they can do more than one job at a time, so my soil moisture sensors can work as Bluetooth proxies, too.If your ESP32 board has a controllable on-board LED, you can get even more use out of it by turning the LED into a Home Assistant alert.
An internet status light See in an instant if there's a problem with your network or ISP I've had a few network issues in recent months.I've had problems with my router, problems with my wireless mesh nodes, and even had my ISP's service go down.The problem is that I've set up Home Assistant to be as local as possible, without being reliant on cloud services to function.
When my external internet went down recently, I didn't notice for some time because my phone switched to cellular data, and most of my smart home just kept working as usual.It took a long time to fix the problem, and I wished I'd discovered it sooner.That's why I turned an ESP32 into a network status monitor that checks its connection to the router and to the internet every 10 seconds.
If it can't reach the router, the LED goes into a fast blink, and if the router is reachable, but the internet isn't, the LED blinks slowly.If all is fine, the LED remains solid.This allows me to see at a glance if I have any network issues.
Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 Brand Seeed Studio The Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C3 is the perfect budget-friendly microcontroller for smart home projects.With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built-in, it also features a super deep sleep mode for low power usage when it isn't doing anything.The compact size makes this ideal for building smart home projects, and ESPHome allows it to easily integrate into Home Assistant.
$5 at Seeed Studio $10 at Amazon Expand Collapse Trash day reminders you can't miss Good luck sleeping if you haven't put the trash out Close I used to be terrible at remembering to put the trash out.We have so much recyclable waste from deliveries these days that if we miss a collection, the empty boxes really start to pile up.That's why I've set up several automations to remind me to put out the trash on the appropriate day.
An ESP32 is my last line of defense.If I've not toggled a helper in Home Assistant to confirm that the trash is out, then after 9pm, the LED on the ESP32 in my bedroom starts to flash.With the lights on, it's noticeable, but when you turn the lights out to go to sleep, you really cannot miss it.
If I want the LED to stop flashing, I have to toggle the helper in Home Assistant to say that the trash is out.I know how annoying it is when I forget, so it's always enough to make me go and put the trash out rather than just cheating and toggling the helper anyway.Related The best smart home sensors are the ones you'll never see Your smart home doesn't need to look like one.
Posts 1 By Tim Brookes Know when the laundry is finished A flashing LED that means "empty me" You can set up an automation using a suitable smart plug, a vibration sensor, or the smart features of your washer or dryer to send a notification to your phone when the laundry cycle has finished.The problem is that phone notifications can be easy to miss or ignore.An ESP32 is a useful alternative that can be harder to miss.
You can have the LED on an ESP32 board flash in a pattern or at a specific speed to let you know that the laundry is ready to take out, so that you don't leave it to get damp or creased.If you have multiple ESP32 boards around your home, you can set it up so that they all start to flash at the same time, making it even harder to miss.Once you've emptied the laundry, you can use a smart button or NFC tag to confirm that the job has been done, and the ESP32 LEDs will turn off.
A low-battery alert system Don't let sensors disappear from your smart home I have a lot of Zigbee sensors around my home that run on batteries.This makes the sensors far more versatile, as you don't have to worry about placing them near power outlets.The downside is that eventually, the batteries will run out.
I have a dedicated smart home dashboard that displays a list of devices whose batteries are getting low, but I still have to remember to check this dashboard.That's why I set up an ESP32 in my home office that will flash when any battery falls below 20%.As soon as I see the flashing LED, I know to check my dashboard and find out which battery is getting low.
This is particularly important for sensors such as water leak sensors that I really don't want to die without me being aware of it.Let your smart home keep tabs on your smart home Find out when an automation has failed This one is a little meta, but you can use your smart home to let you know when there's a problem with your smart home.Automations can often fail silently, so you can remain unaware of any problems for some time, or devices can drop off the network.
You can use an ESP32's LED as a simple indicator of the health of your smart home.A solid LED could show everything is normal, a slow flash could mean that devices are unavailable, a fast flash could indicate a repair issue, and a very fast flash could indicate that an automation has failed.You can then take action before anything important gets missed.
Get the most out of your ESP32s If you're setting up an ESP32 for a specific task, it's worth considering whether you can add any additional features.These tiny boards can handle some simple multitasking, and the on-board LEDs can be surprisingly useful.
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