{"slug": "esphome", "name": "ESPHome", "category": "productivity", "category_name": "Productivity", "description": "Open-source firmware framework that configures ESP32/ESP8266 microcontrollers via YAML for home automation.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 14, "warners": 0, "score": 6.792, "rising": -1.64, "first": "2025-11-11", "latest": "2026-10-09", "why": "HN commenters use it to add local smarts to ordinary appliances and custom-built devices, often alongside Home Assistant.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 9, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Smart appliance upgrades", "Custom DIY builds"], "caveat": "433 MHz radio", "short_quote": "I love upgrading simple home appliances with homebrew smarts using ESPHome", "icon": true, "domain": "ellis.codes", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://esphome.io", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["ESPHome"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters use it to add local smarts to ordinary appliances and custom-built devices", "cites": [{"id": 734297024, "item_id": 45893564, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45893564", "by": "uoaei", "date": "2025-11-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love upgrading simple home appliances with homebrew smarts using ESPHome", "excerpt": "I love upgrading simple home appliances with homebrew smarts using ESPHome so that they retain their original interface. I've mostly done lights that are still correctly switched at the original wall switches but up next is my fan and toaster oven! Then to tackle the thermostats.", "context": "", "use_case": "smart home appliance upgrades", "switched_from": "", "story": "My fan worked fine, so I gave it WiFi"}, {"id": 762131248, "item_id": 47633203, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633203", "by": "paradox460", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Last year I replaced the controller with an Esphome device I built, and it's been going strong all summer and winter", "excerpt": "Several years ago I bought a product that aimed to solve this problem. It was a set of rails, a door, and a controller/motor that would raise and lower the door, via a string. The door itself has a spring loaded catch at the bottom, which is retracted when the door is lifted, via a little mechanism built into the door. Pull up on the peg, the latch retracts, and you can slide the door open The controller was the weak", "context": "", "use_case": "chicken coop door controller", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to Make a Sliding, Self-Locking, and Predator-Proof Chicken Coop Door (2020)"}, {"id": 780797088, "item_id": 48799818, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48799818", "by": "pornel", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "emulate them with ESPHome to make them \"smart\" fully offline under my control", "excerpt": "I use it to clone remotes of \"dumb\" devices and emulate them with ESPHome to make them \"smart\" fully offline under my control.", "context": "", "use_case": "smart home devices offline", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Future of Flipper Zero Development"}, {"id": 758409137, "item_id": 47400571, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47400571", "by": "marcogarces", "date": "2026-03-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i even built my custom ESPHome device", "excerpt": "I love HomeAssistant, and my second time on a new home, i'm slowly getting what i want in terms of interface and devices; doing it slowly helps you plan better and execute it perfectly. I've also been watering my garden (sprinklers) and i even built my custom ESPHome device: https://github.com/mgarces/open-esp-sprinklers", "context": "", "use_case": "sprinkler controller", "switched_from": "", "story": "Home Assistant waters my plants"}]}, {"text": ", often alongside Home Assistant.", "cites": [{"id": 789101602, "item_id": 49318850, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49318850", "by": "big_babol", "date": "2026-08-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "uses ESPHome-based mics for the STT", "excerpt": "Nice one! I have Google speakers and like the sound quality. Only annoying thing is that they can only be used with Google's cloud assistant. After migrating to Home Assistant I have also created a HACS integration that uses ESPHome-based mics for the STT and sends the TTS to the speakers (works for any smart speaker exposed to HA): https://github.com/bigbabol1/HomeAssistant_mic_to_mediaplayer Maybe I am going to try", "context": "", "use_case": "microphones", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hacked Amazon Echo Dot 2 and can run LLMs locally"}, {"id": 760785824, "item_id": 47549114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47549114", "by": "radicality", "date": "2026-03-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices", "excerpt": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices (mostly from M5stack) via esphome/HomeAssistant. Can this project help me in any way during dev stage before uploading the code to device just to see it doesn\u2019t work ? Eg could I use this to somehow compile&run those esphome yamls via this emulator?", "context": "", "use_case": "ESP32 device firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Velxio 2.0 \u2013 Emulate Arduino, ESP32, and Raspberry Pi 3 in the Browser"}, {"id": 758409137, "item_id": 47400571, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47400571", "by": "marcogarces", "date": "2026-03-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i even built my custom ESPHome device", "excerpt": "I love HomeAssistant, and my second time on a new home, i'm slowly getting what i want in terms of interface and devices; doing it slowly helps you plan better and execute it perfectly. I've also been watering my garden (sprinklers) and i even built my custom ESPHome device: https://github.com/mgarces/open-esp-sprinklers", "context": "", "use_case": "sprinkler controller", "switched_from": "", "story": "Home Assistant waters my plants"}]}, {"text": " The main reported snag is a 433 MHz transceiver that did not work well with it", "cites": [{"id": 779830448, "item_id": 48739403, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48739403", "by": "MayeulC", "date": "2026-06-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "my 433 MHz transceiver does not seem to work well with esphome?", "excerpt": "Funnily enough, I did almost exactly that last week, but I kind of gave up for now as my 433 MHz transceiver does not seem to work well with esphome? It does seem to output signals when I use the remote. Oh well, I will revisit when I have more time. A major difference is that I relied on a flipper zero I had to do the 433 MHz capture instead of an RTL-SDR (I have one too, but have not needed it yet). For reference, ", "context": "home automation hobbyist", "use_case": "controlling ceiling fan and heater", "switched_from": "", "story": "RF Hacking My Cloud-Controlled Ceiling Fan"}]}, {"text": ", plus a wish to test YAML configs before flashing them to a device.", "cites": [{"id": 760785824, "item_id": 47549114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47549114", "by": "radicality", "date": "2026-03-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices", "excerpt": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices (mostly from M5stack) via esphome/HomeAssistant. Can this project help me in any way during dev stage before uploading the code to device just to see it doesn\u2019t work ? Eg could I use this to somehow compile&run those esphome yamls via this emulator?", "context": "", "use_case": "ESP32 device firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Velxio 2.0 \u2013 Emulate Arduino, ESP32, and Raspberry Pi 3 in the Browser"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Smart appliance upgrades", "summary": "Commenters retrofit simple appliances and remotes with ESPHome while keeping their original controls and full offline control.", "quotes": [{"id": 734297024, "item_id": 45893564, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45893564", "by": "uoaei", "date": "2025-11-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love upgrading simple home appliances with homebrew smarts using ESPHome", "excerpt": "I love upgrading simple home appliances with homebrew smarts using ESPHome so that they retain their original interface. I've mostly done lights that are still correctly switched at the original wall switches but up next is my fan and toaster oven! Then to tackle the thermostats.", "context": "", "use_case": "smart home appliance upgrades", "switched_from": "", "story": "My fan worked fine, so I gave it WiFi"}, {"id": 762131248, "item_id": 47633203, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633203", "by": "paradox460", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Last year I replaced the controller with an Esphome device I built, and it's been going strong all summer and winter", "excerpt": "Several years ago I bought a product that aimed to solve this problem. It was a set of rails, a door, and a controller/motor that would raise and lower the door, via a string. The door itself has a spring loaded catch at the bottom, which is retracted when the door is lifted, via a little mechanism built into the door. Pull up on the peg, the latch retracts, and you can slide the door open The controller was the weak", "context": "", "use_case": "chicken coop door controller", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to Make a Sliding, Self-Locking, and Predator-Proof Chicken Coop Door (2020)"}, {"id": 780797088, "item_id": 48799818, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48799818", "by": "pornel", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "emulate them with ESPHome to make them \"smart\" fully offline under my control", "excerpt": "I use it to clone remotes of \"dumb\" devices and emulate them with ESPHome to make them \"smart\" fully offline under my control.", "context": "", "use_case": "smart home devices offline", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Future of Flipper Zero Development"}]}, {"label": "Custom DIY builds", "summary": "People build their own ESPHome devices, from sprinkler controllers to motorized fader boards and e-ink displays.", "quotes": [{"id": 758409137, "item_id": 47400571, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47400571", "by": "marcogarces", "date": "2026-03-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i even built my custom ESPHome device", "excerpt": "I love HomeAssistant, and my second time on a new home, i'm slowly getting what i want in terms of interface and devices; doing it slowly helps you plan better and execute it perfectly. I've also been watering my garden (sprinklers) and i even built my custom ESPHome device: https://github.com/mgarces/open-esp-sprinklers", "context": "", "use_case": "sprinkler controller", "switched_from": "", "story": "Home Assistant waters my plants"}, {"id": 776515216, "item_id": 48532201, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48532201", "by": "scottbez1", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "use motorized faders with ESPHome and other microcontrollers easily", "excerpt": "I\u2019ve been building a plug-and-play controller to use motorized faders with ESPHome and other microcontrollers easily, called FaderBuddy. It\u2019s a small board with a ATtiny1616 and motor driver that mounts to the bottom of Behringer MF60T replacement faders and provides an I2C interface for reading the position, moving to a specific spot, and even setting up haptic detents, like a linear version of my SmartKnob project.", "context": "", "use_case": "microcontroller firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (June 2026)"}, {"id": 783973729, "item_id": 48998358, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48998358", "by": "joshstrange", "date": "2026-07-21", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "flashing them with ESPHome", "excerpt": "I've been buying (2 so far) Seeed Studio reTerminal e-ink screens, flashing them with ESPHome, then using Claude Code to write backends to render out whatever I want to put on the screens (a la TRMNL, I also have a TRMNL). Being able to \"speak\" into existence what I want is pretty freaking awesome. Note: Yes, I know what I'm about to say could be done using TRMNL (as part of it) I was able to set it up so that it rot", "context": "", "use_case": "flashing e-ink screens", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI Agent \u2013 TRMNL"}]}, {"label": "Home Assistant integration", "summary": "ESPHome devices are used with Home Assistant for things like voice mics and door access.", "quotes": [{"id": 789101602, "item_id": 49318850, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49318850", "by": "big_babol", "date": "2026-08-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "uses ESPHome-based mics for the STT", "excerpt": "Nice one! I have Google speakers and like the sound quality. Only annoying thing is that they can only be used with Google's cloud assistant. After migrating to Home Assistant I have also created a HACS integration that uses ESPHome-based mics for the STT and sends the TTS to the speakers (works for any smart speaker exposed to HA): https://github.com/bigbabol1/HomeAssistant_mic_to_mediaplayer Maybe I am going to try", "context": "", "use_case": "microphones", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hacked Amazon Echo Dot 2 and can run LLMs locally"}, {"id": 800241297, "item_id": 50015081, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50015081", "by": "richardlblair", "date": "2026-10-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Unifi Access + ESPHome + Zwave deadbolt", "excerpt": "I also have limited interest, but alas, I have home assistant and I'm not sure I could fulfill my needs without it. 1 - My child is a runner. Zigbee door position sensors talk to home assistant and play sounds when a door is unlocked or opened. 2 - I'm super private. Giving people a key to my house is not something I'm comfortable with. I use Unifi Access + ESPHome + Zwave deadbolt to get the level of control I'm com", "context": "", "use_case": "door access control", "switched_from": "", "story": "I hired an illustrator to draw my house. Now it's my Home Assistant dashboard"}, {"id": 760785824, "item_id": 47549114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47549114", "by": "radicality", "date": "2026-03-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices", "excerpt": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices (mostly from M5stack) via esphome/HomeAssistant. Can this project help me in any way during dev stage before uploading the code to device just to see it doesn\u2019t work ? Eg could I use this to somehow compile&run those esphome yamls via this emulator?", "context": "", "use_case": "ESP32 device firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Velxio 2.0 \u2013 Emulate Arduino, ESP32, and Raspberry Pi 3 in the Browser"}]}, {"label": "Large project ecosystem", "summary": "One commenter notes there are already dozens upon dozens of ESP32/ESPHome projects for common ideas.", "quotes": [{"id": 785021248, "item_id": 49063828, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49063828", "by": "russdill", "date": "2026-07-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This really screams esp32/esphome, and as you'd expect, there are already dozens upon dozens of such projects", "excerpt": "This really screams esp32/esphome, and as you'd expect, there are already dozens upon dozens of such projects https://github.com/mfactory-osaka/ESPTimeCast", "context": "", "use_case": "DIY clock firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated"}]}, {"label": "Cheap hardware", "summary": "One builder made a full ESPHome board for under $20 and configured it to use IDF.", "quotes": [{"id": 734325968, "item_id": 45895373, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45895373", "by": "announcer4614", "date": "2025-11-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I set ESPHome to use IDF under the hood, you can check out my full ESPHome config for this", "excerpt": "I was actually pleased with how cheap it ended up: less than $20 USD for the board + assembly + every component. I set ESPHome to use IDF under the hood, you can check out my full ESPHome config for this: https://git.ellis.codes/e/esphome-configs/src/branch/main/vornado.yaml", "context": "", "use_case": "ESP32 fan firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "My fan worked fine, so I gave it WiFi"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "433 MHz radio", "summary": "A commenter's 433 MHz transceiver did not seem to work well with ESPHome.", "quotes": [{"id": 779830448, "item_id": 48739403, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48739403", "by": "MayeulC", "date": "2026-06-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "my 433 MHz transceiver does not seem to work well with esphome?", "excerpt": "Funnily enough, I did almost exactly that last week, but I kind of gave up for now as my 433 MHz transceiver does not seem to work well with esphome? It does seem to output signals when I use the remote. Oh well, I will revisit when I have more time. A major difference is that I relied on a flipper zero I had to do the 433 MHz capture instead of an RTL-SDR (I have one too, but have not needed it yet). For reference, ", "context": "home automation hobbyist", "use_case": "controlling ceiling fan and heater", "switched_from": "", "story": "RF Hacking My Cloud-Controlled Ceiling Fan"}]}, {"label": "Pre-flash testing", "summary": "A commenter wants a way to run ESPHome YAML configs before uploading, to avoid finding out on the device that they don't work.", "quotes": [{"id": 760785824, "item_id": 47549114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47549114", "by": "radicality", "date": "2026-03-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices", "excerpt": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices (mostly from M5stack) via esphome/HomeAssistant. Can this project help me in any way during dev stage before uploading the code to device just to see it doesn\u2019t work ? Eg could I use this to somehow compile&run those esphome yamls via this emulator?", "context": "", "use_case": "ESP32 device firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Velxio 2.0 \u2013 Emulate Arduino, ESP32, and Raspberry Pi 3 in the Browser"}]}, {"label": "Board choice", "summary": "ESP32 is said to have better ESPHome support than alternatives such as the RP2040.", "quotes": [{"id": 761792832, "item_id": 47612052, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47612052", "by": "zeroflow", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ESP32 would add wifi and better ESPHome support.", "excerpt": "RP2050 would work, as it also has the necessary built-in peripherals. ESP32 would add wifi and better ESPHome support. I suggest you stay away from the ESP8266, as it needs to do PWM in software and struggles with the 25kHz output frequency. From my experience: ESP32/RP2040 work without additional circuitry which works with most fans, but for protection, you want to add level shifters. Not all fans pull up the PWM pi", "context": "", "use_case": "fan controller firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Built a cheap DIY fan controller because my motherboard never had working PWM"}]}], "who": [{"by": "nickthegreek", "context": "hobbyist with a homelab", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49541723", "date": "2026-09-02"}, {"by": "MayeulC", "context": "home automation hobbyist", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48739403", "date": "2026-06-30"}], "tags": ["for Home Assistant users", "for ESP32 projects", "for DIY hardware", "offline local control"], "use_cases": ["door access control", "device firmware", "microphones", "diy clock firmware", "flashing e-ink screens", "smart home devices offline"], "compared": [{"slug": "home-assistant", "name": "Home Assistant", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45830178", "title": "My fan worked fine, so I gave it WiFi", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49986882", "title": "I hired an illustrator to draw my house. Now it's my Home Assistant dashboard", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49538375", "title": "Saving money on Google Photos with Immich: Your own personal photo storage", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217748", "title": "Hacked Amazon Echo Dot 2 and can run LLMs locally", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49020219", "title": "I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48996236", "title": "AI Agent \u2013 TRMNL", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 800241297, "item_id": 50015081, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50015081", "by": "richardlblair", "date": "2026-10-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Unifi Access + ESPHome + Zwave deadbolt", "excerpt": "I also have limited interest, but alas, I have home assistant and I'm not sure I could fulfill my needs without it. 1 - My child is a runner. Zigbee door position sensors talk to home assistant and play sounds when a door is unlocked or opened. 2 - I'm super private. Giving people a key to my house is not something I'm comfortable with. I use Unifi Access + ESPHome + Zwave deadbolt to get the level of control I'm com", "context": "", "use_case": "door access control", "switched_from": "", "story": "I hired an illustrator to draw my house. Now it's my Home Assistant dashboard"}, {"id": 792667572, "item_id": 49541723, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49541723", "by": "nickthegreek", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it was tied to my ESPHome", "excerpt": "Good news, my coding agents can access my proxmox and HA and immich and make having a homelab easier than it ever has been. I actually just used codex to help me find dupes across multiple user libraries in immich and quarantine them. In immich, I can only dedupe across a single user library. I used codex to find grid based images that I needed to convert into animated images from back in my iphone 4 days. It located", "context": "hobbyist with a homelab", "use_case": "device firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Saving money on Google Photos with Immich: Your own personal photo storage"}, {"id": 789101602, "item_id": 49318850, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49318850", "by": "big_babol", "date": "2026-08-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "uses ESPHome-based mics for the STT", "excerpt": "Nice one! I have Google speakers and like the sound quality. Only annoying thing is that they can only be used with Google's cloud assistant. After migrating to Home Assistant I have also created a HACS integration that uses ESPHome-based mics for the STT and sends the TTS to the speakers (works for any smart speaker exposed to HA): https://github.com/bigbabol1/HomeAssistant_mic_to_mediaplayer Maybe I am going to try", "context": "", "use_case": "microphones", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hacked Amazon Echo Dot 2 and can run LLMs locally"}, {"id": 785021248, "item_id": 49063828, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49063828", "by": "russdill", "date": "2026-07-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This really screams esp32/esphome, and as you'd expect, there are already dozens upon dozens of such projects", "excerpt": "This really screams esp32/esphome, and as you'd expect, there are already dozens upon dozens of such projects https://github.com/mfactory-osaka/ESPTimeCast", "context": "", "use_case": "DIY clock firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated"}, {"id": 783973729, "item_id": 48998358, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48998358", "by": "joshstrange", "date": "2026-07-21", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "flashing them with ESPHome", "excerpt": "I've been buying (2 so far) Seeed Studio reTerminal e-ink screens, flashing them with ESPHome, then using Claude Code to write backends to render out whatever I want to put on the screens (a la TRMNL, I also have a TRMNL). Being able to \"speak\" into existence what I want is pretty freaking awesome. Note: Yes, I know what I'm about to say could be done using TRMNL (as part of it) I was able to set it up so that it rot", "context": "", "use_case": "flashing e-ink screens", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI Agent \u2013 TRMNL"}, {"id": 780797088, "item_id": 48799818, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48799818", "by": "pornel", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "emulate them with ESPHome to make them \"smart\" fully offline under my control", "excerpt": "I use it to clone remotes of \"dumb\" devices and emulate them with ESPHome to make them \"smart\" fully offline under my control.", "context": "", "use_case": "smart home devices offline", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Future of Flipper Zero Development"}, {"id": 779830448, "item_id": 48739403, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48739403", "by": "MayeulC", "date": "2026-06-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "my 433 MHz transceiver does not seem to work well with esphome?", "excerpt": "Funnily enough, I did almost exactly that last week, but I kind of gave up for now as my 433 MHz transceiver does not seem to work well with esphome? It does seem to output signals when I use the remote. Oh well, I will revisit when I have more time. A major difference is that I relied on a flipper zero I had to do the 433 MHz capture instead of an RTL-SDR (I have one too, but have not needed it yet). For reference, ", "context": "home automation hobbyist", "use_case": "controlling ceiling fan and heater", "switched_from": "", "story": "RF Hacking My Cloud-Controlled Ceiling Fan"}, {"id": 776515216, "item_id": 48532201, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48532201", "by": "scottbez1", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "use motorized faders with ESPHome and other microcontrollers easily", "excerpt": "I\u2019ve been building a plug-and-play controller to use motorized faders with ESPHome and other microcontrollers easily, called FaderBuddy. It\u2019s a small board with a ATtiny1616 and motor driver that mounts to the bottom of Behringer MF60T replacement faders and provides an I2C interface for reading the position, moving to a specific spot, and even setting up haptic detents, like a linear version of my SmartKnob project.", "context": "", "use_case": "microcontroller firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (June 2026)"}, {"id": 762131248, "item_id": 47633203, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633203", "by": "paradox460", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Last year I replaced the controller with an Esphome device I built, and it's been going strong all summer and winter", "excerpt": "Several years ago I bought a product that aimed to solve this problem. It was a set of rails, a door, and a controller/motor that would raise and lower the door, via a string. The door itself has a spring loaded catch at the bottom, which is retracted when the door is lifted, via a little mechanism built into the door. Pull up on the peg, the latch retracts, and you can slide the door open The controller was the weak", "context": "", "use_case": "chicken coop door controller", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to Make a Sliding, Self-Locking, and Predator-Proof Chicken Coop Door (2020)"}, {"id": 761792832, "item_id": 47612052, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47612052", "by": "zeroflow", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ESP32 would add wifi and better ESPHome support.", "excerpt": "RP2050 would work, as it also has the necessary built-in peripherals. ESP32 would add wifi and better ESPHome support. I suggest you stay away from the ESP8266, as it needs to do PWM in software and struggles with the 25kHz output frequency. From my experience: ESP32/RP2040 work without additional circuitry which works with most fans, but for protection, you want to add level shifters. Not all fans pull up the PWM pi", "context": "", "use_case": "fan controller firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Built a cheap DIY fan controller because my motherboard never had working PWM"}, {"id": 760785824, "item_id": 47549114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47549114", "by": "radicality", "date": "2026-03-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices", "excerpt": "I often write a bunch of Esphome \u2018code\u2019 , which I then use with various esp32 based devices (mostly from M5stack) via esphome/HomeAssistant. Can this project help me in any way during dev stage before uploading the code to device just to see it doesn\u2019t work ? Eg could I use this to somehow compile&run those esphome yamls via this emulator?", "context": "", "use_case": "ESP32 device firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "Velxio 2.0 \u2013 Emulate Arduino, ESP32, and Raspberry Pi 3 in the Browser"}, {"id": 758409137, "item_id": 47400571, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47400571", "by": "marcogarces", "date": "2026-03-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i even built my custom ESPHome device", "excerpt": "I love HomeAssistant, and my second time on a new home, i'm slowly getting what i want in terms of interface and devices; doing it slowly helps you plan better and execute it perfectly. I've also been watering my garden (sprinklers) and i even built my custom ESPHome device: https://github.com/mgarces/open-esp-sprinklers", "context": "", "use_case": "sprinkler controller", "switched_from": "", "story": "Home Assistant waters my plants"}, {"id": 734325968, "item_id": 45895373, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45895373", "by": "announcer4614", "date": "2025-11-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I set ESPHome to use IDF under the hood, you can check out my full ESPHome config for this", "excerpt": "I was actually pleased with how cheap it ended up: less than $20 USD for the board + assembly + every component. I set ESPHome to use IDF under the hood, you can check out my full ESPHome config for this: https://git.ellis.codes/e/esphome-configs/src/branch/main/vornado.yaml", "context": "", "use_case": "ESP32 fan firmware", "switched_from": "", "story": "My fan worked fine, so I gave it WiFi"}, {"id": 734297024, "item_id": 45893564, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45893564", "by": "uoaei", "date": "2025-11-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love upgrading simple home appliances with homebrew smarts using ESPHome", "excerpt": "I love upgrading simple home appliances with homebrew smarts using ESPHome so that they retain their original interface. I've mostly done lights that are still correctly switched at the original wall switches but up next is my fan and toaster oven! Then to tackle the thermostats.", "context": "", "use_case": "smart home appliance upgrades", "switched_from": "", "story": "My fan worked fine, so I gave it WiFi"}]}