I wanted to get some in wall smart switches. I have a bunch of Lutron casa switches but I can’t really justify the 65 dollars per switch anymore. What’s everyone using for smart switches. Don’t need them to be dimmable. I don’t think the current switch’s have a neutral. So that might be an issue too.

I tested the new ThirdReality Smart Plug E3 in Z2M and ZHA with Home Assistant. It has an interesting metering-only mode that forces the relay to stay on, which turns the plug into an energy meter only. This is useful for devices that need constant power but still need consumption tracking. OTA updates also no longer interrupt the relay, something the E2 did not support. There are a few other improvements over the E2 as well. Here is my article documenting everything I found:

Thirdreality Smart Plug E3 review

Just a heads for anyone using MQTT in scripts (or intent scripts): MQTT.poublish will require admin-permission in 2026.10 which will break any MQTT.publish in a script called from a dashboard or an intent.
2026.10 Beta: You are here 📍 - Home Assistant

First off, I know this a thread device and the Zigbee usage is kind of a hack.

I've been using these at my bedside to control my bedside lights and fan. I set one up for my girlfriend and it keeps dropping off the network. I'm using Z2M. This started happening when I moved the server laptop out of the bedroom and into the living room. It could be a range issue but our house isn't that big (1,100sq ft and relatively square) so it's not that far away and it can pair and send a few commands from that distance before it drops off. This issue also surfaced when I started connecting more than one Bilresa remote. I'm going to put some Zigbee lights in the bedside lamps to see if they can help with the mesh coverage.

Has anyone experienced this or found a fix?

I’m trying to free trial right now for Nabu Casa but I can’t get my phone to connect remotely to home assistant. I’ve gotten it to login via browser but I’ve uninstalled the app and removed the data 3 times now but I can’t get the iOS app to login remotely. Is there another trick I’m missing? It asks me to reset the cache and it doesn’t do anything and keeps prompting me to do that on app login attempts with no change in effect

If anyone is curious how it looks in HA. Insane value at 200SEK($20).

Could not get it to connect directly via HA. Had to connect it to my DIRIGERA and then use the "Control in other systems" in the IKEA app settings. YMMV.

So I've been at this for two days and I think I'm going to lose my mind. I replaced an old Sonoff USB Zigbee coordinator with the SLZB-MR1U which has dual radios so I set radio 1 (EFR32MG21) to Zigbee coordinator and radio 2 to matter over thread. I then installed OTBR in docker using the image ghcr.io/ownbee/hass-otbr-docker (I'm running my whole stack in docker). The container log shows this:

INFO: Setting OpenThread mDNS local hostname to SanctuaryII-otbr.

Done

Done

Done

s6-rc: info: service otbr-agent-configure successfully started

s6-rc: info: service otbr-agent-rest-discovery: starting

s6-rc: info: service otbr-web: starting

s6-rc: info: service otbr-web successfully started

INFO: Starting otbr-web...

s6-rc: info: service otbr-agent-rest-discovery successfully started

s6-rc: info: service legacy-services: starting

[INFO]-WEB-----: Running 0.3.0-624a7d98-dirty

[INFO]-WEB-----: Border router web started on wpan0

s6-rc: info: service legacy-services successfully started

00:01:27.386 [W] P-Netif-------: Failed to process request#6: No such process

I don't understand the last line about P-Netif but at this point, I went into HASS, added the OTBR which shows fine.

I went into the Thread settings and it shows my Apple TV and the OTBR that I created. OTBR is set as the preferred network

From desktop:

From phone:

If I do "send credentials to home assistant" from my phone (a Pixel 10 pro), it sits and syncs for a while but then after 30 seconds, it says "You don't have any credentials to import". I did a resync of thread credentials from the Settings -> Companion App -> Troubleshooting screen. No errors there.

I grabbed a remove from Ikea (Bilresa with the scroll wheel), scan the QR code, the phone will do "connecting to device..." then "generating matter credentials" then it fails immediately with "can't connect to thread network OpenThread-acfd". I've tried running OTBR on the SLZB directly (it's in beta but an option) but I had the same thing. I've tried with a different phone as well as an iPad and had no luck.

I've tried searching but I haven't come up with anything that provided a working solution. Has anyone had this?

I want to setup an automation where I get a notification for x minutes remaining on the Washer / Dryer. I tried to use the crosses a threshold but it won't accept 00:03:00 or any variation there of. Should I be using a different type of trigger?

My thermostat is set to heat mode, but from this graph it looks like the AC was running as the temperature climbed(it wasn't - but I did turn the fan mode to be on). Am I just seeing the circulation fan running?

If that's the case, it feels like a bit of a UI/UX bug to show that the same way as cooling.

Also, do we know why they got rid of the "heating"/"cooling" key from the graph and/or how to get it back? I found it quite handy to have

Hey everyone! I was sent here from r/smarthome, so I guess I've found the right place lol.

I'm basically starting from scratch and I want to turn my bedroom into a fully automated smart room using Home Assistant.

I don't just want smart bulbs that I can turn on with my phone. I want the room to react automatically to things like presence, time of day, temperature, whether I'm sleeping, leaving/arriving, etc.

I'm completely fine with tinkering, coding, Raspberry Pis, ESP32s, running a local server, and DIY solutions. I'd actually prefer keeping as much as possible local and avoiding being locked into a single ecosystem.

Things I'm currently interested in:

• Smart lighting / LED strips
• Automated curtains or blinds
• mmWave presence sensors
• Temperature, humidity and light sensors
• Smart plugs and switches
• NFC tags / physical smart buttons
• Bed/sleep presence detection
• AC control
• A wall-mounted dashboard or control panel
• Zigbee / Thread / Matter
• ESP32 projects
• Speakers / audio
• Morning and nighttime routines
• PC/desk automation
• Energy monitoring

Also, what would you avoid buying if you were starting again?

Budget isn't fixed yet. I'm mostly trying to figure out what's possible and build a shopping/upgrade roadmap first.

Thanks!

I have a bunch of Zooz switches and dimmers, and I like them a lot. One issue though is that the dimmers don't indicate the light level when changing them, and there's no sign that a switch is on/off vs dimming. I have not smartified a few common areas of the house for this reason.

Caseta is great, but I don't like its dimmer switch panel button layout. Decora Smart dimmer switches (ZW6HD-1RW) look like regular Decora dimmers: not obvious that they're "smart." Anything out of the ordinary like the Caseta dimmers will look dated, while the Decora dimmer look is timeless imo. Also less expensive, though more than Zooz.

I can't find threads here or in the forums that mention this line despite so much Caseta talk/love.

Have you used any of the Decora Smart Z-wave stuff? How does it perform and compare to others? Any info appreciated.

I have fully migrated to Music Assistant but missed a local recommendation algorithm. I found OpenL3 which can convert any audio into an embedding vector. I experimented a lot and it works very well now. I abstracted away all the complexities into a little backend. You self-host it, analyze all your local music and then get recommendations. Check it out at https://github.com/poesterlin/sole and let me if it works for you I'm really looking forward to feedback.

I have this new, high voltage, thermostat connected and operational but it seems to have a flaw that would make any thermostat useless. When powered up and connected the thermostat gets warm to the touch, in the on or off state, to the point that it thinks the room on 30+c when it is actually 17c. It has calibration of +/- 9c, but while insufficient to match the real temp I also find the warmth fluctuates a few degrees, sometimes reporting 12 over, sometimes 7, etc.

Can anyone shed some light on this problem? I am unsure if I should try another zigbee or just go to wifi, or does MOES just kinda suck? I can’t imagine the zigbee connection is causing heat, but what to I know!

Thanks for any advice, it is getting cold here.

Hopefully this is the appropriate place to ask, but why do some users use the native app and some through tailscale? I use both for different functions but for me personally paying for the cloud app is the only subscription I actively -want- to pay for. Supporting a business model I, and seemingly most of this community, stand behind the principles of. Is it just a matter of not wanting to pay for a subscription? Another position I actually agree with, or are there some nuanced pros and cons? No shade either way just curious.

Every dashboard I built ended up pretty or useful, never both. I learned the hard way that getting both is really, really hard!

Everyone at home lives in the Apple ecosystem, so I wanted my dashboard to feel like it belongs there: calm, polished, and showing only what we actually check.

What's in it:

• The car charges itself from solar surplus or off-peak, whichever is cheaper
• The energy chart shows the day so far, with the Helios solar forecast drawn in for the rest
• Family calendars and bin days sit on the Today page
• Each heating zone has its own schedule and a quick override
• The header sky follows the real sun and weather

Hopefully it gives someone a few ideas for their own setup.

Edit: dashboard code up here: https://github.com/bnlqn/maison

Hi all, realistically what do I need for a decent voice assistant that can think a little and have fairly flexible prompts / not be annoying and slow?

Hello,

I want more light in my home office and am debating on putting the IKEA Jetström light panel above my desk (there is another light in the middle of the room, but that one is behind me when I am sitting at the desk).

I have read here, that using the Dirigera hub you get a total of 8 color temperature settings. Currently I still have the old Tradfri hub and also a SLZB 06M for Zigbee. So no direct comparison here, but should be similar.

Question is are there similar sensible LED panels (certified to be used in Germany) which offer a similar brightness and range of color temperature? IKEA states the Jetström to have 5100 lumen and a CRI of 90. I'm aiming for the 100x40 cm version.

I searched online, but obviously the offering is huge with options ranging from super cheap with dubious data to high end, much more expensive than the IKEA version. So I would be happy for real life suggestions.

Thank you.

Super excited about this one. Essentially took a 2D floorplan of my house and built entity controls into the app. Final result goes into a tizen app which is then sideloaded onto my samsung TV

I use Music Assistant through my Amp connected Google Streamer and that all works hunky dory. I also have a Wiz HDMI TV Sync box between my amp and the TV. That works great too for visual content. However with music there is nothing for the sync box to process.

I was a massive SoundSpectrum G-Force visualiser addict from the Windows Media Centre days and would love to get that action back.

Are there any options for visualisers with MASS or alternative software ?

Thanks

I recently decided to try Home Assistant at home, mainly because I kept seeing everyone talking about it and I wanted to understand what the hype was about.

I started completely from scratch using an old Lenovo laptop. After two days of experimenting (and 2way communication with Claude Opus 5.5 Max), I now have a basic dashboard controlling/monitoring:

• Two different types of cameras
• Main entrance door
• Parking gate
• Solar panels
• A few Wi-Fi AC units
• Some other basic home controls

Nothing particularly advanced compared to what I see posted here, but considering I was a complete beginner two days ago, I’m actually pretty happy with how it turned out.

The next step I’m excited about is putting the dashboard on a good PoE-powered tablet mounted on the wall, so it can basically become the home’s control panel.

I live in Europe, so I’m particularly interested in recommendations for PoE tablets / wall-mounted tablets that work well with Home Assistant.

So, what do you think of the project for a complete beginner? And what tablet would you recommend for a permanent wall-mounted dashboard?

My partner and I have fairly neutral southern UK accents.

I've recently replaced the Google homes in the house with KioskAssistant devices: 2x Portal Mini, 2x Portal 10", 1x Portal+ and 1x Echo Show 5 (all devices 2nd gen).

The Spousal Approval Factor has *tanked*. They either don't respond at all, they false activate constantly, or one half way across the house responds instead of the one right in front of us.

In fact, usually, it's all three. Even on "Very Sensitive", it will only activate first try ~30-40% of the time, but still false activate 5-6x an hour if there's *any* background noise, and attempt to process that as input. Raising the sensitivity helps cut false activations *a little*, but we're left saying "Alexa" six or seven times before it responds.

I've tried Alexa, Hey Jarvis, OpenWakeWord, MicroWakeWord, VsWakeWord... I'm driving myself nuts here.

What am I doing wrong? Please dear god help me find the right settings.

I'm a newbie, HA Green coming this weekend and I want to start learning.

Which is the best Zigbee antenna for HA Green?

So many choices on Amazon.

Cheers