My home in the Netherlands is equipped with a growing collection of smart-home technology, sensors, and custom automation projects. Home Assistant acts as the central platform, bringing everything together in one place. This allows me to monitor the house, control lighting, and create automations that make everyday tasks easier.
Rather than relying only on expensive commercial products, I combine ready-made devices with projects that I build myself. ESPHome and compact ESP32 microcontrollers are useful for creating custom sensors and controls. One of my projects is an automated staircase light, where ultrasonic sensors detect movement at the top or bottom of the stairs. Depending on the direction of movement, an LED strip lights up from one end of the staircase to the other.
Temperature and humidity monitoring is another useful part of my smart home. Affordable Bluetooth sensors are placed in different rooms and connected to Home Assistant through a Bluetooth dongle. Each sensor has a small built-in display and runs on a CR2032 battery, making it easy to monitor the indoor climate without installing cables or separate hubs.
I also use WLED to control LED lighting and create custom lighting effects. This makes it possible to use the lighting for both practical purposes and atmosphere. Through Home Assistant, the different devices can be controlled from dashboards, combined in automations, and monitored from one central interface.
My smart home in the Netherlands is constantly evolving. New sensors, integrations, and DIY projects are added whenever they provide a useful improvement. By combining Home Assistant, ESPHome, Bluetooth sensors, WLED, and custom hardware, I can build a flexible home automation system that suits my home and my needs.