Steve from New Zealand (Kiwi Smart Tech) shares his journey from Tuya bulbs to a powerful Home Assistant setup. We dig into garage door woes and wins, cross‑protocol sensors, mmWave presence, and why Apple Home is his go‑to interface

Watch this episode on YouTube

Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA237

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 Steve’s Kiwi smart home origin

00:10:15 First Home Assistant wins and fails

00:16:00 Garage door saga and ESPHome

00:23:50 Access control

00:28:01 From tinkerer to creator

00:41:00 Apple Home as UI

00:46:30 Ambient alerts: plants, leaks

00:55:10 Appliances, HACS, lock‑in

01:04:00 Cameras and continuous video

01:07:30 Wrap‑up and links

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

Apollo Automation

Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box.

Products we Recommend

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi

Website

Twitter: @rohank9

Buy Rohan a Coffee

Rohan and Phil are breaking down the 2026.6 release, which features updates for Infrared, Purpose specific triggers and conditions. Plus we talk KVM’s, eInk displays and starting from scratch in 2026.

Watch this episode on YouTube

Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA236

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

00:04:30 - New Works With HA gear

00:06:30 - Open Display collab, e‑ink

00:12:00 - E‑ink uses and costs

00:16:30 - OHF privacy paper

00:18:30 - RF and plugs

00:26:00 - JetKVM and PiKVM talk

00:29:30 - 2026.6: IR receivers

00:34:30 - Dashboards and Matter BLE

00:36:32 - Cards and automations

00:42:30 - Z‑Wave, Sonos, Reolink, Tuya

00:47:30 - New integrations roundup

00:54:30 - Breaking changes

00:56:30 - Fresh HA vs restore

01:00:00 - UniFi hiccup resilience

01:02:00 - Wrap‑up and callouts

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

Apollo Automation

Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box.

Products Discussed

JetKVM IP KVM: https://amzn.to/4wU1bEO

Yale Z‑Wave smart locks: https://amzn.to/4visNSl

MyPropane tank monitor: https://amzn.to/3QjJZbn

Yoto audio player: https://amzn.to/4xlZhNJ

Products we Recommend

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi

Website

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.