Hey everyone, I’ve been diving into the world of smart lighting automation and wanted to share my recent experiences and some tips I’ve picked up along the way. I’ve been using ESPHome for a while now, and it’s been a game-changer for my setup. Recently, I decided to integrate an ESPHome mmWave sensor into my loft bedroom to handle the lighting automatically. The goal was to have the lights turn on at full brightness during the day and dim to 20% in the evening, all without needing to press any buttons.
Here’s how I approached it: I set up the mmWave sensor to detect presence, which triggers the lights. It’s been working like a charm, but I ran into an interesting challenge. I wanted the lights to stay off if both my girlfriend’s and my phones were charging, meaning we’re both at home. If only one phone is charging, the lights should still activate if someone isn’t home.
To solve this, I used MQTT sensors to monitor the charging status of our phones. I created a custom automation that checks if both phones are charging and, if so, prevents the lights from turning on even when the sensor detects presence. This required some YAML scripting, but the community forums were super helpful. I stumbled upon a demo YAML that inspired my solution, and I’ve been tweaking it ever since to make it more reliable.
One thing I learned is the importance of testing automations thoroughly. I initially had some false triggers, but adjusting the sensor sensitivity and timing fixed most of the issues. I also discovered that using MQTT for state updates is incredibly efficient, especially for real-time monitoring like this.
If anyone has similar automation ideas or needs help troubleshooting, feel free to reach out! I’d love to hear about how others are integrating ESPHome and MQTT sensors into their setups. Happy automating! 