Home Assistant

Roberto_gas · 18-01-2026 06:26AM

I am looking to finally bring all the below smart tech in the home together. Still exploring options.

1) Eufy outdoor cams/sensors

2) Calex smart lights

3) Samsung refrigerator

4) Sonoff power plugs

5) Tado smart heating

I have all of them added to Google home and they work fine with limited capabilities. What additional benefits will I get by getting home assistant ? And what's the best way to get into the ecosystem from a hardware point of view ?I also want to setup a display panel using Kiosk browser but assume I need a smart hub/home assistant to be able to do that. Thanks

Tree · 18-01-2026 07:19PM

So any spare hardware like a laptop you can leave running is good. There's also the option of running on a raspberry pi but that's a bit limited. If you're already running a home server you can run it on that.

IT's quite powerful with a lot of possiblities, but there's a bit of a learning curve (better than it was four years ago, so do have a go off it)

If you want to add a display, an old tablet you leave permanently charging can work great with either a kioskmode browser or the home assistant app.

I'd give it a go, start with one device with simple timer automations and take it from there.

_ptashek_ · 18-01-2026 11:03PM

What additional benefits will I get by getting home assistant ?

The main benefit you get is independence from Google, and a much more powerful - and entirely local - system. That's always a win :)

Roberto_gas · 19-01-2026 07:10AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124159806#Comment_124159806

Thanks I installed it on my laptop using VM..but can't get the client to start...gets stuck at preparing home assistant!

ptogher14 · 19-01-2026 09:19AM

Folks,

Having some issues with HA and any advice or peoples experience with greatly be appreciated. I'm new to home assistant. I only started tinkering with it a few months but I'm completely addicted to it.

I began running it on a raspberry pi and SD card. The SD card recently started causing problems and forced me carry out a restore. I do have automated backups to google drive. The restore failed. I had an old NVMe, purchased an enclosure, flashed that and restored. All seemed fine at the start but ESP devices did not appear online and the Zigbee 2MQTT would not start.

I spent hours attempting to get the ESP devices back online but to no avail. I could reflash them and get them online in the add-on but could not get them added to the ESP integration. When trying to add them I kept getting a credentials error or a reference to the api block. It is probably worth noting at this point I have VLANs setup. They worked fine previously with esp devices living on an IOT network and HA on the native VLAN.

Yesterday I took the drastic measure of going nuclear and rebuilding HA from scratch. It went reasonable well but have two big issues.

ESPhome - I flashed a test device with minimal code and added it to the native VLAN. All was good and it auto discovered in the integration. Repeated the process with an existing device with two temp sensors. Again all good. But I cannot get any other devices over. I can add them in the add on. See them on the network. But cannot get them added to the integration. Again get a reference to ensure there is an api block, which there is. Any advice from anyone?

Second big issue is the Solis Cloud Integration. It is telling me the credentials failed. I am certain they are correct as i have screenshots of the issued ID and API key. Do you need to request new ones? Also I still have a backup copy of when the Solis Cloud Integration worked. Is there anyway to extract this integration and restore into the rebuilt version.

Sorry for the long winded post, just trying to paint a full picture to anyone that may be able to help.

Cyrus · 19-01-2026 09:57AM

Quick one for anyone interested, i made my dumb dishwasher somewhat smart in that it didnt have a delay function so i have it plugged in now via a Tapo P110 smart plug that monitors power. I have an automation that triggers if the dishwasher is put on between 7pm and 10pm it cuts power and reengages during an off peak tariff, then it carrys on as normal.

Code below:

alias: Dishwasher - Delay running until offpeak
description: Turn off dishwasher plug if it starts between 6pm and 10pm
triggers:

entity_id: sensor.p110_dishwasher_current_power
above: 15
trigger: numeric_state
conditions:
condition: time
after: "18:00:00"
before: "22:30:00"
condition: state
entity_id: switch.p110_dishwasher
state: "on"
actions:
target:
entity_id: switch.p110_dishwasher
action: switch.turn_off
mode: single

Then to restart

alias: Dishwasher - Allow Offpeak Run
description: Turn dishwasher plug back on at 11pm
triggers:

at: "23:00:00"
trigger: time
conditions:
condition: state
entity_id: switch.p110_dishwasher
state:
- "off"
  actions:
target:
entity_id: switch.p110_dishwasher
action: switch.turn_on
mode: single

10-10-20 · 19-01-2026 12:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124160990#Comment_124160990

Possibly memory - how much did you assign to it, how many vCPU's and what virtualised OS? I'd guess that it needs about 4GB as it's hosted on a VM. I have given mine 8GB and 4 CPU's on a Ubuntu server VM.

10-10-20 · 19-01-2026 12:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161071#Comment_124161071

If the devices are seen on the VLAN then mDNS is working (it uses multicast to broadcast, so it's limited to a broadcast domain within that particular VLAN), so it's not a connectivity/VLAN issue.

Basically when you create a new ESPHome device it is assigned an api encryption key in the ESPHome YAML code.

code

api:

encryption:

key: "zzyyxx"

That key secures the device against other instances of ESPHome taking over the device and doing nasty things with it. Basically that key needs to match on the device and on ESPHome. If you still can access the ESPHome folders on the SD card then reach inside and pull out the original YAML files (esphome/config/). From there you can pull each key (or the whole config file preferably) and should be able to reestablish the connection to HA. Otherwise if that's not possible, reset the device by doing whatever the procedure is to reflash or reset each device and start from afresh.

About the Solis integration - I'm not sure but when I set it up here I used the configuration.yaml instead of the GUI, so it was all very portable in my case… but I'm guessing that there would be no harm in requesting a new API key under your existing ID.

10-10-20 · 19-01-2026 12:34PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161128#Comment_124161128

Sweet. Probably going to be a head-melt for some person who's not in the know, but hey - saved 30c!

(I do the same 😂)

Cyrus · 19-01-2026 12:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161571#Comment_124161571

ah i know, as i said to my wife its not really about the saving but being able to do it, she shook her head.

10-10-20 · 19-01-2026 12:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161597#Comment_124161597

I can automate and I will script 🤣

Cyrus · 19-01-2026 12:58PM

Anyone know how i record statistics that are missing for power (not fix but actually add missing)

My shelly em went offline for a day or so and i have no total grid import recorded so my energy chart looks like this, i would go into statistics and fix but as there is no data for that period there is nothing for me to edit, how else can i get this energy usage in?

10-10-20 · 19-01-2026 01:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161648#Comment_124161648

AFAIK, only through a time-series database edit. And I think that the chances of that are nil.

ptogher14 · 19-01-2026 04:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161565#Comment_124161565

Thanks for the response 10-10-20.

I still have the backup files and I also have a copy of the existing working yaml file for each device. It just appears to be hit and miss with which ones I can get online. I tried with brand new ones. One would work and one wouldn't. It's driving me bonkers. I'll give it another go when I get a chance. Question - I can open the yaml file on the device and see the key. Is there anywhere within HA I can reference this that it matches?

On the inverter - I got it resolved. If i did not select inverter control on log in, it logged in. I was then able to enable control in configuration.

ptogher14 · 19-01-2026 04:34PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124161597#Comment_124161597

100%, its not about the savings, its about doing it. The "dumb" tumble dryer is on my list to look at.

10-10-20 · 19-01-2026 04:59PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124162296#Comment_124162296

Ha! There actually seems to be! If you search home_assistant/config/.storage/core.config_entries by the IP of the device, you might be able to pull them out of the json using grep like in the example below. It's a json element called "noise_psk".

myleftfoot@beefstew: /bigpool/1tb/portainer/stack/hass/home_assistant$ cat ./config/.storage/core.config_entries | grep -i 10.0.0.144

{"created_at":"1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00","data":{"device_name":"dehumidifier_relay","host":"10.0.0.144","noise_psk":"aabbccdd=",

ptogher14 · 19-01-2026 05:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124162357#Comment_124162357

Probably getting above my paygrade, IT is not my thing but I'll give it a go.

10-10-20 · 19-01-2026 05:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124162369#Comment_124162369

Just have a look at the file in notepad, etc, you can search for the IP there.

Roberto_gas · 19-01-2026 09:24PM

Strange issue...installed VM using Hyper V and can't get HA accessed through virtual switch. Client Works fine on host laptop

Tried virtualbox and just can get the client to connect after almost 2 hrs !

Any help? Cheers

10-10-20 · 19-01-2026 09:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124163031#Comment_124163031

Sorry but that's unclear. So are you able to access HA locally but not remotely? What about pinging, etc…? Then it's probably a firewall, or lack of routing at the vSwitch level.

Roberto_gas · 20-01-2026 07:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124163077#Comment_124163077

With hyper I can start client and access UI but not remotely or thru other devices in the home...with Virtualbox can't even get the client UI to load it stays on preparing HA

Buford T Justice · 28-01-2026 09:54PM

I have home assistant recently installed and I'm looking to add an oil tank monitor to it. Can anyone recommend one that is compatible given the tank is about 20 meters away from the house.

I also have a hive thermostat and a hub. Can this hub be used for non hive devices?

WildCardDoW · 31-01-2026 02:51AM

Info here:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/oil-tank-level-monitoring/769162/9

Seems fairly niche so a lot of DIY involved.

ptogher14 · 01-02-2026 07:07PM

Evening folks, has anyone experienced issues with the solis integration. I'm running two integrations, solis inverter and solis cloud control. Both stopped working today out of nowhere (no changes or updates at the time). Initially thought it might be a time issue as the time had drifted on the inverter. Adjusted this and still no success. Ended up removing both and installing again. Can't get either of them working. Stating incorrect credentials but they are correct. Any ideas?

soram · 01-02-2026 07:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124198505#Comment_124198505

The API on the Solis side is currently down. Everybody having the same issue according to the GitHub feedback. We'll just have to wait and hope!

ptogher14 · 01-02-2026 07:36PM

Thanks for the reply. On one hand at least its not a problem on my side, on the other I just wasted the afternoon!!

micks_address · 01-02-2026 08:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124198592#Comment_124198592

I'm having same issues since last night. Hacs won't load for me either though

ptogher14 · 01-02-2026 08:28PM

HA is a great tool, but it can wear you down by times as well when things start going wrong.

championc · 01-02-2026 09:33PM

Things like this emphasize the importance of devices which can grab data locally, rather than relying on someone else's integration or stupid cloud.

And I fully expect that one day, the likes of Solis will migrate to a subscription model

ptogher14 · 01-02-2026 09:50PM

There is a fully local integration available for solis but you lose the app if you implement it.

Home Assistant

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