Creators

187 Automations, 300 Devices: Josh’s Smart Home Assistant Journey

Published 8 hours ago
Recorded November 3, 2025
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Josh from Josh’s Smart Home joins Phil and Rohan to unpack a 300-device Home Assistant setup running on Home Assistant Green. We dive into the move from SmartThings, building a reliable Zigbee mesh, energy automations with Tesla Powerwall and a smart pool pump and theatre room presence.
Chapters
00:00:00 – Intro
00:01:22 – Meet Josh
00:02:18 – Early smart home missteps
00:04:12 – SmartThings and Lutron
00:05:54 – WebCoRE ends, HA begins
00:09:29 – Home Assistant Green setup
00:09:34 – Zigbee mesh with Aqara
00:12:55 – Theater gear quirks
00:14:18 – Theater automation philosophy
00:22:02 – Time-of-use energy automations
00:23:00 – Powerwall + solar in HA
00:26:31 – ROI and arbitrage
00:28:28 – Tesla automations
00:32:42 – Dashboards and voice control
00:37:19 – Washer/dryer and doorbell alerts
00:40:37 – 187 automations, time saved
00:44:20 – Motion and humidity control
00:48:56 – Measuring automation impact
00:50:02 – Smart blinds convenience
00:50:19 – Yarbo mower and snowblower
00:58:43 – Security and utility uses
01:06:59 – Starting Josh’s Smart Home
01:10:27 – Automation content plans
01:12:45 – Top new-build tips
01:15:56 – Designing and building
01:21:26 – Where to find Josh

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Hosted By

Phil Hawthorne

Phil is a Melbourne based web developer who lives and breathes technology. When he's not at his day job, he’s in his home office attempting to simplify his life through complicated tech.

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Rohan Karamandi

Rohan from Toronto, Canada works in the Technology sector as an architect designing network and datacenter solutions for his customers. His passion for technology stems from there and extends to IoT and home automation

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Special Appearances By

Josh Wallet

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Spotlight

 

Special episodes focused on various aspects of Home Assistant and Home Automation.