Jason’s Home Assistant Smart Home That Watches Birds and Tracks Visitors
Phil and Rohan tour Patreon supporter Jason’s Home Assistant setup. Discover how he uses UniFi cameras as motion sensors, automatically aims a PTZ camera, and identifies backyard birds with BirdNet. Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA255 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 Welcome 00:02:52 From X10 to whistle-controlled TVs 00:06:44 Jason’s tech background and home lab 00:11:49 Home Assistant on Proxmox 00:14:34 Lutron, HomeKit, and reliable lighting 00:17:46 The IKEA switches that press themselves 00:20:00 WLED and the Raspberry Pi rack 00:23:45 Monitoring without alert overload 00:26:30 AI agents audit the home lab 00:29:35 Prioritizing alerts and critical devices 00:32:01 Battery reminders and daily briefings 00:34:00 Smart-home protocols 00:36:12 IKEA Matter devices and Aqara sensors 00:38:42 Water leaks, Apple TV, and climate 00:41:11 Meross thermostats and temperature mapping 00:44:47 Meal planning meets home automation 00:47:50 Shopping lists and UniFi cameras 00:50:00 Cameras that aim other cameras 00:53:17 Indoor camera rules and outdoor projects 00:56:51 BirdNet identifies backyard birds 00:59:00 Bird displays and favorite automations 01:01:40 Doorbell messages and TV automations 01:04:00 Jellyfin, Nest Hub, and closing thoughts This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors Clean My Mac Get Tidy Today! Get 7 days free and use our code ASSISTANT for 20% off 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. Home Assistant Link by Nabu Casa Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com 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 Want Phil to help with your smart home? You’ve heard him troubleshoot Home