10 ESP32 smart-home projects with ESPHome and Home Assistant

Also available in French.

ESP32 + ESPHome turns a cheap Wi-Fi microcontroller into sensors, relays and displays that Home Assistant discovers natively. Ten starter projects by skill level—verify part prices at order time.

Dev board: classic ESP32 or ESP32-C6—which board · Amazon UK search · Amazon US.

Beginner (1–2 hours)

1. Room temperature (DHT22)

ESP32 + DHT22 per room. Full walkthrough: ESPHome temperature sensor.

2. Panic button

GPIO button fires a Home Assistant event—alarm, notify, “all off” scene.

binary_sensor:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO4
    name: "Panic button"
    on_press:
      - homeassistant.event:
          event: panic_button

3. Status LED (WS2812)

RGB strip shows house state—green OK, red window open, blue away.

Intermediate (2–4 hours)

4. Local weather node

BME280 (temp, humidity, pressure) + optional BH1750 light—automate blinds from lux.

5. Four-channel relay

Drive fan, pump or gate logic—not mains unless you know electrical code; prefer certified in-wall relays for 230 V / 120 V loads.

Off-the-shelf Wi-Fi relay alternative: Shelly 1 Gen4 (local integration in HA).

6. mmWave presence (LD2410)

Detects still occupants—better than PIR for desks and beds.

Advanced (4–8 hours)

7. E-paper dashboard

2.9″ e-paper shows temp and forecast without a bright always-on LCD.

8. CO₂ (MH-Z19B or SCD4x)

Alert and boost ventilation above ~1000 ppm. Pi + SCD41 MQTT path: Raspberry Pi CO₂.

9. Local voice (Atom Echo / HA Voice)

Wake word and commands without Google/Alexa cloud—requires HA voice pipeline setup.

10. Pulse counting

Hall sensor on utility meter impulses—track water or (where legal) electricity pulses.

Bonus ideas

ESP32-CAM + relay: gate or doorbell camera locally in HA
Soil moisture + valve: garden irrigation when dry
PIR + siren: DIY alarm entities in HA
BME680 + PMS5003: indoor air quality stack

ESP32 vs Zigbee sensors

	ESP32 + ESPHome	Zigbee
Pros	Any I2C/GPIO sensor, often cheaper parts	Battery, no USB cable
Cons	Needs 5 V USB (usually)	Needs coordinator

Docs: esphome.io · Community: Home Assistant forum.

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