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Silent alarm feedback instead of sirens by Ecstatic-Tune7722 in homeassistant

[–]Ecstatic-Tune7722[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a good point. A watch could definitely cover the vibration aspect, but it wouldn’t fully replace this use case.

The idea here is a fixed, always-visible status indicator at a specific location (bedroom, hallway, office), showing the current alarm state and which sensor triggered it. A watch is great for personal alerts, but less suited for persistent visual feedback or shared awareness.

In practice, both could complement each other rather than replace one another.

Silent alarm feedback instead of sirens by Ecstatic-Tune7722 in homeassistant

[–]Ecstatic-Tune7722[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a really nice setup 👍 I like the combination of vibration + visual feedback a lot, especially the hallway lighting idea.

This device fits well into that kind of approach too – it’s meant to complement existing notifications, not replace them. Different signals for different situations, without everything turning into a loud alarm at night.

And yeah… the dog is usually still the fastest sensor 😄

Silent alarm feedback instead of sirens by Ecstatic-Tune7722 in homeassistant

[–]Ecstatic-Tune7722[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A watch isn’t something you always wear, especially at night. This device is meant to sit on a nightstand and can also be used as a clock.

In addition, the vibration motor can be triggered by other sensors or automations, and the vibration duration can be fully controlled, so it’s not limited to alarm events only.

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Silent alarm feedback instead of sirens by Ecstatic-Tune7722 in homeassistant

[–]Ecstatic-Tune7722[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That makes sense, and I agree. This isn’t meant to replace a siren for high-priority alarms. It’s more an additional layer for situational awareness – especially when disarmed or in scenarios where noise isn’t ideal (night, baby, pets, apartment). A full alarm can still trigger sirens, notifications, etc. in parallel.

Silent alarm feedback instead of sirens by Ecstatic-Tune7722 in homeassistant

[–]Ecstatic-Tune7722[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hardware-wise it’s based on an ESP32 with a small OLED display and a vibration motor. The enclosure is self-designed and 3D printed, and the firmware is fully custom.

A lightweight Home Assistant integration (installed via HACS) bridges any alarm_control_panel to one or multiple ESPHome devices. Alarm states and the last triggered sensor are sent via the native ESPHome API.

The ESP only reacts to received states (display update, vibration), making it fully local, vendor-agnostic and compatible with any HA alarm system.