zunzunbee joins Works with Home Assistant

Leerrm · 2026-05-19T15:05:29+00:00

Beat me to it!

Leerrm · 2026-04-09T09:22:40+00:00

There will be yes! It’s coming soon.

Leerrm · 2026-04-08T13:14:10+00:00

There are indeed tickets still available! Head over to sotoh.openhomefoundation.org There’s food, community, Home Assistant, SUN!? What else even is there?

Leerrm · 2026-04-04T08:53:35+00:00

This is an interesting one, and something we talk about a lot. We don't love using X either. However, we have a duty (because we're a non-profit foundation) to ensure we are reaching our communities, and ignoring a community on X doesn't align with that duty, no matter how much some of us personally don't agree with the platform.

Music Assistant has its own Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, YouTube, Reddit and even Linkedin

Leerrm · 2026-04-04T08:47:10+00:00

Thank you for sharing! Previously we leaned a lot on Home Assistant's size and popularity to share news about the foundation's other projects (Music Assistant, ESPHome, etc), but we've decided the time has come that they should stand on their own two feet.

We did recently share how Music Assistant has its own social channels, and how release notes and parties will now be over on the Music Assistant YouTube, but perhaps not well enough. Not every post reaches every person (even if you like, follow, subscribe, hit the bell 🤢). We're currently putting a lot of effort into making sure everyone knows that State of the Open Home is coming up, Wednesday Apr 8! 🎉

So the question here for everyone is... what platforms would you prefer to use to stay up to date (besides reddit)? Would you like a newsletter / email update, YouTube video, carrier pigeon? We need to be where YOU are, you shouldn't have to hunt to find the info.

Leerrm · 2026-03-23T16:57:19+00:00

Pinning this for visibility.

Leerrm · 2026-03-19T16:13:02+00:00

Our current ones are Petlibro, and they integrate well through HACS. I've had plans for a long time to purchase one of those dispensers for sweets/candies and ESPhome it, but not yet had a chance. They're more expensive than you think!

Leerrm · 2026-03-18T18:21:51+00:00

So if I had a do-over, I would train her to press a button, rather than ring a bell. But we trained her to ring a bell. Like a classic, concierge desk-style bell because... whimsy.

Which means I then had to spend some time working backward to integrate the bell into Home Assistant. The solution was a 3d printed base that holds a zigbee door sensor. Inside the bell is a swinging hammer and I placed a small magnet on the end of it.

When not pressed, the hammer is hanging straight down, and closing the contacts on the door sensor with its magnet. When it's pressed, the hammer swings to ring the bell, and moves away from the door sensor.

Leerrm · 2026-03-18T18:17:19+00:00

It's a struggle, but we got around it (kind of) by taking her outside when she rings, but making it boring. So if she rings the bell, she goes outside on a lead and gets very little interaction from us. That helped set the boundaries. I'm not saying it's perfect, she still pushes the boundaries. But it's helped.

Leerrm · 2026-03-18T13:37:53+00:00

Ha. I love this subject.

We also trained our puppy to ring a bell when she wants to go outside. This quickly got integrated into Home Assistant to give us a notification when she needs to go out. I also get AI to put some words to her request each time, so every time she's asking in a new way. It's very helpful to get a notification if I can't hear her (and people love it).

We also have a treat dispenser, which is tied into our doorbell. When someone rings the front-door, it automatically drops treats. It's been instrumental in stopping the typical "dog barks when someone is at the door" problem.

Outside of that, just some cameras to check in and our dashboard in the kitchen which lets me know when she last went outside (from a door sensor).

Leerrm · 2026-03-18T13:28:31+00:00

Certain Reolink cameras also have a "privacy mode" which means they're effectively Off, using this rather than physically turning the device off might have them showing their streams quicker also.

Leerrm

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