Are you using Home Assistant in your van?

fishplug · Mar 4, 2025

I've (perhaps foolishly) just committed to putting Home Assistant in the van to control my MaxxAir fan(s) and some of the lighting.

Seeing as it's going to be in there anyway I'd be curious to know what other people are using theirs for to see if I can steal a few ideas....

Figaro · Mar 4, 2025

I have a google nest mini in the motorhome, useful for weather, time, radio etc.
It will do phone calls and I'm sure lots of other things but I've never gone down that route.
Never seemed worth the trouble of getting it to switch lights or fans.
They all have their own switch which works just fine
KISS

fishplug · Mar 4, 2025

I'm a great believer in KISS, however...

Figaro said:
They all have their own switch which works just fine

I haven't installed the lights yet, but they will have their own switches and they will be positioned where I want them and they will be fine. The MaxxAir fan (I plan to buy a second) however works perfectly if you press the button on it, but the (size of a breeze block) remote control doesn't work from the bed because, somewhat inexplicably, they made it IR and then hid the receiver up behind the cowl and then stuck the blackout blind over the top of it to add insult to injury....

I found a great tutorial and several hundred lines of code freely shared which will allow me to use an ESP32 with an IR transmitter which I can conceal inside the MaxxAir fan and connect to Home Assistant so that I can control it wirelessly (rather than with IR) from my phone. One less (two actually if I get a second fan) remote control and set of batteries to carry around / store / lose / swear at.

The LED lights are controlled (or will be) by an ESP32 running WLED which has an integration for Home Assistant - so it's no extra effort to add them.

I'm in the process of building up a Raspberry Pi5 + M2 hat and 256G NVMe as the 'onboard computer' which will be used to power the "TV" (I haven't had a TV licence in 15 years so this will be for Netflix and some YouTube) and to do other computer type tasks such as browsing Motorhome Fun etc.

Libre Office is installed so I can 'work from van'

That's the longer version of my increasingly poor attempt at KISS...

Of course that doesn't include my PiHole + Unbound recursive DNS server or my VenusOS Pi based CerboGX or my Homepod Mini or....

There are going to be quite a few computers and micro controllers in my van

LostInSpace · Mar 4, 2025

Home Assistant - No.

But, I do have a few GPS Trackers with GPRS connections to my home server:-

Sensor 02:	Van Interior Temperature	11.9 °C	99%
Sensor 03:	Van Leisure Battery Voltage	13.1 V
Sensor 04:	Van EHU On/Off Monitor	OFF	81%
Sensor 05:	Van Engine Battery Voltage	13.6 V

I also have the GPS position hot linked to Google maps on my version of the table.
The greyed out figures are the tracker battery percentages

B+W vanman · Mar 4, 2025

fishplug said:
I'm a great believer in KISS, however...

I haven't installed the lights yet, but they will have their own switches and they will be positioned where I want them and they will be fine. The MaxxAir fan (I plan to buy a second) however works perfectly if you press the button on it, but the (size of a breeze block) remote control doesn't work from the bed because, somewhat inexplicably, they made it IR and then hid the receiver up behind the cowl and then stuck the blackout blind over the top of it to add insult to injury....

I found a great tutorial and several hundred lines of code freely shared which will allow me to use an ESP32 with an IR transmitter which I can conceal inside the MaxxAir fan and connect to Home Assistant so that I can control it wirelessly (rather than with IR) from my phone. One less (two actually if I get a second fan) remote control and set of batteries to carry around / store / lose / swear at.

The LED lights are controlled (or will be) by an ESP32 running WLED which has an integration for Home Assistant - so it's no extra effort to add them.

I'm in the process of building up a Raspberry Pi5 + M2 hat and 256G NVMe as the 'onboard computer' which will be used to power the "TV" (I haven't had a TV licence in 15 years so this will be for Netflix and some YouTube) and to do other computer type tasks such as browsing Motorhome Fun etc.

Libre Office is installed so I can 'work from van'

That's the longer version of my increasingly poor attempt at KISS...

Of course that doesn't include my PiHole + Unbound recursive DNS server or my VenusOS Pi based CerboGX or my Homepod Mini or....

There are going to be quite a few computers and micro controllers in my van

No offence, but I do think that you are not quite grasping the KISS concept………….

L' Hobo · Mar 4, 2025

I saw the title and thought, there is no way I'm letting my carer into my van and travels, she snores!

Then I read post#3 and thought, maybe I'd better, she might understand what was written?

If that's KISS, I must be using the kiddies version?

seanandjules · Mar 4, 2025

I'm thinking of doing so - there is a tablet that Pilote supply in ours to turn power on/off etc but it's crap. Wonder if I can repurpose it? I'd rather flash that than add another bit of kit.

Has anybody got any experience of emulating these things?

Oldrat · Mar 4, 2025

Sorry Fil, I understood perhaps just a couple of paragraphs. Boy do I feel old!

Best of luck with the carer!

Figaro · Mar 4, 2025

fishplug said:
I'm a great believer in KISS, however...

I haven't installed the lights yet, but they will have their own switches and they will be positioned where I want them and they will be fine. The MaxxAir fan (I plan to buy a second) however works perfectly if you press the button on it, but the (size of a breeze block) remote control doesn't work from the bed because, somewhat inexplicably, they made it IR and then hid the receiver up behind the cowl and then stuck the blackout blind over the top of it to add insult to injury....

I found a great tutorial and several hundred lines of code freely shared which will allow me to use an ESP32 with an IR transmitter which I can conceal inside the MaxxAir fan and connect to Home Assistant so that I can control it wirelessly (rather than with IR) from my phone. One less (two actually if I get a second fan) remote control and set of batteries to carry around / store / lose / swear at.

The LED lights are controlled (or will be) by an ESP32 running WLED which has an integration for Home Assistant - so it's no extra effort to add them.

I'm in the process of building up a Raspberry Pi5 + M2 hat and 256G NVMe as the 'onboard computer' which will be used to power the "TV" (I haven't had a TV licence in 15 years so this will be for Netflix and some YouTube) and to do other computer type tasks such as browsing Motorhome Fun etc.

Libre Office is installed so I can 'work from van'

That's the longer version of my increasingly poor attempt at KISS...

Of course that doesn't include my PiHole + Unbound recursive DNS server or my VenusOS Pi based CerboGX or my Homepod Mini or....

There are going to be quite a few computers and micro controllers in my van

That's certainly not my interpretation of KISS
Good luck though, I'll stick with an on/off switch for the majority of things

Figaro · Mar 4, 2025

Just a thought . . .

What if you're parked up somewhere with no 3/4G signal ?

You have to go old school and use an on/off switch then :rofl:

yorkiebar · Mar 4, 2025

Figaro said:
Just a thought . . .

What if you're parked up somewhere with no 3/4G signal ?

You have to go old school and use an on/off switch then

It would connect locally to the van Wifi so you could control the fan when in range of said Wifi.

Guigsy · Mar 4, 2025

I think I saw the same YouTube video and was considering doing the same.

I've had Home Assistant at home for years. If I were to put it in the van though, I'd probably dig one of my older Raspberry Pis out, probably a 3? It's going to be left on pretty much all the time, so energy efficiency matters. A Pi 3 takes a long time to boot, but with the relatively small number of devices in a van, it should be quick enough.

fishplug · Mar 4, 2025

B+W vanman said:
No offence, but I do think that you are not quite grasping the KISS concept………….

None taken, and I think you may be right :rofl:

fishplug · Mar 4, 2025

Guigsy said:
I think I saw the same YouTube video and was considering doing the same.

I've had Home Assistant at home for years. If I were to put it in the van though, I'd probably dig one of my older Raspberry Pis out, probably a 3? It's going to be left on pretty much all the time, so energy efficiency matters. A Pi 3 takes a long time to boot, but with the relatively small number of devices in a van, it should be quick enough.

Homeassistant spec a 3B as the oldest supported as the 3A doesn't have enough RAM.

To 'futureproof' it I've opted for a 4B with 2GB RAM

fishplug · Mar 4, 2025

Figaro said:
Just a thought . . .

What if you're parked up somewhere with no 3/4G signal ?

You have to go old school and use an on/off switch then

As yorkiebar said, no 3/4/5G signal required.

Works completely locally on the LAN from the router.

Of course my router has 2 SIM slots so I can have two different providers and if one doesn't have signal then it automatically fails over to the other one....

I really have over complicated this, haven't I?

(what can I say, I like tech....)

(and quite possibly could do with a carer

)

Eno · Apr 27, 2025

fishplug , how did the project go?

I'm considering adding home assistant. A few thoughts I've had for connecting to ESP32.

Lin-UART, for connecting/replacing Truma iNet
LED Dimmer (PWM) with Rotary Controller for manual control too.
Door Sensor
BLE - Fridge temp sensors
MPU6050 IMU - Leveling
12v fridge fans.

Probably a lot more.

fishplug · Apr 27, 2025

It's slow progress Eno - partly due to 'real life' getting in the way, and partly due to my inexperience with Home Assistant and home automation in general.

The ESP-32 with WLED was the first thing I got setup and working with HA as it really was pretty straight forward. I want to refine it and add some manual switches which I've researched but not yet tested.

Other than that, I've so far managed to successfully integrate my Victron MPTT and Smart Shunt so I can pull in all the data you would expect regarding current PV yield, Peak yield today, peak yield yesterday, battery voltage, SOC etc, etc etc. My dashboard is currently extremely crude and ugly, but the data is being displayed and I even worked out how to show my power draw not only in watts but also in amps (create a duplicate sensor and use simple maths!)

I've got all the bits and the code for the IR blaster to control the MaxxAir fan but haven't yet assembled or tested it and I've also just received a couple of Normally open electromagnets which I plan to have activate when the van is moving in order to lock drawers or doors while moving so that they don't flap open. The extra current draw they will produce should be negated by the B2B charger when driving.

So, various bits part done and constantly learning along the way.

I'm currently part way through trying to pull data from my Teltonika router (so far without success) as I need the GPS speed from that in order to add it to the conditional trigger for the electromagnets (IF speed >5 mph THEN turn electromagnets ON). A similar logic would also be used to close my fans or retract a step (if I fit one) should I drive off and forget.

I'm also planning on having some way of running a speed test or tapping into the Teltonika signal strength and seeing if I can trigger/display that on a small screen somewhere in the cab so that I can see if my chosen spot for the night has good enough reception or if I need to move on somewhere better.

I will eventually also add water and waste sensors (once I've fitted the tanks!) and will have some temperature sensors which will trigger additional cooling fans for the 'computer' cupboard and (assuming I go down that route) possibly also the induction cooker (which I plan to have in a slide out drawer to maximise worktop surface)

Other ideas bubbling around in my mind include using presence sensors (i.e. is my phone in range and connected) to enable / disable certain features and integrating some sort of CCTV. I'm also considering getting an Afterburner for my diesel heater and that's supposed to support HA integration.

If I do go down the induction cooker route then I will need an inverter (12v only so far) which then opens up other possibilites like an Apple TV which could also be integrated and controlled via HA and....

It really is a bit of a rabbit hole and I should probably finish one thing before moving on to the next but I'm getting there bit by bit. The problem is that I keep getting distracted by something shiny I'd like to do with it! So MPU6050 IMU levelling (which I hadn't thought of) is exactly the sort of thing I don't need

(I've added it to my list of things to consider / look into)

Next bit of research is what to use as the dedicated tablet to control it all with and whether I can have multiple smaller touch screens dotted around to control specific subsets of commands or whether it makes more sense just to have a tablet and do everything else from my phone.

Guigsy · Apr 27, 2025

Have you seen ESPHome? If you want a PWM control, or random sensors or switches that's completely managed and configured within Home Assistant, it's a really great stack of tools.

fishplug · Apr 27, 2025

Only just scratched the surface of ESPHome really.

I did buy a job lot of ESP32s though so I guess I'm going to be getting to know it better quite soon!

Just been reading the thread where dpsuk999 was running through setting up Batmon to integrate Fogstar batteries and the water flow meter and the smart energy meter and....

This is going to get even more expensive and complicated quite soon isn't it?

Think I might need to upgrade my HA to an SSD too...

Eno · Apr 27, 2025

It's definitely a rabbit hole. Sounds like you've made some good progress, just need to prioritise what's going to be most beneficial to you.

Can take the geek approach of capture all the data you can and integrate/control everything. Then figure out the automation.
Or look at what problem am I trying to solve, what data do i need, how do i control it. Both valid.

I would have thought the apple tv could run off a suitable dc-dc converter?

As for interfaces; my thoughts so far for what it's worth.
Maybe a small lcd (power draw?) Or E-ink display for key data.
Control will be either via physical switchs/knobs or phone.

For my home setup I've used amazon fire tablets with fully kiosk and can recommend it.

Best of luck with it.

fishplug · Apr 27, 2025

It's actually possible to convert the Apple TV to run off 12v which would be the sensible thing to do from a power efficiency point of view, however it does somewhat invalidate the warranty...

I absolutely love E-Ink and am struggling to find a reason to shoe-horn one into the build. I've never used one but I think they're just beautiful.

Thanks for the info on Amazon Fire. I suspect that some of the 'no brand' cheap ones might not play nicely. Full kiosk is the way to go, for sure.

brocola · Apr 27, 2025

Just wanted to say thank you fishplug for opening the Lin-UART/Truma rabbit hole for me. I use HA, lots of zigbee and few esp32s at home, but didn’t realise it was possible to control the Truma in the van with an esp32

fishplug · Apr 27, 2025

Thanks brocola, but Eno takes the credit for that. I don't have a Truma.

It is surprising just how much stuff that we all fit to vans routinely can be monitored and controlled by HA.

As someone who has a pathological loathing for remote controls, this is just such a revelation to me.

brocola · Apr 27, 2025

Ah, sorry, thank you to Eno as well

Eno · Apr 27, 2025

brocola Your welcome.

And then you can connect your home and van together to really embrace complexity. https://github.com/custom-components/remote_homeassistant

fishplug · Apr 27, 2025

Noooo!!

Hmm.. however, you've got me thinking that it would be pretty cool to be able to remotely access the HA in the van so I could turn the heating on half an hour before getting back to the van (for example). Or turn the lights on before opening the door or....

(adds another thing to look into to the never ending list of Home Assistant research...)

Eno · Apr 27, 2025

fishplug said:
Noooo!!

Hmm.. however, you've got me thinking that it would be pretty cool to be able to remotely access the HA in the van so I could turn the heating on half an hour before getting back to the van (for example). Or turn the lights on before opening the door or....

(adds another thing to look into to the never ending list of Home Assistant research...)

Should be an easy one.

Get the HA app, pay NabuCasa. They deserve it, imo. Setup HA Cloud.

Nabu Casa

www.nabucasa.com

Make sure power in your van doesn't run out for router and HA server.

fishplug · Apr 28, 2025

Eno said:
@fishplug , how did the project go?

Oh, I missed this bit in my update.

fishplug said:
I'm in the process of building up a Raspberry Pi5 + M2 hat and 256G NVMe as the 'onboard computer'

It's built. It's awesome! I found a really good, inexpensive metal enclosure for it and am thinking of building a second one as the HA device as I suspect it's going to eat through microSD cards otherwise.

My only frustration currently is that the Pi5 don't have a 3.5mm audio jack. I'd originally planned to put a mechless head unit in the hab space running off the leisure batteries so that I could listen to the radio when parked up. The vision was to have the same speakers double up as the speakers for the Pi5 when watching Netflix. Need to play around with some means of interfacing that doesn't have that horrible lag that you get when pairing with a bluetooth speaker.

The alternative is to get a TV rather than a computer monitor and find a way of getting the DAB/FM signal into that through some other device.

My 'to do' list for this van build is endless, which is why I haven't really built anything! So much of what you put in and where you put it is dependent on everything else that you're going to choose to do. So the planning stage is long and slow, but it's important.

I didn't do enough of it last time and thought I'd built the perfect van. It was far from it (but did OK for 5 years so it wasn't all bad!)

dpsuk999 · Apr 28, 2025

Let just say my whole motorhome is controlled via Home Assistant and I’ve built a front end to control every aspect

here are some screen prints :

dpsuk999 · Apr 28, 2025

That’s just a small example, I have over 50 ESP32/8266 controlling most of my electrical items and probably over 200 automations

Are you using Home Assistant in your van?

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