What Happens When Your Mum Visits Your Smart Home?

Your mum’s visiting. Your smart home isn’t quite ready. Let the awkward magic begin.

In this video, I walk through setting up a QR code that runs a Home Assistant automation—the perfect way to let someone in (or activate something useful) without needing an app, a login, or a tech support hotline.

Whether you’re accommodating parents, prepping for guests, or just showing off your HA skills, this simple trick makes your smart home feel smarter and more accessible.

What you’ll learn:
How to create a Home Assistant webhook
How to generate and print a QR code that triggers the automation
Bonus: mild tech-induced panic when it doesn’t scan first time

Read MoreWhat Happens When Your Mum Visits Your Smart Home?

Home assistant away from home | Use GPS & NFC Away from Home | Setup & First Steps

Home assistant away from home | Use GPS & NFC Away from Home | Setup & First Steps In this video,

I’ll show how I use Home Assistant from outside the home to automate daily routines like switching off lights, activating security, and more — all triggered by GPS and NFC tags.

Whether you’re just getting started with Home Assistant Green, or looking for your first steps with Home Assistant, this video gives you a clear idea of how Home Assistant works away from home in real-world situations.

What you’ll learn:

✪ How to use Home Assistant from outside

✪ Setting up Home Assistant GPS automation

✪ Using NFC tags with Home Assistant Tips for building your 2025 smart home setup Great for:

✅ Beginners

✅ Home Assistant Green users

✅ Anyone building their ultimate smart home

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Read MoreHome assistant away from home | Use GPS & NFC Away from Home | Setup & First Steps

Make Your Home Assistant Run Smoother With These Monitoring Tricks!

Is your Home Assistant quietly planning to break while you sleep?

Don’t let it! In this video, I combine three powerful tools to help you monitor and prevent system meltdowns in your SmartHome:

Proxmox Monitor – track your VM health right inside HomeAssistant

System Monitor – keep tabs on CPU, memory, and disk usage in real time

️ HACS Watchman – catch broken automations and missing entities before they become problems
Whether you’re trying to avoid catastrophic fails or just looking to geek out over integrations, I’ve got the walkthrough you need. Plus, some porpoise-powered wit sprinkled in for good measure. This is a montage of three existing videos pulled together in one place.

Links Want the helper code? I’ve got you covered!

Download it here: Helper Code PDF – https://www.onporpoise.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/helper1.pdf

Proxmox Monitor GitHub: https://github.com/dougiteixeira/proxmoxve

Link to install : https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/config_flow_start?domain=proxmoxve

Watchman Repository if you need it https://github.com/dummylabs/thewatchman

Lovelace Card Repository https://github.com/thomasloven/lovelace-card-mod

Read MoreMake Your Home Assistant Run Smoother With These Monitoring Tricks!

How To Stop Home Assistant Problems Before They Start!

️ Is your Home Assistant setup quietly breaking behind the scenes?

Meet HACSIntegration Watchman—a must-have integration that scans your system for broken links, missing entities, and misbehaving automations. (A good addition to SystemMonitor)

In this step-by-step guide, I’ll show you how to:

✔️ Install HACS Watchman

✔️ Create a clean, useful dashboard card for system issues

✔️ Write a script that auto-checks your setup every day

Why Watchman? Because surprises are fun—just not in your smart home.

Have you used Watchman before? Got a dashboard trick to share?

Drop it in the comments and let’s troubleshoot on porpoise

Watchman Repository if you need it https://github.com/dummylabs/thewatchman

Lovelace Card Repository https://github.com/thomasloven/lovelace-card-mod

Code for Template Sensor *** You need to change ‘GT’ to the greater than sign {{ int(((as_timestamp(now().strftime(‘%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S’) )) – (as_timestamp((states(‘sensor.watchman_last_updated’)) ))) / 86400 *24) GT= int(states(‘input_number.watchman_hours’))}}

Read MoreHow To Stop Home Assistant Problems Before They Start!

AI Watches Your Cameras? Home Assistant + Gemini + LLM Vision

What happens when you let Google Gemini AI analyze your security cameras in Home Assistant?
Spoiler: it sees everything—and sometimes the things you’d rather it didn’t. In this video,

I connect the LLMVision HACS add-on to the cloud-based Gemini AI, enabling object detection and automation powered by real video feed analysis.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this Home Assistant Tutorial:
– How to install and configure LLM Vision via HACS
– Connecting LLM Vision to Gemini AI for object/event analysis in Home Assistant
– Building smart home automations triggered by camera events ☁️ Gemini AI works in the cloud
—so while it’s powerful, it’s not 100% local.
Privacy-sensitive? This might not be your jam… or maybe it is. Watch and decide.

Plus: awkward fails, automation experiments, and that moment it thought my cat was a burglar wasn’t recorded but the lemurs were.

LLM Vision Repository https://github.com/valentinfrlch/ha-llmvision Get API key from here

https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey

Read MoreAI Watches Your Cameras? Home Assistant + Gemini + LLM Vision

Watch Your Proxmox from Home Assistant

Turn Home Assistant into a Proxmox Surveillance HQ | Full Integration Guide Ever wish you could monitor your Proxmox VMs and system stats directly inside Home Assistant?
In this step-by-step guide,
I’ll show you how to install the Proxmox Monitor integration to make that happen.
✅ What we cover:
– Installing Proxmox Monitor via HACS
– Setting up sensors to track CPU, memory, disk usage
– Creating custom dashboards in Home Assistant
– BONUS: Alerting ideas using Home Assistant automations.
Whether you’re running a lab or just love geeking out with HA + Proxmox, this setup will level up your smart home game.

LINKS & RESOURCES:
Proxmox Monitor GitHub: https://github.com/dougiteixeira/proxmoxve
Link to install : https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/config_flow_start?domain=proxmoxve

 

Read MoreWatch Your Proxmox from Home Assistant

Home Assistant Drama: When Your Smart Home Throws a Tantrum

⚠️ Is your smart home acting up? Is Home Assistant throwing a tantrum with high CPU or disk usage? No worries—I’ve got the ultimate fix! In this video, I’ll show you how to set up automated system warnings that alert you before things spiral out of control. What You’ll Learn: ✅ Set up System Monitor to track CPU, memory, and disk space ✅ Create smart home automations that send alerts when usage gets too high

✅ Prevent slowdowns & crashes before they happen Stop guessing—let your smart home warn you before disaster strikes! Watch now and get your system under control before it starts throwing another tantrum!

Want the helper code? I’ve got you covered!

Download it here: Helper Code PDF – https://www.onporpoise.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/helper1.pdf

Now, serious question—did you catch my brilliant, totally intentional joke about planning? Or did it just drift by like an unoptimised automation?

Let me know in the comments—bonus points if you pretend it was hilarious!

Read MoreHome Assistant Drama: When Your Smart Home Throws a Tantrum

I Tried Turning My Old Phone Into a Security Camera!

Want a smart security camera without spending a fortune? In this video, I’ll show you how to turn your old phone into an IP camera and pair it with a presence sensor for automated home security!

✅ No expensive hardware needed ✅ Works with Home Assistant ✅ Perfect for DIY smart home automation I’ll walk you through the setup process, the best apps to use, and how to integrate it seamlessly into your smart home. Whether you need motion-triggered surveillance or just want to repurpose old tech, this budget-friendly hack is a game-changer! Watch now and upgrade your home security!

 

This is the sensor : https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_o2boMeq

 

Read MoreI Tried Turning My Old Phone Into a Security Camera!

The Best Affordable IP Camera for Home Assistant!

Want a free security camera for your smart home? In this video, discover how to repurpose an old smartphone into a fully functional IP camera with Home Assistant, saving money while upgrading your home automation setup! You’ll get a step-by-step DIY guide on setting up your camera, integrating it seamlessly into Home Assistant, and even building an automation to make the most of it. Whether it’s for home security or smart monitoring, this clever trick will transform unused tech into something powerful! Why buy a new security camera when you can create one for free? Follow along to enhance your smart home with a cost-effective Home Assistant solution!

Read MoreThe Best Affordable IP Camera for Home Assistant!

Adding ESPHome devices to Home Assistant – Does Free stuff work

Ever wondered if free smart home tech is worth the setup? In this video, we put it to the test! After attending a Home Assistant gathering, I got my hands on a free ESPHome plug and lighting module—now it’s time to unbox, set up, and see if they live up to expectations. Watch as I walk through the installation process, explore the settings in Home Assistant, and test how well these ESPHome devices integrate into a smart home. Whether you’re a seasoned Home Assistant user or just getting started, this guide will give you insights into ESPHome and whether freebies can hold their own in a fully automated setup and improve your home automation Are they reliable? Could you let me know if they work as promised? Stick around and find out!

Read MoreAdding ESPHome devices to Home Assistant – Does Free stuff work