The July 2026 Home Assistant update is here — and it’s a game‑changer for your Smart Home!
Your Home Automations are now beginner‑friendly, powerful, and actually make sense.
I’ll show you what’s new, how the new Activity view works, and how the updated Automation editor makes creating smart routines effortless.

In this video:
• New Activity view – see what triggered what
• Updated Automation UI – no YAML required (but still supported!)
• Step‑by‑step example automation for kitchen lights
• Why this update is perfect for beginners and advanced users alike
• Tips for rewriting your old automations to the new format

In this week’s video, I’m fixing a problem I accidentally created…
I told everyone to buy loads of Amazon Alexas on Prime Day — but I didn’t say how many. Some of you went wild and now have Alexas coming out of your cupboards.

So today, we’re sorting it properly.

I’ll show you the new Alexa device setup, how to make Alexa talk to Home Assistant for FREE, and how to control your smart home without paying for Nabucasa.

You’ll learn how to:

– Add the new Amazon Devices integration
– Send text commands, sounds, and notifications to Alexa
– Use Emulated Hue to expose Home Assistant devices
– Make Alexa discover and control your lights
– Avoid the common pitfalls (fixed IP, 60‑device limit, etc.)
– This method works, it’s free, and it’s surprisingly powerful.

Home Assistant Magic ✨
Today we’re doing two brilliant Home Assistant tricks that feel like magic — even though (sadly!) it’s not real magic… just clever automation.

In this video:
• Turn any switch into a light in Home Assistant
• Fix the “Alexa won’t turn off that light” problem
• Use Wake‑on‑LAN to power on your PC from Home Assistant
• Set up BIOS, Windows, and Home Assistant for WOL
• Create a Wake‑on‑LAN automation
• Bonus: A bit of WrongWords humour along the way

These tricks are super useful if you want your smart home to behave more naturally — especially when voice assistants don’t understand what you mean by “lights”.

If this helped, please like, subscribe, and share with anyone who loves Home Assistant or smart‑home tinkering.

Home Assistant Magic ✨
Today we’re doing two brilliant Home Assistant tricks that feel like magic — even though (sadly!) it’s not real magic… just clever automation.

In this video:
• Turn any switch into a light in Home Assistant
• Fix the “Alexa won’t turn off that light” problem
• Use Wake‑on‑LAN to power on your PC from Home Assistant
• Set up BIOS, Windows, and Home Assistant for WOL
• Create a Wake‑on‑LAN automation
• Bonus: A bit of WrongWords humour along the way

These tricks are super useful if you want your smart home to behave more naturally — especially when voice assistants don’t understand what you mean by “lights”.

If this helped, please like, subscribe, and share with anyone who loves Home Assistant or smart‑home tinkering.

Unlock the power of Home Assistant automations with this beginner‑friendly deep dive into scripts, automations, triggers, conditions, delays, repeat blocks, and the new purpose‑specific triggers feature.

In this video, I walk you through:
• The REAL difference between scripts and automations
• How triggers, conditions, and actions work together
• How to build your first automation visually (no YAML needed!)
• Using delays, repeats, and reusable scripts
• How purpose‑specific triggers make automations dramatically easier
• A full example using a door sensor and a light
• Flashing lights when a door is left open
• Why scripts are perfect for reusable actions like notifications

Whether you’re brand new to Home Assistant or levelling up your automation game, this walkthrough will help you build smarter, cleaner, more powerful automations.

Cheap smart‑home gear is great… until the cloud goes down and nothing works 😅
In this video, I show how to make Tuya devices run locally in Home Assistant using Tuya Local, so your lights, heaters, and sensors keep working even when the internet doesn’t.
Get Home Assistant working when the internet is down
Get rid of of the cloud lag

You’ll learn:
• Why cloud‑based Tuya devices cause lag and failures
• How to install and configure Tuya Local (HACS integration)
• Linking Smart Life accounts and finding device IPs
• Fixing heaters, lights, and sensors for instant response
• Bonus: Zigbee Tuya Hub setup and MQTT integration
No more buffering, no more “cloud unavailable.”
Just fast, reliable smart‑home control.

Paul Hibbert said Homey was brilliant… so I had to find out for myself.
This week I’m testing Homey (self‑hosted) to see if it’s really as easy, polished, and powerful as it looks — or whether Home Assistant still wipes the floor with it.

In this video I cover:
• Installing Homey self‑hosted on Proxmox
• Docker setup and first‑time configuration
• Connecting devices (Tasmota, Tuya, MQTT, etc.)
• What worked… and what absolutely didn’t
• How it compares to Home Assistant’s setup experience
• Whether Homey is worth your time

Is Paul right? Is Homey actually good?
Let’s find out.

Everyone says Home Assistant is free, easy, and perfect — but is it really? In this video, I reveal the real truths about Home Assistant that no one talks about. From time sinks and network headaches to the pure magic when everything finally works, this is the honest look every smart‑home fan needs.

You’ll learn:
• Why “free” still costs your weekends
• How local control really works (and when it doesn’t) • The truth about Zigbee, dashboards, and backups
• Why automations save your brain
• And why rebuilding is part of the journey If you’re running Home Assistant on Proxmox, Docker, or Raspberry Pi — this one’s for you.

Tired of ads slowing down your smart home? In this video, I show how to use Pi‑hole with Home Assistant to block ads across your entire network — phones, TVs, tablets, and smart devices.

You’ll learn:
• What Pi‑hole is and how it works
• How to install and configure Pi‑hole on a linux computer
• Integrating Pi‑hole with Home Assistant for real‑time monitoring
• Setting up dashboards and automations for network privacy
• Bonus tips for DNS filtering and faster browsing This is a practical, step‑by‑step guide for anyone who wants a cleaner, faster smart‑home experience.

Ever lost your TV remote and refused to get up? Same here. So in this video, I set up a Zigbee IR Blaster with Zigbee2MQTT and Home Assistant to automate my entire TV — power, volume, inputs and more.

I walk through:
• Pairing the IR blaster with Zigbee2MQTT
• Learning IR codes from your TV remote
• Sending commands via MQTT
• Building scripts to reuse IR commands
• Creating a full TV control panel in Home Assistant
• Switching inputs (including Fire Stick)
• Final demo controlling everything from the dashboard If you want to automate your TV, soundbar or any IR device, this is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to do it.

Enjoy the video — and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and watch the next one at the end!

Code from the video Topic zigbee2mqtt/irblaster/set payload {“ir_code_to_send”:“Your-code-in-here or {{field-name}} ”}

This is the IR blaster I ordered – https://amzn.to/4vZSAAa
But it keeps going out of stock I think this is similar –
https://amzn.to/4mKsdtx

Meet the SONOFF SNZB‑06P Zigbee Presence Sensor — unboxed, tested, paired with ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT, and put through the legendary Peekaboo Test.

In this video,
I walk through the full setup, pairing, automations, and real‑world performance so you can decide if this budget presence sensor is worth adding to your smart home.
🔗 Watch the video: https://youtu.be/JXRV5NoQ-Uk

🔗 Buy the sensor on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3O4lnCx (affiliate link — no extra cost to you)
If you found this helpful, please Like & Subscribe — it really helps the channel grow. See you in the next one!