Home Assistant - Sam van Noord

Last updated: 16 Juli 2025

Status: Mostly finished (for now). See the last day for the end results.

TL;DR: I’m automating my shit, I want it to be as central and clean as possible for as little money as possible.

My final and current dashboard that is displayed on my wall mounted tablet

Introduction

What started with a Philips Hue starter kit including my Home assistant mini v1 sometime in 2019, is now a little fascination with home automation. I’m currently looking at automating as much in my house as possible, for fun but also to make life just a little bit easier whilst keeping an eye on the costs.

Currently my ecosystem is quite messy and consists of a mix of Philips Hue, Ikea, Sonoff and Google Home hard- and software. This is because of having gathered a bunch of different devices on different (mostly student) budgets throughout the years.

Hardware wise, I use what I have and don’t like wasting stuff. Less is more in my opinion.

Software Wise I’m looking at getting rid of as much as possible and running everything through Home Assistant, but that takes some time and effort. Currently I’ve mostly eliminated the Philips Hue app besides making connections, but I should also be able to reconnect and configure all my devices through Home Assistant directly. I also would like to use my Home Assistant Mini to give Home assistant voice commands, and perhaps even wire 1 or more microphones throughout my home to have more voice command options for less money.

I’m currently using mainly the dashboard on desktop and mobile. Besides that I have certain automation's in place. I would like to add a tablet or a similar device to the wall in my hallway which would function as a main dashboard and control panel for my home.

Hard- & Software lists

For my own overview, but also for yours, I have compiled lists of the stuff I use.

Hardware

Hardware	Location	Function
Raspberry pi 3 B+ 1GB RAM 64GB Microsd	Fuse box closet	Run Home Assistant OS
Sonoff ZigBee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus V2-E + 1m USB 3.0 extender	Fuse box closet	Plug & Play solution for receiving all ZigBee supported communication
Philips Hue Bridge v2.1	Fuse box closet	Philips Ecosystem connections
Sonoff SNZB-03 Motion sensor	Hallway Ceiling	Hallway light trigger
TRADFRI bulb E27 CWS globe 806lm by IKEA of Sweden	Hallway Ceiling	Lighting
Google Chromecast v2	Living Room	Media controls TV
Onkyo Amplifier	Living Room	Audio & Video controls/output
Google Home Assistant Mini V1	Living Room	Voice commands (currently google home only)
Philips Hue smart plug (100b-11a)	Living Room	Lighting (non-smart devices)
TRETAKT Smart plug by IKEA of Sweden	Living Room	Lighting (non-smart devices)
3x Philips Hue color lamp (LCT015 100b-10c)	Bed room, Living Room	Lighting
2x TRADFRI Driver 10W by IKEA of Sweden	Bed room	Closet lighting
Hue dimmer switch (RWL021)	Bed room	Bed Room light controls
2x TREDANSEN block-out cellul blind by IKEA of Sweden	Bed room	Window blinds
TRADFRI open/close remote by IKEA of Sweden	Bed room	Window blinds controls

Software

Software	Function	Documentation
Home Assistant (HA) OS	Home automation controls	https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/
DuckDNS	SSL Certificate & URL for personal access anywhere	https://www.duckdns.org/

Home Assistant Integration	Function	Documentation
Backup	Internal integration, it makes Backups…..	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/backup
Bluetooth	Internal integration	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/bluetooth
Buienradar	My weather forecast	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/buienradar
Google Cast	To have the ability to cast my own media from my Home Assistant dashboard	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/cast
Google Translate text-to-speech	This gives me the ability to use the google TTS function and sound, e.g. to cast it.	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/google_translate
Home Assistant Community Store (HACS)	Custom Integration - Support for custom elements, which can also be downloaded via a community marketplace. Has about 675.000 downloads.	https://hacs.xyz/docs/use/
Home Assistant Supervisor	Internal integration - monitoring & control	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/hassio
Mobile App	Internal Integration - Control & Entities made available through the app.	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/mobile_app
Onkyo	The ability to cast to my Onkyo Amplifier directly & to control the zones, volume and listening mode.	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/onkyo
Philips Hue	Lights, sensor and remove/switch that are connected via the Hue bridge.	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/hue
Shopping List	Internal Integration - To make a shopping list, idk.	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/shopping_list
Spotify	Enable spotify casting	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/spotify/
SpotifyPlus	Actual casting widget	https://github.com/thlucas1/homeassistantcomponent_spotifyplus
Sun	Internal Integration - For the sun’s positions, to automatically close my blinds when it’s dark.	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/sun
Zigbee Home Automation	For my Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus V2-E	https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha

HACS

Hallway control panel (Last update)

1 May 2025 - Ideation

I want to create a wall mounted control panel for my current appartment. I don’t like having to pull out my phone, walking over to my desktop computer or ~~shouting~~ speaking to my Google Home Assistant Mini all the time. Also, my guests usually don’t seem to understand the voice commands that they need to give and are obviously not a member of my Home Assistant Household.

So, what are my prerequisites:

It’s a rental appartment, so drilling into the wall is about the maximum rebuild I can do

I want it to be cheap

It should be completely self sufficient

It should be pretty/stylish (as much as it can be at least)

I’m currently thinking of mounting it in my hallway above a wall socket, right in front of the front door.

Inspiration

With all of this in mind, I was thinking of using a tablet and plugging it into the wall socket. I looked around and the first thing I saw was this:

YouTubeBuild A Smart Home Control Panel EASILY!

Build A Smart Home Control Panel EASILY!

In this video we take a look how to build a Smart Home control panel or Wallpanel with Fully Kiosk and Home Assistant, or any other smart home platform. I'll take you through how to setup and install Fully Kiosk, and how to create 3 automations to help use your control panel more easily! If you'd like to support me and future projects: Tablet I use: UK - https://amzn.to/3JHNhyN UK (newer) - https://amzn.to/3XPpV05 International - https://amzn.to/3NYXQ33 International (newer) - https://amzn.to/4335fTa Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingsmarthome Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/EverySmartHome Written Article: https://everythingsmarthome.co.uk EVERYWHERE YOU CAN FIND ME: Everything Smart Home Community Discord: https://discord.everythingsmarthome.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/EverySmartHome (@EverySmartHome) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EverythingSmartHome/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everythingsmarthomeofficial/ #homeassistant #smarthome ________________________ Some of the links above are affiliate links, where I earn a small commission if you click on the link and purchase an item. You are not obligated to do so, but it does help fund these videos in hopes of bringing value to you!

In this video he did pretty much what I was envisioning, but he also used a smart plug in an automation to trigger the charging of the tablet below 20% and above 80% to prevent battery bloating, very smart!

He is using the Fully Kiosk software, which has an €8,- permanent license. That kind of money isn’t the issue and it seems to do the jobs it needs to do, including motion detected screen off and on.

I also took a look at this:

Home Assistant CommunityInstalling a Home Assistant Control Panel

Installing a Home Assistant Control Panel

I finally got around to installing the Android Point-Of-Sale tablet I bought at the start of 2023. It was a little trickier than I expected, but I’m thrilled with the result. My wife and kids love it. The tablet itself is a 15" unit designed for point of sale use, so it’s got a touch screen and some lights along the sides. It doesn’t have a battery and can be powered by Power-over-Ethernet, which made it really appealing to me! The only major downside is that it’s running Android 8, but tha...

He used a Point of Sale (PoS) device (kind of like a tablet) but it was able to sustain it’s power through Power over Ethernet (PoE) making it have no visible cables, as he mounted it in his wall.

This is an interesting Idea, but also a hassle for me as there is power right there where I want to mount it, and my wifi signal should be perfect as the appartment is small (42m2) and the wifi router is right there in the hallway. Besides, I’ve never used PoE before and thus have no clue whether my router and other equipment supports it.

Something else to note, they both created an extra Home Assistant user that lacks admin rights so that the functionality on the control panel is limited.

Random cool finds:

WallPanel | WallPanel

WallPanel is an Android application for Web Based Dashboards and Home Automation Platforms.

YouTubeSetting Up The PERFECT Home Assistant Wall Dashboard

Setting Up The PERFECT Home Assistant Wall Dashboard

The highly requested wall tablet setup guide is finally here! In this video I'll take you through my current wall-mounted tablet setup, and how to _hopefully_ get the dashboard working on your home assistant instance. Also, shoutout to @mattper on YouTube and GitHub for heavily inspiring the layout for the dashboard. You can find him here: https://github.com/matt8707/hass-config. And while you're at it, be sure you check out his latest project, HA Fusion, which might be the best (and by far easiest) HA dashboard I've ever seen. I was toying around with it a couple of weeks ago and it looks absolutely AMAZING 🤩 (https://github.com/matt8707/ha-fusion) Questions? Let me know in the comments, and I'll be happy to help you out. LINKS! GitHub Repository: https://github.com/jimmy-landry/HA-Tablet-Dashboard-Config Tablet: https://www.amazon.com/Amazon_Fire_HD_10/dp/B0BHZT5S12/ Wall Mount: https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Home-Mount-Profile-Conversion/dp/B0BCQXZ9ST/ WallPanel: https://wallpanel.xyz ------------------------------------------- HELP ME REACH 10,000 SUBS! 👉 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuALSdLlrBnajmqwxAdAtMA/sub_confirmation=1 00:00 - Intro 00:47 - The Tablet 01:40 - Software 04:18 - Set Up Theme 06:47 - Set Up Dashboard 10:40 - Outro #smarthome #homeassistant #automation

YouTube3D Home Assistant Floorplan Dashboards Using ChatGPT

3D Home Assistant Floorplan Dashboards Using ChatGPT

Sponsor message: To try everything Brilliant has to offer—free—for a full 30 days, visit https://brilliant.org/StratoBuilds/. You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription. — In this video, I’ll show you how I created a live, isometric-style 3D floorplan for my Home Assistant dashboard, using nothing but ChatGPT, DALL·E, and a bit of Photoshop. Inspired by the wireframe aesthetic pioneered by Madelena and highlighted in a Reddit post by /u/tozim, I set out to recreate the look, without using any CAD or 3D modeling tools. Just a ChatGPT and creative prompting. (Plus a bit of photoshop to tidy up the renders) Along the way, I’ll show how to: Take and prepare photos for stylistic rendering Use ChatGPT to generate DALL·E images for clean floorplans Create image variations for state combinations Use Home Assistant templating to display the correct image based on entity states — RESOURCES & LINKS: 📝 Full Project Write-Up: https://stratobuilds.com/project/home-assistant-dashboard-floorplans-generated-by-chatgpt/ 📋 Google Sheets Template (for organizing entity combinations): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RZbtBPgRU_zET_kBfdpwH0Wpw5XXXmIptYD-Avu_qSs/edit?usp=sharing 🤖 ChatGPT Image Helper Template Assistant (custom GPT for generating the Jinja2 template): https://chatgpt.com/g/g-685839bff36c81919b110c0f722f7949-picture-card-template-generator-for-home-assistant?model=gpt-4o 📘 Home Assistant Templating Guide: https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/configuration/templating/ 📌 Reddit Inspiration Post (by /u/tozim): https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1k0epeg/my_work_in_progress_floorplan_dashboard/ – ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 – Intro 00:30 – Background and Concept 03:20 – Step-by-Step Guide 05:18 – Alternate Styles 05:48 – LEGO Style Room Layout! 06:29 – Add the Floorplan to Home Assistant 08:14 – Sponsor Message 09:30 – Final Thoughts — Got questions? Want to see more examples or share your version of the dashboard? Drop a comment below or hit like + subscribe, I’d love to see what you create. Thanks for watching! #HomeAssistant #SmartHome #ChatGPT #Dalle3 #HomeAutomation #LLM #StratoBuilds

YouTubeHass.io Floorplan UI with Color synced lights

Hass.io Floorplan UI with Color synced lights

My apporach to a Home Assistant floorplan focused minimal UI with light renders synced to hue and brightness of light entities. https://community.home-assistant.io/t/floorplan-ui-with-color-synced-lights/169417 https://github.com/lukevink/hass-config-lajv

→ Maybe the most beautiful dashboard I’ve seen.

Now what?

So, what do I need to figure out:

What tablet will I use?

I’m thinking of a second hand android one, hoping to buy a proper one that looks good for €50-100,- → I made 2 offers on tablets i found on marktplaats.nl. A galaxy tab A10.1 and an unknown Lenovo tablet.
The lenovo tablet does have a landscape orientation centred selfie camera, which could be blocked if I use a mount like the Vogel one. (which are the most common I can find) So I might have to default to a galaxy tab with a portrait centered selfie camera.

How will I mount it to my wall?

A tablet mount? Suction cup style? Drill some holes? Idk yet
https://www.coolblue.nl/product/471301/vogel-s-tms-1010-tablet-wall-pack.html

This is quite a nice solution as I won’t have to drill, and the tablet will be able to be placed in 2 separate spots, interesting. (Also, Vogel makes Quality mounts, better than some chinese C-brand)

How will I make it as stylish as possible?

Thin tablet, low profile mounting solution, colour matched hardware.

What hardware will I need for the charging?

Ikea smart plug? Maybe some smart plug that has a USB and a normal wall socket it repeats? I do want to be able to plug in my vacuum cleaner there, and it only has 1 slot.

23 june 2025 - Ordering & preparation

I’ve ordered some parts!

Besides this I got my hands on a second hand tablet, a galaxy tab A 10.1. I think I paid about €50,- for it. This makes my total for this setup a little over €100,-. I also shouldn’t forget to buy an IKEA smart socket, since they’re only €8,- and don’t have any visible branding on the socket.

This way I will be able to have it charge only when the tablet gets to <40% and stop >60%.

I’ve also purposefully picked the Vogel mount so it’s easily removable. I think I’ll stick the wiring straight to the wall, and I’ll just remove the charger when I want to use my vacuum cleaner.

Besides that, I’ve also made a new dashboard which I’m planning on using on the tablet.

As you can see, I’ve made a floorplan of my apartment. I already had this laying around from when I was going to move, so I could plan what furniture I still needed to obtain, and what I should get rid of when moving. I’ve made this in Sweet Home 3D, which is great open source software for doing this once or twice. There are a lot of objects available from their libraries, and when manipulating some textures and models, you’ll almost always have a good enough model to see your intentions come to live.

I used this floor plan, made it a bit less detailed, removed the dimensions and screenshotted it, twice. Once with a white background, once with a dark background for dark mode in Home Assistant.

Whilst setting this up, I also came across this tutorial.

YouTubeCustom Home Assistant Floor Plan Dashboard with Real-Time Controls | Step-by-Step Tutorial

Custom Home Assistant Floor Plan Dashboard with Real-Time Controls | Step-by-Step Tutorial

Learn how to set up a custom floor plan in Home Assistant with real-time controls and visual updates! In this video, I’ll guide you through creating interactive elements, like controlling lights and displaying motion sensor images, directly on your floor plan. This is just the beginning of what’s possible—subscribe for more videos on advanced features! Some devices you can use with Home assistant: 🖥 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YkMlicHkfEyU-wlUMhA12Yv2kqtszeie/view?usp=sharing 🎁AMAZON USA 🔗Kasa Apple HomeKit Smart Light Switch: https://amzn.to/3O2y5xX 🔗TP-Link Tapo Matter Supported Smart Plug Mini: https://amzn.to/40Dx2ff 🔗SONOFF NSPanel Smart Switch, 2-Switch Panel Home Control: https://amzn.to/3YDLFww 🔗SONOFF ZBMINIL2 Extreme Zigbee Smart Light Switch (2 Way): https://amzn.to/40ypxq0 🔗SONOFF Matter Smart Light Switch, 2.4GHz WiFi Light Switch: https://amzn.to/3UKubgR 🔗SONOFF Zigbee Indoor Temperature Humidity Sensor: https://amzn.to/4fidT70 🔗SONOFF SNZB-06P Zigbee Human Presence Sensor: https://amzn.to/3YGBQxL 🎁AMAZON ESPAÑA 🔗SONOFF Mini Interruptor Inteligente Wifi: https://amzn.to/4eB4K8L 🔗SONOFF S60TPF Enchufe Inteligente Wi-Fi (con Monitoreo Energético): https://amzn.to/4eC6SwG 🔗SONOFF NSPanel Smart Scene Wall Switch Pantalla Inteligente, Termostato De Temperatura Y Sensor Ambiental 🔗Incorporados: https://amzn.to/3YTcLjx 🔗SONOFF ZigBee Movimiento Sensor SNZB-03 2PCS: https://amzn.to/4hUF8pW 🔗SONOFF T5 Interruptor de Pared Inteligente, Interruptor de Luz Táctil WiFi: https://amzn.to/48Spibu 🎁AMAZON DEUTSCHLAND 🔗SONOFF NSPanelPro Smart Home Control Panel,Unterstützung der bidirektionalen Synchronisierung mit HA: https://amzn.to/4fyTCdQ 🔗SONOFF MINIR4M WiFi Smart Schalter 2 Wege - Wlan Lichtschalter Relais Modul Supports Matter: https://amzn.to/3CxXgG4 🔗SONOFF S60TPF Smart Wlan Steckdose 16A 4000W, Smart Stecker mit Strommessung, Überlastschutz: https://amzn.to/3CJ4sz2 🔗SONOFF Smart Wlan Wandschalter, Intelligent WiFi Lichtschalter,M5 Matter 3 Gang vom Typ 86 mit Timing: https://amzn.to/4eFnXWx 🔗SONOFF SNZB-03 Zigbee Smart Bewegungsmelder,Zigbee Hub Erforderlich: https://amzn.to/4eFh3Rg 🎁AMAZON UK 🔗SONOFF Wi-Fi Smart Switch 10A 2400W, Smart Relay Switch Light Switch: https://amzn.to/40RQpl8 🔗SONOFF NSPanel WiFi Smart Scene Wall Switch, 2-Switch Smart Home Control Panel for Smart Temperature Function: https://amzn.to/48TsWlf 🔗Shelly 1 Mini Gen3, WiFi & Bluetooth Smart Switch Relay, 1 Channel, 8A, Home Automation, Dry Contacts, Lights Remote Control: https://amzn.to/40NeUjj 🔗SONOFF SNZB-03 ZigBee Motion Sensor 2 Packs, Wireless Motion Detector Get Alerts or Trigger Lights to Turn on: https://amzn.to/4ezt8HL 🔗SONOFF WiFi Smart Plug Socket Mini Smart Socket with Energy Power Monitoring Remote Control Smart Schedule Functions: https://amzn.to/3YTdNfp 🎁ALIEXPRESS 🔗Sonoff zigbee 3.0 hub gateway: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBxvOaZ 🔗Sonoff Mini R2: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DF3OxGR 🔗Sonoff Camera Slim: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DDc514p 🔗Sonoff switch: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBu553N 🔗Sonoff M5 switchman: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_De3Ic5R 🔗Sonoff NS Panel: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DdJNZ1L 🔗Sonoff NS Panel PRO: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DDLfS8x 🔗Sonoff Mini R3: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DkxNwtB 🏠 Create home floor plan: https://www.sweethome3d.com/ 🖼 Edit image (Photopea): https://www.photopea.com/ #HomeAssistant #SmartHome #HomeAutomation #DIY #SmartHomeDashboard #HomeAssistantDashboard #Dashboard

This one is interesting, it will show light changes in your house on an interactive map. Needs a bit of elbow grease for editing all individual room pictures. I’m currently too lazy to do this, but maybe sometime.

I’ve also created a quote of the day. This works via a shell script which I execute in Home Assistant, which calls the ChatGPT API.

16 juli 2025 - mounting done, software done.

Alright, I’ve skipped documenting for a bit, but I hung it all in place.

This is my first mounting setup for now. I’ve decided to just use a wall plug directly since my tablet has a “battery saving mode” which should only let it charge to 80%, and that’s good enough for me.

These pictures are also taken today, where I’m in the middle of getting the software setup. As you can tell, the side- and topbar are already removed from the dashboard. I did this using

Configuration - WallPanel Documentation

You can set the following configuration parameters for every individual Home Assistant Dashboard:

Software wise I tried wallpanel.xyz, which works just fine. The camera based motion detection works, it automatically loads the page, it does everything I need it to do.

Furthermore I’m choosing on how to setup my dashboard now. I made the floorplan, but I just find the default state button’s for it to be hideous. My current challenge is finding alternatives for this, which doesn’t seem to be that easy.

Update: It’s evening now. I have some end results. I ended up fiddling around a bit with the config, but I got it down in quite a short time. After that I spent hours trying to get a spotify integration to work to wake my chromecast v1. I didn’t get it to work.

Luckily, it has no issue communicating with the built-in chromecast in my Onkyo amplifier, which has never worked properly, besides now. Funny.

Then some tweaking the dashboard, squeezing everything I want to see in, and I ended up with this!