Tesla, Home Assistant, ESPHome and Smarter Automation with Gavin Campbell – HGG690

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Gavin Campbell is back, and this one turns into a tour of what happens when Home Assistant stops being a dashboard and starts becoming the operating system for the house. We talk through Gavin’s first Tesla, garage-door automation, water and leak monitoring, ESPHome projects, lawn and soil sensors, emergency power, camera systems and the growing role AI can play in making sense of all that home data. For a focused primer on that local camera stack, see the Frigate and Home Assistant guide.

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Chapters / Timestamps

[0:13] — Show Intro and Tech Themes

[2:52] — CES Robotics Predictions

[6:52] — Tesla and EV Integration

[11:02] — Garage Automation Setup

[16:35] — Smart Locks and Entry

[22:35] — Elgato Camera Glitch

[24:54] — Automated Blinds and Climate

[29:22] — Home Assistant Data Insights

[32:12] — Leak Sensors and Water Flow

[40:00] — Remote Pump Monitoring

[44:13] — ESPHome Starter Kit

[46:06] — Custom Sensors Everywhere

[49:08] — Dirty Filter Detective

[57:32] — Smart Lawn Savings

[1:00:42] — Houseboat Off the Grid

[1:04:13] — Powering Adventures

[1:10:08] — Home Assistant Community Day

[1:15:37] — AI Cameras and Dashboards

[1:20:01] — Bird Feeder Integration

Guest Context

Gavin Campbell joins me again from HomeTech.fm, where he and the team cover smart-home products, Home Assistant, automation, security, networking and the practical reality of living with connected technology. Gavin has also become one of those people I like talking with because he is willing to build something himself when an off-the-shelf product does not quite solve the problem.

This Week on Home Gadget Geeks

  • Gavin’s first Tesla Model Y and the Home Assistant data it exposes
  • Garage-door automation, S3XY Dash, smart locks and arrival routines
  • Automated blinds, sun position and AI analysis of Home Assistant history
  • Leak sensors, Hydrific Droplet and remote-property water monitoring
  • Apollo Automation’s ESPHome Starter Kit and custom sensor projects
  • Soil-moisture data, irrigation savings and lawn automation
  • Houseboat power, generators, solar and Tesla emergency-power options
  • Home Assistant Community Day 2026 and camera-platform tradeoffs

Full Show Notes

CES, AI and the Next Wave of Home Robotics

Gavin and I start by looking ahead to CES. AI will be everywhere, of course, but Gavin thinks robotics is the more interesting category to watch as products mature beyond the first wave of robot vacuums and early lawnmowers. We talk about robotic lawnmowers adding trimming functions, the possibility of kitchen-prep robots and the familiar pattern where a technology starts out expensive and awkward, then gradually becomes normal enough to buy at a home-improvement store.

Why Gavin Bought a Tesla

Gavin recently bought his first EV, a Tesla Model Y, after comparing several options. A big part of the appeal was that Tesla feels like an EV platform first rather than a traditional automaker adding an EV on the side. That decision quickly became a smart-home conversation because the car exposes useful data that can be brought into Home Assistant, including battery level, tire pressure, trip details, doors and windows.

Tesla + Home Assistant Turns the Car into Another House Sensor

The interesting part is not just seeing the car in a dashboard. Gavin uses the Tesla’s location and state as another input into automations. Home Assistant can warn about low tire pressure or a low battery before bed, and location can help drive garage-door behavior. That turns the car into another sensor-rich device in the home rather than a separate app you occasionally check.

Garage Automation without Being Trapped by One Cloud

We spend a good stretch on garage doors because they are one of the clearest examples of practical home automation. Gavin moved away from relying on MyQ and now lets Home Assistant handle the logic. When the car leaves, the garage can close automatically. When he returns, the state can surface in the vehicle. I compare that with my own Meross garage setup and the simple value of being able to answer one question: did I leave the garage door open?

Smart Locks, S3XY Dash and Arrival Automations

The car discussion expands into the rest of Gavin’s arrival routine. He uses the Enhance Automotive S3XY Dash to add Apple CarPlay and vehicle information in front of him, while Home Assistant handles the house side of the equation. His smart-lock setup can lock the house when nobody is home and selectively unlock the garage-entry door when someone arrives. The useful lesson is not simply “automate every lock”; it is choosing which door should respond to presence and keeping the automation narrow enough that it still feels predictable.

Automated Blinds, Sun Position and HVAC Efficiency

Gavin has automated curtains and blinds across the house. His routines are conditional: if a window is open, a blind may stay open so airflow is not blocked. In summer, the system can use sun position and indoor sensor data to reduce solar heat gain. What I found most interesting is that Gavin has begun using AI against Home Assistant history to compare what changed after he adjusted blinds, vents and other settings.

Using AI on Home Assistant History

This is one of the strongest ideas in the episode. Home Assistant already has a history of temperatures, sensors, switches and device states. Instead of treating that history as something only a human should inspect on graphs, Gavin asks AI to analyze it. He can describe a change he made and then ask whether upstairs temperatures stabilized or the HVAC ran less often. That turns years of sensor collection into something closer to an optimization dataset.

Leak Sensors and Whole-Home Water Monitoring

Gavin has leak sensors near washing machines, toilets, the water heater and other likely failure points, and they have already caught real leaks. He also uses Hydrific Droplet, a clamp-on whole-home water monitor that uses ultrasonic sensing without cutting into the pipe. Droplet can identify unusual flow and connects to Home Assistant; Hydrific also documents local-network MQTT data for Home Assistant. Gavin notes that Hydrific sent him his Droplet review unit. He also mentioned the discount code HOMETECH during the episode (spoken as “Home Tech”) and said it could save about $30; I could not confirm that specific offer on Hydrific’s public site, so check the current terms at checkout. Gavin shared examples where unusual-flow alerts exposed problems that point sensors alone might have missed.

Remote Properties, Pump Monitoring and Shutoff Options

A listener question pushed the water discussion into remote-property monitoring. If a pump is running when nobody should be using water, that is a useful signal by itself. Gavin describes current-sensing clamps and smart switches that can reveal when a device is drawing power. We also talk about motorized water shutoff options for situations where detecting the problem is not enough and you want automation to stop the flow.

ESPHome Starter Kit and DIY Sensors

Gavin has become much more positive about ESPHome as it has become easier to use. He points to the Apollo Automation ESPHome Starter Kit as an approachable entry point for someone who wants to build a sensor that does not already exist as a polished consumer product. Instead of starting with a blank microcontroller and a pile of research, the kit gives a more guided path into ESP32-based projects that can land directly in Home Assistant.

A Pool-Filter Pressure Sensor Built for a Real Problem

One of Gavin’s best examples is his pool-filter pressure sensor. He wanted a digital way to know when the filter pressure had climbed enough that the system needed to be backwashed. A pressure sensor was added alongside the analog gauge, and the digital readings matched closely enough to make the automation useful. Now Home Assistant can alert him when the pressure reaches the point where maintenance is needed.

Dirty Filter Detective: HVAC Filters and Pressure Sensing

The pool-filter discussion turns into a second pressure-sensing idea for HVAC. I talk about being told that an overly restrictive furnace filter can hurt airflow, and Gavin’s pool project makes me wonder whether pressure could be monitored across an HVAC filter to show when it is getting dirty. We also get into MERV ratings and the practical advice Gavin has heard from an HVAC-mechanic friend: the most important thing is keeping the filter clean and replacing it when it gets dirty.

Soil Moisture, Smarter Irrigation and Lawn Automation

Gavin wants a low-profile soil-moisture sensor that is friendly to robot lawnmowers and ordinary mowing. Existing sensors can stick out of the ground, get stepped on or become mower targets. The larger point is that soil data can make irrigation much smarter. Instead of watering every zone for the same amount of time, moisture readings can show which zone actually needs water. In Gavin’s case, declining moisture also helped uncover a sprinkler head that was stuck and not covering its zone correctly.

Houseboat Tech, Portable Power and Going Mostly Offline

Gavin also tells us about a week on a houseboat where there was essentially no cell service. The boat had propane appliances and limited 12-volt power, so a small Honda generator became the charging hub for speakers, radios and battery banks. We kick around what we would add next time: a small projector, Starlink, a smart telescope, or a solar generator with panels on the roof of the boat.

Tesla as an Emergency Battery

That leads back to emergency power. On compatible Model Y configurations, Tesla’s Outlet Adapter can use the vehicle’s charge port to power external devices and appliances. We compare that capability with portable power stations and the same storm-prep logic I use at home: when severe weather is coming, charging available batteries before the outage is part of the automation problem.

Home Assistant Community Day

We close the main show with Home Assistant Community Day. Gavin recommends it even for beginners because the value is not just presentations. It is meeting other users, seeing how differently people design dashboards, trading devices, asking questions and learning from people who have already solved a problem you are working on.

Ring, Frigate, Blue Iris and UniFi Protect

Near the end, our camera discussion turns into a useful tradeoff conversation. Gavin has used Blue Iris and Frigate and now prefers UniFi Protect for much of his own setup because it has been reliable and integrates cleanly with Home Assistant. He still recommends Ring for people who want the simplest path and do not want to run a server. That is a good reminder that the technically most flexible solution is not automatically the right solution for every house.

Birdfy and the Home Assistant Question

Right at the end, I bring up our Birdfy hummingbird feeder camera. The camera and app work well for us, but I would like to get the device into Home Assistant. Gavin agrees to look at it in the post-show. The edited episode contains the question and setup only; the actual Birdfy integration advice is not part of this finished program.

Key Takeaways

Home Assistant becomes much more valuable when device data is allowed to drive decisions and automations instead of simply filling dashboards.

AI can be useful on top of Home Assistant history because it can compare sensor behavior before and after a change and help surface patterns that are hard to spot manually.

Water monitoring is one of the highest-value smart-home categories because early detection can prevent expensive damage.

ESPHome is increasingly approachable for one-off sensors where the exact product you want does not exist.

Soil-moisture data can reduce unnecessary watering and can also expose mechanical irrigation problems.

Emergency power is becoming a system rather than a single generator: vehicle batteries, portable power stations, solar and traditional generators can all play different roles.

The best camera platform depends on how much infrastructure you want to operate yourself; simple cloud systems and local-first systems solve different problems.

FAQ

Can a Tesla be integrated with Home Assistant?

Yes. Gavin uses a bridge that exposes Tesla data to Home Assistant, including battery status, tire pressure, trip information and door or window state. He then uses that data in automations and notifications.

Can Home Assistant automatically close a garage door when I leave?

Yes, if Home Assistant can determine that you or your vehicle have left and the garage-door controller supports the required control. Gavin uses location-aware automations so the garage can close as he drives away.

Why use leak sensors if I already have a whole-home water monitor?

They solve related but different problems. Point sensors can detect water exactly where they are placed, while a whole-home monitor can identify unusual flow even when there is no sensor beside the leak. Using both adds coverage.

What is a clamp-on whole-home water monitor?

It is a device that attaches to the incoming water pipe and estimates flow without requiring the pipe to be cut. Gavin uses a Hydrific monitor that learns normal usage patterns and can alert on unusual water flow.

Can Home Assistant shut off water automatically?

It can if the plumbing includes a controllable shutoff valve or another device capable of stopping the pump or flow. The monitoring sensor by itself does not necessarily stop the water.

What is ESPHome useful for?

ESPHome is useful when you want to build a custom sensor or controller around an ESP-based board and integrate it directly with Home Assistant. Gavin uses it for projects where an off-the-shelf product does not solve the exact problem.

If you want to go deeper, see my getting started with ESPHome guide for ESP32 hardware, Device Builder, Bluetooth proxies, battery sensors and local Home Assistant integration.

What is the Apollo Automation ESPHome Starter Kit?

It is a beginner-oriented kit designed to make it easier to experiment with ESPHome and attach sensors without starting from scratch. Gavin sees it as a good entry point for people who want to learn by building.

Can soil-moisture sensors actually save water?

They can help because irrigation can be based on the condition of individual zones instead of watering every zone on the same schedule. Gavin also used moisture trends to notice a sprinkler head that was not working correctly.

Can a Tesla provide emergency power during an outage?

Some compatible Tesla Model Y configurations can power external devices through Tesla’s Outlet Adapter. Gavin has tested small loads and keeps the capability in mind as another emergency-power option. Compatibility depends on the specific vehicle configuration and adapter.

Is UniFi Protect better than Frigate or Blue Iris?

They serve different users. Gavin likes UniFi Protect because it has been reliable and integrates well with Home Assistant, while Frigate and Blue Iris offer more DIY flexibility for people willing to maintain the infrastructure.

Is Ring still a good choice for home cameras?

Gavin still recommends Ring when someone wants a straightforward camera system without running a local server. The tradeoff is less local control than more technical platforms.

What is Home Assistant Community Day?

Home Assistant Community Day 2026 is scheduled for Saturday, November 7. It is built around local community meetups where Home Assistant users can meet, share setups, ask questions and learn from one another. Gavin recommends the experience for both beginners and advanced users.

Products Discussed in This Episode

Some product links may be affiliate links. If you use those links to make a purchase, The Average Guy Network may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Home Gadget Geeks.

  • Tesla Model Y
  • Enhance Automotive S3XY Dash
  • Meross smart garage-door opener
  • Tailwind iQ3 smart garage-door controller
  • ratgdo garage-door controller
  • Yale Assure smart locks
  • Elgato Stream Deck, Facecam and Prompter
  • Hydrific Droplet whole-home water monitor
  • Moen Flo
  • Zooz Titan Water Valve Actuator
  • Inovelli smart switches
  • Apollo Automation ESPHome Starter Kit
  • ESP32 boards and sensors
  • ThirdReality Smart Soil Moisture Sensor
  • Ecowitt soil-temperature and soil-moisture sensors
  • OtO smart lawn watering system
  • Honda portable generator
  • Portable power stations and solar panels
  • UniFi Protect and AI Port
  • Frigate
  • Blue Iris
  • Ring cameras
  • Birdfy Hum Feeder

Links and Resources Mentioned

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