ESPHome, the brilliant and easy to use system to control ESP8266 and ESP32 devices, has received its first major update in almost a year. Before you start complaining about the lack of updates, please keep in mind that ESPHome is an open-source project whose main maintainer is developing it in his own spare time. We should never be complaining about the lack of updates, and instead should be over the moon when an update does drop.
If you want to support the development of the ESPHome project, you can do so by following this link. The developers deserve it!
Get ready for an exciting update! This new release is jam-packed with a plethora of new sensors, a sleek and modernized dashboard, and a host of other improvements. In this article, we will be diving into the most noteworthy changes. Trust us, you won't be disappointed!
A new dashboard
The ESPHome dashboard has received a slight facelift. There are no major changes, and you should feel right at home if you’ve been using the previous versions. The node cards have been slightly slimmed down, and a symbol now indicates whether an update is available.
The cards have a coloured top to indicate the node's status. You will see a green line if the node is online, a red line if it’s offline, a yellow line if it’s not responding, and a grey line if the status is unknown. Together with the new update symbol, this will give you a great overview over all of your nodes.
Apart from that, the HTML and JavaScript files have been tidied up, which should make the whole interface a bit snappier and more stable. If you’re interested in the full changelog for the dashboard, it can be found on GitHub.
New sensors in ESPHome 1.15.0
This update to ESPHome will let you get a lot more creative with your projects. New sensors include:
- AHT10 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
- TMP117 Temperature Sensor
- QMC5883L Magnetometer
- INA226 DC current and power sensor
- The Grove - Laser PM2.5 Sensor (HM3301)
- MAX31865 Platinum RTD Temperature Sensor
- SPS30 Particulate Matter Sensor
Supporting numerous sensors is what makes ESPHome such a joy to use. With these newly added sensors, you have an even broader choice of devices when building custom sensors. This is a good thing because some sensors are better than others and also the prices can greatly vary from one sensor to the other.
New options for BLE tracking
A big advantage the ESP32 has over the ESP8266 is its Bluetooth capabilities. Well, with this update it became even more powerful. ESPHome 1.15.0 you can set up the ESP32 to receive values from RuuviTags. RuuviTags will report temperature, humidity, acceleration, and battery voltage.
If you thought that was pretty astonishing, ESPHome now also tracks a number of new Xiaomi Mijia BLE Sensors. These include the MiFlora, VegTrug Grow Care Garden, HHCCPOT002 FlowerPot (yes, Xiaomi makes a Bluetooth enabled flowerpot), Mosquito Repellent Smart Version, and a number of temperature and humidity sensors.
New displays
A component I’ve long been waiting for is MAX7219 Digit Display. These modular displays can be used to create a DIY version of the LaMetric Time. I think DIYers will be having lots of fun with this component.
Other display components include the TM1637 7-Segment Display, the SSD1351 OLED Display, the ST7789V TFT LCD, and even the PCD 8544 Display from the popular Nokia 5110/3310.
ESPHome gains support for more Tuya devices
Although Tuya may not be well-known in Europe, particularly in Switzerland where I reside, it is a highly sought after choice for home automation. This update brings support for a wide range of Tuya devices, including fans, binary sensors, dimmers, sensors, switches, and climate control systems.
Tuya is a Chinese company that provides a platform for the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The company offers a wide range of products such as smart home devices, security cameras, LED lightbulbs, smart plugs and more. They also offer a software development kit (SDK) and an app development platform that allows manufacturers to easily create their own smart products, and connect them to Tuya's cloud platform. This allows manufacturers to quickly and easily bring smart products to market, without having to invest in their own cloud infrastructure.
Covid-19 exposure notifications
This component again uses the BLE capabilities of the ESP32. Using the Exposure Notification Listener you can discover nearby COVID-19 exposure notification bluetooth messages sent by phones running the Google/Apple Exposure Notification service. This might come in useful if you don’t always have your phone close to your person when at home.
Other changes
Changes that don’t fit into one or the other category include support for Slow PWM Output, ESP32 DAC, and AC Dimmer Component.
Wrapping up
Although it may be hard to believe, there are even extra refinements and updates that the talented developers have made to this version of ESPHome. If you want to see a comprehensive list of everything that has been updated, be sure to check out the full changelog on the official website. Happy automating!
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