I’ve seen the ESPHomeYAML topic discussed here a few times but I’ve never really investigated it any further than that.
I now use Tasmota pretty much exclusively for my Sonoff devices but have seen some recent posts about the firmware having issues with WiFi connection stability.
I’d like to know if it would be worth my while to switch to ESPHomeYAML for my Sonoffs and possibly other NodeMCU projects?
What are the advantages and disadvantages to each platform?
And specifically for ESPHomeYAML is there a standardized configuration that works with the iFan02 controller like the Tasmota configuration has?
I don’t have experience with Tasmota so this will be a little one sided, but with ESPHomeYAML you can create automations and stuff that run on the device without any interaction with HA which can be handy (say in the event that HA is down, or simply to allow local control without having to bounce signals back and forth). Does Tasmota provide such capability?
As of right now, yes. I’m just wondering since I’ve got 5 more devices sitting here ready to be flashed with something I figured it would be a good time to decide on a platform. I guess I could use the older sonoff.bin file I’ve been using which does work OK right now. I was just thinking in future terms for platform stability.
I don’t know for sure since I don’t use that functionality but I think it has some logic ability built in to the firmware. So that isn’t a strike for or against either one .
For V6.3 I’ve seen a timer functionality - never even thought about using it, though, although it seems to have not only sunrise and sunset built in but an offset for it as well:
Digiblur has done a few videos about rules in Tasmota. Must admit I am likewise curious about ESPHomeYAML but like @finity not seeing much advantages or reasons in switching.
Regarding stability, seems most issues are with the core. 2.4.2 was really bad, 2.5.0 is better but 2.3.0 is really stable.
I guess where ESPhomeYAML really shines is when you use it for things other than a simple Sonoff outlet. I have used it with NodeMCU’s and being able to VERY easily code it to switch multiple relay’s, have local pushbuttons with built-in automation control and monitor a moisture sensor and flow switch all in the one device has been awesome.
Tasmota is a great firmware, but after switching to esphomeyaml I never looked back… IMO is more stable, easier to maintain and update all my sonoff, easier for customizations… I really like it
Had a lot of stability issues with Tasmota and mqtt.
ESPHome has been amazingly reliable and stable.
Is amazingly newbie friendly (almost plug and play) and yet once you get a hang of things, extraordinarily programmable. Has certain things that blow your mind every time you see them.
I have a basic S22 and a SV sonoff… Nothing special. The S22’s are just smart switches (powering coffee maker etc) and the SV’s are dry contact switches which open/shut my garage door or home alarm - they are set to pulse on for 2 seconds and switch off again…
I then look at esphomeyaml and bugger me there’s like 6 sensors/displays for one S20 on/off switch! How the hell do I configure it so it just switches on and off in esphome? It also has a red and a blue LED… blue flashes if it loses wifi (or maybe MQTT broker) and both are on steady when the switch is on and connected. I also use MQTT Discovery.
It’s not in anyway clear how I would set up the yaml file to create the binary to flash for either of these 2 uses…
You can pretty much copy the entire yaml from the docs and just replace the wifi details, plus now that the API is avialable just scrap all the section about MQTT and replace it simply with api: You can use the wizard too.
There is then a way to migrate from Tasmota. I must admit I dont see anything about setting the LED to indicate network faults but perhaps the wizard sets that up for you…? I don’t know, havent done it.
I actually haven’t migrated yet, still on MQTT. I’m about to move house so I’ll just do it once I’m settled in. In theory it should be better since there shouldn’t be the chance of getting MQTT topics retained that are no longer needed and that sort of thing that seems to be an occurrence with MQTT brokers and deleted nodes.
There is still some wifi issues on certain sonoff devices (POW R2 for example). Shelly2 is missing the power measurement. Despite those that affect me in particular, I have flushed away Tasmota fw in all of my esp devices. ATM all of my sonoff and shellys are running esphomelib.
The native api integration not to have to restart HA to add devices is amazing.
Another feature is that the button press is not locked to double or single, you can even remove the relay toggle if you want.
I don’t have Sonoff devices mayself but as per what DavidFW1960 was talking about above, does the ESPhome firmware provide the LED indication that the device is not connected to HA?
