To ESPHome or not

[martinschki]

Hello there!
I’m using Node red and HomeKit for my home as it very user friendly within my family.
So basically user interaction happens via Siri or the home app.

I’m looking for a way to easy integrate (little) devices into the ecosystem like selfmade sensors or epaper devices for some tasks.
The data should be published to an already existing MQTT server or should get pulled from that same MQTT server.

Would ESPHome be the right, and I mean very easy, tool to get those devices integrated. Or is there another way/platform to integrate and deploy such sensors or actors?

First example would be:

• wireless pool temp sensor
• epaper to display various data from the house for information

Thank you!

[FloatingBoater (James Derrick)]

Tasmota + MQTT is a different approach from ESPhome:

• Tasmota has one binary, configuration is on the device, and uses MQTT
• ESPhome configures an automated compile to create a dedicated binary and connects directly to HASS without MQTT

My suggestion is try both - the difficulty depends on the specifics of the sensors.

Just remember to consult a hardware guide for the ESP you are using as not all pins can do everything.

ESP8266 Pinout Reference: Which GPIO pins should you use? | Random Nerd...

If this helps, this post!

[JulianDH (Julian Hall)]

ESPHome — ESPHome

Horses for courses. I have found ESPHome a revelation. My home has proliferated with ESPHome devices; the integration with HA is very tight and easy, and I have running automation routines at the ESP level not HA. ESP32/ 8266 are so cheap that you can go the DIY route, or purchase preflashed devices (Athom etc) or flash say some of the Sonoff / Shelly devices to ESPHome. I have a few items set to be controlled through Google … I have not investigated HomeKit.

[orange-assistant (the real one)]

@FloatingBoater

• ESPhome configures an automated compile to create a dedicated binary and connects directly to HASS without MQTT

While the native API certainly has many advantages ESPHome also has full MQTT support.

@martinschki

Would ESPHome be the right, and I mean very easy, tool to get those devices integrated.

I think so. Specially on the long run ESPHome is the go-to solution as it allows a easy upgrade path (one click update for all esphome nodes) which is kind of unique in the esp world.

My setup contains over 100 esp(home) nodes already and from my (couple of years old) tasmota experience that would be a real PITA (probably a day job) to upgrade them all…

And yes, reasons do exist to keep your IP connected devices up2date

@orange-assistant

@myle

my every first Tasmota is the Sonoff basic its still running 5.10.0b

Well, you are a perfect example for users running insecure firmware

@orange-assistant

Every now and then there is still users out there running a ota exploitable tasmota versions like 6 or 7 just because it “works” and they know (had) the pain of updates going south already.

Plainly spoken someone from outside your home (but within wifi range) can take over your Tasmota device (because it has security vulnerabilities), dumb the firmware and extract your wifi password. The person then essentially is inside your house network and can do as he please like infecting other systems watching you on your own camers (if you have some) or just playing master of disaster.

[FloatingBoater (James Derrick)]

@orange-assistant

Specially on the long run ESPHome is the go-to solution as it allows a easy upgrade path (one click update for all esphome nodes) which is kind of unique in the esp world.

Although I run both ESPhome and Tasmota, personally I find it easier to upgrade all of my Tasmota devices with a single MQTT command, whereas with ESPhome, you need to recompile new firmware for each device. Not more difficult, but does take longer.

Some people use the Tasmota Admin dashboard, but I simply use one group command cmnd/tasmotas/upgrade and all Tasmota devices upgrade at once in parallel.

Again, both projects have their advantages with device support and access back to HASS being the biggest difference. The main feature unique to ESPhome is the ability to create a Bluetooth proxy receiver, but that needs ESP32 rather than ESP8266 which is less common today in COTS devices.

If you really want to load up a single ESP with several sensors, local control rules, and even displays, Tasmota scripting can work, but ESPhome might be a little more flexible before a full Arduino dev environment is needed.

My opinion is as both projects are based on similar foundations and code libraries, they likely have similar security vulnerabilities and attack surfaces. The main issue is avoiding a cloud component hosted who knows where by using local control - FOSS software gives you control, whichever you choose!