This article is part of the Make your Bellfire fireplace smart project that I presented during the Home Assistant Conference 2020.
It’s time to execute the first steps, you can find all steps in the overview how it all going to work article.
Install ESPHome
Installing ESPHome in Home Assistant is really easy. Go to Supervise, Add-on Store and search for ESPHome.
After installation starts the Add-On, make sure you select that ESPHome is visible in the side menu.
Create first Node
- Click on ESPHome in the sidemenu of Home Assistant, ESPHome will load.
- Click the green + icon in the button right corner to add a new node.
- Complete the new node wizard steps
- Node Name: provide the name of your node. Note: only lowercase and no spaces
- Device Type: Select the board you are using. I’m using the ESP8266, NodeMCU board.
- WiFI & Updates:
- Provide your WiFi network details
- OTA password: password use to integrate with Home Assistant and to flash the firmware in the future using WiFi.
- Finish: Click Submit. Congratulations, you created your first node.
More detailed steps can be found on the ESPHome site. They have a very detailed getting started guide.
Now we need to compile this node and flash the ESP with the firmware.
Hi Pieter,
I am working on esp32 with mertik maxitrol wifi module. I want to replace it with esp. I wanted to make connection between the bell fire app and esp32. can you please help or provide direction. Thank you for your valuable time. I highly value any suggestions you provide me.
Hi Preethi,
I don’t have the Wifi module from Maxitrol. I’m unsure how this works. My guess would be to figure out how the wifi module is communicating with the app. Using tools like wire shark. The other solution is to replace the wifi module with this solution. But you would loose the feature of the Wifi module and app.