Home Assistant RGBW LED Controller

Recently, Giovanni Aggiustatutto decided to add Home Assistant-controlled RGBW LED lighting to the top of his wardrobe. After considering using an off-the-shelf controller – which would cost around 30 euros – he decided that he could build one himself for “way cheaper.” What he came up with not only drives the LEDs using an ESP32 dev board, but senses movement, temperature, and light levels in the room.

The build started out as a simple LED controller, using an ESP8266 with WLED installed on it. This sent PWM signals to four MOSFET boards, which output different power levels for red, green, blue, and white light channels. Cleverly, the four MOSFET boards were mounted back-to-back with space in between, allowing for better cooling and a convenient way to hook up power and ground bus connections.

While functional, having a Wi-Fi microcontroller available meant that this build could also implement different sensors to enable automations via Home Assistant. To enhance the device’s capabilities, Aggiustatutto switched to an ESP32 dev board for more IO pins, and added two motion sensors, plus an SHT31 temperature sensor and BH1750 light sensor, both of which communicate via I2C.

With this new hardware in place, lights can now be controlled automatically, turning on when Aggiustatutto walks into the room. The automation also turns on a separate hexagonal lighting unit on his desk that he built last year. Although one might argue any project monetary savings don’t necessarily include Aggiustatutto’s time, it looks like a great build that should serve him well for years to come!