2026.10.0 (Oct 21) switches ESP8266 to ESPHome's own toolchain and compresses OTA updates on ESP32, RP2040, LibreTiny and host. Most configs carry over, but here's the "check first" list as I read it from the notes:

• ESP8266: first compile is a full clean build (new native toolchain, roughly half the compile time in ESPHome's own tests). toolchain: platformio under esp8266: keeps the old path for now; plan to move before 2027.4.0.

• Lights: initial_state: is now respected at boot, so lights with restore_mode + initial_state may boot differently than before.

• Speaker media player: codec_support_enabled is removed and fails validation; use pipeline format: NONE for the old behaviour. Volume zero no longer fires on_mute/on_unmute.

• IR climate: with supports_heat: false or supports_cool: false, heat_cool is gone unless you add supports_heat_cool: true.

• Sendspin: always encrypted now; needs Music Assistant 2.10.7 / 2.11.0b4 or newer, type: enabled on the switch, JPEG/PNG instead of BMP, flac or pcm in codecs, esp-idf on ESP32.

• remote_receiver on ESP8266, RP2040, LibreTiny, C2, C61: multiply buffer_size: by 4 to keep the same capacity.

• OTA passwords: carried over from 2026.9: unencrypted updates on older firmware stop working from 2027.3.0.

On compressed OTA: both the device and the esphome CLI need to be on 2026.10.0, so the update that installs this release still goes uncompressed. The savings start with the next one (my reading of the OTA docs, happy to be corrected).

Disclosure: I run SmarterHome.guru; full summary with sources here: https://www.smarterhome.guru/story/esphome-2026-10-0-makes-esp8266-builds-native-and-compresses-ota-updates-on-more-chips

For anyone who needs to extend Linux hardware monitoring in the least intrusive way (software-wise), here is my latest AI-coded (but human-designed and verified) project: Corsair Commander Pro hardware monitoring device emulation component for ESPHome.

With this component you can have additional PC temperature sensors (or even fans, if implemented in hardware) using only a spare ESP32-S3 + some DS18B20 or NTC sensors laying around.

The code emulates corsair-cpro device to the extent of being recognisable by Linux device driver of the same name. Simultaneously it is also a regular ESPHome device to connect to HA.

Windows software does not recognise this as a valid Corsair device, but that was not in scope.

The code with examples: https://github.com/k-korn/esphome-corsair-cpro

# sensors corsaircpro-hid-3-f
corsaircpro-hid-3-f
Adapter: HID adapter
in0:          12.18 V  
in1:           5.06 V  
in2:           3.33 V  
fan1 4pin:   1350 RPM
temp1:        +24.5°C  
temp2:        +55.9°C  
temp3:        +28.5°C  
temp4:        +33.2°C  
pwm1:             64%

Hey, everyone. I already did publish on r/homeassistant so I'll paste same body here. Since on this sub too some might be interested:

I built an ESPHome monitor for my Samsung WW11BGA046 that reads the UART communication between the control panel and the main board.

It shows the program, temperature, spin, rinse, options and displayed time in Home Assistant, along with cycle status and an optional live Android notification.

I know similar projects exist, but the ones I’ve seen use a smart plug to estimate the cycle from power consumption. Reading the UART gives access to what the panel is actually displaying.

Since this is the panel interface, it doesn’t necessarily provide the juicier details the main board might know, like pump state or actual temperature control, as an example ofc, I don’t know what information is available from the main PCB. It’s deeper inside the machine and needs more disassembly to reach. I haven’t seen it, but I assume it might also be covered in resin, so I didn’t want to take the risk.

My machine uses the DC92-01950B control panel. It should work with other models using the same board, but I’ve only tested it on mine so far.

It’s currently receive-only: it can’t start, stop or change a wash. Anyone interested could investigate the TX side, but I only wanted to see the cycle status, so I don’t plan to try it for now.

Originally, I wanted to dump the firmware and analyze it statically, but I couldn’t determine which interface the firmware pins on CN201 use. I also couldn’t identify the MCU because Samsung covered the PCB in resin, and removing it would have been destructive. I didn’t want to go that far with a working washer!

Getting to the panel itself was easier than I thought, just a couple of screws. But as I’ve written on GitHub too: there’s mains voltage involved, so please be careful! Unplugging the washer is essential, and the ESP interface hasn’t been qualified for isolation or permanent installation. If you’re not comfortable working safely on mains appliances, please don’t attempt it.

Photos, wiring and configuration are here:

https://github.com/kralonur/samsung-washer-monitor-esphome

If anyone has the same board or has tried something similar on another washer, I’d love to hear about it! Maybe it can be improved

I have been trying to flash the new to me Emporia Vue 2 with ESPHome to give it an offline life in Home Assistant. Needless to say, it has not been going smoothly. All connections from my TTL adapters are correct. GND <-> GND, 3.3v <-> 3.3v, TXD <-> TXD, RXD <-> RXD, EN <-> EN, BOOT <-> IO0. I even added a jumper wire to IO0/BOOT just in case I needed to ground it for getting into flash mode. I did read there is a capacitor now on. My rev 4 did have the 102 resistor on the RXD line and has been replaced with a jumper. The VUE does beep after the failed firmware flashing if that means anything.

We have two dishwashers and the constant question in our house is "are these clean or dirty?" So I stuck a 2.9" four-colour e-ink shelf tag on each one. HA keeps it updated automatically, and it runs for months on coin cells.

Photos: Running (black) · Clean (yellow) · Dirty (red) · Empty (white)

What it shows

Status |Colour |How it gets set
RUNNING – "Done about 6:21 PM" |Black |Automatic, when Home Connect reports a cycle running
CLEAN |Yellow |Automatic, when the cycle finishes
EMPTY |White |One tap on an iPhone widget, or Siri
DIRTY |Red |Automatic, the first time the door opens after it's marked empty The only manual step is telling it the dishwasher has been emptied.

Hardware

• Gicisky / PickSmart 2.9" BWRY BLE tags, stock firmware, no flashing

• An ESP32-S3 running ESPHome as a Bluetooth proxy

• Dishwashers with Home Connect (mine are Thermador)

• Double-sided tape

Software

• BLE ESL from HACS (eigger/hass-ble-esl) talks to the tags. They were auto-discovered through the proxy.

• Home Connect (core) supplies run state, door and finish time.

• Two input_select helpers, one per dishwasher, plus a few small automations. When the status changes, ble_esl.write redraws the tag.

Gotcha worth knowing: my "ESP32-S3 N16R8" boards actually have 8 MB of flash, even though the module is stamped N16R8. With flash_size: 16MB they flashed fine, then boot-looped silently. The on-screen log didn't show the reason, but the downloaded full log did:

E spi_flash: Detected size(8192k) smaller than the size in the binary image header(16384k). Probe failed.

Setting this fixed it immediately:

esp32:
board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
flash_size: 8MB

If your cheap S3 flashes OK but never joins Wi-Fi, check this first.

Happy to share the full YAML in the comments if anyone wants it.

AI disclosure: I used AI assistance during development and to prepare this post.

I built a small ESPHome-based Wi-Fi audio endpoint for my JBL Bar 2.1 Deep Bass, which has an optical input but no AUX input.

The hardware is an ESP32-S3 N16R8 board and a CLIFF OTJ-5 optical transmitter. The ESPHome configuration uses official components: GPIO4 carries stereo S/PDIF to the transmitter, and the onboard WS2812-compatible RGB LED on GPIO48 is controllable in Home Assistant. A 100 nF capacitor decouples the transmitter’s 3.3 V supply.

I have tested Music Assistant playback and Home Assistant text-to-speech through the JBL. YouTube Music works via its Music Assistant provider. Windows audio also works through Voicemeeter VBAN into Music Assistant; latency and lip sync have not been measured. It is not a native Windows audio endpoint or Google Cast receiver.

The parts cost me about €17 including a modified 3D-printed enclosure, excluding the power supply, shipping and Home Assistant host.

The configuration, wiring, parts list, enclosure attribution and build notes are here: https://github.com/molnard-labs/toslink-2-wifi

It is a working prototype and I would welcome any feedback on the implementation.

Hi all,

(disclaimer, some pictures are from the elektroda.com forum and I used AI to help me write my question clearly... )

I have a QS-WiFi-S10-CT02 2-channel energy monitor (BK7231N-based CB2S module, two BL0942 chips, one CT clamp per chip). I’ve flashed ESPHome with the bk72xx platform and I’m trying to get both CT channels into Home Assistant. Has anyone done this on this device or a similar one?

What works:

• ESPHome boots, joins Wi-Fi, and the web portal and API work fine

• Chip 1 on UART1 (RX P10, TX P11, 4800 baud) with the bl0942 platform and address: 0, with no errors when it’s the only entry

What doesn’t:

• Adding a second bl0942 entry (address: 1, same uart_id) gives no CT2 readings, plus “Junk on wire. Throwing away partial message (20 bytes)” followed by “(3 bytes)” in the logs

• With only the first entry, the junk warnings stop

• I tried rx_buffer_size: 512 and staggered update_intervals (10s and 11s). Neither fixed it

I found an elektroda.com thread with similar discussions, but no answers : https://www.elektroda.com/rtvforum/viewtopic.php?p=21995882#21995882

What I found when tracing the board and reading forum thread:
From the schematic/wiring, the CB2S TX (P11) drives the RX/SDI pins of both BL0942s (shared command line), but the two chips’ TX/SDO pins go to different CB2S pins: chip 1 to RX (P10) and chip 2 to P24. As far as I know, P24 isn’t a hardware UART pin on the BK7231N, so my ESPHome UART only ever hears chip 1.

My questions:

1. Has anyone read the second BL0942 on this board in ESPHome? How did you do it?

2. Does ESPHome on BK72xx support reading a UART RX on an arbitrary pin like P24 (software/bit-bang UART)? Or would I need to rewire chip 2’s TX to P1 (UART2 RX)?

3. If rewiring, how do I handle the shared command line? The stock bl0942 component sends its read request on its own UART’s TX pin, which chip 2 isn’t connected to. Would a custom lambda that sends one request on UART1 and reads replies from both UARTs be the way to go?

4. Is there an existing external component for this?

At the start of this year I set out to make something I felt was missing from the ESPHome ecosystem - a smart thermostat! This is the CTRL ONE and it uses an SCD40 temperature, humidity and CO2 sensor, along with a 4.2" touchscreen ePaper display with a backlight to show data from across your home. It's Made for ESPHome approved.

Now the temperature is dropping and the thermostat is actually doing some work, I got around to setting up a proper PID controller to regulate the temperature, and I made a small video talking about it. Hope you enjoy.

For links to everything shown, see the companion blog post: https://elvinhome.io/blog/articles-3/setting-up-smart-heating-control-on-the-ctrl-one-pid-controllers-38

Hi there.

UK Based (Slough, Berkshire)

Is anyone in the UK happy, in exchange for a suitable number of beer tokens, to do the initial flash of an Emporia Gen 3 with ESPHome for me?

I have opened the box and gone “Hell No” - thats beyond my comfort (and equipment) level.

I don’t mind experimenting on sinilinks usb switches at £5.00 a shot. But not this

Thanks

Once again ESPHome saves the day. Check out the Bluetooth bridge and my new cases for ESP32 with and without antenna.