Home Assistant Podcast From Pi to Blue, we’re revisiting Courtenay Watson
41 snips
Nov 25, 2025 Courtenay Watson, a dedicated Home Assistant enthusiast, discusses her impressive six-year journey from Raspberry Pi to Home Assistant Blue. She shares insights on mastering the Energy Dashboard using MQTT and surviving outages with Tuya devices. Courtenay also highlights the shift from YAML to a more user-friendly UI for automations. Plus, she tells a remarkable story about swiftly restoring backups after a beta hiccup. With future plans encompassing sensors and automation robots, her experience is both captivating and educational for new users.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Upgrading Solved Pi Limitations
- Courtenay upgraded from a Raspberry Pi to an Odroid N2+ (and Home Assistant Blue) for reliable performance.
- The stronger hardware eliminated earlier instability and made Home Assistant feel much more robust.
Real‑Time Energy Is Transformative
- Real‑time MQTT energy data made the Energy Dashboard immediately useful.
- Courtenay replaced vendor apps with Home Assistant for accurate, second‑level visibility.
Baseline Power Test Postponed
- Courtenay plans to power‑cycle the whole house to measure baseline and identify phantom loads.
- She hasn't done it yet because it inconveniences housemates, despite the dashboard making the approach obvious.