Looking for Some Best Microcontroller for a DIY Smart Home Project?

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Hey everyone,

I am working on a DIY smart home automation project and need advice on choosing the right microcontroller. My main requirements are:

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
Low power consumption
Support for multiple sensors (temperature, motion, humidity, etc.)
Compatibility with platforms like Home Assistant or MQTT

I have been considering the ESP32 because of its built-in Wi-Fi/Bluetooth and affordability, but I am open to other options like Raspberry Pi Pico W or STM32. I want something reliable and easy to program, preferably with good community support.

Would love to hear your experiences !! Which microcontroller do you recommend for smart home applications and why: ?? Also, any tips on power management and security would be appreciated. I have also gone through this https://thinkrobotics.com/blogs/learn/best-microcontrollers-for-diy-electronics-projects-react-native but still need some more suggestions.

Looking forward to your insights !!

With Regards,
Derek Theler

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Hi Derek,

I too like the ESP32, being able to deploy solutions with ESPHome is a breeze.
Pico W is a great option as well, support is increasing pretty quickly.

I’ve handed power management a bit hap-hazardly, either I will power something with mains voltage, or use a nano-power timer HAT, of course other solutions exist for putting devices into sleep mode.

Liam

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Hi Derek, that’s a very open ended question and will generate lots of opinions and very few facts that you haven’t already got.

Personally I have a computer programming background, then into robotics as the Raspberry Pi came out, so I like the full-featured software tools- rather than the lower level Arduino.

Several years ago I got into home automation, and again was impressed both with Home Assistant’s number of integrations, and that Raspberry Pi was a low entry cost.

I use TP-Link and Tuya local integrations, and came across ESPHome as an open alternative for tuya firmware, and it didn’t take long for me to decide to make ESPHome my preferred environment for devices. Partly because of the integration with Home Assistant, but mainly because of all the available ESPHome components and that so much can be done with parameters in yaml configuration code. It was so easy to add reporting of uptime, ESPHome version, wi-fi parameters including signal strength, a long button press to perform a reset, and of course to get consistent power monitoring on my Arlec PC191HA power points.

I am currently finishing a greenhouse project using ESP32-S3 and ESPHome. I recommend ESPHome, and the ESP32. but I can’t compare with RasPi Pico as I am trying to build my knowledge with what I have, rather than spread myself too thin.

Of course it’s not perfect - nothing is. I find the yaml coding is exceedingly sensitive to syntax and especially indentation, and sometimes the levels of indentation become ridiculous. You can do a lot more using lambdas … but that uses C++ programming whereas the rest of Home Assistant uses Python.

While the list of supported components is very impressive, I have learnt to check for ESPHome support before buying hardware modules. Support for some of the features of newer ESP32 chips is still experimental or not available yet. And, like Home Assistant, i find the standard of documentation to be variable.

… but it’s a large Open Source project developed mostly by people donating their “spare” time.

Grrrrr ! I bought one of the DFRobot Solar Power Manager 5V boards, and quickly discovered that it manages bugger all. You will still need to add your own circitry to report the battery voltage so your automation can respond before the power just dies. I have had a couple of rants about this in other threads :wink: Suffice it to say that if doing it again I would include other brands of solar charger modules in my purchasing comparison.

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Hi @Derek288719

My pick for anything smart home related would be a FireBeetle 2 ESP32 C6 IoT Development Board (Supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, Solar-Powered) | Buy in Australia | DFR1075 | Core Electronics.

It’s can work with ESP home, it’s low power and has the option to put a LiPo battery directly to the board, you can also read the battery voltage directly with GPIO 0. I haven’t tested the solar capability of the board but its nice to know the option is there if needed.

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I also think the Firebeetle looks perfect for outdoor IoT projects with LiPo battery and solar panel connections built-in. But the ESP32-C6 is not yet officially supported … though I found several threads in the forums which suggest that most or all the standard functionality is working now. My main concern was whether the additional power circuitry chips on the breakout board are supported by ESPHome, and you have confirmed the important sensor - battery voltage - is available, so I’ll give it a go … but soon.

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Considering your requirement, ESP32 is by far the best. It has dual-mode (Wi-Fi & BLE), perfect for connecting to Home Assistant, MQTT, or cloud services. It has ADC, I2C, SPI, and UART interfaces, making it easy to connect temperature, motion, and humidity sensors. It supports low power modes also: ESP32 Low Power Modes - The Engineering Projects
If you still want to look for an alternative, you can consider Nordic nRF52840. It is best for ultra-low-power Bluetooth LE devices. In case you want to make PCBs for your project, you can get some insight on the cost here: ALLPCB.com

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Hi @Donald23173

From my messing around with it, the limited functionality is that the performance is a bit slower than say an S3 or WROOM, but it sips around 30mA at idle with no peripherals.

The charging is all automatic really, only thing from the power circuitry that is needed is the battery voltage taken as an analog measurement, otherwise whenever power is connected to the USBC on the board or the VIN pins the battery will start charging, otherwise it will operate off the battery.

For ~$10 its also one of the cheapest ESPs on the market.

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