After getting the Home Assistant-based control system up and running, the next steps for my smart RV were the quick wins—in other words, figuring out what works “right out of the box.” Since the Raspberry Pi has a Bluetooth interface, I configured it in Home Assistant. And just like that, I could “see” the batteries (both of which come with built-in BMS) as well as the Victron solar charge controller. The corresponding sensors were then immediately available after I installed the appropriate apps.
An informative dashboard was then quickly built on that foundation.
In subsequent steps, you can set up automations that, for example, notify you when the charge drops below a certain threshold. I implemented the shore power display using my air conditioning control system; more on that later.
I recently gave a general overview of my“smart RV”project. Today, I want to outline the first step: how can I securely connect the control system to the internet so that I can check the status (temperatures, gas levels, battery charge levels, etc.) while on the road and control various functions, such as the air conditioning or heating?
My RV is equipped with an Oyster Easynet router. The 12V power supply runs to it through cable channels, and I used these to install a 12V-to-5V USB converter to power my Raspberry Pi 4. The Raspberry Pi runs a standard Home Assistant image that I installed on the SD card using Raspberry Pi Imager. There, you can easily set up the Wi-Fi address and other settings so that the Pi is visible on the vehicle’s own network immediately after booting. The Oyster router assigns an address via DHCP, which conveniently remains stable—there isn’t much you can customize with the Easynet components.
To ensure that the Home Assistant instance is available online, you need to do the following. I have registered my own domain with my hosting provider (Domainfactory). Since I want to use Cloudflare, I need to set up the appropriate DNS servers there.
The next step is to create a free account on Cloudflare and add the domain you registered earlier. The penultimate step is to install and configure the Cloudflare app in Home Assistant. There, you must enter the domain that was also registered with Cloudflare. When you launch the app and everything has been done correctly, a callback link will appear in the log, which is used to establish the tunnel connection between the domain and Home Assistant.
Copy this, paste it into the browser's address bar, and you're done. If everything went well, you'll see that the connection is established when you restart the app.
To make sure everything is secure, I've set up IP blocking in the configuration.yaml file and also enabled 2FA for my login. No one can get in without a code from the Authenticator app.
Then all that's left is to create a nice icon on my phone's home screen that takes me straight to my HomeAssiant in the RV. We're on the road. We're online.
First off: there’s plenty to be said for why a motorhome should be—or become—“smart.” If you’re reading this, you’re most likely interested in the topic. Possible reasons include: keeping track of energy usage and being able to take action early on, controlling devices like the heating or air conditioning while on the road (so it’s warm or cool when you get back), or simply having a strong interest in technology.
For me, it’s a mix of all of these things, though the last point might be the most important one: my RV is equipped with outdated technology, and that just… doesn’t work. Sure, I could have paid more attention to that, but it’s also true that the whole “smart RV” concept is evolving rapidly.
Here's what the home screen of my mobile Home Assistant looks like now:
Home Assistant is accessible via the internet through Cloudflare and can therefore be controlled using a laptop, smartphone, etc. I’ve integrated quite a few things using various methods and can monitor everything related to power supply and gas consumption, as well as control the air conditioning. I have a few more projects planned, such as connecting the heating system, monitoring water tank levels, further optimizing the visualization, and implementing a few automation features.
My starting points were the blogs by Hannes Schleeh, who has consistently covered this topic on his site. When it comes to Home Assistant topics, I always enjoy checking in with Simon. And last but not least, I use Claude.ai quite extensively for various projects (whether for design, ESP32 or add-on programming, automation, or visualization).
I’ll be writing a post on each of the topics mentioned over time, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
