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me, it’s a mix of all of these things, though the last point might be the most important one: my RV is equipped with outdated technology, and that just… doesn’t work.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.
A thought on “Smart RVs: Technology for Modern Travel”