A Home Assistant community member has posted a project that started as a few dashboards and grew into a whole set of physical wall controls. It is a DIY build, not a product, but it shows a pattern worth knowing about: small custom Zigbee devices acting as the front end for Home Assistant. The full write-up is on the Home Assistant Community forum.
What was built
The builder’s earlier controllers were ESP32 boards on Wi-Fi. They then moved many of the control modules to the ESP32-H2 chip, using Zigbee instead. The core is one universal circuit board with an I/O expansion section, which can take rotary encoders, push buttons, status LEDs, small colour displays and sensors. Changing the front panel and software turns the same board into a heating, lighting, shutter, room or scene controller.
The headline piece is a flush-mounted central panel with a large touchscreen and several separate modules. It covers heating zones and setpoints, room lighting and brightness, shutters with physical up, stop and down controls, indoor temperatures, electricity and gas consumption, and scenes such as morning, cinema and Good Night. Rotary encoders change function depending on the screen, so one knob can pick a zone, then set a temperature. Smaller modules are planned per room; the bedroom one handles light, shutters, temperature, heating setpoint and the Good Night scene.
The state flows both ways: controls send commands to Home Assistant, and Home Assistant sends current state back to the displays. The builder also machined the front plates from aluminium and says communication stayed reliable even behind them. They also say much of the design work was done step by step with ChatGPT, covering ESPHome YAML, firmware, PCB layout and automation logic.
What it means for an installed system
The useful idea is that wall controls stay thin. Home Assistant remains the brain, so scenes and logic can change later without rebuilding hardware. That is the same reason we like physical switches in client homes: guests and family should not need a phone to turn on a light.
A few things to keep in mind before borrowing the approach:
- It is one person’s report. We have not tried it, and the post gives no test data beyond the builder saying it has worked well in their house.
- Nothing is published yet. The builder offers to share PCB files, YAML and ideas on request, but the thread does not include them. Do not plan a build around files you do not have.
- The post does not say how the modules are powered, or which Zigbee controller software the builder uses. Do not assume either.
- Zigbee mesh rules still apply. Our understanding of ZHA’s documentation is that mains-powered devices usually act as routers and battery devices as end devices, and one coordinator owns each device. Zigbee also shares 2.4 GHz with Wi-Fi, so channel choice and keeping the coordinator away from USB 3 ports matter. Test signal in the final location before you machine metal around it.
- Metal fronts are a risk to test, not a guarantee. Reliability behind aluminium worked here; run a proper trial with a temporary panel first.
Our take
As of today, Zigbee is the more mature choice in Home Assistant: a large proven catalogue, fully local, very low power. Matter is the industry’s direction and its strength is working across ecosystems, but it is younger. For a custom wall panel that only ever talks to your own Home Assistant, Zigbee is a sensible fit. If you already run Zigbee gear, there is no reason to replace it; keep it until it dies.
For most homeowners, a project like this is inspiration rather than a shopping list. If you want physical controls without soldering, ask your installer about buttons and dials from certified makers, and keep the custom boards for the rooms where nothing off the shelf fits.