OK, maybe a gingerbread house can’t be very smart. But the goal has long been to be able to control the lights in the gingerbread houses with the help of Home Assistant.
So now it was time to do something about it. This is a fairly simple job. All one needs are some programmable LED lights, an ESP32 microcontroller, and a power supply.
With this, you can set up a WLED solution, with which you can program each individual LED light in an LED strip as you like. It’s a fun and creative way to bring your gingerbread houses to life!
Earlier this year I bought some 12mm WS2812 LED lights. These were perfect for the task here. Following the instructions in this article at Last Minute Engineers, putting this together was a breeze.
To make this a bit nicer, I took the trouble to solder everything together and put the controller in a white box. Then you can hide cables, controls, and what is not necessary to show, giving your gingerbread houses a clean and polished look.
The equipment list includes the 12mm WS2812 LED strip, ESP32 microcontroller, and a 330 Ohm resistor. These components are easily available and affordable, making this project accessible to anyone interested in adding some tech to their gingerbread houses.
After everything has been put together, as described in the instructions and you have downloaded the WLED onto the ESP32 controller, all that remains is to set the colors of the different LED lights. Here you can use effects that are built into WLED, and you can set individual colors per LED light if you want. This allows for endless customization and creativity, so you can achieve the perfect ambiance for your gingerbread houses.
In our case, we went for the “candle” effect in the gingerbread houses. Then it looks like a candle or a fireplace is burning inside the gingerbread house. We think it gives a cozy and magical effect, especially during the holiday season.
To avoid having a long strip of light, segments are set up in WLED. Each segment gets a start and a stop LED. Then you can also skip certain LEDs that are not to be used. For our project, we created one segment per gingerbread house, and one segment for some other lights. This allows for better control of the lighting effects and makes it easier to achieve the desired result.
To integrate WLED into Home Assistant, follow these steps:
- Open the Home Assistant web interface and go to “Configuration” in the sidebar menu.
- Click on “Integrations” and then the “+” button to add a new integration.
- Search for “WLED” in the list of available integrations and click on it.
- Enter the IP address of your WLED controller in the configuration form.
- Click “Submit” to add the integration.
- Home Assistant will attempt to connect to your WLED controller. If successful, the integration will be added and your WLED lights will be available as entities in Home Assistant.
- You can now control and automate your WLED lights using Home Assistant’s user interface and automation engine. Create custom scenes, schedules, and automations to enhance your smart home experience.
By adding WLED to Home Assistant, you can easily integrate your gingerbread house lighting setup with the rest of your smart home devices. Enjoy the convenience of controlling your lights through the Home Assistant app or by voice commands with a compatible smart assistant.
We are thrilled with the outcome of this project and the magical atmosphere it creates in our gingerbread houses. The combination of technology and traditional holiday decorations adds a unique touch to our festive celebrations.
If you’re looking to spice up your gingerbread houses and add some interactive lighting effects, we highly recommend giving this project a try. It’s a fun, relatively simple, and affordable way to create something truly special. Happy crafting and happy holidays!
Some pictures from the project:
