Your garage is the most used entry point in your home. Most people open it with a button and give it no further thought. No automation, no awareness, no connection to the rest of the system.
Your garage door becomes part of your home’s full automation fabric — opening on arrival, closing on departure, alerting you if it’s been left open, and feeding its state into every other automation that should know whether you’re home or not. And for your car, we install CarLinkit to turn your factory head unit into a fully capable Android display — giving you Google Maps, Google Assistant, and app access without touching your vehicle’s wiring or voiding anything.
Two things most people don’t think about automating. Both significantly more useful when they are.
We integrate your garage door controller directly into Home Assistant, giving you full visibility and control from your dashboard, phone, or voice — and the automation logic to make it work without you thinking about it.
Arrival automation— When your phone’s GPS or your home’s presence detection registers that you’re approaching, the garage door opens automatically. You pull into the driveway and it’s already open. No button, no remote, no fumbling.
Departure automation— When the last person leaves the property, the garage closes automatically. If it’s already closed, nothing happens. If it was left open, it closes. No more driving away wondering if you remembered.
Left-open alerts— If the garage is still open after a configurable time window — say, 10 minutes after dark, or 30 minutes after the last person left — you get a push notification. The alert includes the option to close it remotely directly from the notification.
Remote open and close— Open or close from anywhere via your Home Assistant remote access. Letting in a tradesperson, a family member, or a delivery — without being home and without giving anyone a physical remote.
Status on your dashboard— Garage door state — open, closed, opening, closing — is always visible on your dashboard and wall tablet. You know at a glance without going to look.
Security integration— Garage door open events feed into your security automations. If the door opens at an unexpected time — overnight, or when the alarm is armed — a notification fires immediately and a camera snapshot is captured.
Camera coverage— We position a camera to cover the garage entry, driveway, or both. Motion events inside the garage trigger snapshots and alerts just like any other security zone on your property.
Most motorised garage doors in Australian homes can be integrated. Common paths:
Ratgdo and compatible controllers— A small device that wires directly to your existing Chamberlain, Merlin, B&D, ATA, or compatible motor and exposes full local control to Home Assistant. No cloud dependency, no subscription, no app. Just native integration.
Smart relay switches— For motors that don’t have a compatible direct integration, we install a Shelly or equivalent smart relay that triggers the door the same way a wired button does. Open, close, state monitoring — all available in Home Assistant.
Existing smart openers— If you already have a Meross, Tuya, or similar smart opener installed, we integrate it into Home Assistant rather than replacing it. What you’ve already paid for, connected to the rest of your system.
Roller doors, panel-lift doors, and sectional doors are all supportable depending on the motor. Compatibility is confirmed during your free on-site assessment.
Your car’s factory head unit is a screen that mostly gets ignored. The built-in navigation is outdated, the interface is clunky, and the app ecosystem is either non-existent or locked down.
We install a CarLinkit wireless adapter that plugs into your existing USB or USB-C port and converts your factory display into a full Android Auto or wireless Apple CarPlay experience — or, for supported models, a standalone Android tablet running its own apps independently of your phone.
Google Maps with live traffic— Consistently better routing than factory navigation, updated in real time, with your saved home and work locations already loaded.
Google Assistant in your car— The same voice assistant controlling your smart home, now in your vehicle. Set the house to away mode before you’ve left the street. Check if the garage closed. Turn on the AC so the house is cool when you get back.
Full app access— Spotify, YouTube Music, podcast apps, messaging, navigation alternatives — whatever you use on your phone, available on your car’s screen without holding the phone.
Wireless connection— No cable required once installed. Your phone connects automatically when you get in the car.
Home Assistant control on the road— Via the Home Assistant app running through CarLinkit, you can monitor and control your home from your car’s screen. Arm the alarm, check a camera, close the garage — all from the head unit, while still in the driveway or anywhere with mobile data.
If you drive an electric vehicle, your garage becomes one of the most important energy management points in your home.
We integrate your EV charger into Home Assistant alongside your solar and grid monitoring, enabling charge scheduling logic that reduces your cost per kilometre:
Solar-triggered charging— EV charging activates automatically when excess solar generation exceeds the charger’s minimum threshold. Your car charges on free solar rather than grid power wherever possible.
Off-peak scheduling— On days without sufficient solar, charging is scheduled to run during off-peak tariff windows overnight — the cheapest grid rate available.
Peak rate suspension— If the vehicle is still charging when peak tariff starts, the charger pauses automatically and resumes when the rate drops. You set the minimum charge level required by a given time, the system figures out the cheapest way to get there.
Charge status on dashboard— Current battery percentage, charging state, estimated time to full, and today’s charging cost visible on your Home Assistant dashboard. No separate app, no separate login.
Compatible chargers:Wallbox, OCPP-compatible chargers, and several other brands with Home Assistant integration paths. Compatibility confirmed during assessment.
If your property includes a shed, workshop, granny flat, or secondary structure, we extend the same automation logic to cover it.
Door and window sensors on the shed. Motion detection inside. Power monitoring on the main circuit. Lighting that turns on when you enter and off when you leave. Security camera coverage tied to the same alert system as the main house.
For properties with a separate studio or granny flat, we can build a separate presence zone with its own automation rules — independent from the main house but visible on the same dashboard.
Garage and vehicle data sits as a dedicated panel within your Home Assistant dashboard:
Everything visible at a glance. Everything controllable from the same screen you use for the rest of your home.
Will presence-based automation work reliably?Yes, with the right configuration. We use a combination of phone GPS geofencing and local network presence detection as a redundant trigger — if one method misses, the other catches it. We configure the geofence radius and timing thresholds during installation to suit your specific driveway approach.
Can I still use my existing remote?Yes. Smart integration adds to your existing control options — it doesn’t remove them. Your physical remote continues to work exactly as before.
Does CarLinkit work with my car?CarLinkit supports most vehicles manufactured from 2015 onwards that have a factory touchscreen with USB connectivity. Older vehicles and some premium brands with proprietary systems may have limitations. We confirm compatibility during your free assessment before quoting the installation.
Will CarLinkit void my car warranty?CarLinkit is a plug-in device that uses the factory USB port — it doesn’t modify any vehicle wiring or systems. This does not affect your manufacturer warranty. The device can be unplugged and removed at any time.
Can the garage automation work if my internet is down?Yes. All garage door control and local automations run on your Home Assistant server on your local network. Internet is only required for remote access from outside the home and for GPS-based arrival triggers when you’re away from the property.
What if I have two cars and two garage doors?Both are supported. Multiple garage doors appear as separate entities in Home Assistant with independent control and automation. Presence detection can be configured per vehicle using each driver’s phone.
Book a free assessment and we’ll show you exactly what garage and vehicle automation looks like for your property.