Infrared

The Infrared integrationIntegrations connect and integrate Home Assistant with your devices, services, and more. [Learn more] allows you to use Home Assistant to send commands to infrared-controlled devices, or to receive signals from infrared remotes. The integration acts as an abstraction layer between the following components:

• An infrared remote adapter (proxy) hardware
• An integration that provides infrared entities by integrating an infrared remote adapter (such as ESPHome or SMLIGHT SLZB)
• Device-specific integrations (such as LG Infrared or Samsung Infrared)

You can control infrared-controlled devices from Home Assistant without touching the handheld remote control. You can also send signals from the handheld remote control to Home Assistant. The chart illustrates how this is possible via the integrations.

Diagram showing how the Infrared integration connects device integrations to an infrared remote adapter through a remote adapter integration. How the Infrared integration connects device integrations to an infrared remote adapter through a remote adapter integration.

An infrared entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] represents either an infrared emitter or an infrared receiver.

Controlling infrared-controlled devices from Home Assistant

You can use an infrared remote adapter (proxy) to control devices directly from Home Assistant.

Prerequisites

The Infrared integrationIntegrations connect and integrate Home Assistant with your devices, services, and more. [Learn more] is a building block that other integrations build on. It cannot control devices directly. To control devices from Home Assistant, a few other components are needed.

• Administrator rights in Home Assistant.
• An infrared-controlled device, such as a TV, air conditioner, amplifier, or soundbar.
• An infrared remote adapter. If you’re unsure what to get:
  • Find integrations that support infrared: In the documentation, search for the infrared category.
  • You could also follow an example from the ESPHome infrared and radio frequency proxy projects.

To control infrared-controlled devices from Home Assistant

1. Place the infrared remote adapter within line-of-sight of the infrared-controlled device. Infrared signals do not pass through walls or other objects. For more details, refer to About device placement and coverage.
2. In Home Assistant, add the integration for your infrared remote adapter. Home Assistant creates a separate infrared entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] for each emitter and receiver it provides.
   • To add the integration, follow the steps in the integration documentation.
3. Add the integration for your infrared-controlled device, such as LG Infrared.
   • To add the integration, follow the steps in the integration documentation.
   • During integration setup, when you are asked which infrared emitter to use, select the emitter from your infrared remote adapter.
4. If you have infrared-controlled devices in different rooms, place multiple infrared remote adapters around your home.
   • During setup of the infrared-controlled device, select the remote adapter closest to that device.

About device placement and coverage

Infrared is a line-of-sight technology. Unlike radio-based technologies, infrared signals do not pass through walls, furniture, or other objects. The placement of your infrared remote adapter has a direct effect on how reliably your devices respond.

For the best results, keep the following in mind:

• Place each infrared remote adapter so it has a clear, unobstructed line-of-sight to the devices it controls.
• Keep the adapter within the range supported by your adapter’s emitter strength and the device’s infrared receiver sensitivity.
• Point the emitter towards the device’s infrared receiver window. A physical remote works best when aimed at the device, and an infrared remote adapter is no different.
• Avoid placing the adapter where strong sunlight, direct light from fluorescent lamps, or other infrared sources shine onto the device’s receiver, as these can interfere with the signal.

To cover devices in more than one room, use a separate infrared remote adapter in each room. Infrared signals do not travel between rooms, so a single adapter cannot control devices behind a wall or in another space. During setup of each infrared-controlled device, select the remote adapter that is closest to it and has a clear line-of-sight.

About infrared terminology

This section explains some of the key terms on this page and how they are used in the Home Assistant documentation.

Infrared remote adapter (proxy)

A device that relays IR commands on behalf of Home Assistant. It can connect to Home Assistant over Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or other technology. An infrared remote adapter is also known as an infrared proxy.

It has the following characteristics:

• The infrared remote adapter is the hardware device.
• The infrared remote adapter contains one or more emitters, and sometimes a receiver.
• Each emitter and receiver is shown as a separate entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] in Home Assistant.

Infrared emitter

The component of your remote adapter that sends out IR signals. This is the same kind of signal a physical remote sends. An emitter is what actually controls a device. In Home Assistant, each emitter appears as an infrared entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] that other integrations can use.

Infrared receiver

The component of your remote adapter that catches IR signals sent by a device like a handheld remote. Home Assistant can use those signals, for example to update the entity’s stateThe state holds the information of interest of an entity, for example, if a light is on or off. Each entity has exactly one state and the state only holds one value at a time. However, entities can store attributes related to that state such as brightness, color, or a unit of measurement. [Learn more] or trigger automationsAutomations in Home Assistant allow you to automatically respond to things that happen in and around your home. [Learn more] . Each receiver appears as an infrared entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] .

Infrared-controlled device

The appliance you want to control, such as a TV, air conditioner, amplifier, or soundbar. It listens for IR signals but does not connect to your network.

Infrared entity

The Home Assistant representation of a single emitter or receiver. This is what you select when configuring an integration for an infrared-controlled device.

About the state of an infrared entity

The infrared entity is stateless in the traditional sense, as in, it cannot have a state like on or off. Instead, the state is a timestamp showing when the entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] was last active:

• For an emitter, the state is the date and time the last IR command was sent.
• For a receiver, the state is the date and time the last IR signal was received.

In addition, the entity can have the following states:

• Unavailable: The entity is currently unavailable.
• Unknown: The state is not yet known.

Because the stateThe state holds the information of interest of an entity, for example, if a light is on or off. Each entity has exactly one state and the state only holds one value at a time. However, entities can store attributes related to that state such as brightness, color, or a unit of measurement. [Learn more] of an infrared entity is a timestamp, it changes every time the entity is used. This means you can use it to track when the emitter last sent a command, or when the receiver last picked up a signal. The logbook can also show context about which integrationIntegrations connect and integrate Home Assistant with your devices, services, and more. [Learn more] or actionActions are used in several places in Home Assistant. As part of a script or automation, actions define what is going to happen once a trigger is activated. In scripts, an action is called sequence. [Learn more] triggered the IR event.