I turned my stereo’s volume knob into a smart home controller

I turned my stereo’s volume knob into a smart home controller Credit: Adam Davidson/How-To Geek By  Adam Davidson Published May 31, 2026, 9:45 AM EDT Adam has a degree in Engineering and has a life-long interest in technology. He has been writing for over a decade for various print and online publications, with a focus on consumer tech. He joined How-To Geek in 2024 while working at Pocket-lint . As well as being a long-term fan of Apple products, he also has a strong interest in smart home tech, running a Home Assistant server at home to automate all his smart home devices. He believes that the ideal smart home should work with minimal interaction from the user, with automations running as if by magic rather than requiring you to push buttons on a control panel. You can find more of his work on Muck Rack . Sign in to your How-To Geek account Add Us On follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap I was looking for smart home devices online when I stumbled across a smart knob and immediately wanted to buy it. Then I noticed that exactly what I needed was staring me in the face. My mini hi-fi system on my desk has a large knob that feels gorgeous to turn, so I wondered if I could turn it into a smart home controller. Why a physical knob is useful for smart home control Turning a dial is more satisfying than tapping buttons Credit: Adam Davidson/How-To Geek The main reason that I wanted a knob was to change the brightness of the smart bulb in my home office. The smart bulb uses the Adaptive Lighting custom component to automatically change color temperature and brightness throughout the day to mimic the natural light of the sun. After a little tweaking, I have the settings just how I like them, but sometimes I need to change the brightness temporarily . For example, if I need to take a photo of a pro