I have been working on a newer more up to date version of ESPHome for the bulb for use in conjunction with Home Assistant. JamesSwift has a build and a config on his repo but it is outdated so I wanted a newer build for myself with the ability to quickly roll out to multiple bulbs and I decided to polish it up a little bit and release it.
I am now ready to release this publically now that ESPHome 2026.3.0 is released which was required for this to build.
You do not need to “take control” or otherwise use the builder tool to compile anything; it is a very simple process which is outlined on the repo.
It has a built in update entity so that if/when I release updates HomeAssistant will automatically pop up and you can just press install and the bulb will download and install the update. (The bulb must have access to the internet for this process.)
This more up to date firmware has been made possible with the continued optimisation of ESPHome for the 8266 family of microcontrollers which includes the ESP8285N08 found in the bulb.
There is a sister project within the repo which is called the “lb-bulb-installer” this firmware can be flashed too from the main firmware (by enabling the button in home assistant which is disabled by default) and gives you some flexibility on installing various firmware options. If you want to return to using Tasmota then you can first flash to the installer firmware then access it on its WebUI and from there flash to tasmota.
NB: Changing firmware will require you to reconnect to your Wi-Fi Network.
Disclaimer: As with flashing any third party firmware you should be sure this is what you want to do and check the procedure before starting.
I would like to add a (Disabled by default) “Return to Stock” button at some point in the future and I have asked LocalBytes for their “out of the box firmware image” and if they are able to make that available then I will try and get that added. In the short term you can use the procedure noted above to install tasmota then install their template.
The bulb is great and one of a few flashable options that comes in a B22 version. It would be great to see a new version perhaps built on the ESP32C3 platform?
Firmware Repo - https://github.com/MichaelMKKelly/ESPHome-Config-for-localbytes-bulb-9w-rgbct
A full feature list and full installation instructions can be found there.
