diff --git a/.coveragerc b/.coveragerc
index b1439685ffb..c8a77217983 100644
--- a/.coveragerc
+++ b/.coveragerc
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ omit =
     homeassistant/components/light/lifx.py
     homeassistant/components/light/limitlessled.py
     homeassistant/components/light/osramlightify.py
+    homeassistant/components/lirc.py
     homeassistant/components/media_player/cast.py
     homeassistant/components/media_player/denon.py
     homeassistant/components/media_player/firetv.py
diff --git a/homeassistant/components/lirc.py b/homeassistant/components/lirc.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ec172d1b7f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/homeassistant/components/lirc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+"""
+LIRC interface to receive signals from a infrared remote control.
+
+This sensor will momentarily set state to various values as defined
+in the .lintrc file which can be interpreted in home-assistant to
+trigger various actions.
+
+Sending signals to other IR receivers can be accomplished with the
+shell_command component and the irsend command for now.
+"""
+# pylint: disable=import-error
+import threading
+import time
+import logging
+
+from homeassistant.const import (EVENT_HOMEASSISTANT_STOP,
+                                 EVENT_HOMEASSISTANT_START)
+
+DOMAIN = "lirc"
+REQUIREMENTS = ['python-lirc==1.2.1']
+_LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+ICON = 'mdi:remote'
+EVENT_IR_COMMAND_RECEIVED = 'ir_command_received'
+BUTTON_NAME = 'button_name'
+
+
+def setup(hass, config):
+    """Setup LIRC capability."""
+    import lirc
+
+    # blocking=True gives unexpected behavior (multiple responses for 1 press)
+    # also by not blocking, we allow hass to shut down the thread gracefully
+    # on exit.
+    lirc.init('home-assistant', blocking=False)
+    lirc_interface = LircInterface(hass)
+
+    def _start_lirc(_event):
+        lirc_interface.start()
+
+    def _stop_lirc(_event):
+        lirc_interface.stopped.set()
+
+    hass.bus.listen_once(EVENT_HOMEASSISTANT_START, _start_lirc)
+    hass.bus.listen_once(EVENT_HOMEASSISTANT_STOP, _stop_lirc)
+
+    return True
+
+
+class LircInterface(threading.Thread):
+    """
+    This interfaces with the lirc daemon to read IR commands.
+
+    When using lirc in blocking mode, sometimes repeated commands get produced
+    in the next read of a command so we use a thread here to just wait
+    around until a non-empty response is obtained from lirc.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, hass):
+        """Construct a LIRC interface object."""
+        threading.Thread.__init__(self)
+        self.daemon = True
+        self.stopped = threading.Event()
+        self.hass = hass
+
+    def run(self):
+        """Main loop of LIRC interface thread."""
+        import lirc
+        while not self.stopped.isSet():
+            code = lirc.nextcode()  # list; empty if no buttons pressed
+            # interpret result from python-lirc
+            if code:
+                code = code[0]
+                _LOGGER.info('Got new LIRC code %s', code)
+                self.hass.bus.fire(EVENT_IR_COMMAND_RECEIVED,
+                                   {BUTTON_NAME: code})
+            else:
+                time.sleep(0.2)
+        _LOGGER.info('LIRC interface thread stopped')
diff --git a/requirements_all.txt b/requirements_all.txt
index 01b30bda357..5439177dba3 100644
--- a/requirements_all.txt
+++ b/requirements_all.txt
@@ -267,6 +267,9 @@ pysnmp==4.2.5
 # homeassistant.components.sensor.forecast
 python-forecastio==1.3.4
 
+# homeassistant.components.lirc
+# python-lirc==1.2.1
+
 # homeassistant.components.media_player.mpd
 python-mpd2==0.5.5
 
diff --git a/script/gen_requirements_all.py b/script/gen_requirements_all.py
index 76ed3acba39..872d13bab75 100755
--- a/script/gen_requirements_all.py
+++ b/script/gen_requirements_all.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ COMMENT_REQUIREMENTS = [
     'fritzconnection',
     'pybluez',
     'bluepy',
+    'python-lirc',
 ]