Any recommendation on installing home automation?
I already have eufy camera and doorbell, couple of Amazon echo dot and show Apple TV's. Everyone in the house uses iPhone and iPad.
Planning to install light switch couple of motion sensors and NFC tags and probably house alarm system,. just starting need to know what to buy to start?
A Raspberry Pi 4 or home assistant green smart hub or is there anything else better/ needed? Also what screen to use for the dashboard.
Thanks
thanks mate but looking for something less complicated then a PC . in case of a power outage pc needs manual restarting and opening apps .no UPS available now . also is the zigbee gateway does it need any more addons. cheers
link below?
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/314166953183?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mk…
Nucs and sff PC's will reboot on power return. Change a setting in bios
No need for apps. You can run ha standalone on a small ssd and still have frigate etc.
Starting out I'd buy a conbee II personally. It is solid and has good support. Cheap light switches are wifi and generally run tuya smart home, there's a add on for local tuya.
Alarm you can role your own with Ikea sensors and alarm add aon
Camera I run reolink which has good support.
No need for a screen unless you go down the whole home automation path with aircon etc imo. You can set up your phone with pretty decent dashboards.
whole home automation is the plan depends on the budget
Saw this after posting. Almost any PC can be set up so that it will automatically start after a power outage. And Home Assistant doesn't need any intervention - it's designed to be a server, so it will fire straight up and get to work.
The Moes Smart Hub would be substantially less capable than HA and may not work with all the devices you currently have. But would be ok for controlling just Zigbee (and some wifi) devices.
PC does not mean Windows.
All easy and will boot fast. And later youi will appreciate HAOS being a VM instead of on bare metal.
But for some extra reliability, I use a Philips Hue Bridge between HA and my Zigbee lights and switches.
The lights, various brands, all are paired to the Hue, with the Philips Hue integration connecting it all to HA.
I'm not a fan of HAOS. Prefer running HA in a container. Seems for more versatile.
@Bruceflix: Versatile how? I thought people only used containers when very resource constrained.
LXC container on Proxmox?
@Bruceflix: eh? Isn't a container even more limited? What do you gain?
You can still have full linux OS in a separate VM.
Seconding Bruce' recommendation of a 2nd hand mini-pc. I've used UN-Tech but there are several sellers here that are often recommended. Same thing for Zigbee - devices are locally controlled without being dependant on cloud integrations.
You can DIY an alarm system from various parts (siren, door sensors etc) or look at making a dumb wired alarm system smart with an addon like https://konnected.io/
Be sure to confirm smart switches that you have installed are SAA approved. And preferably Zigbee. https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/ is a pretty comprehensive list of what's available.
Consider getting a Nabu Casa account. Aside from supporting HA development, it allows easy hook up of all Echo devices so you can use them as HA speakers and to control your home by voice command (there are also ways of doing this without a subscription for the more technically inclined).
For a dashboard, a cheap Android tablet would be fine. You would run either a browser or the HA Android app. But note that one of the benefits of HA (and other smart hubs) is automation and voice control. A dashboard is nice but it's better to have your place just do things [walk into room, have lights turn on at the right brightness for time-of-day..].
I use this for my zigbee gateway
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004573213779.html
Before that I sused a conbee II. The Sonoff is better in every conceivable way.
As for PC, most motherboards can be set to boot with power so will restart after power outage. A PC will not be more complicated than a raspberry pi or other SBC it will literally be the same in complexity but wont have to deal with the limitations or corrupt SD cards and incompatibilities etc. Just saying. I've been running homeassistant for 5+ years and you asked for advice
thanks will need to google that now::)
The Sonoff is better in every conceivable way.
Have they got official ZHA support yet? It was listed as experimental there for a long time.
No idea if it is officially supported but have been using it with ZHA since day 1 with no issue.
Looking here https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha/#compatible-h…
It appears only this one is on the recommended supported list.
ITead SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus Model “ZBDongle-E” (EFR32MG21 variant)
I've got an earlier one that isn't based on the EFR32MG21, so its technically experimental.
Any particular reason for using ZHA over zigbee2mqtt ?
I have been using the latter since switching to the Sonoff dongle. Don't remember why :-)
No particular reason I've gone ZHA over zigbee2mqtt, other than not having to have a reason to use MQTT at the time, so kept it simple.
I've been using an old Pi 3B+ for years and it works fine. It's ethernet wired to my network.
I have a Sonoff Zigbee stick as linked above.
You can access the HA interface through a web browser URL or via the HA app.
Youtube videos are a good source of info.
"You can access the HA interface through a web browser URL or via the HA app" thanks mate but wanna make it easier for the wife and kids with a touch screen on the wall too many video on YouTube made me more confused .
Yeah I haven't bothered with screen controllers as the automation takes care of most things like light and climate.
I use Alexa for voice control as well if required.
I have a couple of Zigbee buttons also eg. to turn off the bedside lights quietly.
Dashboard was retired years ago through lack of use. Most tasks are automated. Anything else through voice via Google Home and Amazon Echos throughout the house. Or via android app on Phone/tablet/watch. Web browser on PC/laptop. even on Android Auto. But the main goal for me is to automate as much as possible so there is no need for input.
thanks mate but wanna make it easier for the wife and kids with a touch screen on the wall too many video on YouTube made me more confused
If you are sitting on the couch, do you want to walk to the touch screen when you can access it via phone or voice command?
The touch screen is only good for showing visitors, nothing more. But if you still want one, get an iPad/android tablet and wall mount it.
I warn you now. Homeassistant is a rabbithole. And addictive. You've been warned. Enjoy.
I guess I'm not in Kansas anymore
Just grab a couple of eufy motion sensors for $40 and the keypad for $79 and you have your alarm system
Add automation to turn on camera sirens
thanks mate will look in to that option maybe some window sensor too
ordered the ZigBee gateway looking for a good mini pc now
Yep that'll work fine for HA.
That's good, but personally I'd look for one with SSD instead of HDD, or change it myself. .
SSD for this task for sure, it's a no brainer.
But otherwise almost perfect kit.
I'd do as others have mentioned - use a SFF tiny pc. For switching there's Shelly devices or cheaper Tuya devices (AliExpress).
For random sensors - I like to DIY, ESP32 boards can be had for $2 - $5 a piece and many sensors can be had for $2 each - with these you can build just about anything!
ESPHome works really well with HA so it's a great fit.
Wow that is very good info thanks . I’ll definitely look it up
You can also use Claude (3.5) and ChatGPT for creating yaml definitions for use in HA - for a simple example you could add a DHT22 temperature sensor ($2) to ESP32 WROOM dev board ($4) and tell claud which pins you plugged it into (and ask if those pins will work ok) and it'll make the required code/yaml for ESPHome in HA.
The r/homeassistant and r/esp32 reddit subs are bursting with ideas and info. It's a lot of fun. My ultrasonic sensors ($4.40 each - I grabbed 10 for $44 as I have a number of tanks - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006975510829.html ) are arriving tomorrow so I can make my water tank level sensors - I'm almost excited about it!
Thought I'll share my experience, ive just been down the home automation route myself recently building a home.
I don't personally tinker with HA , but instead went the smartthings + edge driver route with the thoughts of going down HA at a later date.
During the journey I found a few things I wish I had done better.
-Do the practical stuff first, leave the cool stuff for later. For me personally lighting is a big one, transit zones(front porch/alfresco/garage/hallways/stairs) Ive automated for everything to come on automatically as I enter and left the main areas for manual switching until presence sensors become better
-Try to keep everything local especially with lighting, I've built a decent Z-wave mesh with in-wall switches throughout the house which all runs local but unfortunately I have a free Myair system which does a few lights which I tie into smartthings I've had to dive into virtual switches, TDLR this is not local and need to pass google/alexa before hitting smartthings ie. lighting latency on local is under 1s whereas lighting through wifi/alexa/google vswitch is 2-3s extremely annoying when it comes to automated lighting
-avoid wifi items if possible and stick to Z-wave/Zigbee and create nice mesh network by having many cheap repeaters or just an powerful repeater. (i think wifi local is possible but looks like a rabbit hole to me)
-compatiblity over price, don't cheapen out on stuff if it doesn't work well make sure you DYOR
-smart programming can sometimes save you money. ie. I thought I needed a second presence sensor ontop of my IR because my sensors have a re-trigger delay time of 10s which means if you walk near it and walk away you need to wait 10s for retrigger. With alot of research realized you can change do 2x routines one for on switch and the other for off after 1 min delay of inactivity.
Thanks mate appreciate sharing your experience . for light switch i'm not sure yet what to get was looking for Sonoff ones but not sure yet . it's a new house and and still have one month of planning before handover . considering these https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CP5T258S/ref=twister_B0CP5WN6… unless there is other better option out there.
With hardware it depends on your tolerance for compliance , ill leave aside the debate of Australian electrical compliance. And just tell you my experience.
So I went with Aeotec as they are a well known company which has taken over official hardware supplier after Samsung stopped making smartthings hardware. They are german designed and have extremely high safety standards. They make predominately Zwave products but also have some Zigbee items, the hub which they make aeotec v3 hub works with Zwave, zigbee, matter
I chose Zwave(aeotec) for my switches as they are reliable , have a certificate standard (means more expensive than zigbee generally speaking) are in the 900mhz spectrum which means they don't share 2.4ghz like zigbee, remotes, microwaves ect.
The downside is Australian is a small market which means there is less choice in Zwave products and spectrum varies for geographic locations so you cannot buy cheap zwave products online.
I went with aeotec 6 in 1 sensor recessed into my ceiling which are permanently plugged in via USB.
This forms the basis of my Zwave mesh.
I use Philips hue Dimmers v2 zigbee to control the lights, and automations for motion activated lights.
I use Philips Hue with an LAN edge driver for local control for remotes and outdoor lights
I use Bond bridge with an LAN edge driver for local control of my ceiling fans and blinds.
Things I use but don't really have a choice: Meross garage controller (wifi) linked to smartthings , Aqara Curtain E1 (wifi) linked to smartthings , MyPlace Air linked to google home and Vswitch linked to ST. MyPlace lights linked to google home and Vswitch linked to ST
Future things Im looking forward to; Presence sensors become more mature so I can add them to my living rooms areas without annoying the wife. Zigbee lightstrips with runway/chasing effects. Water leak sensors attached around dishwasher/washing machine linked to water automatic water shutoff.
If I were starting Homeassistant I'd look at buying a 2nd hand old office PC or NUC rather than a raspberry pi or similar SBC. Much more power and stability. Also look at getting a zigbee gateway.