Fill my house with tech...
Discussion
Another vote for Home Assistant. As above running smart stuff locally is a lot more responsive than systems that need to talk to someone elses server over the internet. It has integrations for lots of stuff (eg Hue) to be able to work with them (via thier external servers), or it can directly talk to the various different devices without going externally. I have eWeLink, Sonoff, Ikea and Moes branded stuff all talking directly to home assistant rather than using thier propitiatory apps/servers.
I run HA on a Synology NAS, which backs up our computers, gives a shared drive between computers, and runs Plex to stream stuff, so a nice extra bit of home tech. Other people run it on anything from Raspberry Pi's to thin clients to old laptops.
Hue uses Zigbee to communicate, so would make sense to stick with Zigbee devices if adding smart stuff. Personally I prefer smart switches (I'm using mainly eWeLink ones) to bulbs though. I'm using humidity sensors to trigger the bathroom fan, motions sensors for the stairs lights, and door sensors for the shed light and kitchen hood fan. I can then use Emulated Hue to voice control stuff from Alexa.
As you have Hue lighting, they do a module that connects to the HDMI of your TV and changing the room lighting to match the scene on the TV at the time, which sounds so pointlessly frivolous it's well worth looking at.
Wired ethernet is better than wifi so see where you can run cables. My place had old phone cables that I didn't need so used them to pull new ethernet cables through the ducts, and now have the router, switch, NAS and a wifi mesh node (TP-Link Deco) in the utilities cupboard, and mesh nodes connected via ethernet in the lounge and bedroom. I'm thinking about adding a UPS to ensure the NAS shuts down safely in the event of a power cut.
As you already have Sonoff, you might want to look at thier soundbar system to go with the huge new TV you're presumably going to buy. Newer Sonos speakers have Alexa built in.
I run HA on a Synology NAS, which backs up our computers, gives a shared drive between computers, and runs Plex to stream stuff, so a nice extra bit of home tech. Other people run it on anything from Raspberry Pi's to thin clients to old laptops.
Hue uses Zigbee to communicate, so would make sense to stick with Zigbee devices if adding smart stuff. Personally I prefer smart switches (I'm using mainly eWeLink ones) to bulbs though. I'm using humidity sensors to trigger the bathroom fan, motions sensors for the stairs lights, and door sensors for the shed light and kitchen hood fan. I can then use Emulated Hue to voice control stuff from Alexa.
As you have Hue lighting, they do a module that connects to the HDMI of your TV and changing the room lighting to match the scene on the TV at the time, which sounds so pointlessly frivolous it's well worth looking at.
Wired ethernet is better than wifi so see where you can run cables. My place had old phone cables that I didn't need so used them to pull new ethernet cables through the ducts, and now have the router, switch, NAS and a wifi mesh node (TP-Link Deco) in the utilities cupboard, and mesh nodes connected via ethernet in the lounge and bedroom. I'm thinking about adding a UPS to ensure the NAS shuts down safely in the event of a power cut.
As you already have Sonoff, you might want to look at thier soundbar system to go with the huge new TV you're presumably going to buy. Newer Sonos speakers have Alexa built in.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 11th April 09:07
A smart home should be smart and operate with minimum interaction with apps. It should also be able to be operated in a conventional manner. A light should be able to turned on via a switch as well as an app, or by an automation. If you have to explain to Granny how to download an app to turn a light on you are opening yourself up to issues. Shouting at Alexa or Google can help solve those issues, but you then end up trying to remember the names you set up. If you set up automations on alexa or google, or the app, and the internet goes down you will also be stuck.
Getting up to go and get you phone which is charging in the kitchen to turn a light on is not really solving a problem that never existed.
That being said I would not be without all the tech I have here, but it is all run locally from Home assistant. But beware you will end up down that well known rabbit hole.
todays count.
Getting up to go and get you phone which is charging in the kitchen to turn a light on is not really solving a problem that never existed.
That being said I would not be without all the tech I have here, but it is all run locally from Home assistant. But beware you will end up down that well known rabbit hole.
todays count.
Mr E said:
Is matter going to replace home assistant, or just another protocol running alongside
As I understand it, Matter is a communications protocol, a bit like TCP/IP is for the internet. Home assistant is your software that's communicating via thier protocol. Think of how your Windows PC using Edge and your Mac using Safari can both access the same website because the communictions protocols are well described and able to be implemented in both systems.Mr E said:
Timothy Bucktu said:
Home Assistant!
It's a rabbit hole, but huge fun. It ties in all the thing already mentioned into one management interface. Alexa, Hue, IKEA, Tuya etc etc all work great.
Is matter going to replace home assistant, or just another protocol running alongsideIt's a rabbit hole, but huge fun. It ties in all the thing already mentioned into one management interface. Alexa, Hue, IKEA, Tuya etc etc all work great.
Whatever happens Home assistant will continue as it does so much more than matter will ever be able to do. Try getting matter to tell me the river at the bottom of the hill is in flood, then send a message to my phone and a verbal announcement from one of my google speakers. I use this as an example as it's what just happened here.
ARHarh said:
A smart home should be smart and operate with minimum interaction with apps. It should also be able to be operated in a conventional manner. A light should be able to turned on via a switch as well as an app, or by an automation. If you have to explain to Granny how to download an app to turn a light on you are opening yourself up to issues. Shouting at Alexa or Google can help solve those issues, but you then end up trying to remember the names you set up. If you set up automations on alexa or google, or the app, and the internet goes down you will also be stuck.
Getting up to go and get you phone which is charging in the kitchen to turn a light on is not really solving a problem that never existed.
That being said I would not be without all the tech I have here, but it is all run locally from Home assistant. But beware you will end up down that well known rabbit hole.
todays count.
I don’t suppose you could break all of that down for us?Getting up to go and get you phone which is charging in the kitchen to turn a light on is not really solving a problem that never existed.
That being said I would not be without all the tech I have here, but it is all run locally from Home assistant. But beware you will end up down that well known rabbit hole.
todays count.
Actual said:
Mine:
I have Unify WiFi access points hardwired throughout my house and outbuildings.
The cabinet also houses the Philips Hue bridge, into the network switch, a network drive, network connected CCTV system controller, and the bridge/receiver for the digital wireless thermostats in all the rooms.
The router is sited in the cabinet as well, but with the router WiFi turned off and connected straight to the network switch.
The tech that I have, that I find very useful and use all the time is:
Ring Pro 2 doorbell (hardwired)
Philips Hue - Automates all the table lamps around my house and all the external house and garden lights. The 240v circuits such as external lighting all have Zigee switches which link to the Hue system faultlessly. It all changes seamlessly with changing sunset/sunrise times, and the App is great for remote control.
The multiple wifi access points - Means I can be anywhere in the house, garden, garage, outbuilding etc and have full '5 bar' wifi reception without any speed drops.
AirPlay 2 - I have Bose HomeSpeaker 300 units all round the house in different rooms, and they sound absolutely fantastic. I can play any music off my phone/iPad/laptop all over the house, or in certain rooms only. Use it every single day.
Alexa - My Bose units are connected to my Alexa account, which then links to Hue, Apple Music, Amazon, etc. I can walk round the house and say 'Turn on my outside lights' or 'Play my favourite playlist in the kitchen' and it all works.
Edited by Technotronic on Thursday 11th April 09:52
clockworks said:
My tip would be to avoid smart devices that need an internet connection/remote server to function. They can be a bit laggy, and obviously won't work if your broadband goes down or there's a server problem.
...such as the vendor deciding they're bored with that idea and close it all down. 
M
Digger said:
ARHarh said:
A smart home should be smart and operate with minimum interaction with apps. It should also be able to be operated in a conventional manner. A light should be able to turned on via a switch as well as an app, or by an automation. If you have to explain to Granny how to download an app to turn a light on you are opening yourself up to issues. Shouting at Alexa or Google can help solve those issues, but you then end up trying to remember the names you set up. If you set up automations on alexa or google, or the app, and the internet goes down you will also be stuck.
Getting up to go and get you phone which is charging in the kitchen to turn a light on is not really solving a problem that never existed.
That being said I would not be without all the tech I have here, but it is all run locally from Home assistant. But beware you will end up down that well known rabbit hole.
todays count.
I don’t suppose you could break all of that down for us?Getting up to go and get you phone which is charging in the kitchen to turn a light on is not really solving a problem that never existed.
That being said I would not be without all the tech I have here, but it is all run locally from Home assistant. But beware you will end up down that well known rabbit hole.
todays count.
Or you meant break it down, what do you want to know?
Thanks everyone for the responses. Home Assistant looks like the one thing i've been missing for ages, will investigate further.
Massive gert big telly isn't on the cards yet as next home won't be a forever home (and I don't watch a huge amount of TV!).
The main things right now are light (Hue/Govee/similar), Sound (Still leaning towards Sonos; I just like the infrastructure and newer ones look like they've got Alexa embedded - two birds, one stone). In my head i've also got a hoover that pops out whilst i'm asleep and does the carpet and mops the floor, but that might be somewhere later...but I love the idea of Home Assistant to run everything as I go.
Massive gert big telly isn't on the cards yet as next home won't be a forever home (and I don't watch a huge amount of TV!).
The main things right now are light (Hue/Govee/similar), Sound (Still leaning towards Sonos; I just like the infrastructure and newer ones look like they've got Alexa embedded - two birds, one stone). In my head i've also got a hoover that pops out whilst i'm asleep and does the carpet and mops the floor, but that might be somewhere later...but I love the idea of Home Assistant to run everything as I go.
ARHarh said:
Mr E said:
Timothy Bucktu said:
Home Assistant!
It's a rabbit hole, but huge fun. It ties in all the thing already mentioned into one management interface. Alexa, Hue, IKEA, Tuya etc etc all work great.
Is matter going to replace home assistant, or just another protocol running alongsideIt's a rabbit hole, but huge fun. It ties in all the thing already mentioned into one management interface. Alexa, Hue, IKEA, Tuya etc etc all work great.
Whatever happens Home assistant will continue as it does so much more than matter will ever be able to do. Try getting matter to tell me the river at the bottom of the hill is in flood, then send a message to my phone and a verbal announcement from one of my google speakers. I use this as an example as it's what just happened here.
Mr E said:
Super interested in views. I think matter has legs. I’m interested in how it all comes together.
Interested too, I've not really read up on it, but it sounds similar to MQTT which I do use. It works perfectly, but it's fiddly to work with unless someone has already coded it up, so that's where I would see improvements having impact. Stuff like Shelley can use cloud, but mine all just sit on my network and take commands locally, even if I send the command via the internet it doesn't go via Shelley's servers. And Shelley controllers work off the existing switches too.
With Home Assistant the phone apps tend to be configurable to use a local address and then fall over to an internet address, so they default to fast and local, but still work remotely without any fuss. Remote access was a bit fiddly to get working historically, especially if you have lots of services that all need configuring slightly differently, but Cloudflare tunnels have made it really easy to configure secure web addresses for pretty much anything.
Grey_Area said:
Microwave or milliwave sensors, lights on and off as per settings, means none of us ever leave a room with lighting on if unattended.. walk out light off, walk back in, lights on again.
Alexa for routines, want a different set of lights on for reading, working, TV etc, set up the routine and away you go.. only the lights you need..
Which ones are you using?Alexa for routines, want a different set of lights on for reading, working, TV etc, set up the routine and away you go.. only the lights you need..
I’ve started off with an appalling mix of Sonos, Tuya, Innr and Amazon and am now struggling to get them to play nicely together. The big problem is the Zigbee sensors dropping out.
paulrockliffe said:
Mr E said:
Super interested in views. I think matter has legs. I’m interested in how it all comes together.
Interested too, I've not really read up on it, but it sounds similar to MQTT which I do use. It works perfectly, but it's fiddly to work with unless someone has already coded it up, so that's where I would see improvements having impact. Stuff like Shelley can use cloud, but mine all just sit on my network and take commands locally, even if I send the command via the internet it doesn't go via Shelley's servers. And Shelley controllers work off the existing switches too.
With Home Assistant the phone apps tend to be configurable to use a local address and then fall over to an internet address, so they default to fast and local, but still work remotely without any fuss. Remote access was a bit fiddly to get working historically, especially if you have lots of services that all need configuring slightly differently, but Cloudflare tunnels have made it really easy to configure secure web addresses for pretty much anything.
We’re happy to piss about and make it work. Most consumers are not.
Timothy Bucktu said:
Home Assistant!
It's a rabbit hole, but huge fun. It ties in all the thing already mentioned into one management interface. Alexa, Hue, IKEA, Tuya etc etc all work great.
Home Assistant, agreed. But definitely one for the unencumbered man simply to give adequate time to set it up properly!It's a rabbit hole, but huge fun. It ties in all the thing already mentioned into one management interface. Alexa, Hue, IKEA, Tuya etc etc all work great.
For the motorised blinds, I have Somfy ones and followed some easy instructions to build an ESP32 based controller that integrated easily into Home Assistant. One thing I've done is setting up a macro where I just tap a button and blinds close, projector and amp turns on, Hue lights switch to the cinema background lighting scene.
Can do voice control now, but I've been unable to buy one of those ESP S3 box things that work really well.
paulrockliffe said:
Interested too, I've not really read up on it, but it sounds similar to MQTT which I do use. It works perfectly, but it's fiddly to work with unless someone has already coded it up, so that's where I would see improvements having impact.
Stuff like Shelley can use cloud, but mine all just sit on my network and take commands locally, even if I send the command via the internet it doesn't go via Shelley's servers. And Shelley controllers work off the existing switches too.
With Home Assistant the phone apps tend to be configurable to use a local address and then fall over to an internet address, so they default to fast and local, but still work remotely without any fuss. Remote access was a bit fiddly to get working historically, especially if you have lots of services that all need configuring slightly differently, but Cloudflare tunnels have made it really easy to configure secure web addresses for pretty much anything.
I've moved away from opening anything up to non-local access, I just use a VPN tunnel when away from home.Stuff like Shelley can use cloud, but mine all just sit on my network and take commands locally, even if I send the command via the internet it doesn't go via Shelley's servers. And Shelley controllers work off the existing switches too.
With Home Assistant the phone apps tend to be configurable to use a local address and then fall over to an internet address, so they default to fast and local, but still work remotely without any fuss. Remote access was a bit fiddly to get working historically, especially if you have lots of services that all need configuring slightly differently, but Cloudflare tunnels have made it really easy to configure secure web addresses for pretty much anything.
I've never actually used the HA app, I just use my dashboard from Chrome on my phone and tablets, and all config is done on my PC.
donkmeister said:
I've moved away from opening anything up to non-local access, I just use a VPN tunnel when away from home.
I've never actually used the HA app, I just use my dashboard from Chrome on my phone and tablets, and all config is done on my PC.
Yeah, the Cloudflare tunnel approach doesn't involve opening anything up to non local access, it's like a mini VPN.I've never actually used the HA app, I just use my dashboard from Chrome on my phone and tablets, and all config is done on my PC.
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