You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
110 lines
5.3 KiB
110 lines
5.3 KiB
--- |
|
title: Before you start with Home Assistant |
|
tags: |
|
- Home Assistant |
|
description: I use Home Assistant for my home automation setup. I plan do write some more blogs about it in the future. This is supposed to help those out who are considering starting out. It is not supposed to be a setup guide, rather some things to consider before starting out. |
|
date: 2021-03-19 |
|
--- |
|
|
|
If you are considering getting into home automation, [Home |
|
Assistant](https://www.home-assistant.io/) is a great way to start. My current |
|
setup consists mostly of lighting, sensors and buttons, and a few small |
|
appliances. I Before you start, there are a few things that you might want |
|
to consider. |
|
|
|
## Server |
|
|
|
So, currently, I have home assistant installed on an old laptop that works as a |
|
server. Alternatively, you could use a Raspberry PI or any similar single board |
|
computer. |
|
|
|
Home Assistant sells a single board computers which are a bit more powerful than |
|
a Raspberry PIs and all the needed software is pre installed: |
|
|
|
<https://www.home-assistant.io/blue> |
|
|
|
What you end up doing will probably depend on your budget, what you have lying |
|
around and how DIY you want the solution to be. |
|
|
|
## Celling Lighting |
|
|
|
One of the easiest / cheapest things to start with is lighting. It also brings |
|
some of the (IMHO) biggest advantages. To do lighting, you have 2 options. Smart |
|
switches or smart bulbs (or both, I guess that makes three). |
|
|
|
### Smart Switches |
|
|
|
This is (probably) the easiest and cheapest starting point, however comes with a |
|
pretty big caveat. You'll need to check that your wall socket has a ground or |
|
neutral wire (probably green and yellow sleeve in the UK). If not, this option |
|
probably won't work for you. I am not an electrician so if you are in doubt, |
|
find someone who knows what they are taking about. *SERIOUSLY*. If you electrocute |
|
yourself, that is generally bad and not on me. |
|
|
|
I use these [switches from |
|
Sonoff](https://www.banggood.com/SONOFF-T1-EU-or-UK-AC-100-240V-1-or-2-or-3-Gang-TX-Series-WIFI-Wall-Switch-433Mhz-RF-Remote-Controlled-Wifi-Switch-Smart-Home-Switch-Works-With-Alexa-Google-Home-p-1470883.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=UK&ID=6278514). |
|
They can be flashed with open firmware so you can be sure they are not talking |
|
back to their mother ship. |
|
|
|
It can be useful to get a switch panel with extra switches. That way you can use |
|
the extra buttons for triggering automations or turning on other things other |
|
than the celling lights. |
|
|
|
### Smart Bulbs |
|
|
|
Smart bulbs are a generally a bit more expensive than smart switches. However, |
|
they often come with the advantage that you can change the brightness / colour |
|
etc. |
|
|
|
Unfortunately, you'll need to leave the switch on all the time if you want the |
|
advantage of being able to turn them on with your phone or on a timer. |
|
|
|
I use these [bulbs from BlitzWolf](https://www.banggood.com/BlitzWolf-BW-LT21-RGBWW-10W-E27-APP-Smart-LED-Light-Bulb-Work-With-Amazon-Alexa-Google-Assistant-AC100-240V-p-1551059.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN). |
|
These can also be flashed with with open firmware. |
|
|
|
### What I do |
|
|
|
Anywhere I have a smart bulb, I also have smart switches. This is so I can leave |
|
the power to the bulb on at all times. You don't want (and your wife definitely |
|
won't want) to have to get your phones out every time you want to turn the light |
|
on or off. If you have a smart switch, it can "ask" the bulb to turn off but |
|
without cutting its power. This means you can turn the bulb on with your phone |
|
or a switch or an automation. |
|
|
|
In some places, I only have a smart switch and dumb bulbs. This is basically |
|
just the bathroom and kitchen where we have loads of spot lights and it's not |
|
worth the cost to make each bulb smart |
|
|
|
I can still turn the lights on / off with the switch or our phones or with |
|
automations. |
|
|
|
## Other small appliances |
|
|
|
I also have things like lamps attached these to [Sonoff |
|
Basics](https://www.banggood.com/SONOFF-BASICR2-10A-2200W-WIFI-Wireless-Smart-Switch-Remote-Control-Socket-APP-Timer-AC90-250V-50-or-60Hz-Works-with-Amazon-Alexa-Google-Home-Assistant-IFTTT-p-1019971.html?cur_warehouse=CN&rmmds=search). |
|
They work in basically the same way as a smart switch with a dumb bulb. It means |
|
that I can turn them off with smart buttons, my phone or any automations. |
|
|
|
Lastly, I have some [Sonoff |
|
S26](https://www.banggood.com/SONOFF-S26-10A-AC90V-250V-Smart-WIFI-Socket-CN-or-US-or-UK-or-AU-or-DE-or-FR-or-BR-or-CH-or-IL-or-IT-Wireless-Plug-Power-Sockets-Smart-Home-Switch-Work-With-Alexa-Google-Assistant-IFTTT-p-1308841.html?cur_warehouse=CN&ID=3426&rmmds=search)s. |
|
I use these for appliances such as my kettle that are used around water and I |
|
want to play it safe. You could probably use a Sonoff basic for this, but they |
|
don't come with any water certification. At least these are kept above surfaces |
|
that might have water on them. |
|
|
|
I'm happy to pay a bit extra and just not risk electrocuting myself. |
|
|
|
## Firmware |
|
|
|
Everything I have linked above use a chip called an ESP8266 (or variations of |
|
it) which mean it can be flashed with open source firmware called |
|
[esphome](https://esphome.io/). This way, I am happy to buy cheep Chinese bulbs |
|
and I am confident that the bulbs are not talking back to China. |
|
|
|
If you are interested I can talk to you about flashing it at a later date. |
|
Different devices require it to be done in different ways. |
|
|
|
----- |
|
|
|
Hopefully that should be enough to get you started, I will be writing more posts |
|
on home automation in the future.
|
|
|