Adventures in Home Assistant

19th March 2022

My Gear;
Raspberry Pi 4 4gb +USB SSD. Idles at 2%CPU and 1.5Gb ram used. Upgrade to a minipc if you plan to use Ai Voice or Frigate video recording.
SmLight ZigBee Bridge; big antenna PoE

How to setup Wifi here https://pimylifeup.com/home-assistant-raspberry-pi/

Why Home Assistant and not some cloud service? You have no control over cloud services. They could shutdown and your investment is lost. or they could move to a subscription model. or your country could decide to block China. and it’s laggy and doesn’t work when your internet is crappy.

General Recommendations:
A used Raspberry Pi 4 is fine to start your Adventure. MicroSD won’t last long get an external SSD or a M.2 backpack. Used 2.5″ ssd is super cheap and you only need 128Gb.
Kasa/TPLink wifi for anything mains powered. Local, app required only for setup.
ZigBee/matter for battery powered devices, requires a ZigBee USB stick. range is limited
If your house is large you need a Zigbee gateway SMLIGHT $38ca Much better range than combee, if you start out with something USB choose something with an antenna, use a USB extention cable to get it up and away from metal + electronics.
Ikea/Sonoff/Tuya Zigbee sensors all work well, find ones that take standard AAA rechargeable batteries
Matter would be ideal but not many choices yet
Bluetooth Esp32 can make Bluetooth relays cheap. some assembly required.
Z-Wave is popular in Europe, pick zigbee or z-wave but avoid having both

NOT Recommended:
TUYA/re-brand Wifi Smart Devices. Integration works but reaches out to China, slow and unreliable.
Sonoff Wifi again a web integration, these can have open firmware added but it’s a hassle. mini $11 and uses your existing light switch. Local integration exists but hassle + docs are outdated.

My tested Gear:
LG Thinq Dryer easy to add into HA, but is Cloud Polling, exposes these items (Ignore the items that start with Up)

Govee H5102 Bluetooth Thermometer+Hygrometer AA batteries, good battery life ~2 month-ish
Ikea Parasol Zigbee door/window sensor, 1.2v rechargable AAA batteries. button x4 press to pair $
Ikea Vallhorn Zigbee Presense sensor, 1.2v rechargable AAA batteries. Critter sensor in Garage $14
Schlage door lock; wifi + integration, reliable, strong motor, no finger print or rfid
SmLight SLZB-06M; very versitile but not easy to setup.
Setup, Devices and Services, Add Integration, Mosquitto MQTT
Setup, Add-ons, Add-on Store, 3dots, repositories, https://github.com/zigbee2mqtt/hassio-zigbee2mqtt
Setup, Add-ons, Zigbee2MQTT, Configuration, 3dots, Edit in YAML

data_path: /config/zigbee2mqtt
socat:
enabled: false
master: pty,raw,echo=0,link=/tmp/ttyZ2M,mode=777
slave: tcp-listen:8485,keepalive,nodelay,reuseaddr,keepidle=1,keepintvl=1,keepcnt=5
options: "-d -d"
log: false
mqtt:
server: mqtt://localhost:1883
user: mqtt
password: mqtt
serial:
serial:
port: tcp://10.222.1.140:6638
baudrate: 115200
disable_led: false
adapter: ember
advanced:
transmit_power: 20

more info here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-iD8Q7AwLE

Next to test:
Linknlink eMotion presence sensors $17 ish, Paul Hibbert recommended. Out of stock.

Sonoff Notes

Install HACS, get the eWeLink app in HACS, may need to add some config to get your config from Sonoff Cloud

Install the file editor addon, edit /config/configuration.yaml

sonoff:
username: my+ewelink+account@gmail.com
password: your_Password_that_you_saved_in_your_password_manager_right?
scan_interval: 60
grace_period: 600
api_region: ‘us’
entity_prefix: True #(optional)
debug: False #(optional)
mode: local # this makes it work when the internet is unavailable, recommended
reload: always # update device list every time HA starts, in case you add more devices later

Interesting automations & sensors:

Temperature sensor turns on ceiling fan, closes blinds
Humidity sensors turn on Bath fan
Temp sensor above the stove detects if it was left on
Temperature sensor in refrigerator
Presence sensor in the garage to detect critters and Hobbits
Vibration/Current sensor on the washing machine & dryer
Water sensors under sink, toilet, wash machine, fridge, water heater, attic?
Door/window sensor on the garage door, basement windows, electric car charge door
Smart outlet on anything your wife/kids leave turned on ie ice maker, game console

Scrypted connects ecosystems together. ie: connect Unifi cameras to apple ecosystem. see here

Recommendations from Smart Home Solver 2025 (AAA = triple A rechargeable batteries, coin cells are annoying)

Bulbs Linkind, Kasa
lightstrip wiz, aquara
Doorbell Reolink
doorlock eufy e31, aquara u100
lightswitches Kasa
indoor cam Tapo home assist
outdoor cam Reolink wired cams HA
motion aquara, 3rd reality aaa batteries, (i use Ikea AA batteries)
presense Aquara, Apollo, treatlife(not HA)
Contact 3rd reality AAA batteries, Aquara, (i use Ikea AAA batteries)
water Ikea badring AAA battery
button 3rd reality, hue, Ikea HA Z2M only
vibration 3rd reality AAA, aquara
outlet Kasa, Ikea, 3rd reality
garage Meross
thermostat Ecobee essential homekit, Honeywell T6 + zWave
air quality Apollo, Ikea
Temperature ? Zigbee 4 in 1 Motion,Temperature, Humidity, Luminance AliExpress $8.88

Cheap Voice control

Source: XDA Developers
https://search.app/cJDCv

Lighting color for Alerts

https://share.google/sKxRniRXA8Rn8Kdiv