Anything new I buy has the ability to directly talk to homeassistant without a third party. Zigbee, zwave, ip. If its cloud it can fuck right off, I don’t need it.
Many brand names are using these protocols to talk to their bullshit hubs that then send your data out of your network. I’ve got a hodgepodge of stuff like samsung sensors, Ikea switches, ip cameras and all kinds of stuff.
It isn’t even that hard to set them up. HA can detect most devices on the network and recognise them.
Why does one need to connect everything like this? The only connected system (besides computers/entertainment ) I have in my entire house is a security system. What benefit is there to all that other stuff? Doesn’t it add quite a bit of cost?
I only tend to dabble, but I have Home Assistant set up - one example I’m on a flexible electricity tariff which is based on wholesale prices. It chages every 30 minutes. I have an automation that grabs tarrif info. If the price goes below zero (which it does sometimes when the grid has more energy than it knows what to do with, my hot water heaters all automatically turn on.
Most security systems these days are just whitelabeled zwave etc sensors with a proprietary hub and a monthly charge.
The nice thing about HA is that you can pull almost everything into it and then add whatever automations you want. Recent example was my SO complaining about how dark it was going to the car when they leave in the morning. Super easy to set up an automation that turns out the floodlight switches when the front door opens. All kinds of stuff like that that’s really useful.
More cost upfront, but as we’ve seen time and time against companies will start charging subscriptions for thing they previously didn’t.
Then there’d the privacy benefits. Not needing to rely on some company to keep servers alive. Being able to more easily troubleshoot/upgrade/swap individual parts. Not having to use a different app for basically every single device. All that sort of stuff
I got two ratgdo modules in the mail yesterday. Hooked ‘em up last night and it was super straightforward. I disabled the built-in WiFi on the MyQ openers and they’ve been working excellently last night and today. No regrets!
I used a Shelly 1 pulled into home assistant. Works perfectly. Very simple for opening and closing. I am building an ultrasonic sensor using esphome that I’ll use to know how far the door is open. Currently I just use Zigbee contact sensors. Open or closed.
Garages just need a momentary dry-contact switch wired up where the button is (or you can get a ladder and place it closer to the motor).
I use a Sonoff 4CH Pro which could do up to 4 garage doors. Surely there are other dry contact options, but that’s the one I use.
It’s flashed with Tasmota, and each switch is set to stay on for a fraction of a second, like a button press.
For sensors I use z-wave door sensors. The magnet is taped to the door, and the sensor is installed above it. I copied and pasted some yaml from somewhere to make Home Assistant display everything properly. It’s pretty slick!
This is in my covers.yaml file (referenced from config.yaml, of course).
Anyone have good suggestions on what deserves my money, or the effort of setting up?
Anything new I buy has the ability to directly talk to homeassistant without a third party. Zigbee, zwave, ip. If its cloud it can fuck right off, I don’t need it.
Many brand names are using these protocols to talk to their bullshit hubs that then send your data out of your network. I’ve got a hodgepodge of stuff like samsung sensors, Ikea switches, ip cameras and all kinds of stuff.
It isn’t even that hard to set them up. HA can detect most devices on the network and recognise them.
Why does one need to connect everything like this? The only connected system (besides computers/entertainment ) I have in my entire house is a security system. What benefit is there to all that other stuff? Doesn’t it add quite a bit of cost?
I only tend to dabble, but I have Home Assistant set up - one example I’m on a flexible electricity tariff which is based on wholesale prices. It chages every 30 minutes. I have an automation that grabs tarrif info. If the price goes below zero (which it does sometimes when the grid has more energy than it knows what to do with, my hot water heaters all automatically turn on.
Most security systems these days are just whitelabeled zwave etc sensors with a proprietary hub and a monthly charge.
The nice thing about HA is that you can pull almost everything into it and then add whatever automations you want. Recent example was my SO complaining about how dark it was going to the car when they leave in the morning. Super easy to set up an automation that turns out the floodlight switches when the front door opens. All kinds of stuff like that that’s really useful.
More cost upfront, but as we’ve seen time and time against companies will start charging subscriptions for thing they previously didn’t.
Then there’d the privacy benefits. Not needing to rely on some company to keep servers alive. Being able to more easily troubleshoot/upgrade/swap individual parts. Not having to use a different app for basically every single device. All that sort of stuff
You can definitely have all the gear and not need it. I’ve set mine up a little at a time to do specific tasks. Some examples:
Alert me if my side gate is unlocked at night, because that is the access to my business.
Check if there is water in the chicken house reservoir, as that means the chickens have dropped a pebble in the valve again.
I got two ratgdo modules in the mail yesterday. Hooked ‘em up last night and it was super straightforward. I disabled the built-in WiFi on the MyQ openers and they’ve been working excellently last night and today. No regrets!
I used a Shelly 1 pulled into home assistant. Works perfectly. Very simple for opening and closing. I am building an ultrasonic sensor using esphome that I’ll use to know how far the door is open. Currently I just use Zigbee contact sensors. Open or closed.
Garages just need a momentary dry-contact switch wired up where the button is (or you can get a ladder and place it closer to the motor).
I use a Sonoff 4CH Pro which could do up to 4 garage doors. Surely there are other dry contact options, but that’s the one I use.
It’s flashed with Tasmota, and each switch is set to stay on for a fraction of a second, like a button press.
For sensors I use z-wave door sensors. The magnet is taped to the door, and the sensor is installed above it. I copied and pasted some yaml from somewhere to make Home Assistant display everything properly. It’s pretty slick!
This is in my covers.yaml file (referenced from config.yaml, of course).