The Ultimate Home Server - Component: Home Automation

Level1Techs
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We’ve done so many videos with Home Assistant as the brains. It really works well!

Combine with NodeRed for advanced automation – a lot can be done with it!

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Also honorable mentions, IMHO:

  • Openhab - Home assistant alternative, used to be the goto homelab automation solution, always had a very steep learning curve. The fact that with every major release the devs change APIs and most of the plugin logic hasn’t helped in making it popular …
  • MQTT as a broker between different brands/protocols/services - I use it as a bridge between my home automation software (OpenHab), my home sensors (raspberry PI - RS485 network and gas powered heating system), and some networked appliances that are not directly supported by the Openhab software like
    – Sonoff/Tasmota power plugs
    – Meross IOT power plugs
  • Emoncms Energy monitoring portal - I use it to collect time series of all my sensor reading and to perform energy specific consumption calculations/projections
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When I have the patience, I’d like to learn more about Home Assitant and how it could work for my home’s systems. My partner and I have iPhones, so the only backend hub we have at the moment is HomeBridge on a RaspberryPi, which has worked well for the garage door. Security in the long-term, though, has me thirsty for more understanding…

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Home assistant can use presence detection with your iPhones (any mobile device really) so that you can automate certain features like AC/Environmental settings, alarms, and etc.

Example.) My wife is a polar bear but I am not. The AC is set to a certain temp while she is home. As soon as she leaves (give or take 10 min and I am still home), then the heater kicks on to a more reasonable median for me. When she hits a 5 mile radius, the heater turns off and the AC turns back on. That also alerts me that she is on her way home. That all uses the Home Assistant Application on your phone.

I have other triggers set when she connects to the Wi-Fi. For example, she leaves BT and Wi-Fi on because of the infotainment in her car. So when she gets close enough to the house, the garage door opens for her. She can toggle that feature on and off, but especially on rainy days, it is a convenience for her. It is using the proximity sensor of the app to determine that she was not home previously, that her phone, just connected to the Wi-Fi, and that the trigger is turned on.

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