Smart Home Automation

[bombcar]

Tell me more about Home Assistant.

Currently I have an absolutely ungodly amount of Hue bulbs (seriously, these things rock), countless Caseta switches, a Homekit-compatible fan, and two door locks. One lock is Homekit (a Kwikset) which works but I don't really like it; and a Schlage (bought before I decided to go Homekit, so it's only Z-wave compatible; I bought it just to avoid having to use a key), and some Best Buy homekit switches from Ebay (they cancelled them but they seem to work decently for me for things like basements, etc). I have other random items that I've not yet setup or only partially setup - a Z-wave flood sensor, some Tuyo (I think) switches with a silly "Smart Home" app (super cheap compared to Homekit ones; I'm hoping to bridge somehow).

I have a Raspberry Pi with a Razberry Z-wave board running Homebridge, and I'm trying to decide if I want to make the jump to Home Assistant in full - or continue to use Homebridge to get more controls. The automation programming capabilities of Homekit itself are ... limited (you can't have two conditions for an automation beyond X + time of day, for example).

 

[bombcar]

The bulb/switch is currently my biggest "regret" I have - as the Caseta switches are pricey but wonderful - however, they won't let me do things like color-change the bulbs and I'm really getting a kick out of daylight white during the day and yellow/orange white at night.

What I've found for the Hue bulbs is that you can buy things like this really help - I just "hardwire" the light on and put the dimmer control over it, most people can figure that one out.

Some have made a shim so you can install the Phillips Hue dimmer thing over a normal decora switch, which is pretty nice.

I'd really like a "hardwired" switch with a smart bulb that talked to the switch, but such is life in the first world with its problems. A switch that could alternate between on-daylight, on-amber, off would be just about perfect for me.

 

[bombcar]

Wait - you had your heat based on the SEASON and not the outside temp?

I'm intrigued but simply cannot comprehend that - it's already hit NEGATIVE ZERO here.

 

[bombcar]

Makes sense; I had an automation to turn my porch light off 3 hours after sunset - but I forgot that sunset happens at 4PM in the winter!

 

[bombcar]

This is so simple it's barely home automation, but almost any of the options available would work - just how much you want to pay.

If you want and are willing to do some wiring, PM me - I have some Lutron Casetas and Pico switches I'm not using.