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Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

home-assistant.io

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Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#181

Post by hyperbovine »

alias_neo wrote: post #93

I've been using Home Assistant for a couple of years now. I won't go too much into what I use it for, there's a bunch of info about that, and the guys on the Discord have entire public repos full of all their cool automations (on Github). What I would share is that in the couple of years I've been running it, I've been through a dozen Sandisk and Samsung MicroSDs on my Pis _even though_ I was running my time-series d…

I have almost the identical setup as you - everything is ZWave (plus ecobee, sprinklers, attic fan, and some other sensors) and goes into Influx and grafana via mqtt. All of it is running on a single RPi3. Only difference is I’m using smart things not HA. I have had zero issues whatsoever. I got sidetracked for about 4 months over the winter with other projects and assumed this setup would crash or at least need a reboot when I came back to it. Instead it just hummed right along. So there must be something about the way HA uses storage.

Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#182

Post by Lightbody »

SEJeff wrote: post #114
Klathmon wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I bought a ring a while back, I fucking hate the thing. It's unreliable, it's closed off, and has an awful API. But until I get around to replacing it, I also have normal IP cameras out front. So i combined the API from Ring with the IP cameras that let you access the video stream to take a snapshot on motion or a doorbell ring, and use HTML5 notifications to send it to all my devices.

Get a doorbird. More expensive with the same feature set as the ring but a few big benefits. Their REST api is documented and they support callback webhooks. So you can have your doorbird make a webhook http post with a blob of json telling home assistant it detected motion or someone pressed the doorbell. I’m planning on using this to have a “doorbell” automation play on our Sonos speakers, which home assistant also…

This is great to know. I’m doing a big home remodel and ran CAT6 to my doorbell and have an unopened DoorBird just waiting to be installed in a few months. I love this idea!

Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#183

Post by evancordell »

Lightbody wrote: post #54

Since this comment thread involved a lot of people talking about their smart devices, I’ll just put out a PSA: don’t bother with cheaper zwave light switches and dimmers :) if you’re looking for a high quality decent price option, just get Lutron Caseta. Or if you want higher end / better style, get Lutron’s RA 2 Select hub (basically Caseta++) for $100 more and then you can use Caseta dimmers or higher end Maestro d…

I can’t speak to caseta, but I would highly recommend RadioRa2 from lutron.

The signals are flawless and continue to work even if there are otherwise problems with my raspi. ClearConnect (the wireless protocol) has its own spectrum and doesn’t interfere with anything else in my house that I have found, which sets it apart from all other wireless switch ecosystems that I know of. There is a wide range of dimmers for all types of loads (even very small led loads and fan loads) and physical remote controls. The pylutron library that homeassistant uses is solid - there’s room for improvement, but that just makes it more interesting from a hobby perspective. I also like that there’s no visual difference between wireless and “normal” maestro switches, so everything will look consistent even if you don’t go all in on wireless.

It took a few hours of my life to get certified and access the configuration software for radiora2, but I think it was worth it.

Lutron doesn’t pay me :) I’ve just found it to be a great platform to hack on. It is expensive but it’s a bit cheaper second hand.

Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#184

Post by VectorLock »

Klathmon wrote: post #12
Djvacto wrote: post #5

I have a raspberry pi where I installed Home Assistant a few months ago when I moved into my new home. I did a little bit of messing with it, but stopped while waiting to have more devices that could communicate with it. What are some of the more useful things people have found they are able to accomplish with this, and what was the best way to go about them? Ideas I currently am toying with: presence sensors to turn…

some of the stuff i've wired up around my house: * zwave motion sensors that can turn on the stairs lights at night when I start to walk down * door/window sensors that will automatically turn the AC off if they are open for more than a minute. * several methods of presence detection for anyone in the house, and ensuring the doors are locked, lights out, and garage doors down if nobody is home (after an announcement…

This is a great list of things you can do. Just reading thing went a good way from changing my mind from "useless contrivance maybe a bit fun to hack on" to "actually sounds useful."

Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#185

Post by Lightbody »

evancordell wrote: post #183
Lightbody wrote: post #54

Since this comment thread involved a lot of people talking about their smart devices, I’ll just put out a PSA: don’t bother with cheaper zwave light switches and dimmers :) if you’re looking for a high quality decent price option, just get Lutron Caseta. Or if you want higher end / better style, get Lutron’s RA 2 Select hub (basically Caseta++) for $100 more and then you can use Caseta dimmers or higher end Maestro d…

I can’t speak to caseta, but I would highly recommend RadioRa2 from lutron. The signals are flawless and continue to work even if there are otherwise problems with my raspi. ClearConnect (the wireless protocol) has its own spectrum and doesn’t interfere with anything else in my house that I have found, which sets it apart from all other wireless switch ecosystems that I know of. There is a wide range of dimmers for a…

Can you tell me how much the hub cost? The RA2 Select hub is $249 and the main difference (besides fewer devices and extenders) compared to RadioRA2 is that it’s “programmed” through the same Caseta Android/iOS apps vs the higher end / certified-only RadioRA2 and HomeWorksQS systems.

Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#186

Post by ce4 »

CBLT wrote: post #171
ce4 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Pi3 can boot directly off usb, alternatively just have the boot partition config (fat filesystem) on microSD point to the real rootfs on ssd/spinning hdd. I have a raspbian cups fileserver thats ignoring all this and keeps running for 3 years on the same cheap sd: have it set up to offload almost all writes to tmpfs to reduce wear: /tmp, /var/run, /var/tmp, /var/log, the cups spool folder and more (/var/spool/*).…

> /var/log mounted on tmpfs I would never do this at my job, even if I ship logs. I might do this on cheap hardware at home though. > Noatime What makes noatime better than relatime?

It's at home, an old raspberry was used as a wifi bridge for a laser printer. I basically used only spare/scrap parts. Also: s/fileserver/printserver/ though, my bad.

> relatime

Sits somewhere between atime and noatime, where "somewhere" is tunable. I wanted the least writes, so i went with noatime.

Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#187

Post by Nervetattoo »

balloob wrote: post #74
hirundo wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My initial experience with Home Assistant has been very frustrating. I filled my house with HomeSeer HS-WD100+ and HS-WS100+ wall dimmers/switches. I thought I was safe as they are best sellers in zwave devices. But Home Assistant doesn't seem to support them without elaborate workarounds that, as a noob, I haven't been able to penetrate. The forums have been talking about a solution coming soon ... for years now. In…

On the YAML front: we've added support for configuring integrations via the UI, no YAML involved[1]. However each integration will need to be adopted individually for this. YAML will still be around for power users and people who like to use version control. For Z-Wave: the current integration is based on openzwave, a reverse engineered implementation of the Z-Wave protocol with an irregular release interval. As we d…

I would be happy to contribute $ towards an improved Z-Wave implementation in HA if its based on an official SDK. I'm pretty sure I know a few others who would do the same if you set up a funding campaign somewhere.

Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#188

Post by sandos »

raman325 wrote: post #162
hirundo wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My initial experience with Home Assistant has been very frustrating. I filled my house with HomeSeer HS-WD100+ and HS-WS100+ wall dimmers/switches. I thought I was safe as they are best sellers in zwave devices. But Home Assistant doesn't seem to support them without elaborate workarounds that, as a noob, I haven't been able to penetrate. The forums have been talking about a solution coming soon ... for years now. In…

Have you looked at AppDaemon [0] [1] or Node-Red [2] [3] as alternatives to using YAML to write automations? AppDaemon allows you to write automations in Python, and Node-Red allows you to do it in a visual workflow editor. I haven't made the switch from SmartThings to Home Assistant yet because I haven't been limited by SmartThings yet and it was simple to set up, but when I do switch, I will probably start with tho…

I only tried Node-Red, it was good enough that I felt no need for AppDaemon, even though as a programmer it probably is even easier than Node Red.

One huge problem with YAML compared with Node Red is the turnaround, node-red restarts blazingly fast. HA, not so much....

Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#189

Post by maxerickson »

t0mbstone wrote: post #164
avianlyric wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What hardware did you end up picking? I’ve been looking to replace my RPi with something a bit beefier. Some of the components I’m running are memory heavy, and my pi is struggling to stay responsive.

Honestly, raspberry pis are a joke for anything serious. They only make sense if you are extremely limited when it comes to space. You can easily buy a mid-level desktop computer for $200 (either brand new, or off ebay/craigslist/newegg). I would recommend getting an i7 with at least 8 gigs of RAM and an SSD. As of right now, newegg has no less than i7 30 desktop pcs for sale under $200. Slap linux on it, plug it int…

How many watts is that?

There's kind of a quick progression in the bill for an always on device from irrelevant to noticeable to large.

Re: Home Assistant: Open-source home automation platform running on Python 3

#190

Post by OJFord »

gerdesj wrote: post #160
flyingcircus3 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Hue does not rely on HA for network connectivity. The Hue hub connects to wifi, and you talk to it over the network. I don't believe HA is doing anything other than reading/writing the state of the bulbs.

Hue and company use Zigbee - you can ditch the hub: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/zigbee2mqtt-getting-ri... (I can personally vouch for Scott Darby's ability to put together a device for UK users - see comment 162. I've got one of his)

> see comment 162

Well, I learned something about HN today!

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