Saving for when I have my own home....if that ever happens.
Completely agree with the off line sentiment. I remember about 5 years ago I got some cheap Chinese smart lights that needed me to create an account and give Tuya/Smart Life unrestricted access to my network. And the delay sucked turning the light on in app because the signal had to go to their main server and back.
Anyways, I discovered HA and it's been really fun messing with ESP32 and Zigbee devices. I even host my own security cameras with Frigate.
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Completely skipped the voice control which is the part I use the most.
I don't need any of those things
Some of them are wonderful, once you get used to having them. I have (mostly) smart lights in my house. Half the time you wouldn't know it however, since they work just like normal lights. However, you can also turn them on or off from your phone. Some also colour match to the outdoor light (helps with my daughter's bedtime).
The key is to make sure the "smart" bits are transparent to a normal user. They also need to fail to a dumb configuration, not a dead one.
It gets even better if you have them all automated. Every light in my house responds to room presence so I havent touched a digital or physical control in ages (except for recoloring :) )
That's definitely on my to-do list. I just need to work out the best combo of sensors and software. I won't want the lights coming on all the time, with motion. I often work late, and so effectively half sneak through the house at night. Figuring out when I actually want light is a non-trivial problem.
If and when I'll make my home smart, I will try to use something offline for basic needs
Depends what you're automating.. Home Assistant isn't really suitable for larger homes, and it REALLY sucks at AV control compared to commercial systems.
It might be better than Google Assistant and Alexa, but its nowhere near high end systems
What are "high end alternatives?"
Large homes tend to use products like crestron or control4 which deal with AV better.
I've installed in houses which are literally 16 TVs and 32 audio zones.
Some products even work together with companies like this for native enhancements to their products to allow better control
That being said, some things in HA are cool
How is it not suitable for larger homes?
AV control mainly. I've automated homes with 16 TVs and such.
There's "larger homes" and then there's "mansions". No normal family needs more TVs than people...
The other problem also comes down to developing support for products which may require proprietary protocols or confidential API keys and such. To my knowledge, HA is in Python and doesn't really allow it properly.
It really depends what level of integration you're going for. But products like Control4 and Elan have proper fully integrated remotes which allow easy control of AV too.
So, if free is your goal, ha will get many things done fine. But, just be aware if you don't mind paying or are looking for commercial jobs, you should also at least look at the other options.
I've got zero smart home stuff, and have no intention of setting it up any time soon. I just don't see the need. I'm just glad self-hosting stuff offline is getting easier.
For schlubs like us, not really that useful.
I only use it for turning on my ac/heating remotely using sensibo and for lights really. But I can use 2 apps for that
But, if you have multi story house or a large house, at a minimum, you really need a quick way to turn everything off with one press when leaving as an example and to ensure everything is locked. We also do things like allow all TV's to see the CCTV, get alerts for pool, etc
Some home automation stuff though is pointless or a bad idea. And there are rich people who definitely do it to show off their house.
Commercial jobs also often need it, because people can't be expected to know how to work the remotes, and lights need occupancy, etc. Also, there are considerations for emergencies and such
HA is basically a step above Google and Alexa, but some jobs need the stronger stuff
Where does it come up short?
AV control in particular.
You also can't develop device support for it in a nice way which requires confidential information to be stored
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