I am a total newbie on home automation. Last year I tried adding a zigbee dongle to my home server and setting up home automate. I got so far as to pairing a couple of light bulbs throughout the house to propagate the signal. I have bought a few temp/air quality sensors that are still in the box. But I kind of burned out feeling home automate was too complicated for me.
Jump to now. I bought a Homey Pro as an early Christmas gift to myself and have connected the light bulbs as well as my outdoor sun blinds. This weekend the sensors are going up.
Cut to my questions. Now that I have access to a bunch of different protocols, is zigbee the right way to go? What I don't like is that I cannot see the status of my bulbs. If the physical light switch is turned off homey loses control. Would this behaviour be better if I went for zwave or matter (or something else)?
I feel this is the time to choose what I really want to go for. I think the zigbee stuff will be kept as I believe the sensors should work fine(?) and it would be a waste to just scrap them.
Things I am considering adding down the line:
- smart light switches/dimmers
- Presence detection in rooms to control lights?
- Thermostats for our in floor heating water loops (I have so far only found zwave for this). Must work physically as well.
- door and window sensors
- Outdoor security cameras
- Outdoor light sensor for better control of the sun blinds
- Water sensors under the washing machine and sinks
- Smart plugs for things like heated blanket
I guess these are very different use cases. And I am open to mix and matching a bit. And things like security cameras is propably logical to use a connectable service for?
What would you choose if you were able to start over? The only caveat is that it must be supported by the Homey.
Other tips in general are also welcome!
Was the second line there the entire time? My sleep deprived ass didn't see it and was trying to guess it from the first line alone.