Combining different systems

[Harry Bloomfield]

Maybe a less Orwellian example....if I had access to all the Alexa and Google data from a particular area, street, or house, and I wanted to know which houses would be the best and least risk to rob, I'd find it a big help to see for how long they'd set their heating to 'away', or for how long it'd been since their Alexa last reported a command or question....

It has no access to my heating system nor anything else useful to such an enterprise. The only data it could derive from my living style, is the charger for my car going on and off, or my drive light, which happens whether I am home, or not.

 

[Deleted member 192609]

Has anyone tried Home Assistant?

I was chatting to a kitchen fitter the other day about home automation and how frustrating it was that I'd tried to go down the Google route but they'd abandoned their plans to go into that market.

He said that Home Assistant is open source and can combine all common products in a single eco system.

You can either run it on a standalone device like a custom made (and sold) Raspberry Pi or, in my case my Synology network drive could host it.

Looks very promising, has anyone tried it?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Looks very promising, has anyone tried it?

No, but I have heard good things about it.

 

[hllns]

Has anyone tried Home Assistant?

I was chatting to a kitchen fitter the other day about home automation and how frustrating it was that I'd tried to go down the Google route but they'd abandoned their plans to go into that market.

He said that Home Assistant is open source and can combine all common products in a single eco system.

You can either run it on a standalone device like a custom made (and sold) Raspberry Pi or, in my case my Synology network drive could host it.

Looks very promising, has anyone tried it?

Yes, I've used it loads, it has lots of plugins supporting all manner of the weird and wonderful from the cheap and cheerful to mainstream stuff. I only have some ZigBee sensors and sockets and a few Wi-Fi mains relays and some control of my heating.

It's Linux based but the install images hide a lot of the complexity of that quite nicely, you don't need to buy their special device, you can just run it on a Raspberry Pi 4.

I would caveat that by saying it needs some IT savvy to get the most out of it

 

[old duffer]

I didn't name call. You have an unhealthy aversion to modern tech..

Fine, but try not to draw others in, with wild stories of the CIA/MI5 spying on the use of a basically simple bit of software..

yeah, no one captures (steals) personal data. What use would it be anyway...

Flipper Zero — Portable Multi-tool Device for Geeks

Based on an ultra-low-power STM32 MCU for daily exploration of access control systems and radio protocols. Open-source and customizable

flipperzero.one

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

yeah, no one captures (steals) personal data. What use would it be anyway...

Flipper Zero — Portable Multi-tool Device for Geeks

Based on an ultra-low-power STM32 MCU for daily exploration of access control systems and radio protocols. Open-source and customizable

flipperzero.one

How many days, do you suppose someone might need to sit in my drive, waiting for a single burst of wifi in 24 hours, which would signal my car charger to switch on? How many weeks might they be waiting there, for me to press the remote control for my garage door? You don't suppose I might notice them sat in my drive, certainly for such a long period of time

 

[Mister Banks]

Has anyone tried Home Assistant?

I was chatting to a kitchen fitter the other day about home automation and how frustrating it was that I'd tried to go down the Google route but they'd abandoned their plans to go into that market.

He said that Home Assistant is open source and can combine all common products in a single eco system.

You can either run it on a standalone device like a custom made (and sold) Raspberry Pi or, in my case my Synology network drive could host it.

Looks very promising, has anyone tried it?

I've used HA. There is a huge steep learning curve to get the best out of it and you will need an in depth knowledge of YAML programming language. I used HA for a few weeks and then gave up as it was just too time consuming.

 

[hllns]

I've used HA. There is a huge steep learning curve to get the best out of it and you will need an in depth knowledge of YAML programming language. I used HA for a few weeks and then gave up as it was just too time consuming.

I'd disagree, you shouldn't have to touch any YAML if you're using mainstream plugins. The only bit I've had to touch is for an ESPHome ESP device with a current sensor hanging off it which is at the fringes of most people's usage.

 

[Mister Banks]

I'd disagree, you shouldn't have to touch any YAML if you're using mainstream plugins. The only bit I've had to touch is for an ESPHome ESP device with a current sensor hanging off it which is at the fringes of most people's usage.

In my case I was looking at using HA with my Wiser heating controls. There is a Wiser integration for HA but it still needed a bit of YAML to get things to look and work how i wanted. In the end I gave up! If anyone is looking for a simple plug n play home automation system then HA isnt it IMO.