My Homeseer HomeTroller (basically a Raspberry Pi) started to experience constant crashes.
In the end is the mono environment very critical, a plugin with problems, a service below not working properly, and mono crashes.
So I started to search for alternatives to HomeSeer, because spending more money on a platform that anyway is faulted, doesn't make any sense.
Looking for ...
Looking around I found a possible substitute for HomeSeer : Home Assistant.
Some main characteristics I'm looking for and found in Home Assistant :
- must run in local, no cloud constraints
I don't want a service that is not working because the internet connection is lost or has problems - disaster recovery option
I want to be able to set back the system faster in case of a total disaster - has to have a decent interface - both Web based and app based
- has to be able to use Z-Wave, plus ZigBee and X10
- can be installed in different platforms
- can interface with Tuya
- can interface with Alexa
- can support MQTT
- can be connected to an UPS - meaning it can "talk" with an UPS in order to manage outages
- can be integrated with Meshstastic
Some details
Like HomeSeer is possible to install Home Assistant in different ways and platform, like HomeSeer is possible to install it on a Raspberry Pi but they have also their own HW platform, called Home Assistant Green.
Is little bit more expensive than Homeseer but reading some info about it, seems more faster and reliable than Homeseer, more integrated to Linux since use Python and C rather than mono (to use M$ stuff) and designed ad-hoc.
So already it sounds much better.
However it has no Z-Wave or Zigbee as default.
Since I have already lot of Z-Wave devices around the house, I have to add the Z-Wave interface, increasing the cost.
I will also try to integrate X10, since I still have some X10 modules active (right now are controlled by another Raspberry Pi running
Home Assistant can also be integrated with Alexa, it can use X10 as well, it can be expanded to use ZigBee and more.
The only possible problem is the lack of WiFi on the Home Assistant green, just as backup, but I already have a wired connection set up for HomeSeer so is not really a problem.
Another plus for Home Assistant is that can be easily interfaced to many sensors, like the ones from Seed Studio.
Ideal features
The ideal would be to have a system like this :
A Z-Wave and X10 interface (CM11A) will control the existing modules (Z-Wave and old X10) while also a Zigbee interface will eventually be added later.
Since Home Assistant Green has only two USB ports, a USB hub will be necessary as well as a mini LAN switch to connect the Home Assistant Green module and the Amazon Fire TV.
An audio interface (not yet decided) will be added to allow the system to give vocal messages and a Meshstastic node will allow the system to report status and other functions, as well as display received messages
In order to interact with the system, one or more tablet (WiFi/touchscreen) will be interfaced with the Home Assistant.
Not in the drawing, but will be possible also to integrate local weather stations to report local conditions, both to be seen on the dashboard of HA or sent via Meshstastic.
FireTv and TV are not really connected to the system, are there since already they exist.
Maybe will. be possible to interface FireTV with Home Assistant.
Resources
- Seed Studio - guide to HA interfaces
- How to Geek - used Kindle as inform kiosk for Home Assistant
- XDA - HA Kindle companion
- Home Assistant - connect FireTV to HA
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