Novice to all home automation here. My wife and I just bought our first home (Arizona, USA) and are looking to get into simple but useful home automation. I’ve seen friends/family have smart light bulbs and other small things connected to Apple TV/Homepods, but that’s about it. IMO I see these as done after-the-fact or “retrofit” and I’m the type of person that would prefer replacing the fixture (light switch, outlet, fan), cut into drywall if needed, get in the attic, etc. My wife and I are slightly into the Apple ecosystem (iPhones, IPads, newest Apple TV) mainly because the ease and beauty of their interface, but I definitely prefer functionality and reliability over looks when it comes to things like this especially if there exists some platform that could combine HomeKit and google/amazon products.
Things I have in mind that I would like to be able to control/monitor via phone are the garage, air conditioning, lights and fans throughout the house, robot vacuum/mop, and outdoor lighting.
I understand some of this can get complicated I’m not expecting all the answers from one Reddit post, only looking for a good place to start and over time add more and more.
If there are any recommendations to products, forums, quality YouTube channels where I could learn more about this topic they are much appreciated. Thank you!!
I highly recommend going with “if my grandparents can use it without issue then it was a success”
Homeautomation is supposed to make your life easier not harder.
There’s a ton of things I could recommend but it comes down to what is it I’m trying to solve?
For me lights being able to turn them on and off at the switch and through automations. With the above if grandparents can’t use it then I failed. I have motion sensors once tripped they turn on occasionally they lag which needs a restart. (Just the automation not rebooting.) I also have the ability to use an NFC tag to open my garage and turn on the lights.
There’s a lot which I’d like to do but I’m content with where it’s at for now.
Home assistant which is highly recommended here isn’t for everyone it’s getting better, in fact has made major strides lately. I’ll admit I don’t use it to the full extent. Mainly because I lack in the skills. It’s journey and can be difficult hobby at times.
If you do go this route please avoid a RPI they are great but not worth the expense you can get so much more in a SFF or NUC. Even an old laptop will work better. But if you must DO NOT BUY AN SD CARD they will die. Use an M.2 or SSD USB to SATA.
To your question HA works with HomeKit. (Bridge) easy to setup too.
Last crazy thought you will discover a lot of your devices show up instantly. I was truly amazed at what showed up. For instance my toothbrush. (Bluetooth never use it though).
Good approach, KISS. Keep it simple and stupid.
Motion sensors for lights are a reliable and old school way to go. HOA wants a front porch light in for us once it’s night, my solution a light sensing bulb that drops in and turns on automatically once it’s nighttime.
Eufy 11s, robot vacuum with random navigation and remote. Cleans well, no app and due to no maps no issues picking it up and hitting auto clean button in whatever location I want. Can still set schedules, manually control it, etc it just randomly cleans till battery is low and charges.Ran daily I have no need to tell it to randomly clean when I’m away in an app, the house is already vacuumed.
A lot of things can be automated without going the smart home route which can introduce security and privacy issues. And reliance on software that may or may not be working in a few years. Figure out what works best for you.