As we move into the 21st century, it’s getting harder and harder to avoid “smart” devices in our homes.
In my previous home, I installed an alarm system and specifically requested an Internet module so that I could access and manage the alarm system from a phone app. Next a Ring doorbell connected to an outdoor Wi-Fi access point so that I could get motion detections as well as the ability to answer the doorbell remotely.
Including some other smart devices, it became apparent that this would be a problem: each device has their own app and they live in their own walled gardens.
Move on a few years and we’ve moved home. In our new home, we installed a Risco alarm system (without actually knowing anything about Risco). My home network is managed by a Unifi Dream Machine and our security cameras are Unifi Protect. After some reading and experimenting, I’ve also added a few Shelly devices to security lights and other lights around the house.
In the last year or so, we’ve installed a solar system with a SunSynk inverter that speaks well to Solar Assistant and that.
Bringing all this together to a central point of control, I have a Home Assistant installed on a Raspberry Pi which lives in my server cabinet, monitoring the goings on within the home.
My next step is a weather station to get a better idea of the environmental factors, and I’m also keen to play with some ESP32 devices with the ESPHome platform.