Home Automation
A few years ago I started a project to automate my house and have finally settled on a solution which works for me using Home Assistant. Details below.
Principles
Before I get started I want to call out a few concepts I stuck to in my setup:
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Keep communication local to the network. While a lot of IoT devices can be easy to set up they typically achieve that by routing their traffic through the open internet to their servers. This can cause a lag in responsiveness, but more important, it means those servers get your data and can understand your home usage patterns. No thanks.
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Devices should look and behave like a normal device. More of a personal preference here, but I want my light switches to look and behave like normal light switches. That applies to every household device. I shouldn't be required to use my phone to turn something on and vistors shouldn't notice that anything is out of the ordinary.
Setup
1 – My home network is controlled by a customized version of Home Assistant.
2 – Home Assistant is running in a Docker container on a Synology NAS DS716+II. The NAS is not externally accessible from the internet, but can be accessed over VPN. Local network all traffic is served over SSL to keep things secure and because green locks in the URL bar look cool.
3, 6 – The majority of my home network communicates over Z-Wave through an Aoetec Z-Stick plugged into the NAS. Z-Wave help with keeping things local, plus they tend to look and feel like normal devices.
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Light Switches: All light switches are wired up with GE Smart Dimmer Z-Wave Switches. The dimmer switches are a little more flexible than standard switches and can be customized through the Z-Wave parameters to either not dim or dim slower/faster. Make sure to get the newer "Plus" versions of them as they will report state changes faster.
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House Fan: The house fan is controlled using a GE Z-Wave Receptacle Outlet. Instant on / off capability and saved me the need to install a switch for it.
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Garage Door Sensors:
The door sensors are using Ecolink Z-Wave Sensors. I'm a little obsessive about if I left my garage door open so these help a lot, but can be a little flakey sometimes and report open. I need to fix their placement.The door sensors have been replaced with Z-Wave Garage Door Tilt Sensors which so far are more reliable. -
Doorbell: I'm using an Aoetec Dry Contact Sensor with a magnetic relay switch that's connected to my existing doorbell magnet. 10 minutes of effort and I hacked my old doorbell to fire an event when rung that I can tie into my automations.
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Energy Monitoring: I have a Aeotec Home Energy Meter connected to my main circuit breaker box. This allows me to monitor my home energy consumption and solar production.
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Landscaping: I'm using a few GE Z-Wave Plus Smart Outdoor Module plugs to control my outside landscape lighting and fountain. So far they have worked great in year round weather.
4, 5 – The remainder of the devices communicate over some form of HTTP/TCP/MQTT.
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Media Center: If you're in the market for a smart remote then the Logitech Harmony Hub is great. Plus, it can be controlled locally through Home Assistant over MQTT.
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IP Cameras: I have both Foscom and Amcrest cameras tied into my automations. Ringing my doorbell triggers an automation which will take a picture of you and send it to my phone.
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Thermostat: I'm using a Ecobee 3 Smart Thermostat which has occupancy and room sensors that I've tied into elsewhere.
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Voice Input: Various Amazon Echo Dot devices are connected into the system and are both able to control things and provide voice feedback.
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Weather:
Dark Sky is used for outside weather and tied into automations.I've since changed this over to use a local Ambient Weather System. -
Alarm: Abode is connected as my home security system. Each of the sensors is available for both the alarm and for automations.
7 – Plex is used to stream movies locally and as an OTA DVR.
Automations
The benefit of home automation is getting to automate repetitive or convenient things and make your life easier. Here's some of what I have my house configured to do:
Convenience
- Turn on lights if I come home after the sun has set
- Turn on a light scene for the morning and disable the alarm
- Turn on a light scene when we're watching a movie and the sun starts to go down
- Turn off all lights at night and arm the alarm
- Notify me if I left a garage door open
- Notify me if someone is at my front door
Security
- Turns on all lights and sends me pictures if the alarm is triggered
- Turns on the inside lights if the alarm is set to away and the sun goes down
- Remind me if I left the house and didn't arm the alarm
- Tells alexa to speak the status of my home alarm when it changes
Climate
- Disable the HVAC if the house fan is turned on
- Notify me if the AC is on, but outside is cooler than inside
Outside
- Run a scene for the landcape lights
- Toggle the fountain based on sun