I’ve been searching for quite some time to find a complete security setup that is going to meet some self-set requirements. I’m a software developer by trade and so I’m not afraid of getting dug in for the integrations/custom UI’s.
There is currently no alarm system installed, so I’ll be looking for door/window sensors, indoor motion sensors for hallways/entries and an outdoor siren. I’m reluctant to install something completely DIY that is completely dependent on HA, so would prefer a branded setup that can include the above but also integrates well with HA. The problem I’ve had so far is that the branded setups don’t seem to have a level of integration I would like, in terms of completely custom zoning (being able to disable a certain window/door sensor whilst arming the rest without being limited to a handful of profiles such as Home, Away, Night/Custom). If the above is asking too much, then the next best thing would probably be an outdoor siren/indoor motion sensor alarm kit that I could also trigger using HA from other 3rd party window/door sensors that I can add/remove individually from a HA setup.
We’re having Hive installed this week which I’m hoping should be an easy integration once I’ve got the NUC with HA installed.
We’re also planning on having smart bulbs throughout to setup some auto-lighting for dawn/dusk and entering/leaving the house which I’m sure will also be easy to configure.
The ideal would be some form of hardware alarm panel, with an android tablet next to it on the wall with a HA dashboard to be able to run all of the custom switches for everything else.
Any past experiences, or recommended hardware would be very much appreciated!
By “branded”, I assume you mean one of the boutique consumer systems like “Simply Safe” that are often advertised.
However, sounds like you need to look to a traditional alarm panel. I only have installer experience with the Honeywell (Ademco) Vista 15 and 20 (P) so I can only comment on that.
Off the top of my head, it does what you want. And integration to HA is accomplished via AlarmDecoder.
You can configure various zone types for various sensors which have different behaviors based on how the system is armed. Alarm panels such as this also support a surprising amount of automation via relay boards which most installers don’t have a clue about.
Let a properly supported, certified and wired alarm panel take care of the security, and use its sensors to feed into HA for most advanced less critical stuff.
Google up the manual for the Vista 20P to get an idea of the amount of configurable options.
There is one thing that I would strongly recommend doing differently than your plans above…
Don’t buy smart bulbs.
Bulbs are impossible to easily control without using voice or getting the phone app out. that is a huge PITA especially for guests who won’t be comfortable with that. most people expect switches to control lights.
If your automations are great at controlling bulbs exactly as you would by using switches then you might get by but lighting is so organic and fluid that it will be very hard to automate all aspects of lighting.
There are some areas I use smart bulbs but they are in spots that are easy to automate (deck lights on at dusk and off at a certain time unless the back door is open, stove vent hood light that stays on most of the time, table lamp that is controlled by a nearby pushbutton, etc). I think I have 6 bulbs total that are active in my system. I have 4 or 5 more that I bought early on thinking I would use them until I realized their limitations and now I have no use for them so far.
I suggest instead to buy smart switches to control dumb bulbs or at the very least buy smart switches to control smart bulbs without wiring the bulbs to the switch. What I mean is to keep the bulbs powered on all the time and just use the signals generated by the switches to control the lights wirelessly. Nothing is dumber than a smart bulb that has no power going to it.
If you keep the bulbs powered you can control them by the wireless switch but also control the brightness and color thru HA independently.
Can I ask what you’ve found difficult with smart bulbs? I’ve used them in my current home, I haven’t messed too much with the automation of them other than LIFX’s own dawn/dusk scenes. So far I’ve mainly found then useful to be able to dim a room without installing dimmer switches.
I have Google Home/mini’s in each room that have smart bulbs, so if I’m looking to set the light to anything other than default I will use voice commands. If I’m not in the room, I’ll use the LIFX app. If someone comes to the house and I don’t think they’ll know how to use the Google Home to control the lights then I don’t even mention that they are smart bulbs, at which point they use the completely standard light switches on the walls. That’s the only reason for my question on what troubles you ran into, simply because mine seem to function fine as a standard bulb if you’re not able to use the smart functionality.
Edit: I should have mentioned that if I have previously turned the bulb off in a “smart” way, meaning the switch it still on, I’ve found it takes the majority of people very little time to try switching it off and back on again which turns the light back on to it’s default setting.
I don’t want to have to use voice commands all the time to operate the bulbs as it’s intrusive to others in the house at times. And it gets annoying to myself if I need to yell across the room to have Alexa turn on a light bulb.
I also don’t want to have to find/pull out my phone then have to open an app, scroll to the light in the app then operate it.
and lastly I definitely don’t want the switches to be turned off by turning power to the bulbs off since then they become as dumb as any other bulb.
And possibly even more dumb if the user resets the bulb to default by mis-using the switch as you noted. then you need to go thru the whole inclusion/set-up procedure again to get the bulb functioning.
I would much rather use smart switches with dumb bulbs and forego the dimming/color changing features or in places I need those features use smart switches with smart bulbs but leave them physically/electrically disconnected from each other so the bulbs are always powered but can still be used from a wall switch/smart button if needed and you never run the risk of the bulb becoming dumb or dumber.
Or as said, I use bulbs in places where it’s easy to anticipate the most likely usage and can be functionally automated and no switch is needed at all or rarely.
But of course this is all personal opinion. you sound like you are fine with using things the way they are.
I can definitely see your point, something I’ll definitely take into consideration before I start purchasing any lighting kits. Thanks for the insight!
