Compute - Hardware Selection

Hi all,

I’m looking to put together a low(ish) energy use solution to run home assistant.

I know there have been long discussion browsing through the forums with some (heated?) discussions on which is best, so I am anxious not to repeat that here, but also don’t want to spend my hard-earned cash on something sub-par.

Is the mini PC (trying to avoid the calling it an intel NUC) really a better option than the low energy Pi?

The mini PC I saw was this:

TRIGKEY AMD Mini PC

Did seem quite good for the price currently, but wanted to check it would handle the home assistant software ok (from those who are already using it)

I don’t have a lot of devices to connect (<25 currently but it is increasing)

So over to you experts is the Pi good enough or spend a little extra on something like the above?

TIA

Hi Chris, welcome to the forum!

The system you are linking to is overkill for HA, so would it work: definitely!
If you see that there still are users with a RPi3 and quite a lot with a RPi4, it shows that these systems are still capable of running HA.

The number of devices it not an issue, even with a lot more.

Things to consider:

  • what else will you run on that same system
  • a RPi4 works with a SD-card, but of course slows it down compared to a SSD - which increased the price
  • consolidating services on your network with 1 system where you virtualize things can also be an option

If you have browsed the forum, you must have found a lot ideas and as you wrote: a lot of discussions.
Don’t forget that you don’t have to buy new; there a lot second hand systems that will do fine.

To give you more idea’s about low power systems:

  • laptops
  • thin clients
  • sff pc’s

Thanks for the reply & the welcome.

I’ll probably not run a lot more on this so might consider the Pi3/4 they’re in limited supply and the stocks are only just recovering hence the thought of the mini PC.

I’ll do a price comparison and see how they stack up

Thanks.

If power consumption is your primary concern, I think a Pi is hard to beat and honestly a Pi4 is plenty of power for most folks unless you’re doing something extra resource-intensive. I have one running HA in my travel trailer and it’s incredibly snappy and draws a couple watts (although I honestly have very little running on it).

I’m personally a big fan of using what you already have on-hand and think old laptops are fantastic for HA as well. Most folks have one or two old ones already lying around collecting dust and they’re all but certainly plenty powerful for HA (and while they’ll use more power than a Pi, they’re not energy hogs either). I’m currently using a 7ish? year-old laptop that is leaps and bounds more powerful than the Pi3 I upgraded from (which was fine, outside of insufficient memory for my needs). Cleaned up some junk in my office and upgraded my HA server all at the same time!

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, re-using hardware was a possibility and I do have a laptop floating but I’d be really concerned leaving that on 24/7 not the power usage but Dell laptops have a history of overheating (especially the model I have) and battery fire issues when constantly in use (they’re probably absolutely fine but it’s more a convincing my self that it’ll be fine - I’d rather stick to something that doesn’t have it’s own laptop battery).

Appreciate though the information on the R-Pi - if I can find one at a sensible price this seems logical to be the route I go - thanks.

Perfect, Laptops have the advantage that the build in battery actually works as a UPS :battery::zap::muscle:

You don’t need to be. Ether use it and it (obviously) will die one day - or - it can stay more years in your drawer before it ends as landfill :do_not_litter:

If you have your laptop plugged-in to AC it most likely provides a power path so the battery actually isn’t discharged at all in such a case and just sits there floating safe and sound. Just the moment your AC power drops the battery would kick in :ok_hand:

I just upgraded my 10-ish year old used “compute stick” pc with a 7 year old thin client and HA is on steroids :stars:

It’s just not worth to buy new hardware for a low demanding software like HA if you have any old hardware laying around (old laptops come with the extra bonus with integrated UPS) :muscle:

As @orange-assistant mentions, I don’t think this is really an issue. But you could probably just remove it if you’re that concerned? I did on mine because the battery was completely shot but actually ended up buying a replacement specifically to use it as a built-in UPS.

Have you considered a Home Assistant Green? I think they are available now.

I’ve had a Home Assistant Blue for a couple of years now with a pretty extensive config and it’s a champ.

Thanks for all the replies, really appreciate the time taken to reply.

Yes - I appreciate the theory, I’m sure it would be completely fine, but unfortunately I’ve read too many horror stories (I’ve been in IT many years 30+ and once the idea is in my head it’s hard to shake it sometimes)

you guys know the system so I’ll dig out the laptop and start investigating, certainly as a pilot to check it does everything for me.

Aye, as above really but I will try and get my head around the leaving a laptop on concerns

I would love this if only they had UK distributers, Denmark was all that is offered…or China