I’m looking to build my very first Home Assistant setup from scratch. The goal is to get a feel for the ecosystem and learn the basics for when I move to a larger place where I’ll have more automation options and full control.
Since I live in an apartment, I cannot modify the exterior, otherwise for example automated blinds would have been nice. I want to focus purely on local temperature, humidity, and air quality tracking for now. I currently have zero smart home devices or hubs.
I'm a software engineer, so I'm more than fine with tinkering around a bit.
Layout (100m² Duplex Apartment)
Ground Floor (50m²): Open area (TV/seating/computer setup), toilet, bathroom, storage cupboard, and bedroom.
Top Floor (50m²): Dining area, entrance hall, and kitchen.
Note: There is a large open ceiling/void connecting both floors, meaning air and heat travel freely between them.
Server
I'm a bit on the fence between getting a HA green to quickly get going, or to get a second hand HP T630 (or another lightweight PC) and just configuring it myself.
Initial idea:
Air Quality Monitor:Airgradient ONE DIY kit placed on the ground floor in the main living/office area to track CO2, PM2.5, and TVOCs.
Since you're a software engineer, I'd say get a mini PC. More resources that will allow more tinkering. Do you want to use HAOS with apps (add-ons)? I personally (and I'm an E&E/software engineer myself) run HA Container, because I then still have access to the host OS.
Be very careful with AQ sensors: the best ones are expensive and split responsibilities. There are some excellent posts here on the topic. I've always wanted some, but I don't have personal experience with this. I've looked at Airgradient before and it seems to be of decent quality.
I was thinking of just running it as a dedicated device and not containerizing it to save on overhead, and the extra resources is indeed the reason I am considering a mini pc.
I would also recommend a PC, as it has RAM and CPU upgrade possibilities that a Raspberry Pi lacks. Home Assistant is a surprisingly light application ... so it doesn't need to be new or particularly powerful.
I bought a cheap used Optiplex SFF PC, added a 16GB RAM stick, installed Proxmox and HAOS as a VM ... then couldn't think of a use case for any other VM A disk is shared via samba from the Proxmox Host OS.
However video processing (eg Frigate security cameras) and artificial intelligence can be pretty heavy applications. HA Voice Assist has several options - but at the extreme end you can host an AI on your home PC which will require a GPU. If you think you might go this direction in the foreseeable future, you might consider a full-size PC which can contain a video card.
I am also renting so started with a few smart power points, couple of wi-fi light bulbs, an after-market Blind motor, and a few temperature sensors. I learnt several lessons:
I started with Wi-Fi devices since they are cheap and easily available ... but now prefer Zigbee for new purchases.
smart light bulbs don't work if someone turned the switch off at the wall. Consider automating the switch to get manual as well as automated operation - but that assumes you are prepared to open the wall switches.
I don't understand why manufacturers think a phone app is the best way to turn your light on (or whatever their device is). Get phone out, log in, decide which app, start it and wait for it to initialise, then select the device and press the button ... easier to stand up, walk to the switch and turn it on !
Automations are the way to go, but there are some things which don't lend themselves to automation - and that's where I found Voice Assistant really convenient.
HA Voice Assist and the Voice PE device are pretty good - but not up to the standard of Amazon/Google/Apple with their deep pockets. How important is your privacy ?
Don't forget anyone else that lives in the house - the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) can make or break your smart home. Where possible allow both manual and automated operation - particularly useful for those inevitable (but hopefully infrequent) times when the automation doesn't work.
Each smart home is different, so it's a journey to discover what will make your life better/easier.
I live alone, so luckily no WAF nor what happens if something happens to me factor to consider (although I'll still document everything).
And indeed, each journey will be different. I was just looking for people that might have used/looked into the devices I mentioned or started with the same requirements and which devices they used.
A disk is shared via samba from the Proxmox Host OS.
so started with a few smart power points, couple of wi-fi light bulbs, an after-market Blind motor, and a few temperature sensors. I learnt several lessons: