I’ve installed Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 2 using the All In One Installer. (Thanks to BRUH Automation).
Here is what I have…
1 Google Home, 1 Amazon Echo, 3 Echo Dots, a couple of Raspberry Pi’s, a couple of PCs, laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
Multiple Chromecast Video, Chromecast Audio, and Roku devices. No Fire TV.
Smart TV - Connected with Chromecast Video and Roku.
Home Theater - Onkyo AVR with WiFi and Bluetooth. Connected with Chromecast Video and Roku.
Stereo - Vintage Sony setup with no WiFi and/or Bluetooth, but connected with Chromecast Audio. Vintage Sansui setup with no WiFi and/or Bluetooth, but connected with Chromecast Audio. Multiple docks, boomboxes, computer speakers, and Bluetooth speakers, but rarely used for critical music listening… in other words I’d need Home/Voice Automation for the vintage amps that are connected with Chromecast Audio.
NAS - Synology and OMV for video. MinimServer for audio.
Video Playback - PotPlayer + madVR with HTPC. Kodi on Windows Intel NUC. Plex on OMV via Chromecast Video for the family.
Audio Playback - BubbleUPnP via Chromecast Audio. Lots of Radio apps like iHeart, TuneIn, etc. via Chromecast Audio.
My goal -
Turn on/off lights (dim them, change color) and fans with voice.
Play audio and video from my NASes with voice. Start apps like Netflix, iHeart, etc. Specific movies, and radio stations… like play 80s hits or martial arts movies.
Turn on/off TV and Home Theater with voice.
Now for the questions… this is based on my limited understanding and noob status.
Do I need another home hub? Or is Home Assistant going to take care of everything?
I’ve decided on Philips Hue lights. Do I need Philips Hue bridge or just the lights? Or any other lights that will work with Home Assistant?
What do I need to voice control my fans and AC?
How to play my media files (audio and video) with voice commands from Google Home and Alexa? I understand Google Home does it easy when casting to Chromecast devices, but I’ve only 1 Google Home and multiple Alexa devices. Also, I need to cast local content from my NAS, as that’s the mainstay of my media consumption, especially music and movies.
Sorry for the delay in answering. Can HomeAssistant (HA) do everything for you, yes and no. Don’t you hate those answers. It depends on how you configure it. There is a HUE emulation feature in HA that I believe eliminates the need for the HUE hub, but I’m not 100% sure about that. I abandoned the HUE lights early on, because my family kept turning them off at the wall switch. Once they did that, the Hue lights became really dumb.
Let me give you a little breakdown on how I understand home automation at this time. Each device can be communicated with via one or more of three primary protocols (z-wave, zigbee, Wifi). Each has it’s own pros and cons so I won’t go into that here. The thing is that each of them needs some type of hub or controller. In the case of zwave or zigbee, these are typically things like wink, or the hue hub, or lightify. For wifi, there are some solutions out there that provide some limited home automated services, but from what I’ve seen they are mostly just controlled from your phone. So regardless of which way you go you will have some type of hub. One of the things HA can do is act as a z-wave, wifi (and I think zigbee) hub. Zwave and Zigbee require a addon usb device (transmitter/receiver) to join the z-wave or zigbee network.
So basically you have devices and some type of hub.
Next you have automations. HA provides an infinitely expandable platform for automation. If you are a programmer type, there is an addon for HA called AppDaemon that allows you to code your own automations. If you aren’t a programmer, you use YAML. (Personally I hate YAML, but there are many people that love it and that are experts with it on this forum).
So depending on the type of equipment you have and how “smart” it is, HA can definitely give you a way to controll it.
As for #4, I haven’t gotten into music automation yet, but there are others that have and can probably give you an answer there.
I hope I have helped some with this answer. Others should feel free to jump in.
Google Home up and running, works great with all Chromecast devices.
Alexa wired to boomboxes and docks, works great for all things music related, primarily using Spotify as well as iHeart and Pandora.
Goal #1. Installed multiple Sonoff switches and works great with both lights and fans. However, A BIG ISSUE is they frequently go offline and don’t respond to voice commands. I like Sonoff for what they are doing and the VFM factor, but not exactly a huge fan when the devices don’t always work. I wouldn’t recommend Sonoff right now to anyone. Also, using Philips Hue bulbs as well as motion sensor LEDs, will post a review once they are run in for a while. Also, starting on TP-Link Smart Switches. Still looking for a viable motion sensor solution for the fans. But all said and done, goal #1 seems good to go right now even with the patchy Sonoff service.
Goal #2. Installed Plex Media Server. It seemingly works when selecting the server or the renderer with Alexa voice control, but really does not work. Never got it to play more than a couple of songs at a time. Always, comes back to some issues with Plex. Google Home does a better job with casting and Netflix, but again a no go when it comes to reading files off the NAS. Goal #2 not achieved.
Goal #3. Turn on/off TV and Home Theater with voice. Going to give it a go with the likes of TP-Link Smart Switches. Also, going to add Logitech Harmony to the mix. Goal #3 unrealized too.
@ALEARY I would recommend AGAINST controlling power to electronic devices using smart switches. They may not last well switching the power on and off.
Assuming that your older devices use IR for remotes, trigger them with things like the Harmony Hub, or Broadlink device or ??? Save your switches for lamps and the like.
Ok thanks. Point noted. Anyways I wasn’t planning on using them switches on the PC, NAS, etc… more for the TV (which I’ve always operated via the mains and the remote and not the button on the TV - not even for old CRT TVs). The AVRs too are always on and plugged into the mains, just using the remotes to turn them on/off.
I’ll look into Harmony Hub… haven’t used a Logitech remote/product in a long time.
Is there anything else out there to voice control (at least turn on/off) the likes of a PC, amps, receivers, etc.
I’ve been meaning to read up on IFTTT for the same… hopefully this weekend.
What I’ve been doing is turning off via the remote and then turning off at the mains, and the reverse for turning the TV on.
I’m thinking I’ll do the same with voice control i.e. turn on the mains with voice control and then turn on via remote (at least till that too is incorporated into the GH/Alexa ecosystem). Or else use an app with a smartphone that has IR.
My apologies, if I got the point across wrong i.e. I was simply shutting down the mains or the main plug without using the remote. Wouldn’t do that.
The amount of power consumed by a TV in standby mode is negligible amounting to perhaps pennies a year. A Killawat meter on my 60 inch TV shows .2 watts which in my neck of the woods would cost about .25 cents per year.
It is your device so you do what you think is right for you. For my money, I will go with the argument that thermal and electrical shock to power supplies and other components will shorten their lives. These devices are designed to go off to standby mode.
Also, the power consumed by the smart switch will likely be more than the TV in standby mode. Your choice.
Re - Sonoff - did you flash them with another firmware? Or are you using them as they came with the Sonoff e-welink app? I don’t use them extensively but I flashed mine with Tasmota and haven’t noticed them dropping off line.
@monkey_of_hill - No, did not flash them. Just used out of the box.
Any guides to flashing and also a list of equipment I’ll need (if any)?
No experience in DIY or electronics/electrical… but I’d be willing to give it a go.
Also, does this Tasmota f/w make the Sonoffs work offline i.e. in local LAN mode? If that’s a yes then I’d certainly be willing to give flashing a try.
@ALEARY - I use the ESPURNA firmware because i had a problem compiling the TASMOTA. This firmware is very stable, actively maintained and have great features like support for Domoticz, Home Assistant, InfluxDB, Alexa, Google Home, MQTT, multiple AP, STA mode, OTA… You can read all in the first link.
To flash the firmware you just need a computer with the Arduino IDE installed, a Arduino UNO (or a FTDI with 3v3 support) and the files to compile and flash. You also need solder iron and header pins to solder four pins on the board. It’s not difficult to do, you should have no problems doing that.
Like TASMOTA, ESPURNA works with wifi and don’t need an internet connection. You only need an internet connection if you expose Home Assistant to the outside world (be very careful with that!).