Looking for help progressing my Smart Home

Hardware
,
1

Hi, TLDR, I’m really only looking for some tips from the community on how to progress my Smart Home. No guide, just tips on what to buy.

Little bit of background:
I live on a little tropical island of the coast of Honduras where power and internet still go out sometimes.
Living here means we live with our windows and doors open, we don’t have central heating or thermostats, we do have AC’s though.
I can only order from Amazon US, most other US companies only accept US credit cards. There is no real local market to buy from.

At the moment i have:

4 Philips Hue bulbs
4 Philips Hue blooms
4 TP Link Kasa Smart Light switches
2 TP Link Kasa Smart plugs
2 Google Home assistants

Most of these devices are in the living room, the rest is spread out over kitchen, bedroom and outside

I run Home Assistant in Docker and everything can also be controlled by Google Home Assistant.
Docker runs on an Intel NUC with as an OS Open Media Vault 5

Most of my automations revolve around turning lights on when i get home or adjusting lights when certain types of media play.

I’m happy with what i achieved so far, but i’m looking to expand. I’m just not sure how to proceed and i’m looking for some ideas from the community.

These were my thoughts so far.

  1. Get an outdoor camera so lights will come one easier when i get home. I’m using presence detection via the HA Android app and the NETGEAR integration, but that’ still hit or miss.
    sometimes lights come on as soon as i get to the property, other times they only come on when i’m on top of the stairs trying to open the door.
    The camera would also give me something extra to play with and creates some sort of “security” For this i was looking at the Wyze3 camera.

  2. Get some more TP Link Kasa switches so lights can get smarter in my house.

  3. Get some motion detectors for in the house to make automations smarter. I was looking at the Philips motion detectors since i already have the bridge and they ae only a
    few $ more than most other motion sensors, but obviously i’m open to suggestions on other brands that would work great too

  4. Get a Sensibo so i can make my ComfortStar AC smarter. Again not stuck on the Sensibo if there are better/cheaper options.

Door/Window sensors don’t make much sense for me, since the first thing i do in the morning is open the front door to get more resh air in and
windows never shut unless really bad weather comes. So those types of sensors don’t make much sense to me.

I have a little bit of a budget to buy some more gadgets, let’s say around $250. What would you guys suggest i get to move along in my Smart Home adventure?
I’m not very technical inclined, whit this i mean i’m not planning on buying extra devices that i need to start flashing firmware to make things work.
I’m not adverse to editing some yaml as long as it’s not super complex, i’m still learning :slight_smile:
I’m looking for devices that are easy to integrate with both HA and GA. A simple flash without extra devices or soldering i can handle :slight_smile:

Not sure how much response i will get to this post but what i’m trying to get is some advice on different devices to buy or maybe different brand for the ideas i already have.
I’m not trying to get a spoon fed manual on how to get a better smart home, just some ideas on how to spend my money most wisely.

Thanks in advance for reading and maybe some useful tips/recommendations

2

Some of the other typical sensors are

  • fire alarms
  • flood/leak detectors
  • weather stations
  • power consumption (can be combined with a smart plug and can f.ex. be usefull to tell if the dishwasher and the likes is finished)

Window sensors might not be usefull on your windows, but maybe other places, like doors on refrigerators and freezers, but be sure to get the ones that activate on both open and closure. Better as in the forum if you choose this, because many sites list them as having both features, but in fact its only the opening that activate a signal.

1 Like
3

I have both fibaro and HomeSeer water sensors. They are z-wave and batteries last 12-18 months. I have a fibaro water sensor tied to a reed switch to notify me when I get mail.

I use many door sensors on closets etc. They turn on and off the light when the door is opened. Especially handy for the pantry.

I think Shelly and Sonoff devices have a place in any automated home. I am a big fan of Shellies. Allows you to keep original switches and many products are UL listed. It has an integration built in for HA. I also control bathroom fans with shellies.

I have two z-wave shutoff vales. One controls the main water and one controls the irrigation (Western US). I control all watering from HA. Have interface where I can control start stop duration of each zone. Also can have up to 5 cycles when allowed to water (less runoff). I use Rain machine.

The garage doors are automated. One is on myQ and the other is mimolite. I will eventually change both to myQ.

I would go Shelly to control more lights. @ $18 apiece good bang for buck. I would also buy door sensors. Shelly is $24.00 Motion sensors are $40.00.

I also use ecobee thermostats. They work flawlessly. They are pricier at ~ $170.00

1 Like
4

Hi,

thanks for all the input so far.

Can you please tell me a bit more on which Shelly relay you use for controlling your bathroom fans and what functions they have?

I have a few fans with lights at home and they use and old style 2 dial switch. The top dial is for the lights so you can dim them, the bottom dial has 4 setting, OFF and 3 fan speeds.

I don’t really use the top dial anymore since i have 2 philips hue bulbs for the fan lights.

Is there a Shelly that could control both with the different speed functions, or would the Shelly relay only give me ON/OFF functionality for the fans?

I watched some Youtube videos about the Shelly relays and they look really interesting, but i’m still a bit confused about the functionality.

For all these door/window sensors to actually do much i will need to upgrade more of my lights/light switches for that i think i will stick with the TP Link Kasa ones. they are cheap at the moment on Amazon, cheper than a Shelly replay that would do the same, and i have some of them already, i know they integrate well and i’m comfortable with them.

I will look into getting some of the Shelly door/window sensors soon though, sadly enough they are not as cheap anymore, about $105 for 4 and then i still have to ship them to Honduras.

Any input on the Sensibo? Is it worth it so i can control my AC, or are there better/cheaper options for controlling your AC that integrate easy with HA and GA

Please keep the tips/ideas coming, i’ve really enjoyed looking all these products up today

5

I have 3 sensibos for 3 AC units.

Cons: it is cloud based

Pros: it just works, all the time (unless my internet is down)

1 Like
6

I use Shelly 2.5 as it allows me to control 2 switches. I only have 1 speed fan

Here is an article on shelly that explains how to wire a three speed fan.

https://www.shelly-support.eu/forum/index.php?thread/3018-help-controlling-ceiling-fan-with-shelly-2-5/

it’s the last post.

You can put a shelly 1 and a shelly 2.5 if you want speed control.

If you have TP LInk Kasa you should use them. You can buy any door sensor. I have Aoetech and homeseer. They are just a reed switch and wifi, zigbee or z-wave. Some are as low as $16.00 on Amazon.

Can’t comment on sensibo.

The TP Link Kasa single pole switches are only rated for 5 amps (600W) so be careful on how many lights draw on the switch. Not likely a problem if you use LED’s.

If you use Kodi or Vortexbox/Daphile you can control them. I use an IR blaster (Global Cache 100-12) to control all my AV. The database of IR devices is extensive.

Good Luck on your projects.

1 Like