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