New to Home Assistant. Advice Desperately Needed

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I am currently in the process of closing on a new home build and am fairly new to the home automation scene. I have, however, logged many hours of research into platforms, products, and new home build suggestions for future-proofing. I don’t have any experience with HA or writing code, but I’ve come to the conclusion that HA appears to be the way to go. I am willing to learn, am an early-adopter tech enthusiast at heart, and I am simply looking for some thoughtful input/guidance/critique on the direction and setup I am looking to achieve. Furthermore, I have met with 1 local home automation company here in Cape Coral, FL and plan to meet with another next week as I am trying to compare and price out structured wiring and full home automation solutions. I’d appreciate any feedback from the community as I will be investing a lot of time and money in the near future. Below you will find a list of the products that I am (for the most part) set on purchasing as well as a list of needs that I believe I still need to find the right products to fulfill.

To give you an idea of what I am trying to accomplish, see below:

Whole Home Automation controlled from Home Assistant software via Raspberry Pi 3 (purchased, not setup yet)

Audio distributed to whole home audio through receiver and Audio / Photos accessible on Amazon FireSticks via Synology NAS (2 Bay) – 1 drive for Audio/Photo, 2nd drive for Backup

Wiring to tv’s to accommodate cable or satellite (though I don’t use any now – future proof)

Multi-Room, Individual, and Whole Home Audio Zone capabilities

Security camera system will operate and store footage on it’s own drive (see camera system I want to use)

IFTTT Trigger Automations – I will be setting these up myself

As LITTLE reliance on Cloud-Based systems and WIFI as possible. Hard wire as much as possible for reliability. Zero subscription based products at all.

PRODUCTS I’M NEARLY SOLD ON BUYING:
INDOOR & OUTDOOR CAMERA SYSTEM
Amcrest ProHD 1080P 8CH Video Security System - Eight 2.1-Megapixel (1920TVL) Outdoor IP67 Bullet & Dome Cameras, 2TB HDD, Night Vision, Remote Smartphone Access, Black Mid (AMDV10808-4B4D-B) (Includes 4 Bullet Style, 4 Dome Style) $579.99
Amcrest 4-Pack 150 Feet Pre-Made All-in-One Siamese BNC Video and Power CCTV Security Camera Cable with Two Female Connectors for 960H & HD-CVI Camera and DVR (SCABLEHD150B-4pack) $44.99 (if needed)

SMART HOME PRODUCTS:
Nest Protect Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm, Wired (2nd Gen) $118.99
Chamberlain MYQ-G0201 MyQ-Garage Door $99.00
Chamberlain MyQ Second Door Sensor MYQ-G0202 $34.98
Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller, WiFi, 8 Zone 2nd Gen $181.84
SkyBell HD Silver WiFi Video Doorbell $230.00
ecobee3 Thermostat with Sensor, Wi-Fi, 2nd Generation $199 (needs C WIRE)
ecobee Room Sensor 2 Pack with Stands $78.98
Echo Dot (2nd Generation) 4 total (have 2 already) - $179.96
Amazon Echo - $99.99
Schlage Connect BE469NX CAM 619 Touchscreen Deadbolt $179.17
Keen Home Smart Vent - 4"x10" (3 total) $89.99 x 3 - $269.97 total
Logitech Harmony Elite Remote Control, Hub & App $249.95

STRUCTURED WIRING & WIFI / NETWORKING
Linksys 16-Port Business Desktop Gigabit PoE+ Switch (LGS116P) $152.00 (open to suggestion)
Cisco SG300-10 10-port Gigabit Managed Switch (SRW2008-K9-NA) $124.97 (open to suggestion)
Synology DiskStation 2-bay 3.5-Inches NAS server 1.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 1xGigabit $149.99
WD Red 2TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch $84.99
WD Red 1TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch $62.99

LIGHTING:
Phillips Hue Gen 3 Bulbs (no sure how many needed, have 1 hub and 4 bulbs currently)
Trey Ceiling Smart Lighting (open to suggestions)

ALARM:
Abode Home Security Starter Kit (with 16 Extra Door/Window Sensors) $763.00 (open to suggestions)

TABLETS & CRADLES:
Fire 7 Tablet with Alexa, 7" Display, 8 GB (6 Total) $49.99 - $299.94 TOTAL (open to suggestions)

PRODUCTS I’M STILL MISSING:
Whole Home Audio Amps, Speakers, Subs, IR Emitters (7 bedroom ceiling speakers, 2 outdoor lanai speakers, 5 great room 5.1 surround speakers with 2 ceiling, 2 in-wall mids, 1 sub)
Motion Sensors
Wall mounted tablet cases with tablets wired for power, always on display
Cat6 & Coax Cabling
Wireless Access Points
Structured Wiring Cabinet
Component Rack
Power Conditioner?
Smart Tech powered separately with backup power
Wall Dimmers?

SUGGESTED ELECTRICAL/WIRING LIST:
Neutral Wires to all junction boxes

Install all deep junction boxes

Wire extra junciton boxes for future

Install conduits everywhere

Terminate conduits into junction boxes

Install conduit at eye level in each room to accommodate a touch panel

Wiring Closet - build a centrally located closet for storing patch panels, distribuiton panels, and media servers

Run speaker wire to ceilings and for in-wall speakers for whole home audio

Run Cat6 or Cat7 everywhere, at least 2 lines per location.

Install panels with hdmi, audio ports, and ethernet where tvs will be

Seperate breaker for smart home/electronics with backup battery

I apologize for the lengthy post and I’d greatly appreciate the feedback on the products I’m looking at as well as those that I haven’t determined to be the best solution for my needs.

I’m beyond excited to not only build the home of my dreams, but to build a smart home of the future. I look forward to some replies!

Thanks!

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I think you’re on the right track. I have a very similar setup to what you have/buying. For whole home audio, I absolutely love my Sonos! I find they work the best for integrating with HA and Alexa (voice control coming soon). I also find they work perfect with my TVs. If I’m playing music and then want to watch TV they automatically disconnect from the group and play sound from the TV unlike my previous setup. And of course the audio is very good.

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Have you considered running HA on your Synology NAS? The Pi works well for me, but I would imagine the Synology is much more solid hardware.

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Thanks for the feedback. I’ve looked into Sonos and I believe it’s probably the best product on the market. However, for the amount of rooms I will be setting up and the amps I’ll need it would be fairly expensive. I’m really trying to find a lower cost solution at this point. Any other suggestions?

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Yea, I’m still not sold one way or another on using the Pi or the NAS for installing HA. I’ve heard pros and cons for both setups, though I will be testing it out on both prior to my home build.

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NETWORK
Get ubiquiti UNIFI
Linksys and most others well known consumer brands have HUGE security flaws

GARAGE
look at a diy solution like Arduino style ESP8266 with relay.
Myq is nice but relies on Internet and third party(liftmaster or whoever)
Imagine having power but internet down and doors won’t open (like after hurricane)

STRUCTURED WIRING
don’t go overboard. Most thing can use cat6 these days or wifi but hardwire is good to.
This was useful back in days of HDMI and Audio matrix in central location sending AV to locations but now No.
get a PLEX SERVER. Chromecast or Smart TV can do the rest
You can run (2) coax and (4)cat5e or cat 6 to every location but in the days of wifi this is starting to be a waste and gets unused if you don’t have an AV matrix (which I no longer recommend unless you need synched video playing to multiple locations)

AUDIO
Get a ONKYO TX-NRxxx amp.
This is 2 zone and will do a nice surround in a room
Look at ATLAS SOUND rack mountable amps for patios,bedrooms and such (2ch amp can run 2rooms mono…anything else is likely overkill unless you just like spending cash)
Chromecast audio can do rest and is much better then Bluetooth solutions

VIDEO
Chromecast, PLEX
Attic antenna for local channel. You don’t need this connected everywhere in house but it has use…Plex server accept antenna input so you can stream local station

LIGHTING
GE ZWAVE switches and dimmers (these are great)
I have wifi solution but GE is best if you can use them
Again, don’t get products that relies on Internet and connection to 3rd party to do need function like turn on lights

AC/HEAT
TRANE zwave thermostat
Nest and such are ok but I like standard looking thermostat that works well. Just preference for me

SYNOLOGY
Build your own
OpenNAS, FREENAS or OpenMediaVault or open source os for NAS
I prefer Debian or Ubuntu server .
Synology and others don’t have horsepower for me
I sold my $1200 Synology and bought a used $200 Supermicro and OH MY!! Synology chocked transcoding Plex to(2) TV. My supermicro transcode (5) streams while running other CPU intense apps(motioneye ffmpeg conversion of multiple camera) without blinking. Anyway, build a server or buy something with an Intel i7 or similar. Last I Looked Synology and most of the consumer NAS use mobile processors(arm). Intel NUC is expensive and wrong chassis for multiple drive.

ALARM
They are all nice.
Many just run normal wired alarm motions and sensors directly to RasPi and use notifications. Honestly this is same thing your alarm company does (alarm notify them, they call you then call police…you can do that and better since you can look at cameras and see)

CAMERA
Synology actually has nice camera software.
I prefer MotionEye.
Again, this is another place to watch for 3rd party apps and software.
Wansview is amazing for wireless camera. Anything POE and RTSP capable for wired cam.
I don’t recommend ubiquiti cam since IR nightvision was poor for me.(this would have been OK but cost was 4 time what I currently use)

NOTE
Most consumer product has 3yr lifespan. For this reason if you buy product that use app or depend on vendor server make sure your OK with replacing it in 3yr or have to workaround poorly supported feature that may break.
For example…chromecast is nice but Google may decide to pack up and close shop…then what. This is OK as concept is popular and adopted by many vendor or is easy to implement in opensource. They are $30 so no big deal
Example2: you buy door lock from company X and they pack up and close. Your whole, “I can open my door from anywhere” idea is shot if the app stop working or the poorly supported software has some vulnerability. Same with the doorbell.
This is to say, keep long term support in mind when choosing product. I like atlas amp because even after 10yr an amp is an amp and they work. Long ago I had connected cd changer then upgrade to Bluetooth player and now Chromecast. Some system should be treated like plumbing and never change. Other like paint or curtain(Chromecast or tv) and Change with time.

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Definitely some great information that I was looking for. I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I’ll be looking into all of your suggestions!

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I’d go all zwave plus in a new install.

Homeseer switches as we have the multi tap stuff now working for us. Use dimmers versus switches where it makes sense

NUC to run Ha, but a rpi3 works when starting out

Some will slam ecolink but their stuff works far better then some other more expensive brands. For doors and motion they are great and cheap.

Avoid the chamberlain garage stuff as it’s cloud and go with something like a Aeotec garage opener setup.

I prefer zwave switch gear over smart bulbs but the later is an option for stuff you never would turn on manually. The color ones are cool for outdoor porch for various holiday fun.

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One thing that some of us do is add in Node-Red on our HA boxes (mine lives on the Raspberry Pi3, along with HA). This allows you to build custom interfaces and functions that HA doesn’t have yet.

Example: I have a home-grown MQTT interface that controls my Squeezebox (off/on/select stream). Basically, it’s a wrapper around the squeezy script. The interface is cheesy but it uses the same slide switches as used for “normal” individual lights. I disliked that turning the Squeezebox off required that I slide the switch to “on”, so a wrote a function in Node-Red so that the “off” switch returns to the off position a second after I select it. It’s also somewhat of a “radio” switch in that turning on any one of the streams turns off the previously active stream.

My problem: I’ve figured out how to send the “currently playing” song over MQTT. Now I need to figure out how to display it in HA. I’m thinking that it’d require a custom state card.

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Forgot: Node-Red is free. It adds no noticeable load to the Raspberry Pi and should also run on the Synology (needs validation).

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I’ll definitely have a look at Node-Red. Thanks for the tip!

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Switches and door/window/motion sensors are something I haven’t dug into much yet so many thanks for the suggestions here. I’ll also have a look at the Aeotec setup as I obviously want to stay away from cloud dependent systems. Thanks for the input!

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For door sensors i can recomend sensative strips, looks very nice (with other words, you dont see them).

Motion sensor i would go with Aeotec, you can use Micro USB to power them, works super good.

For alarm I use the MQTT alarm in HA, works good but needs alot of config. I have it working except for pictures.

Cameras I use Foscam cause it works so good with HA. But I would love some kind of Privacy sensor on them.
Outdoor I have Hikvision.

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No matter how you start out, be prepared to make an about face and go a different direction. Not every suggestion or product works well in every situation. Go slowly. Don’t make all your purchases at once. Try one and if it works as you need it to, get more. If it doesn’t, try something else.
Consider how much time you will have available. A DIY solution may be cool but if your available time dries up, you may end up with a handful of components and wire but no solution.

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@zarthan I couldn’t agree more with this approach. There are some things that makes sense on a new home to do right away such as in wall/ceiling speakers, cabling etc. But other solutions may seem great on paper but in my experience don’t work as well as you’d like or miss on important points you thought only later of. And to research and set it up right, you will find yourself needing a lot of time. Not to mention, Home Automation is a huge drain on your pocket book.

The other thing to consider is, dropping a bunch of money on products all at once will inevitably mean you’re buying some products that are on the verge of a refresh.

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I was originally going to purchase everything at once but I’ll be reconsidering that idea now.

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The sensitive strips look nice. Says they have a built in battery though. Any idea if the battery is replaceable or does the entire strip have to be replaced after the 10 year shelf life?

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Yes thats correct, you need to change the unit after 10 yrs.
For me thats okey, after 10 yrs i might as well buy a new one. The upside is that i dont need to change batteries for the next 10 yrs

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You are as likely to move in 10 years if national averages hold.

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In terms of lighting, I’ve been using smart bulbs for a few years but am moving away from them (mostly).

Instead, I’m putting in normal LED dimmable bulbs, and installing a zwave dimmer control behind the normal light switch. This ticks the box in terms of automation, but also works like any normal light switch; so from a usability perspective, it’s 100% better. Especially when I have friends staying - they don’t need a smart phone app to control the lights in their bedroom. They just use the wall switch as normal.

My zwave hub is a VeraEdge, and the dimmer is a Fibaro Z-Wave Plus In-Wall. They do switches and dimmers. The wall switch is a normal Australian Clipsal press button. This turns on/off and press & hold to dim & brighten. You can also do it all from HASS of course.

So in one example for me, a single switch controls 6 downlights - making it cheaper (or about the same) and six smart bulbs. I am also installing more around the house as I can afford.

JP