Start from scratch: Z-Wave, Zigbee or/and HomeKit?

Hello,

I just reset my old Raspberry Pi 2B and installed HassIO. But my current smart home devices are so mixed up, I don’t know which direction I should go. Another thing is, that I think most smart home devices look really ugly. So aesthetics play an important role (need approval from my girlfriend as well). I don’t mind to write a bit of code to get automations to work, but really like the easy way to include devices into HomeKit. I am living in an apartment in Germany. It feels like Zigbee devices are widespread in Germany and cheaper than Z-Wave devices. But that’s just my opinion.

TL;DR scroll to bottom

My devices (so far) – a mix of everything:
Z-Wave:
Fibaro Wall-Plugs

Zigbee:
Philips Hue Hub
Philips Ambiance White Light Bulbs
Philips Dimmer Switch

HomeKit:
Eve Energy Wall-Plugs
Osram Smart+ LEDs

Other devices:
Fire TV Stick
Logitech Harmony Hub
old Denon AVR
dumb Smart TV
iPhone
Macbook
Spotify

My current setup:
HassIO installed on Raspberry Pi 2B.
I have a RazBerry Modul installed which is working just fine.
HomeKit devices are added to Apple’s Home App. I cannot link those to Home Assistant using the HomeKit controller support component, because the Wall Plugs use BTLE and the Osram Light Bulbs use Bluetooth. And I don’t have a bluetooth USB adapter on my Pi. I could create boolean input switches, but this doesn’t include them into Home Assistant as I want to (not possible to dim lights, etc.).


What I want to realize with Home Assistant:

1. Workplace:
As soon as I turn on my Macbook my wall plugs should turn on devices like my monitor, Macbook power plug, etc. If the sun is still down, turn on lights. If the sun sets, slowly dim lights and turn them off. If it is in the morning, start Spotify and play “Good Morning Playlist”. If the sun sets, turn on lights and so on. If I leave the room/my laptop turn everything off.

2. Living Room:
When the sun goes down, then turn on lights. If I want to watch Netflix, I push a button on my Harmony Remote, which turns on power plugs for my media centre. Then it starts my AVR + TV + Amazon Fire TV. The Fire TV changes to Netflix. If I start a movie, then dim lights. If I stop a movie, then turn lights back on.

3. Later:

  • Turn on/off heating based on presence detection.
  • Add thermostats.
  • Add motion sensors to turn on/off lights.
  • Multiroom audio

What I don’t want/need:

  • A hub for every device (one hub [Raspberry Pi] should be enough)
  • Use my mobile phone to turn on switches or devices.
  • Light bulbs which can change color. Changes in temperatures from cold to warm white are enough.
  • Voice control.

The look:
I really like the look of the Eve Energy and Xiaomi devices for example.


It shouldn’t be a problem to achieve the automations I want, using Home Assistant. I don’t want advices on how to get those done.

TL;DR
What I am looking for is which way I should go. Should I use

  1. HomeKit
  2. Z-Wave + Zigbee
  3. A combination of all three

And then

  1. Buy an Apple TV – sell my FireTV stick, use Apple TV to watch movies, etc. and use it as Home Automation Hub
  2. Buy a Conbee USB stick – to get access to more Zigbee devices (Xiaomi etc.) and sell my Philips Hue Hub
  3. Buy a HUSBZB-1 USB Hub – for Z-Wave and Zigbee support and sell my RaZberry module and Philips Hue Hub

Maybe someone can give me an advice or had similar decisions to make and tell me which way he/she went.

Thank you in advance.

Well lights, sensors and remotes work well with Conbee. Im not too sure about thermostats

Is it possible to use Conbee stick and RaZberry module at the same time? If it is possible, will there be any interferences in the signal?

My Z-Wave module is using usb_path: /dev/ttyAMA0 Conbee is a USB-stick so it should be running on /dev/ttyUSB0 right?

Yes that is fine. I have conbee and zstick on the same machine

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Thanks for your replies.

Just got my Conbee stick. As you said it is working just fine with my RaZberry module. I am using Raspberry Pi 2 with HassIO. Thanks to the deCONZ add-on, integrating it into Home Assistant was really easy. I already added some of my Philips light bulbs and sold my Philips Hue bridge. I will go the Zigbee route now and maybe discard Z-Wave as well later.

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