Wall-mounted dashboard (or not)

Hardware
1

Hello. I’m new to Home Assistant. I got it up and running a couple of weeks ago. I’m now considering installing a wall-mounted panel. They can certainly look great, but the more I look into the technicality of it, the more I question its utility.

From my readings, the common challenges in installing a wall-mounted panel are: power supply, brackets/mould and aesthetics. And I start to wonder what benefits it brings compared to a tablet that I can operate from the comfort of my sofa.

Whether you have a wall mounted panel or not, could you please share your experience? If you have one, what do you like about it? What are the main use cases? Do you (still) find it useful? If you don’t have one, do you whish you had one?

Thanks in advance.

2

Honestly, I see no need for a wall board. The idea of automation is that its transparent. The only thing I use a display for is to see my front door bell when it rings.

3

When my journey with HA began a year ago, the panel was on my list. A year later I have a few dashboards on my smartphone (mobile app) and number of automation, means in 90% of cases HA does the decision automatically. The 10% is related to smart things like to use the app for switches, covers …
The panel is no longer on my list.

4

That is the same for me. Unless I actually need a visual (cameras?), I don’t see a need for a wall mounted dashboard. They are pretty and can impress your friends though. :thinking:

5

We do have a wall tablet at a central place in the house.

It is always on screensaver, displaying a clock.

When someone walks in front of it, it jumps on with our informative screen of HA.

What do we use it for?

Quick check the weather info, so we know, what clothes to take on.
Quick check of everyone’s calendar, so we know, who is where today.
We can see in one fast view, where all family members are right now.
We can see, if there is delay on the highway to our work and the daily gas price.
As it is very close to the kitchen, we set timers on it. We can run multiple timers for each kitchen task apart.
And we can see the actual departures of bus, metro and train from the nearby station.

All of that without starting any PC or laptop.

That is, what we use for. All functionality from HA can be reached, but we rarely use more, than above written.

That said, we see it as a very good helper, there definitely is use for it. But not worth to invest in a new super tablet. We use a older one, which was a left over of my girlfriend, after she bought a laptop.

And, same idea, i have a small wall mounted 7inch used tablet next to my bed, that I use sometimes to close the blinds, change the temperature in the bedroom and because I’m a first responder volunteer, checking alarm messages in the area. Also this one mostly is in screensaver mode, displaying a clock.

1 Like
6

We have Fire HD 8 tablets - one in the living room and one in the kitchen - that are always on showing a dashboard with the most importants functions and some tabs with additional access.

Having these tablets was actually a game changer in providing access to HA to the whole family. Previously HA was some inaccessible mystery, but now everyone can see temperature, air quality, weather forecast, surveillance cameras, next garbage collection, and can run scripts like “turn off all lights and ceiling fan in kid’s bedroom”.

7

I think having a table dedicated to Home Assistant dashboard(s) makes sense. The question for me is whether to fix to a wall or not. Do you have yours on a wall? Or is it on a table/sofa/stand? Thanks.

8

Mounted on the wall using Koala mounts. Nowadays I would probably 3D-print something similar myself.
USB power cable is hidden in the plasterboard wall.