Resinchem Tech

 

Home Automation with Home Assistant

Welcome to the first post of my new blog.  This blog will focus primarily on the details of my smart home journey and delve into some of the automations and devices that I've integrated into our everyday lives.  It will be Home Assistant-centric, but many of the processes, devices and automations should work on other platforms as well.

As an introduction of some of the types of things I plan to discuss, here's a video walkthrough of my home and many of the current devices and automations:

If you see anything in this video that you'd like me to show in more detail or describe the "how-to" in this blog, please drop a comment below.  I'll tackle those items or projects that people would most like to see first.

Background and Target Audience

While I have a technology and programming background, I am not an expert on modern programming languages.  I'm also not an electrician, engineer or really an expert in anything!  So, let's get this out of the way:

I am not a professional electrician, woodworker, Linux programmer or much of professional anything else that will be used to build many of the devices or automations you may find on this blog.  Please refer to other websites or official documentation when it comes to electrical safety, proper use of power tools and creation of backups on computing devices.  While I hope it never happens, I cannot be held responsible for a bricked devices, fried circuit boards or a lost finger!

Ok, now that the disclaimer is out of the way... 

You don't need to have a degree in computer science or engineering to build your own automated smart home.  Yes, a bit of research and reading may be necessary.  And there will be frustrations along the way!  But there is a lot of help online from other enthusiasts that are more than happy to help.  As I go along, I'll try to point out some of the resources I found most helpful when first starting out.

My journey into the rabbit hold probably started like many others.  I had picked up a handful of "smart devices"... a video doorbell, a couple of smart plugs, a garage door opener, etc.... and realized a few things:

Just one page of many "smart" device apps

Each device had it's own required app.  Each app required creation of an account with the manufacturer.  These devices normally don't "talk" or react to each other.  And sometimes something as simple as turning on a lamp required me to have my phone handy, unlock it, find the proper app and launch it (possibly logging in if I could remember the ID and password).  All this to just turn a lamp on?  It didn't seem very "smart" or convenient.  Not to mention the reaction of the wife and guests!  

And of course there was the privacy issue.  How much of my data was being collected, used and sold by each of these manufacturers?  Was I OK with that? So I knew there had to be a better way.  Somehow all these devices should be able to work together to make a smart home.  A home that could react and anticipate needs.  A single interface (or voice control) that was accessible from anywhere in the house, while minimizing the amount of my personal data that I was currently sharing.  This is where my journey began.

In the next few posts, I'll cover the goals and rules that I used when first selecting a home automation platform.  Then I'll compare and contrast some of the various options out there today and discuss why I made the selection that I did.