Home Assistant Newbie - What Do I Need to Know?

geekcohen on 01/09/2025 - 08:28
Last edited 01/09/2025 - 08:29

I have been thinking it is time to dive into Home Assistant a bit more. I've seen a few interesting things on Reddit lately where people have used the Home Assistant AI with security cameras.

So I have thought about giving Home Assistant a try and playing around with what I have got, cause why not?

I currently use the Tuya smart appliances/switches etc for most of my home automation. I've got door sensors that trigger lights, timers, garage door opener etc. I have Reolink cameras (via NVR) and Ubiquiti Network.

I see more and more people discussing HomeAssistance on Reddit and within the OzB community. I feel it is time to maybe dive in and experiment.

I have a spare Mini PC that I think should be sufficient to run Home Assistant.

Those already using Home Assistant, what would you do differently? What would you not do? Tips and things to keep in mind from the start. Open to any other feedback/suggestions/ideas.

Electrical & Electronics Home Assistant

Comments

  • payless69 on 01/09/2025 - 08:32
    -5

    anything with a mic will spy on you

  • Gunnar on 01/09/2025 - 08:43
    +1

    Fairy platinum tablets are not compatible with Smeg dishwashers

  • Aquagen on 01/09/2025 - 09:08
    +3

    Been running home assistant for about 5 years with a similar set up (tuya and Ikea sensors, reolink cameras, ubiquiti wifi)
    If I had my time again I would have avoided buying stuff without first checking home assistant support.
    Things like my Huawei solar inverter don't play nice

    Also chatgpt and specifically home assistant assistant are a great help when writing and checking automations.

    And remember an automation that's can't be used by someone who doesn't know about it is a crappy automation. Go for smart switches over smart globes. That way visitors still know how to turn on lights.
    I like the 2 and 3 gang switches even in 1 gang locations. The unused switches can be linked to automations or other switches while the top switch controls the light as intended. So for example my master bedroom has 3 gang, top one is light on off, switch 2 turns off/on all interior lights, switch 3 turns of/on all exterior lights

    • NickCan on 01/09/2025 - 09:12
      +1

      I like the 2 and 3 gang switches even in 1 gang locations. The unused switches can be linked to automations or other switches while the top switch controls the light as intended. So for example my master bedroom has 3 gang, top one is light on off, switch 2 turns off/on all interior lights, switch 3 turns of/on all exterior lights

      -this is an excellent idea!

    • geekcohen on 01/09/2025 - 09:15

      Also chatgpt and specifically home assistant assistant are a great help when writing and checking automations.

      That was my plan to use ChatGPT for writing things.

      And remember an automation that's can't be used by someone who doesn't know about it is a crappy automation. Go for smart switches over smart globes. That way visitors still know how to turn on lights.

      Yeah, I have moved away from Smart Globes and got smart lighting (downlights for example).

      I like the 2 and 3 gang switches even in 1 gang locations. The unused switches can be linked to automations or other switches while the top switch controls the light as intended. So for example my master bedroom has 3 gang, top one is light on off, switch 2 turns off/on all interior lights, switch 3 turns of/on all exterior lights

      Good to know! That is very handy.

  • jjjaar on 01/09/2025 - 12:39

    Personally I love smart globes because you then get a lot more control for temperature and colour. Throw in some cheap ikea switches via zigbee and it’s a lot more flexible v switches that legally should be installed by a sparky. Then it’s also a lot easier to remap them if you find you don’t need them.

    Honestly, I’ve never needed ChatGPT or the assistant to write an automation or any code in Home Assistant (eg on our ridiculously over the top dashboards). Between the HA community forums and just a general web search, everything is very easy to find. You learn a lot about the various codes needed too so can then very easily adapt if you want to make minor tweaks, vs always needing ChatGPT or other to do it for you. And this is coming from someone with pretty much no coding/programming background, who actively avoided python prior to HA.

    Maybe it’s because we have HA Green? Definitely worth it for someone with my lack of background.

    The HA forums and general internet (reddit, fb) will have loads of posts about how to start too. If you’re after specific brands, I’ve definitely moved toward zigbee for a lot of things. Ikea is great for this, with many devices being relatively cheap.

    • Bruceflix on 02/09/2025 - 12:02

      HA Green

      overpriced and underpowered

      • jjjaar on 02/09/2025 - 12:33

        Compared to? And assume someone doesn’t just have a suitable device lying around.

        For most use cases, Green is more than enough.

        • Bruceflix on 02/09/2025 - 14:21

          HA Greeen retails for $150 in Australia. About the same price as a n150 miniPC from aliexpress.

          For most use cases, Green is more than enough.

          You shouldn't speak for others. For YOUR use case, Green is more than enough.

          • impoze on 02/09/2025 - 15:38
            +1

            @Bruceflix: It's not a like for like though.

            HA Green
            4 core 1.8ghz
            4gb ram
            32gb eMMC
            no upgradability

            I would much rather an N150 mini pc

            • Bruceflix on 02/09/2025 - 17:08

              @impoze:

              I would much rather an N150 mini pc

              I agree and that was the point I was making to jjjaar

          • jjjaar on 02/09/2025 - 22:41

            @Bruceflix: “About the same” or “the same” cost?

            I wasn’t trying to antagonise, I was genuinely curious as to what devices are comparable.

            I’m still curious as to what you’re doing with your HA setup that can’t be done on Green. /what else could I be doing that I’m not?

    • vineshbalan on 02/09/2025 - 22:36

      Did you get them installed by a sparky? I couldn't find many options here in Melbourne! I'm torn between Smart lights (DIY) or adding switches/relays atm

  • impoze on 02/09/2025 - 05:41

    Recommend the SMLight SLZB-06M zigbee coordinator for zigbee2mqtt/ZHA.

    Sensors and devices from aliexpress

    Setup HACS for custom lovelace cards and themes ro build out some nice dashboards

    Set up your mini pc with proxmox and run HA as a VM.

    Backups are important, and dont always rush to updates. Read the release notes first.
    - Gdrive backup plugin

  • Bruceflix on 02/09/2025 - 11:26

    Set up your mini pc with proxmox and run HA as a VM.
    Backups are important,

    Easy to take snapshots of your VM. Not as clunky as HA backups.

    Read the release notes first.

    A must! HA have a history of (deliberately) breaking things

    • impoze on 02/09/2025 - 11:58

      Yes but sometimes you just want to restore specific addon which you can easily do with the HA backups.

      I didn't find it clunky?

    • jjjaar on 02/09/2025 - 12:34

      HA have a history of (deliberately) breaking things

      Hm, not been an issue with Green…

      • Bruceflix on 02/09/2025 - 14:20

        By things I was referring to integrations. Literally HA post in the release notes the "Breaking changes". Usually support for devices either ends or there are config changes that need to be edited. If you have not come across this then you are lucky or you do not have many devices (or both).

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