I'm sure there are many technical people out here on forum who would have developed their own system for their house.

I'm wondering what the current best options are for house automation - mostly re lighting and outlet control, but would also like to know what other goodies are possible.

 

I'm sure there are many technical people out here on forum who would have developed their own system for their house.

When you do your make vs buy analysis, you'll end up buying.

I started using X10 in the early 90's because a controller and lamp control module came with my Stanley garage door opener and I stayed with it. The software never got updated beyond Win98/ME (except for a Y2K patch that allowed the system to continue working), so I have a computer that is only used to program the programmable controllers.

I bought switched outlets/light switches, appliance/lamp modules, surveillance cameras, and programmable controllers. But I only have 3 lights in strategic spots on control modules. I used one in my barn to turn on a light for my chickens, but it was a hassle to replace batteries and reprogram, so I just leave a light on all the time.

 

Try Zigbee & Home Assistant.

 

I do not use X10 anymore but, use SonOff devices. Mostly they are working with the phones.
I am using a Pi but not certain it is right.

 

Several years ago my sister gave my wife and I an Amazon Echo. Wife always had Amazon Prime for her orders and about all I used the thing for was asking it to play music when I was online. Then I bought a 4 pack of Teckin smart sockets. Things began to get amusing. Next came some wall switches and a few little 12 volt DC relay boards. Everything I have is easily bypassed. Most of what I am playing around with is more about amusement than doing anything serious or important. It is interesting to be hundreds of miles away and see what is going on in our home and turn things on or off and change house temperature. There are also countless apps out there like Smart Life which is what I played with before getting Alexa involved.

Also as ronsimpson mentions there is an endless array of SonOff Devices out there to be had.

Ron

 

Some things work only when the internet is working.
I do not live in town and the internet is questionable.
Take SonOff for example. I have the chicken coop fixed so when "too cold" = heater is on, and when "too Hot" = fans are on. That works by itself. I can override from the phone or computer. No internet is required.
There are cloud based software(s) that give more functions, but they only work when you are connected to the cloud.
In my case, I do not want to rely on the internet working.

 

If you are not familiar with it you should definitely look at Node-RED. It can run on a Raspberry PI and offers nearly limitlless possibility to integrate almost any IoT technology into a working system.

This is true if you buy devices or build your own. I have integrated my own ESP8266 devices with Homekit using it, for example, but it is just as easy to connect Sonoff versions, or my preference, Shelly. Shelly devices offer a cloud service but they work equally happily locally and support the other key recommendation MQTT.

MQTT is an IBM-created super-lightweight protocol designed specifically for sensor networks. It is very widely supported and is one of the easiest ways to connect everything together through Node-RED. With its graphical programming paradigm, its enormous existing library of “nodes” to support most anything you can think of, and its ability to be extended using Javascript, Node-RED is, in my opinion the best option as glue for whatever you do.

If you do want to build some or all of your own devices, MQTT libraries for the Arduino environment means your devices will instantly be compatibles with everything else on your LoT (LAN of Things—as far as I know I just made that up), and you will be able to use Alexa, Google, Smarthings, and Homekit with them nearly painlessly.

 

My first Home Control computer was a Z80 that could have been 10x slower and been fine.
My second HC computer is an 80186 and it spends all day doing nothing.
I am playing with a Pi3 which functions as a laptop and does HC in the background. It also is overkill. I like the Pi because I develop on the very computer that does the HC.
As long as we are not talking video, the Z80 would still work. The 80186 gave me internet but not well. The Pi3 allows me to see the house from work.
Right now, I have most items function without help from a central computer. There is some advantage and disadvantage for that.

 

ESP-based cloud-dependent gadgets can be "liberated" by flashing them with Tasmota firmware. There's been a trend for devices to use cheaper non-ESP chips, though, so you need to check before buying, or look out for older versions. Some can be Tasmotized over wi-fi. My Sonoff Basic had to be flashed through a USB-serial cable, though.
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