Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


AKT

AKT

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified
Lifetime subscriber

#260087 10-Nov-2019 10:10
Send private message

I'm in the process of doing some renovations and taking the opportunity to try to install some smart home devices.  My home is >100 years old so I don't really want any of the current offerings of smart switches as they just don't fit in.

 

Ideally I want everything to be HomeKit compatible and the only realistic way to do this I think is to use non-homekit gear and then bridge with Homebridge, OpenHAB or Home Assistant.

 

I may migrate to a Raspberry Pi but thought I could use a spare Mac Mini (c 2009) I have which isn't really being used.

 

 

 

This is what I am planning to do - I welcome your advice about any tweaks or comments before I take the plunge.

 

Aeotec Z-wave USB stick

 

Aeotec nano dimmers (can these be hidden in a fit and forget or do you need access to the button? also can they still work if there are 2 light switches?)

 

OpenHAB

 

Home Assistant

 

Homebridge

 

 

 

I don't know which of the above is 'best' so what are your thoughts?

 

 

 

I already have some Hue bulbs and a bridge v2 as well as Amazon Fire TV 

 

 

 

I had considered Vera or Homey but thought this was a cheaper way to test it out before going that way.

 

 

 

Thanks

 


Andy

 

 

 

 


Create new topic
davidcole
6036 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #2351231 10-Nov-2019 17:24
Send private message

I use openHAB as I prefer it’s way of setup and rules engines. And think it’s Zeave support pretty good also.


But I’m not a fan of the homekit Implementation.

I use hoe assistant for that, but have recently been playing with homebridge just for homekit. They’re both very good at it.




Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server
Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight 


Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15



Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.