[TriLUG] WiFi Thermostat Recommendations.

Fri May 28 21:20:33 EDT 2021

I think you should absolutely NOT go with Wi-Fi home automation if at all
possible.

Z-Wave is definitely the most reliable, but Zigbee is often cheaper for
purchasing devices and still works well.

Home Assistant <https://www.home-assistant.io/> is one of the more powerful
open-source home automation projects.  It supports complete local control,
even through the app (with firewall configuration), and does not need cloud
access.  You *can*, however, hook it up to Google Assistant or Alexa if you
would like.

Here's a great Honeywell Z-Wave thermostat that works like a normal
thermostat with local controls, and can also be controlled by a local
Z-Wave controller without the need for cloud access:
https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-TH6320ZW2003-Thermostat-Comfort-Control/dp/B07HFL7R44/

Below is a good description of some of the more popular "local control"
Z-Wave projects.

Build-it-Yourself local controllers include HomeAssistant (Hass.io),
OpenHab and Domoticz.

Home Assistant <https://www.home-assistant.io/>(Hass.io)
Hass.io is the most popular (according to Reddit), is really powerful but
also is a moving target. It's not unstable, but if you have a lot of other
apps in the stack, upgrades can create instabilities. It uses OpenZwave,
which supports a ton of devices, but it's also infamously slow. As in,
there are people running Hass.io who uses something like an old Vera as an
external zwave dongle via REST commands. Which tells you that making REST
calls to an external device over ethernet is slower than running an
on-board USB stick. Linking to Google/Alexa requires either a paid
subscription or punching holes in firewalls and/or developer accounts.

OpenHab <https://www.openhab.org/>:
OpenHab is open source, as the name implies, and is more simple to use than
HomeAssistant, but runs on less powerful hardware

Domoticz <https://www.domoticz.com/>is another open-source project, but not
as popular and I don't know much about it.

Here are the local Z-Wave and Zigbee controller devices for purchase:
HomeSeer <https://homeseer.com/>:
HomeSeer has a Pi3 based model ($130) and x86 microPC models ($400-$1200).
It is great at zwave, meh at zigbee, good with security systems,
cameras/NVRs, audio systems, and a lot of tech. There are about 100 free
technology drivers and another couple hundred paid plug ins. You can run it
on your own hardware instead of theirs, and it supports vb.net programming.
Plays well with Alexa and G-Assistant and has an IFTTT channel if you like
that kind of thing.  This is well supported, but you have to buy each
plugin and it gets expensive quickly.

Hubitat <https://hubitat.com/>:
Then there's Hubitat ($130), which was founded by a bunch of SmartThings
developers who got sick of cloud problems. It has zigbee & Zwave built in
and is good at both. Uses Groovy (like SmartThings classic) and can run
SmartThings apps and device handlers. The only downside is that the
hardware is Pi-Zero esque, so it can be overwhelmed. Also does Alexa,
GAssistant and IFTTT.

Hope this helps,

-Wes

On Fri, May 28, 2021 at 8:43 PM Brian Bouterse via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org>
wrote:

> https://www.home-assistant.io/
>
> On Fri, May 28, 2021, 8:41 PM via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:
>
> > What is "home assistant?"
> >
> > -- Roger Broseus
> > Pls excuse auto-correction induzed tiepos.
> > The inventor of autocorrect has passed away - may he restaurant in peas.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Brian Bouterse via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org>
> > To: Brian McCullough <bdmc at bdmcc-us.com>, Triangle Linux Users Group
> > General Discussion <trilug at trilug.org>
> > Sent: Fri, 28 May 2021 4:44 PM
> > Subject: Re: [TriLUG] WiFi Thermostat Recommendations.
> >
> > Myself and several friends have the ct101 which is a zwave lower cost
> > thermostat. We buy them on eBay. The other zwave ones on Amazon are nice
> > and fancier but more money.
> >
> > I use them with home assistant and it is both amazing and incredibly
> > reliable. No data leaves the home yet I can access it from anywhere.
> >
> > You would also need a zwave stick. Read the home assistant docs for that
> > recommendation.
> >
> > On Fri, May 28, 2021, 4:38 PM Brian McCullough via TriLUG <
> > trilug at trilug.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > On Fri, May 28, 2021 at 04:10:36PM -0400, Triangle Linux Users Group
> > > discussion list wrote:
> > > > Been investigating home automation and capabilities for the house.
>  I
> > do
> > > > not want devices at the house that require/utilize services outside
> the
> > > > house.  No Google home, Alexas....  or other cloud based services.
> All
> > > tech
> > > > must operates within home network.
> > >
> > > You might want to look at https://smarthome.com .  They have quite a
> > > wide product line, at least as far as I remember.
> > >
> > >
> > > Brian
> > >
> > >
> > > --
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