I recently have been interested in doing some Home Automation projects. I started off by installing a Lutron Radio RA2 lighting control system and a URC system when we built our barn home. As I mentioned in previous posts, I have a server at home running unRAID. unRAID makes it so easy to install and use docker containers that I started installing various containers including Home Assistant, Node Red, and Mosquito. URC doesn’t play very nicely with those open source projects, but the Lutron Radio RA2 system works great with Home Assistant. This inspired me to pick up a Vera Hub so I could also control Z-wave devices also.
I’ve since added a few sensors and devices.
Monoprice has some great cheap Z-wave sensors and devices. I own these:
Monoprice Z-Wave Plus Recessed Door/Window Sensor
Monoprice Z-Wave Garage Door Sensor
My brothers both bought Yale Locks because of their Nest integration. (I have Nest Smoke Alarms, but not their thermostat and I haven’t figured out how to integrate them in any useful way with Home Assistant yet.) I bought this lock:
Yale Real Living® Assure Lock® Touchscreen Deadbolt (YRD226)
They make fancier locks with Bluetooth or internet connectivity, but since I’m already using Z-wave and home assistant, this is all I needed.
I’ve also added a few homebrew projects that have been briefly mentioned, but I’ll list them here too.
Shmoopty’s Raspberry Pi Appliance Monitor
$10 Remote Computer Power Management For Your Smart Home
I’ll try to add to this list and maybe organize it a little better as things change with my system.