Home Automation Server Options
It's taken 8 posts explaining my set-up before I get to the hub of everything. This might be an indication that I have too much stuff, or it might just be the nature of tech in 2019, where huge monolithic applications are dead, and real best-of-breed is able to do everything without nasty workarounds of spaghetti integrations.
I've already spoken about commercial hardware that has associated apps. Let's revisit these and see what they offer for home automation processes:
The reasons for these specific automations going through the app are:
I can't see any devices outside the Xiaomi ecosystem, though, so I can't do anything sophisticated.
For complete non-technerds, I suppose this might be a solution they get sold, where the consumer doesn't need to worry about any of the technical details, but that's not where I believe the home automation market is right now, nor will it be there in the foreseeable future. British Gas are trying to commoditize the market before it's even been defined by the early adopters.
The app? Oh, the app! It's ok - I can set my heating and hot water controls from it, I'm sure BG's new smart TRVs would do it automatically, but I don't understand smart TRVs that have temperature sensors built-in; surely they report the temperature next to the radiator, not the temperature around the room where people are, so they can't be trusted for ambient comfort?
If you're a fan of IFTTT and you have no objections to an unknown amount of control and data leaking to the Internet, I've heard reports that it's fine. IFTTT has integrations with many smart devices and software, and is what I might look at if I wasn't capable of doing it myself.
That was a strange introduction to OpenHAB, but OpenHAB is the only piece of software I've found that has AllPlay functionality. Unfortunately, this isn't enough to add OpenHAB to my installation. Don't get me wrong - I have OpenHAB in my LAN - I just have it turned off for now, and I haven't noticed any loss in things I'm able to do without it (apart from the speaker stuff). I want to like this software, and I know it has integrations with many things I use, but it doesn't quite add enough value to what I'm currently doing. I will keep revisiting this in the hope that I'll want to use it.
Node-Red's dashboarding facilities are weak, taking far more effort to create an Internet-facing mobile app than OpenhAB or Home Assistant, and far worse than any of the apps provided by hardware manufacturers. That's not where it's aimed, though - it's for linking all the devices together, regardless of where they came from, without needing to understand in-depth config files.
An example of this: switch on the standard lamp in the lounge, every day, about 30 minutes before sunset. Switch off the standard lamp at about 1am, as a reminder that it's bedtime. Outside these hours, if the lounge is dark, switch on the lamp for a few minutes if there's motion in the lounge.
I could do this in SmartThings if my lounge motion sensor and power outlet were in SmartThings and I could work out lux levels, the difference between sunset and dusk (and how to do negative offsets from each), to randomise the switch-on and switch-off times slightly, and making sure my lack of motion doesn't interfere with my "keep it switched on in the evening" rule. Suddenly, it's become head-scratching in a mobile app, trying to work out which rules have precedence at which times, and how to add the sophistication of randomising and negative offsets.
Ok, another one: My Christmas fairy lights come out early December, and I put them away early January. During these times, and only these times, switch on the power to every string of lights during the day. When these lights are on, they increase the illuminance in the lounge to somewhere around the threshold of the motion sensor that controls the standard lamp, so while these lights are on, subtract their lux value from the ambient light value so my standard lamp rules still work.
What about this one: When it's cold outside, and the cloakroom temperature is also cold, switch on the oil-filled radiator in that room. Don't forget to switch it off before it gets too toasty in there. Don't do this when it's warm outside but the cloakroom is cold, because that room will warm up without interaction. Don't do this if there's no-one in the house, unless the temperature gets cold enough that there's a chance of the pipes freezing.
This is why I use Node-Red.
I've already spoken about commercial hardware that has associated apps. Let's revisit these and see what they offer for home automation processes:
SmartThings
The SmartThings app is fine. Absolutely fine. If you are completely in the SmartThings ecosystem, you might never have to use anything else. I can even link my Ring doorbell, my Hive heating, and my Hue lighting into the SmartThings app, and create simple automations that include them! I can't see any devices outside the SmartThings ecosystem, though, so I can't do anything sophisticated. Something sophisticated that I want to do, for example: If someone rings the doorbell, make my Xiaomi Hub speaker repeat the ring elsewhere in the house, and flash the lamp behind my wife's gaming PC, so we don't miss calls.Xiaomi
The Mi Home app is party in Chinese. For what I need it for, it's fine, and I even have a couple of automations going through this app:- if a leak is detected in the laundry area, turn on the security camera
- If the basement door opens, turn on the security camera
- If motion is detected in the hallway, turn on the Xiaomi hub nightlight
The reasons for these specific automations going through the app are:
- I haven't yet found a way for the Xiaomi security camera to integrate with anything other than the Xiaomi infrastructure. It's visible to, but not controlled by, the hub, so xiaomi-mqtt can't provide any information about it.
- It was so trivial to click the hallway motion sensor and add the hub light as an action, I didn't need to think about anything else.
I can't see any devices outside the Xiaomi ecosystem, though, so I can't do anything sophisticated.
Hue
I think the Hue app is the best app. The best app for controlling Hue devices, that is. I have an automation in this app, for nightlights, and it works fine. With enough effort, I'm sure it would be able to do more sophisticated things, but it would be an expensive vendor lock-in to do those things.Tradfri
At first glance, the IKEA offering appears to do the same as all the other apps listed here. However, when you get into it, it's not quite as capable, has some rough edges, shows that it's still an early build. For an app that's been around for a year, it's a little disappointing, but expected from a company whose core business is building things to sell them cheap.Hive
British Gas would love to add you to their vision of home automation. You'd better not want to own your own data or monitor your own devices, though. At least the data isn't going outside the country, I suppose, as it's a UK company that we know wants to monetise us and has the ability to do so, rather than the unknown data collection & usage from foreign companies.For complete non-technerds, I suppose this might be a solution they get sold, where the consumer doesn't need to worry about any of the technical details, but that's not where I believe the home automation market is right now, nor will it be there in the foreseeable future. British Gas are trying to commoditize the market before it's even been defined by the early adopters.
The app? Oh, the app! It's ok - I can set my heating and hot water controls from it, I'm sure BG's new smart TRVs would do it automatically, but I don't understand smart TRVs that have temperature sensors built-in; surely they report the temperature next to the radiator, not the temperature around the room where people are, so they can't be trusted for ambient comfort?
Other
If you're in the Tuya ecosystem and you have no objections to an unknown amount of data leaking to the Internet, I've heard reports that it's fine.If you're a fan of IFTTT and you have no objections to an unknown amount of control and data leaking to the Internet, I've heard reports that it's fine. IFTTT has integrations with many smart devices and software, and is what I might look at if I wasn't capable of doing it myself.
OpenHAB
I've never bought a Sonos speaker, although that might change now that IKEA have started selling them. Instead, I have whole-house synchronised audio using the Qualcomm AllPlay infrastructure.That was a strange introduction to OpenHAB, but OpenHAB is the only piece of software I've found that has AllPlay functionality. Unfortunately, this isn't enough to add OpenHAB to my installation. Don't get me wrong - I have OpenHAB in my LAN - I just have it turned off for now, and I haven't noticed any loss in things I'm able to do without it (apart from the speaker stuff). I want to like this software, and I know it has integrations with many things I use, but it doesn't quite add enough value to what I'm currently doing. I will keep revisiting this in the hope that I'll want to use it.
Home Assistant
Directly competing against OpenHAB in the open source home automation software market (competing? Market? It's all open source software, with no route to money! There's no market here, until someone comes up with something radically better than these free software packages offer, and there are companies starting to try it), it's well loved by its users. I've tried it, but I find needing to add YAML configurations to do anything sophisticated to be a PITA.Node-Red
This does what I want. It's model-based workflow software, so I can visualize what I want to do, it integrates with everything I need, it provides advanced facilities to do some really interesting things. It's written and curated by some clever people in IBM Labs Hursley.Node-Red's dashboarding facilities are weak, taking far more effort to create an Internet-facing mobile app than OpenhAB or Home Assistant, and far worse than any of the apps provided by hardware manufacturers. That's not where it's aimed, though - it's for linking all the devices together, regardless of where they came from, without needing to understand in-depth config files.
An example of this: switch on the standard lamp in the lounge, every day, about 30 minutes before sunset. Switch off the standard lamp at about 1am, as a reminder that it's bedtime. Outside these hours, if the lounge is dark, switch on the lamp for a few minutes if there's motion in the lounge.
I could do this in SmartThings if my lounge motion sensor and power outlet were in SmartThings and I could work out lux levels, the difference between sunset and dusk (and how to do negative offsets from each), to randomise the switch-on and switch-off times slightly, and making sure my lack of motion doesn't interfere with my "keep it switched on in the evening" rule. Suddenly, it's become head-scratching in a mobile app, trying to work out which rules have precedence at which times, and how to add the sophistication of randomising and negative offsets.
Ok, another one: My Christmas fairy lights come out early December, and I put them away early January. During these times, and only these times, switch on the power to every string of lights during the day. When these lights are on, they increase the illuminance in the lounge to somewhere around the threshold of the motion sensor that controls the standard lamp, so while these lights are on, subtract their lux value from the ambient light value so my standard lamp rules still work.
What about this one: When it's cold outside, and the cloakroom temperature is also cold, switch on the oil-filled radiator in that room. Don't forget to switch it off before it gets too toasty in there. Don't do this when it's warm outside but the cloakroom is cold, because that room will warm up without interaction. Don't do this if there's no-one in the house, unless the temperature gets cold enough that there's a chance of the pipes freezing.
This is why I use Node-Red.
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