Home Automation FAQs: 08/09/22

Is Google Assistant smarter than Siri?

The results for answering the simple questions correctly was Google at 76.57%, Alexa at 56.29% and Siri at 47.29%. The results for answering the complex questions correctly, which involved comparisons, composition and/or temporal reasoning was similar in ranking: Google 70.18%, Alexa 55.05% and Siri 41.32%. May 31, 2021

What is the difference between ESP32 and ESP8266?

The ESP32 is better than ESP8266. It provides you with a faster processor and good memory size, which allow considerable larger projects to be designed on only one SOC. ESP32 provides you with reliable and hi-tech security. Feb 9, 2021

How do I make an intelligent house?

One way to build out a smart home is to buy lots of components—sensors, smart bulbs, security cameras, speakers, and whatnot—and connect them all to a hub that helps them communicate with each other and with you, via your smartphone. Feb 3, 2022

Does ESPHome use MQTT?

The ESPHome native API has many advantages over using MQTT for communication with Home Automation software (currently only Home Assistant). But MQTT is a great protocol and will never be removed.

Is Google smarter than Alexa?

The report found Google Assistant attempted to answer nearly 70 percent of the questions it was asked and responded correctly nearly 90 percent of the time. Alexa attempted a little over 50 percent of the questions and answered correctly just over 80 percent of the time. Mar 24, 2021

What is the best home automation controller?

Top Pick: Samsung – SmartThings Hub (8.5/10) ... HomeSeer – HomeTroller Zee S2 Home Controller (8.5/10) ... Universal Devices – ISY994i Z Automation Controller (8/10) ... Vera Control – VeraPlus Home Controller (8/10) ... Wink Connected Home Hub 2 (8/10) ... Securifi – Almond+ (7/10) ... Securifi – Almond 3 (7/10) More items...

Is ESPHome open source?

The project will continue as an open source project with the current ESPHome development team, @jesserockz and @glmnet. Mar 18, 2021

What is the most popular home automation system?

This is where the best home automation systems, also known as 'hubs' come in. ... Amazon Echo. The best smart home hub. ... Google Nest Hub. Google your smart home. ... Wink Hub 2. Customize settings with a Wink. ... Samsung SmartThings. ... Apple Homekit. Jun 2, 2021

What is Home Assistant server?

Home Assistant is a free and open-source software for home automation designed to be a central control system for smart home devices with a focus on local control and privacy.

How do I turn my old house into a smart house?

To convert your home into a smart home, you have to set up a DIY smart home hub. Then convert your old speakers into a smart speaker and make a smart security camera using old webcams. Also, make notification lights using cheap LEDs. In all these cases, you will need Raspberry Pi. May 23, 2021

How do I automate my lights?

One of the simplest ways to automate lights in your house is to just plug lamps in each room into a smart plug. Then use your phone to control all of those lamps from a single app. The following are the most popular smart plugs you can use to do this. Dec 15, 2020

How do I find my Home Assistant IP address?

You can find the IP address by logging into your router (typically by typing 192.168. 1.1 into the address bar of your browser), finding your Pi (should be named hassio). Click the image for a closer look.

What is the difference between home automation and smart home?

You can even use voice commands through Google Home or Amazon Alexa to complete basic tasks in your smart home. Home Automation, on the other hand, is a methodology that allows your Smart Home to run automated services you have set up. They will be pre programmed by the user for certain events. Apr 4, 2019

Is Nabu Casa worth it?

Nabu Casa provides good value for money with features like access to smart home from everyone, text to speech technology and one click connection to voice assistants (Alexa, Google). All of this can be achieved without Nabu Casa by the technically inclined with some degree of work.

What are the disadvantages of home automation?

Disadvantages of Home Automation: Security Issues: As with all computing devices, security will become a greater issue as more people use smart home devices. ... Cost: Extremely expensive: ... Greater acceptance:

How do I automate everything in my life?

Step #1: Paying Monthly Bills Day 1. Gather Bills. Many people are already paying at least some of their bills online. ... Day 2. Create a Bill Pay Schedule. ... Day 3. Get Automated. ... Day 4. Research Delivery Options. ... Day 5. Make a Plan. ... Day 6. Take Action. ... Day 7. Collect Your Recipes. ... Day 8. Pick a Menu App. More items... • May 25, 2017

How do you expose a Home Assistant on the internet?

If you want secure remote access, the easiest option is to use Home Assistant cloud by which you also support the founders of Home Assistant. Another option is to use TLS/SSL via the add-on Duck DNS integrating Let's Encrypt. To expose your instance to the internet, use a VPN, or an SSH tunnel.

What systems could never be fully automated?

Because no machine can replace a REAL HUMAN, any job that requires the human heart and brain will NEVER be fully automated. Jan 3, 2020

What ports does Home Assistant use?

The basics: How the app talks to your Home Assistant 1.4 and listening on port 8123. If you use Home Assistant OS and haven't changed any of the defaults, Home Assistant will also be reachable at http://homeassistant.local:8123.

What is the simplest form of automation?

While the simplest forms of automation, i.e. rules-based RPA, require clear instructions, data quantities and quality are less important. But as organizations seek to introduce more sophisticated, cognitive technologies, the quantity and quality of data they use becomes a vital priority. Bad data leads to bad outcomes.

Is Home Assistant an OS?

Home Assistant Operating System (formerly HassOS) is a Linux based operating system optimized to host Home Assistant and its Add-ons.

What's the best smart home system?

The best smart home devices you can buy today Amazon Echo Dot with Clock. The best smart home device overall. ... Nest Cam (battery) The best smart home device for securing your home. ... Ecobee SmartThermostat. ... Philips Hue White A19 Starter Kit. ... August Wi-Fi Smart Lock. ... Nest Doorbell (battery) ... Wemo WiFi Smart Plug. ... Nest Protect. More items... • May 18, 2022

Is Home Assistant reliable?

Home Assistant Blue has a 128GB eMMC SSD, which will provide quick performance, but also great reliability. Home Assistant notes on their site that this is especially good against power outages, which can corrupt other storage mediums. Jan 5, 2021

Does making your home a smart home add value?

Does a Smart Home Increase a Home's Value? Smart home technology can definitely add to market value. Appraisers make what they call “adjustments” when they compare tech-enabled homes with similar but tech-deficient houses. Smart homes command higher prices and may be easier to sell as a result.

Is smart home worth the money?

Still, despite all the downsides, smart homes can provide convenience, solve problems you regularly encounter, and even save you money. If that sounds good to you, it's worth the investment. Nov 9, 2020

How many cores does Home Assistant need?

Hass does not really need more than 2 cores and 1-1.5ghz on CPU. Unless you're doing a lot of image processing automations. May 29, 2019

How can I control my smart home?

On the lock screen of some Android phones, you can quickly pull up smart home controls. ... Control devices with the Google Home app Tap the tile to take a quick action with the device. ... Drag a slider on the tile to gradually adjust. More items...

Is Home Assistant cloud free?

Well good news, because you can trial Home Assistant cloud for free for one month. In a few easy steps you can set-up your trial: From the Home Assistant user interface go to Settings, and then go to Home Assistant cloud. Click on the Start your free 1 month trial.

Is Home Assistant a cloud?

With Home Assistant Cloud, you can connect your Home Assistant instance in a few simple clicks to both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. If you can connect it to Home Assistant, you can now control it with your voice using the Amazon Echo, Google Home or your Android phone.

How do smart homes work?

A smart home's devices are connected with each other and can be accessed through one central point—a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or game console. Door locks, televisions, thermostats, home monitors, cameras, lights, and even appliances such as the refrigerator can be controlled through one home automation system.

Which is better OpenHab or Home Assistant?

Recommendation: Home Assistant vs OpenHab What Is Best At the end of the day, it's an individual choice, you can either choose the no-fuss and easy to integrate UI that comes with Home Assistant or lean towards the more flexible style of coding backed by more advanced goals in the case of OpenHab. Sep 7, 2021

How does smart home automation work?

Home automation is a network of hardware, communication, and electronic interfaces that work to integrate everyday devices with one another via the Internet. Each device has sensors and is connected through WiFi, so you can manage them from your smartphone or tablet whether you're at home, or miles away. Apr 2, 2019

Do you need a Raspberry Pi for Home Assistant?

Home Assistant doesn't really require a powerful pi to run, so if you have a model 3 lying around, then you can use that perfectly. But when you need to buy Raspberry Pi, then go for a Pi 4 Model B with at least 4GB of memory. Nov 4, 2021

Do you have to pay for Home Assistant?

Home assistant is free to download and to use, to run home assistant you need to buy hardware that can start from $70 for a Raspberry PI 3B+ kit to $140 home assistant blue.

How do I automate my home with Alexa?

Creating a connected home is easy. Simply plug in and power on your new smart home device. Then say, “Alexa, discover devices.” You can also add devices through the Amazon Alexa app: Open the Alexa app and select Devices.

What is Home Assistant supervisor?

Supervisor integration allows you to monitor and control Supervisor add-ons and operating system from Home Assistant. This integration is installed automatically if you run Home Assistant OS or Supervised.

How do I automate my home on Google?

Most of the Android phones have Google Assistant built-in or it can be downloaded from the app store. Step 1: Buy A Smart Display Or A Smart Speaker. ... Step 2: Lets Train Google. ... Step 3: Pick a Location. ... Step 4: Pick Gadgets For Smart Home. ... Step 5: Sync Your Smart Home. ... Step 6: Manage Routines And Setup Rooms. ... Step 7: Testing. Feb 18, 2021

How do I use VSCode with Home Assistant?

Install VSCode Community Addon Step 1: Enable Home Assistant Community Add-ons. In Home Assistant, go to Supervisor > Add-on Store. ... Step 2: Install Visual Studio Code Addon. Click Visual Studio Code, and then Install. ... Step 3: Use Visual Studio Code addon. You should now see a new tab on your sidebar. Jul 15, 2021

What is the cheapest solution for home automation?

The best cheap smart home devices you can get today Google Nest Mini. The best cheap smart home device for Google Home users. ... Amazon Echo Dot (4th gen) The best Alexa smart speaker under $50. ... Wemo WiFi Smart Plug. ... Wyze Cam v3. ... Lifx Mini. ... Wyze Bulb. ... Lutron Aurora. May 18, 2022

Who is better Siri or Alexa?

Conclusion. Features and functionalities of both these platforms are on par. But due to its universality in connecting with multiple devices seamlessly, Alexa wins over Siri, a premium a sophisticated system.

Can I use Siri with Home Assistant?

The HomeKit integration allows you to make your Home Assistant entities available in Apple HomeKit, so they can be controlled from Apple's Home app and Siri; even if those devices do not natively support HomeKit. Please make sure that you have read the considerations listed below to save you some trouble later.

What is an example of smart home automation?

It combines all of the disparate apps into a single smart home app that can be controlled remotely by homeowners. Examples of smart home hubs include Amazon Echo, Google Home, Insteon Hub Pro, Samsung SmartThings and Wink Hub.

Can I run Home Assistant on Windows?

Running Home Assistant Core directly on Windows is not supported. This is an advanced installation process, and some steps might differ on your system. Considering the nature of this installation type, we assume you can handle subtle differences between this document and the system configuration you are using.

What all things can be automated?

12 Things You're Doing Every Day that Can Be Automated Creating a Presentation in 1… 2… Ready! Email-Free, Team-Focused Communication. If You Can't Say Goodbye to Emails Though… Still Posting to Social Media Sites Manually? Stop Now. Let the News Come to You. Computer Back-Ups. Scanning Documents. Self-Updating Contact Book. More items...

Is Home Assistant Easy?

Home Assistant can get quite complicated quite quickly, so here I've focussed on the basics, getting the system installed and running, plus configuring HomeKit and basic Automations. Mar 30, 2021

What is the best hardware to run Home Assistant?

The best device that runs Home Assistant that is in stock is the ODROID-N2+ Home Assistant Bundle from Ameridroid. This bundle contains the ODROID-N2+ which is what also powers our Home Assistant Blue. It comes with Home Assistant pre-installed so it's ready to go. It's in stock today. Apr 17, 2022

How much does it cost to automate a house?

The national average range to automate a home is between $2,000 and $7,000, with most homeowners spending around $5,500 to automate their lights, door locks, and thermostats and install a smart speaker, hub, and smart plugs in three rooms. Mar 4, 2021

Can you run Home Assistant without Internet?

is there anyway to use home assistant os without an internet connection?! i didn't find anything recent. As long as your local network stays up and your integrations don't depend on an external service you should be able to continue to use it. Apr 12, 2021

How do you automate a home life?

Top 10 Hacks for Automating Your Life Automate Everything In Your Home. Put Your Chores on Autopilot. ... Download Anything Without Even Searching for It. ... Integrate Your Favorite Apps and Web Services. ... Make Your Phone Read Your Mind. ... Do Away with Shopping and Get Automatic Discounts. ... Organize Important Documents and Files. ... More items... • Feb 9, 2013

Can I do home automation myself?

With the Internet of Things (IoT) unifying in-home devices from lighting to entire security systems, you can now control many smart home products from something as simple as a smartphone or an Arduino. This compatibility opens up massive options for DIY automation. Jul 16, 2021

Why is it so hard to get a Raspberry Pi?

"Demand for Raspberry Pi products increased sharply from the start of 2021 onwards, and supply constraints have prevented us from flexing up to meet this demand, with the result that we now have significant order backlogs for almost all products. Apr 5, 2022

What should I automate my home?

What can I automate in my home? Smart lighting. The easiest and most impactful place to start automating your home is with smart lighting. ... Smart locks. ... Smart heating. ... Smart Security. ... Smart entertainment. ... Energy savings. ... Apple's HomeKit. ... Amazon's Alexa. More items... • Jun 19, 2021

Does Netflix work on Raspberry Pi?

Alternatively you can run Netflix within the Chromium web browser, all you need to do is install the Widevine DRM package to your Raspberry Pi. Getting Netflix to run on your Raspberry Pi requires a few different steps as the software will need to obtain a version of the DRM library so that you can stream videos. Jun 30, 2022

What is the best home assistant device?

What's better than a Raspberry Pi?

The Banana Pi M5 is probably the closest rival to the Raspberry Pi 4 B. Armed with an Amlogic S905X3 quad-core Cortex-A55 CPU, a clock speed of 2 GHz, 4 GB LPDDR4 RAM, and a Mali-G31 GPU, the performance of the Banana Pi M5 is a notch above Raspberry Pi's fourth-gen board.

Does Sonoff need a hub?

Sonoff Zigbee Because it uses Zigbee it will require a Zigbee hub to connect to the Internet. Nov 27, 2021

Is Alexa better than Google?

Best smart home compatibility: Amazon Alexa But Alexa has another advantage over Google: it can directly control Zigbee devices using the Echo, Echo Studio, and Echo Show 10. This compatibility makes Alexa a better choice overall if you want tons of smart home gear. It also has some fun extra and hidden features.

Can I use Sonoff without WiFi?

Yes, Sonoff devices can work without an active internet connection. Since mid 2018, Itead (the manufacturer of Sonoff devices) have been shipped Sonoff devices with firmware that includes a feature called “LAN Mode”.

How much does it cost to turn your house into a smart house?

To fully automate an average 4-bedroom, 3-bath home, you might spend up to $15,000. Luxury fully-connected homes run $10,000 to $150,000. Labor to install wired systems costs $85 per hour. Home automation includes lights, security, locks, thermostats and entertainment. Jan 10, 2022

Can Zigbee go through walls?

To determine whether a Zigbee signal will be able to get through the walls of your home, you can actually use your existing WiFi network. As both WiFi and Zigbee operate on the same frequency, they will also both have a similar ability to penetrate walls. Jun 6, 2021

How much does home automation cost?

Is Zigbee dead?

The IoT technology known as Zigbee isn't going away, but the Zigbee Alliance is rebranding to a new name and focus: the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). The Zigbee Alliance has been around for almost 20 years, and it's well-established as a global standards organization for IoT.

What is the cheapest solution for home automation?

What does a smart home need?

You will need: An Amazon Echo product. A TP-Link smart plug. A plug-in fan with a physical power switch that can stay in the “on” position. An Apple or Android smartphone for setting up Alexa to talk to the smart plug.

Can I install Home Assistant on QNAP?

Install Home Assistant on QNAP using GUI Alternatively, you can install Home Assistant on QNAP using its graphical interface. Home Assistant is still going to run through Docker and uses /Container/homeassistant_config as its configuration file. Mar 2, 2022

What's the best smart home system?

How much does Alexa cost a month?

Is there a monthly fee for Amazon Alexa? No, there's no monthly fee charged for Amazon Alexa. All you need is a stable WiFi connection to make your Echo work. However, having an Amazon Prime account gives you various benefits of using the Echo. Feb 4, 2022

How do I automate my home on Google?

Create a custom Routine Open the Google Home app . Tap Routines. Add near the bottom of the screen. Under “How to start,” tap Add starter. choose the trigger you want for your Routine. ... Under “This Routine will,” tap Add action choose a routine category choose an action. tap Done. Tap Save.

Can Alexa call 911?

You can't ask Alexa to dial 911 or other emergency services directly, unless you have an Echo Connect hooked up to a landline phone. You can, however, set up a personal emergency contact, and turn on Alexa Guard for home security. Jun 26, 2022

Is there one app to control all smart devices?

The Google Home app allows you to create rooms in your home, and you can place smart devices in them. You can turn on or off all the lights in a room at once, create handy routines, and control everything with Google Assistant. Jun 17, 2021

Can Alexa work without power?

Yes. This is true for the vast majority of Amazon's Echo devices, including: Echo Show, Echo Plug, Echo Studio, and Echo Flex. Echo Dot needs to be plugged into the wall at all times. Without power, you won't be able to summon Alexa through voice commands.

Is there an app to control all devices?

The SmartThings smart home app is one of the original all-in-one smart home control apps, courtesy of the Samsung SmartThings Hub. It connects to devices like Yale, Ring, ecobee, and many more. It combines control for every connected device into a single app. Jun 12, 2020

Will Alexa work if my phone is not in the house?

Call your Echo device No one at home is answering their phones? You can call your Echo speaker using the Alex app on your phone. To get started, open the Alexa app and select Communicate and then tap Call. You can either choose to call a specific device or call all of your Echo devices. Nov 12, 2020

What is iOS automation?

UI Automation is a JavaScript library provided by Apple Inc, which can be used to perform an automated test on real devices and on iOS Simulator. This framework is added to iOS SDK4. 0. Using UI Automation, you can automate testing the application not only on the simulator but also the real device. Jun 11, 2022

Does Amazon Alexa spy on you?

No, Alexa does not record all your conversations — just some of them. According to Amazon, Alexa records what you say only after the Echo or Alexa-enabled device detects your wake word. Then — or after you press your device's action button — Alexa starts recording your request, sending it up to Amazon's cloud. Sep 24, 2021

What is Apple automation?

Personal automation provides a way to run actions based on events such as time of day, arrival at a location, or the opening of an app.

Is Alexa always listening?

The short answer is yes, Alexa is always listening to you. Or rather the microphone on your Alexa smart speaker is always active (by default, at least) and is constantly monitoring voices in your home in order to hear its wake word. May 4, 2022

How long does Home Assistant Keep sensor data?

10 days Long-term statistics are different than the other objects in the database, which are stored exactly as they happened and are automatically purged after a period (default is 10 days). Statistics are never purged. Because they are summarized every hour, they only create 24 entries per day.

How long does Home Assistant retain data?

10 days It is this setting in the recorder integration: https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/recorder/#purge_keep_days it lists the default as 10 days. You can also limit the amount of data stored by excluding entities you are not interested in the history of. Nov 26, 2021

How do I use Grafana at Home Assistant?

After the previously explained changes you can now very easily add single panels to your Home Assistant dashboard. Just go to your Grafana panel, click on the title and select share. In the menu that pops up you can switch to the Embed tab and copy the src URL part from the text box. May 30, 2021

What database does Home Assistant use?

SQLite Home Assistant uses database to store events and parameters for history and tracking. The default database used is SQLite and the database file is stored in your configuration directory (e.g., /home-assistant_v2.

How do I get rid of database Home Assistant?

Open the Home Assistant UI and go to Settings > System > Backups, here you will see all your backups, these can be downloaded and placed somewhere safe. When you have done that, you can delete them in the UI and it will free up some space for you.

How do I get rid of Home Assistant history?

this way it only picks up on the devices that I have set to track. Delete \hassio\config\home-assistant_v2. db and restart. That worked, thank you! Jul 27, 2018

Can you run Home Assistant on an iPad?

Installation & System Requirements The iOS App requires iOS 10 or greater, this means the oldest devices supported are the iPhone 5, 4th generation iPad and the 6th generation iPod touch. The Android app has 2 separate flavors full or minimal . Both flavors require Android 5.0 or greater.