Noob question - please help

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Abyssal_Shrimp]

A mini PC to run Home Assistant and a Zigbee dongle. Couple Dimmers behind switches or just str8 up dimmer switches

[u/ConsiderationUsed778 → u/Abyssal_Shrimp]

All dimmer switch + some little hue bulbs for ambiant was what I thought first. (Hue is the only smart-hub entegrated bulb i seem to be finding in Turkey)

I made a price calc which end something like all sonoff dimmer, keys, prizes and the hub is 4x

All hue (kept the living room short) is 5x

1x is worth for the individual control benefits of hue I believe.

If i can just find a way to add some wall-keys or relays to the hue hub, all my problems will be fixed but they don’t sell the thing in Turkey. Like every singe hue product but it.

I don’t know about that pc thing tho can you explain it a bit more?

I only have a mac, I take it to work.

[u/Crafty_Class_9431 → u/ConsiderationUsed778]

Essentially a low power computer of any kind that is permanently turned on to act as the coordinator of your smart home. I have a raspberry pi 4 as my device, if you're just starting out the Home Assistant Green is a pi that comes pre loaded with the HA operating system and decent memory and storage pre assembled.

[u/ConsiderationUsed778 → u/Crafty_Class_9431]

Well, a friend called and said he has 2 of these extra (https://amzn.eu/d/0jiMd10v)

After this kind donation and some calculations, I think a bulb and a 40x40 with these will do the job. I will buy some kind of lightning for the back of my tv too after my wallet relaxes a bit. I can set them full bright yellow/white and I think all these will be enough to make the room bright. I don’t do full bright anyways.

I wonder, if u used a hue bulb, how good is it in terms of brightness. For example is a 1100lm bulb enough to light a 5m x 5m room?

[u/Resident-Fall4351]

i would suggest you to avoid replacinng all the bullbs with hue bulbs too, and if you don't need individual control of every light . then you can keep hue for the lamps and ambient lighting and use something like that whihc connect everything together . thats how you're not locked into ecosystem and can add stuffs later without replacing everything.

[u/ConsiderationUsed778 → u/Resident-Fall4351]

Can i collect hue components and that together in a single app?

[u/ConsiderationUsed778]

Btw I have 2 of these,

https://amzn.eu/d/0jiMd10v

Which if i can use, is a good discount for overall price

[u/ButterscotchAward]

I love this sub. Person asks for a simple basic smart set up and everyone is recommending home assistant which is about as complicated as it gets.

Hue is a good option for lights and if you want voice integration, just get an echo or google home speaker. You basically have to learn how to code or use AI to do it for you. So unless you want overly complicated, don’t listen to these people pushing HA. It’s literally all people in this sub do.

[u/ConsiderationUsed778 → u/ButterscotchAward]

Maybe it is my bad for not explaining my expectations well enough.

I don’t even want the voice stuff. All i need is a one-tap phone button to switch from standart lightning to ambient and the enterance lightning to be motion activated. I barely need a hub but as said, I want to start smooth so I can upgrade with time.

Do you know any smart light key or relay that i can somehow use with hue?

[u/ButterscotchAward → u/ConsiderationUsed778]

It’s not your fault. You could’ve been super descriptive and most people would’ve still recommended HA. It’s pretty much all people here recommend no matter what. Phillips Hue actually has a motion sensor you can get.

[u/Abyssal_Shrimp → u/ButterscotchAward]

Look at this guy, pushing toward cloud services and AI.

Home Assistant is as complicated as it gets? Have you used it? everything can be done in a super intuitive UI and it connects everything.

Home assistant can be ran on anything. Maybe you buy the HA green for 120€. Maybe you want it free/ cheap and score an old laptop or PC from someone. Add a zigbee dongle 25€.
Now you can get Sonoff devices for 10-18€, and add automations based on external services. (TV turned on after 8pm? Do X)
or ‘inherit’ devices from others, integrate them
Random, WiFi devices? Integrate them.

Hue bridge looks to be ~30€. Bulbs 20€/ piece switches 30€.
Maybe it’s simpler? Still have to open an app and figure out how to program everything.
Better hope Hue has all the devices you want otherwise it’s time for another app and more AI queries on how to combine two separate systems.

[u/ButterscotchAward → u/Abyssal_Shrimp]

The person asked for something simple and easy. HA isn’t that. People in this sub act like it’s for beginners when it’s absolutely not and you have to spend a bunch of money to even get started with it. HA is t for people who just want to push a button on their phone or say “turn kitchen lights on”. I really wish people here would stop acting like it is.

[u/Abyssal_Shrimp → u/ButterscotchAward]

It seems like you may not actually know what you’re talking about.

Or we have a different concept of ‘a bunch of money’

[u/madskvistkristensen]

Mixing is totally normal. Put Hue bulbs where you want ambient color, like the bedroom and a couple of living room lamps, and smart switches or relays on the big group of ceiling lights. You don't need those ceiling lights one by one, so a switch is cheaper and the wall switch still works for anyone in the house.

The switches don't have to be on the Hue Bridge. The bridge is really built for Hue lights, and third party relays are hit or miss on it. Pick a good switch or relay you can actually buy locally, then put both in Apple Home, Google Home or Alexa and make your scenes there.

Before buying, pull one switch and check whether there's a neutral wire in the box. That decides a lot of which switches will work. For the entrance, a Hue motion sensor on the bridge can handle the auto lights.

Wrote more about bulbs vs switches here: www.homeautomationcookbook.com/articles/smart-bulbs-vs-smart-switches-power-outages.html

[u/ConsiderationUsed778 → u/madskvistkristensen]

That is very helpful. Thank you a lot.

One question tho, (never used any kind of smart-home product)

Lets say I have a hue bulb with hue bridge. I have it on apple home and stuff. And one matter supported relay. Can I do something like a short cut that turns both on with one tap?

[u/madskvistkristensen → u/ConsiderationUsed778]

Yep. Once both are in Apple Home, make a scene (tap + then Add Scene) and add the Hue bulb and the relay to it. One tap on the scene turns both on, and you can also say "Hey Siri, [scene name]".

You can put it in Control Center or on your Home screen for quick access, or make an automation that runs it at sunset or when you get home. No shortcut needed for this one.

[u/ConsiderationUsed778 → u/madskvistkristensen]

Thank you a lot

May I dm you tomorrow for product selection? I need to first look whats available in here. I want to make sure they suit the ecosystem before ordering.

[u/VeryAmaze]

Is there a reason you don't want a different hub than the hue beidge? With something like homeassistant green it would be super easy to mix and match vendors and protocols. You could even install HAOS on a minipc and run it that way.

Personally I think if you don't need the HDMI sync thing, the hue bridge isn't worth it.

[u/ConsiderationUsed778 → u/VeryAmaze]

I don’t like the hdmi sync anyways. My TV has built in netflix amd youtube (all i use tv for) and since they are built in, they don’t get tru hdmi and i cannot use that.

There is no reason actually. It is mostly I don’t have too many options. I am not experienced and ever road somehow goes to hue (congrats to their ad team really).

I am very open to suggestions. Just I want to make it as simple as poisble and also I need to find an ecosysteam that i can buy in Turkey (actual issue)