It seems that there are a lot of things to consider before even buying the first smart device. How would you start when you would start over?

Are there any good beginner guides that helped you?

Important points for me are

  • privacy (everything should be local, no Alexa-Karens in my home)
  • use of open source/free software
  • a good variety of smart things I can use (I don’t want to be tied Apple-like to only one company)

Is there a golden way to build a smart home with these factors in mind?

  • @[email protected]English
    5•1 year ago

    Smaller steps. One at a time. Test.

    I started off with HA, integrating all my devices i had at once, totally enthusiastic as I was. There were times where I installed several automations and integrations within just a few minutes, not giving them time to work for them selves, especially not in a „productive“ environment with wife, kids, neighbours, etc. all involved in the system.

    Lots of automations broke or did not work as expected and I saw my self confronted fixing so many building sites at once.

    I am through the roughest part. But should I start from scratch any time I will most surely start I’d small, test, iterate and move on.

    • StandingCatEnglish
      3•1 year ago

      I recently “started over” but it was more of a rebuild in place. I did room by room. Areas were not a thing when i started so i added everything to a new area. Deleted any automations that targeted that area. Renamed all devices/entities in the area to a standard naming scheme. Then creating a dashboard for that area. Rebuilt the automations one at a time. Letting them bake before starting a new automation. And finishing all automations for that room before starting a new area.