Here’s a breakdown of my smart home ecosystem as it stands today, including the devices and add-ons I use to keep things running smoothly.
Home Assistant Core Setup:
- Version: Nearly Always Current, As of 1/8/25: 2025.1.1
- Host Device: Raspberry Pi 5 with NVME POE HAT and 256GB NVME drive
- Network Setup: 95% Unifi, some older Unifi APs that need replacing, a Unifi 24 Port Switch, Cloud Gateway Ultra, and a Unifi 8 Port POE switch. There are some Flex Mini’s around the house as well.
- Zigbee/Z-Wave Hub: Silicon Labs HubZ
Key Add-ons & Integrations Installed:
- AccuWeather – For local weather dashboard cards.
- Alexa Media Player – Utilizes Amazon Echo products as media players within Home Assistant.
- Blue Iris NVR– Connect to my security cameras and create motions sensors from Blue Iris’ MQTT function.
- Certificate Expiry – Confirm that my domain SSL cert is automatically renewing. Gives how many days are left in your certificate until it expires.
- File Editor – Easily access configuration files for changes.
- HACS (Home Assistant Community Store) – For custom integrations.
- HomeAssistant Google Drive Backup – Backup Home Assistant and store on Google Drive.
- HomeKit Bridge/Device – Expose devices to Siri on our iPhones.
- Honeywell Lyric – Control our home’s thermostats.
- iCloud3 v3 – We had issues with the mobile app’s location tracking which was leading to issues with automations that require presence detection. This solves it for us by looking at my location and my wife’s through FindMy.
- Let’s Encrypt – Manage https certificate.
- Molokule – Control my office air purifier’s fan, check air quality, and life of filter.
- MQTT – Broker for MQTT.
- Nginx Proxy Manager – Easily create reverse proxies.
- Node Red – Low code automation editor. Mostly used this before automations got natively better in Home Assistant.
- Rain Bird – Control my lawn’s sprinkler zones via Home Assistant.
- Roborock – Control and expose entities of my Roborock robot vacuum.
- Samba Share – Expose Home Assistant folders on the network for easy access to config files.
- Scheduler – I mostly have used this to setup my schedules for both thermostats in conjunction with Versatile Thermostat.
- Schlage – Front door lock control and status.
- Sonos – Control different aspects of my four different Sonos speakers.
- Speedtest.net – I run an occasional speed test in order to make sure I am getting the speeds I paid for.
- Spotify – Play music from Spotify to my Alexa or Sonos devices.
- Terminal & SSH – Remote login to Home Assistant via SSH.
- Tuya – This controls and exposes information about my cold plunge thermometer.
- Unifi – Manage and expose information about devices connected to my network.
- Versatile Thermostat – Allows me to customize my two thermostats presence detection and set points more. Also provides some logic around when to turn HVAC on and off based on temperature change in the house.
- Wyze Home Assistant Integration – I still have a few Wyze smart plugs I used for various things and this allows me to control them.
- Z-Wave and ZHA – Z-Wave and Zigbee control for different switches and plugs, and sensors.
Devices Integrated with Home Assistant:
- Smart Plugs:
- Securifi Peanut Plugs
- ThirdReality Plugs
- Wyze Plugs
- Light Switches:
- Ultra Pro (Z-Wave)
- Zooz 700 3-Way Toggle Switches (Z-Wave)
- Sensors:
- Ecolink Door & Window Sensors
- Visonic Door & Window Sensors
- Aqara Temperature & Humidity Sensors
- Voice Assistants: Amazon Alexa
Future Smart Home & Networking Plans
I’m always looking for ways to expand and optimize my smart home. Here’s a look at the upcoming devices, add-ons, and upgrades I’m planning:
Planned Home Assistant Add-ons:
| Add-on Name | Purpose | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Enphase | Solar panel monitoring | High |
| Zigbee2MQTT | More control over Zigbee network & Devices | Medium |
| Forecast Solar | Forecast solar production of solar panels | Medium |
Planned Devices & Hardware Upgrades:
| Device/Upgrade | Reason for Upgrade | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| SMLIGHT SLZB-06 Zigbee Coordinator | Better range, reliability, and compatibility | High |
| Touch Screen Panel for Home Assistant | Allow family to easily interact with Home Assistant | Medium |
| Wi-Fi 6 Router | Faster speeds & coverage | High |
Networking & Infrastructure Goals:
- Change out old 24 port UniFi switch for 16 port UniFi POE switch
- Terminate rest of house Ethernet ports to patch panel to enable quickly setting up ports around the house for use.
- One more dual camera for our back yard.
Next Steps & What to Expect
I’ll be documenting these upgrades and sharing tutorials along the way, so stay tuned for deeper dives into how I implement these changes in my smart home. If there’s something specific you’d like to see covered, drop a comment below!
Stay Smart,
Alex Tripp
AlexTripp.tech
