Hi everyone. I recently started my Home Assistant journey by replacing Google Calendar and Keep Notes with Home Assistant. A couple of light bulbs burnt out and I want to replace them with bulbs that I can use exclusivity on Home Assistant and bypass the manufacturers app entirely. What brand should I look for?
These are standard wall mounted lights in my kitchen and my laundry room.
Smart switches, dumb bulbs if you don’t need colour/temperature/brightness support. Cheapest way to go is probably Zigbee using Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA
Shelly
I use the vintage ones as they look nice.
I have 12 of them because my house wiring is 💩 so I can’t get smart switches to work properly
They’re wifi and can operate with the Shelly integration and / or MQTT. No need for an app, they have their own wifi when you first power them up to configure them.
The only reason I let them loose on the internet is to update their firmware, then I isolate them again.
I also have a pair of Lifx bulbs in the bedroom as they’re inside shades so it’s more about the RGB colour for sunrise / sunset than their visual appeal as a bulb.
General advice is smart switches, dumb bulbs. Switches mean that you can control the light without getting out your phone, or whatever it is you use to control the bulb. Sure HA can talk to many bulbs, but only if the switch is on. Guests will not have the ability to control your bulbs - either there is too much work to install an app for a short stay, or the system is a security nightmare (often both). Use a smart switch because they have a control on the wall that guests can use to get what they want done without having to worry about apps.
Most often you can choose bulbs with the right color temperature, but if not some dimable bulbs change color temperature. If this is not good enough two lights: a general room like, and a separate special effects light, don’t combine them (HA can control both, but they are separate systems generally not used at the same time)
I go to a half-way house: Smart bulbs, dumb switches, but a zigbee button next to the switch.
1 click toggles on/off in the last state.
Press+Hold for warm-white evening.
Double-click for daytime.
And now, a sticker on the 230v switch that says “don’t switch off!”We have a similar setup for lights that aren’t just tied up to motion sensors :)
I’m sure I’ve seen a mollyguard-like printable that covers the rocker of the switch to prevent accidental presses. It had a slot in it so you could still flip the switch with a card or similar thing object.
I got to be fair, I do agree here. Buy smart switches where possible. I have never had problems with those, while smart bulbs are sometimes inefficient, too dim, flicker at low brightness, and are more expensive.
We have about 12 smart switches and 6 bulbs or so. From Sonoff and Athom.
Another option we have is smart bulb with a smart switch. So you don’t turn the power off from the bulb. This is the worst of both worlds.
Look for zigbee, thread, and/or matter.
+1 on smart switches/dumb bulbs for hardwired fixtures. There are exceptions, but not many.
Phillips hue bulbs are solid but on the pricy side.
Govee is ok, I recommend making sure you get ones that have Matter capability. Same with LifX brand.
Iim sure there are other brands but those are 3 I have experience with.
I got some expensive Hue bulbs just because they were the most powerful Zigbee bulbs I could find where I live. Almost all other Zigbee bulbs are way too dim, for some reason.
I can second the Hue bulbs.
They’re good quality, and connect directly to a zigbee dongle without the Signiant app/Hub.In my area we have a brand called LEDvance, which ships both wifi and zigbee bulbs. I have some of the Zigbee ones and I don’t need anything other than HomeAssistant to add them to my network.
I run a hybrid setup. I’m going to go in depth on some stuff because lights and switches are only the beginning.
I’m using a mix of rgb bulbs and switches. Every room tends to have one of each minimum. The reason for this is that I can do fun things with RGB bulbs like have them change color in sequence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_LUe0OMj70
Or the RGB’s can visually give information like weather conditions when you wake up, or storm alerts if you are gaming with a headset. I am messing with a follow me setup and my stepson at the same time by changing the color of his RGB bulb based on my location in the house.
I’m also using old phones and tablets at multiple locations so control of them is no big deal when the need arises and these devices also allow quick access to cameras and other information and controls. Places where I don’t have tablets or phones will be eventually getting homemade smart switches to control things.
I’ve found that the Sonoff ZBMINI series is very nice to use if you can fit them in the box. They turn any old dumb switch into a smart switch and they can be used with low voltage switches if they have 2 switch legs. The switch legs can accept high voltage but when they are wired together they run 5v, you just have to check with a meter. They can also turn outlets into smart outlets without a switch connected at all. Anything that runs on a battery is zigbee and I’m slowly migrating anything I can’t build myself that way.
I use WLED for RGB strips, build my own indoor sensors and fixed placement switch controls using ESP32’s and ESP8266’s so they all use wifi or eventually will be POE wired. I also built my own controller for my water heater using an ESP8266, DS18B20’s, and a multi pole solid state relay. I setup my own water meter using a meter with a built in pulse output and an ESP8266. My electric meter uses an ESP32, a pair of ATM90E32AS, and some current transformers. Everything setup on ESP’s run ESPhome.
The best setup is what YOU choose works best for your home and situation. Anyone who says otherwise has a different mindset, situation, and design ethos. Many people claim wifi devices are always problematic, the only reason why I’m switching from them is is harder to get them off the manufacturer’s ecosystem as for me they have worked flawlessly. I run a very powerful router with a 10G fiber LAN backbone and commercial grade switches and multiple commercial grade AP’s because I am building things in a way that suits my usage and experience. I have pulled over 2500 feet of ethernet through the house along with some OM3 fiber and still need to pull more to be finished.
BTW I’ve been told over and over again how many things I do won’t work or are wrong or are going to start a fire etcetera etcetera. My 240v water heater setup has been up and running for over 6 years now with no issue. If you really understand how things work and research the parts you are using anything is possible. Just remember that if you DIY you are the person responsible for the results.
