A while ago, I wanted to try Home Assistant. Then I realised that I didn't have a single thing to use it with. The locks are mechanical, the lights are simple LEDs, the irrigation system is manual, my car has push buttons, and I live in a safe enough area (by European standards) to not need doorbell or security cameras. Nothing I own depends on any external services other than the electric transformer down the street.

Never a better time to be a modern Luddite.

[–] qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 5 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I can be a bit neurotic about turning off lights when I leave a room, so Home Assistant was a nice way to free up brain space for me. A few motion sensors here and there + some simple automations, and the lights mostly handle themselves. Zigbee sensors and Zigbee or Matter-over-WiFi bulbs, so everything is local. A free VPS+WireGuard setup means I can access them remotely should I need to, with TailScale as a backup.

Cloud failures mean I can't access remotely, but local control is unaffected---if my smart devices stop working it's almost certainly my fault :)

[–] piccolo@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Automating lights made sense 20+ years ago when lights were power hungry. But leaving on a 10w light bulb today is so meaniless. Especially after adding in all the power draw of the automation requires...

[–] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

A single raspberry pi that draws maybe 3 watts, and fraction of a watt standby draw per device?

Also, 10w draw for a year is 87kWh. And you probably have more than just one light in your house.

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