terse creek
I'm completely new to HA and generally inexperienced with tech more complex than building a PC. I was looking through microcenter deals and they have quite a few SFFPC that might support.
Reliability and ease of use are my top priorities. Do you have a recommendation for a beginner? I'll primarily be using my system for 1 PoE camera and some air quality sensors for my aviary.
My current thoughts are that the stability and support options of HA Yellow are too good to pass up, especially for a beginner who plans to use Homebridge. Saw this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/16yx7np/home_assistant_yellow_poe_cm4_is_imo_the_best_ha/
zinc rune
Your requirements don’t sound too extreme so one of those old SFF machines probably draws more power than it’s worth. Those things are getting ancient.
toxic abyss
Much of this applies to the yellow too: #general-archived message
There isn't a lot of efficiency difference between a 6th and 14th gen intel CPU for this use case so them being old is irrelevant. I estimate 8-20W at idle for these.
dusty flame
I got a TurnKey device from Amazon with Home Assistant already installed. Here's a link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJPLG65B?.
A little more expensive but consumes less power (15W maybe vs 150W). Given it runs 24/7, I figured I'd offset electric bill against it and be able to tuck it away on a 1U shelf in my data closet (aka my rack in my wife's shoe closet)
deft quail
I'm completely new to HA and generally inexperienced with tech more complex than...
Since you’re doing a camera setup I’d probably go for the mini PC. Also those “deals” aren’t really great.
I’d probably grab something like this and get a SSD and more ram
the last link I sent is the best deal but a little more than the PCs you’re looking at
Leaves you room for expansion and running other things besides HA.
terse creek
Leaves you room for expansion and running other things besides HA.
So for this, I just install HA through a VM? On windows or linux?
I also see i5 2018 mac minis for 200 bucks
toxic abyss
So for this, I just install HA through a VM? On windows or linux?
I recommend this way: #hardware-archived message
terse creek
I recommend this way: https://discord.com/channels/330944238910963714/6722234339...
it says dont use if youre a beginner, but reading the instructions, it looks like you install via USB media and then copy and paste a bunch of shell commands with recommended settings. Is it really that simple?
toxic abyss
It has a steep learning curve but yeah, kind of.
terse creek
Steps
terse creek
It has a steep learning curve but yeah, kind of.
I'd have to think of what else I'd use it for. I run a seedbox with plex, but the upload speeds for seeding might be worth keeping that. I could use it to extend my plex with additional media that won't fit in my seedbox
but i think any encoding would require a more powerful CPU
I've been thinking about reexamining my 5600x/3070 system to make it more power efficient
I primarily used it for video editing (I work in film/videography), but more and more I just use my MBP. The apple silicon is shockingly efficient.
It's now serving as a repository more than anything else
If I tune some settings, I wonder if I can get a 5600x to run super efficient
Or at least efficient enough that buying a new SFFPC wouldn't be cost effective
(Ok nah, no way that's gonna happen)
too large of a power draw
these both have an i5 and 512 SSDs
and microcenter offers 60 day full walk-in support
the TurnKey device has a m.2 drive and HA pre-installed. another option
ok, sorry for thinking out loud, lemme run a full "dream setup" and see where that takes me. i live in a 1bd apt so I don't have a ton of things to run.
deft quail
ok, sorry for thinking out loud, lemme run a full "dream setup" and see where th...
I thought that at first aswell… once you start running Home Assistant it makes you venture down the rabbit hole of self hosted stuff
deft quail
these both have an i5 and 512 SSDs
Keep in mind these likely have way more power draw than one of the mini PCs I sent
my HP uses 35w max
dusty flame
I'd suggest to start of small: get Home Assistant up and running, with a few smart lights switches and maybe a door sensor (eg. automate that pantry door and the light) then build up once you get a "feel" for Home Assistant.
terse creek
Its very funny that these responses were posted back to back. I decided there IS a bunch of stuff I wanna selfhost, but its mostly PKM and related services like whisper and TTS, maybe some LM to search through my academic research and summarize stuff
So I might actually get HA Green that exclusively runs my cameras and lights. It'll keep my power bill way lower. Then I'll work on a separate selfhosting project
It's a shame that homekit isnt a little more capable. Otherwise I'd just use that.
The whole reason I wanted to start with HA is because my internet and power is so inconsistent. I live in a dense, old part of a congested city. My internet will drop at least 3 times a day. The pings are bad enough that I don't really do online gaming anymore. I think HA + my APC power backup with be the best option.
The only thing that might change my mind is speaker integration. I want to have the ability to start or stop playing music when I'm not home. That way if I'm getting home late or its noisy out, I can turn on some calm music or white noise.
Looking right now, it seems like bluetooth speakers are not always friendly with HA
Some simple wired speakers through a nuc might handle it better
dusty flame
Its very funny that these responses were posted back to back. I decided there IS...
Just on the side of caution. RasPi, Greens and Yellows - they all are backed by eMMC storage. This storage does deteriorate faster due to write operations, which is normal. A better choice would be to get something SSD to save any hassles - and remember to backup your settings
terse creek
Ive seen some NUCs with power consumption under 10w. I can check those as well
terse creek
This is on sale. Returnable until Jan 31st. Lots of great ports. I can run it through my amazon business account too.
