RPi choices for HA Yellow | Home Assistant | Page 1

compact karma Jul 13, 2025, 6:50 PM

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Deciding which Pi to get for a HA Yellow kit. Already chose CM5 (unless there is a compelling reason to stick with CM4). Deciding between RAM (4, 8, 16GB) and storage (none, 16, 32, 64 GB). For sure I won't need much now, just trying to future proof. Is it reasonable to max out RAM (16GB) and storage (64GB) or is it more likely that the entire platform will be deprecated before I start to fully utilize those capacities?

Context: I am new to HA, and right now using it just for 5 water sensors. Plan to add maybe 5 smart light switches and 4 thermostats in the near future. So far I'm only using Z-Wave and I plan to stick with it as much as possible.

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I'm mostly wondering about the RAM. The differences in cost between the various storage options is like $5, so I'll probably max that out.

thick scaffold Jul 13, 2025, 6:54 PM

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Do you already own the yellow kit?

compact karma Jul 13, 2025, 6:54 PM

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no, planning to purchase it, the PoE version (if that matters)

thick scaffold Jul 13, 2025, 6:56 PM

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Because I'd recommend against buying SBCs or pis: https://gist.github.com/Impact123/6ee130240bdc6a7fed2d5224616544a0
If you buy a pi I'd recommend the pi 5 with a NVMe SSD. 4GB RAM and 64GB storage minimum. Whether you need more is dependend on the addons you want to run.

compact karma Jul 13, 2025, 6:58 PM

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all good points. fwiw i at least was planning to get an nvme drive for it.

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any good minipc you'd recommend that can be powered by PoE?

thick scaffold Jul 13, 2025, 7:01 PM

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I don't know any at the top of my head which natively support it but most use barrel jacks and you can probably just use a 12V/5A adapter for them. It's cheaper and you have more choices.

compact karma Jul 13, 2025, 7:04 PM

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yeah. i was really hoping for PoE though. it was the main reason i was even looking at the Yellow over the cheaper Green. looking to leverage PoE more in my home.

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anyway thanks! i'll do some more research

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but assuming i stick with Yellow and a Pi, is 8GB silly or reasonable for future proofing?

thick scaffold Jul 13, 2025, 7:05 PM

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With adapter I meant a PoE to barrel jack 12V/5A adapter/converter.

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I don't think it's silly. Too much memory is better than the opposite. I don't expect HAOS to require much more than 4GB in the future. It's mostly for addons. The green comes with 4GB for example.

compact karma Jul 13, 2025, 7:08 PM

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yeah. i've noticed the addons can be... a bit bloated.

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but i think 8GB is probably right. big jump in price to 16GB.

thick scaffold Jul 13, 2025, 7:10 PM

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Code Server even has a memory leak: https://github.com/hassio-addons/addon-vscode/issues/565

compact karma Jul 13, 2025, 7:11 PM

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hehe yeah i stuck with the plain File Editor addon. run a hosted VS Code just to edit some config files? no thanks.

#RPi choices for HA Yellow