Home Assistant
This is my personal setup for Home Assistant, that focuses on privacy, local control, and modern dashboard. I use Zigbee protocol for most of my devices, which allows for low-power, reliable communication without relying on cloud services.
Hardware​
- Raspberry Pi 5 with 4GB is powerful for running Home Assistant.
- Raspberry Pi Active Cooler to prevent overheating.
- Raspberry Pi Power Supply 27W USB-C for stable power and to power additional USB devices.
- 870 EVO SATA 2.5" SSD 250GB with SSD to USB 3.0 Cable or
- NVMe SSD Base with M.2 Slot for fast storage and booting.
- Conbee 2, Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 or Connect ZBT-1 for Zigbee integration with any USB extension cable with ZHA.
Boot from SSD​
- Use Raspberry Pi Imager to install bootloader (USB version) on SD card. This changes the booting order to boot from USB storage first.
- Use Imager to install Home Assistant OS on the SSD.
- Connect the SSD to the Raspberry Pi via USB and boot it up conected to ethernet cable.
Install Software​
HACS (Home Assistant Community Store)​
Integrations​
- Zigbee Home Automation (ZHA) for Zigbee devices.
- Octopus Energy
Dashboard​
- Lovelace is the default dashboard for Home Assistant.
- Lovelace Mushroom is a modern, customizable dashboard theme. I am using it for my Home Assistant dashboard.
- Lovelace Minimalist is another popular theme for a clean, minimalistic look.
Add-ons​
- Node-RED for visual automation.
- Mosquitto for MQTT broker.
- Advanced SSH & Web Terminal for SSH access.
- Let's Encrypt for SSL certificates.
- Studio Code Server for code editing.
Resources​
Useful Links​
- Home Assistant Supervisor
- HACS (Community Store) - The Home Assistant Community Store for custom components, themes, and dashboards.
- Awesome Home Assistant
- Matter Standard - Next-gen open standard for smart home interoperability.
Devices​
- Philip Hue Strip Light - Smart lighting system.
Philips Hue can be integrated with Home Assistant via Zigbee. To reset Hue Strip Light, turn it on for 5 second and off for 5 second x 5 times until it flashes.
Youtube Channels​
Security & Best Practices​
- Use SSL/TLS for remote access (
Let's Encrypt, NGINX, or built-in). - Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Restrict external access, use VPN or reverse proxy.
- Regularly update Home Assistant and add-ons.
- Backup configuration and snapshots.