Hi all,
I'm looking to finally dive into proper home automation after years of being busy with family life. I have a decent amount of smart devices already, but I'm looking for advice on how to unify and expand everything, specifically starting with Home Assistant (HA).
My main goal right now is to tackle the issue of lights being left on all the time, but I also want advice on the best starting point for a complete HA beginner.
🏡 Current Inventory​
Here's what I have, which I'd ideally like to integrate:
System Devices / Details
Lighting Phillips Hue: 5 x rooms with Hue bulbs and their associated dimmer switches (upstairs) plus hall and landing have Hue bulbs but standard two-way switches.
Standard Switches: All downstairs rooms (playroom, living room, kitchen, utility, WC) have standard light bulbs and brushed chrome switches (which I don't want to replace with Hue dimmers).
Motion Sensors Phillips Hue: 4 x motion sensors (1 in use, 3 unused).
Voice/Ecosystem Amazon Alexa devices, Sonos speakers, Google Wifi, Samsung TVs.
Climate/Heating Heatmiser for UFH, Tado smart radiator valves.
Security Eufy doorbell and security cameras, Ajax alarm system.
Appliances Bluetooth-enabled washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher (currently using individual apps for overnight tariff scheduling).
My Core Questions​
Home Assistant: Where do I begin? I'm keen to start using Home Assistant to centralize control, create automations, and bring all my devices (especially the appliances/heating) into one interface. What is the best and simplest HA starting platform/hardware for a relative beginner?
How to Solve the Lights Left On
Problem?
I want to use my 3 unused Hue Motion Sensors. Where are the most effective places to put them?
For the landing (which has a standard two-way switch), I assume I'd need a switch module (like a Shelly or something similar) to keep the standard switch functionality while enabling motion-based automation. Is this correct, and what modules are recommended?
For my child's bedroom, how can I use a motion sensor to turn the light off when he's not in the room, but prevent it from turning on if he moves in bed during the night? (I read about putting it under the bed but am looking for HA solutions/logic).
What's the Next Step for Monitoring/Expansion? Once I have Home Assistant running, what are the recommended low-cost next steps? For example, adding humidity/air quality sensors to automate ventilation or monitor room conditions.
Existing apps. It does annoy me that I have to go into each individual app e.g dishwasher, alarm etc to activate each, I'd much prefer to do it from the same place.
I appreciate that these are very much first world problems but any guidance on the first few steps, especially the HA install and how to best use my existing Hue kit, would be hugely appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
