So the lock down has provided a lot of time to look for projects around the house. One i have always wanted to look into is home automation and especially Apple Homekit seeing as i have bought into the whole ecosystem. There in lies the problem as most homekit approved devices are a) expensive and b) mostly not available in country.
Enter homebridge. It turns out that a community driven software that can run on Pi or on a windows desktop can give the access to the Apple API's and allow integration of run of the mill "works with Alexa/Assistant" products into homekit for use in whatever scene/automation you want to create.
This has allowed me to very cost effectively automate/control with Siri, a number of things around the house such as garage doors, bedside lamps, night lights and even my AVR. I have found the sonoff devices very stable and extremely cost effective. Lights from connex connect have been good so far too. The only downside to this is the number of additional devices sitting on my wifi network which i am not a fan of.
Enter Aqara. They provide a number of sensors/switches/lights that are Homekit/Alexa/Google assistant certified, come at a reasonable price, are well made and the best part is they operate on zigbee so have their own low power wifi network that runs completely separate from my main network. Yes they require a hub to work but this doubles up as a night light and alarm.
Just wanted to share a little and see what experiences the forum members have/ brands anyone has come across that worked well.
Enter homebridge. It turns out that a community driven software that can run on Pi or on a windows desktop can give the access to the Apple API's and allow integration of run of the mill "works with Alexa/Assistant" products into homekit for use in whatever scene/automation you want to create.
This has allowed me to very cost effectively automate/control with Siri, a number of things around the house such as garage doors, bedside lamps, night lights and even my AVR. I have found the sonoff devices very stable and extremely cost effective. Lights from connex connect have been good so far too. The only downside to this is the number of additional devices sitting on my wifi network which i am not a fan of.
Enter Aqara. They provide a number of sensors/switches/lights that are Homekit/Alexa/Google assistant certified, come at a reasonable price, are well made and the best part is they operate on zigbee so have their own low power wifi network that runs completely separate from my main network. Yes they require a hub to work but this doubles up as a night light and alarm.
Just wanted to share a little and see what experiences the forum members have/ brands anyone has come across that worked well.
