Smart Home Part 1: Selecting a Smart Home Controller

It's been two years since I have moved into my new apartment. I took the effort to plan and design my home automation system. Saving big dollars from those that provide the services.

The total material I calculated, cost me about SGD$5,000. But it is worth it. Having to integrate it with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, everything is almost complete.

I have not been updating this blog much as I am busy with my life and having another technology blog going one as well.

Now I am going to start a series of Home Automation series articles to help those who are planning to start this journey decide on their own.

I am an IT professional and do not co-sell or own any Smart Home company. What I share here is my own journey and advice to those who intend to do it yourself. I can try to answer as many questions as I may but I do not guarantee you a solution. Some have asked me to provide my service, but it needs some help from your electrician or interior designer who you are working with. I, myself cannot complete without working with these people.

First stop, selecting a Smart Home controller. Before you start with your Smart Home planning, you need to choose a smart home controller. There are many controllers on the market and there are many pros and cons to the one you picked.

I started off with Vera Plus. This is what I call a cheap man solution. I didn't want to spend too much on my automation. Later on, I needed more to be work on. I started to write the LUP code which Vera use to program more complex logic. It didn't work that well. In the end, I switch out from Vera to Homey.

So what do you look for in a controller? It will depend on what device do you want to integrate with.

What are the things you want to control with your smart home? E.g. lights, switches, motors, aircon, etc.
You need to decide what are the items you like to control. As the controller that you choose must be able to work with all these devices or support these devices. Smart Home controller typically support a few protocols (just like your Wifi signal at home use to have B, G, and now N). The most popular ones will be Zwave and ZigBee. Some also support RF, Bluetooth, etc. The devices that support such protocols ranges. They may be available in Singapore or you would need to import them e.g. Amazon. Also, there is two frequency that these protocols runs on, mostly US and EU. The official one that is supported in Singapore is neither. Surprisingly Singapore uses Korean frequency. The among of device would be so limited. However, I started off with the UK so I just stayed with it. Choose the protocol that supports the devices you want to control then find the right controller.

Do you need to integrate with Voice systems like Google Home and Amazon Echo?
If the above is yes, make sure you check out the controller that support either one of them or both. I started with Vera Plus which only support when you run a bridge to integrate them. However, the bridge is no longer needed using the latest firmware from Vera for Amazon Echo and Google Home has also stopped allowing the bridge. In such, my voice command ended up with Amazon Echo and no more with Google Home.

Where do I start and which device manufacturer for devices I want to control do I look for?
This is a good question. I often ask my friends to start with On/Off switches to control lights. So I do not use expensive light bulbs such as Philips Hue but rather use the normal LED lights and have the switch to control it. But, do note that if your lights are dimmer lights, do get a switch that supports it. Also if you choose to use back your normal switch due to most reason as it looks good or fit your home, you can purchase a switch module to make those switches smart. E.g. are Fibaro Zwave modules. This includes motor roller switches for blinds or garage doors, dimmer lights, etc.

Where do I start?
Do your research. What devices do you want to control? Are those controlled by infrared (IR), Radio frequency (RF), Zwave, Zigbee, Wifi, etc.? Decide on one that can do the majority of your device and see if it can integrate to complement those that can't to start doing. Giving you an example, for my TV and Media player, I use Logitech Harmony Remote/Hub, this control all my IR device and it can integrate with Vera Plus as Vera wasn't able to do IR. Currently, have switched to Homey.