Im looking to upgrade my greenhouse for next year, and want to integrate some automations vs timers and thermostats. Some background not the most tech savvy but am handy (mechanic). I was looking into home assistant and kasa smart plugs. The more i look into this project i believe im doing this the wrong way. I can use 120v outlets for any thing i need to trigger all hvac and irrigation events. i can run an outlet to what i would like triggered or extend pump/fan wiring to plug into a central hub. Sensors i thought about running PoE (tempture,humidity,soil moisture) and dont necessary need to be wireless. Why i dont think home assistant is the best choice i dont need wireless and dont need to triggger devices when not in the green house. I dashbord that i can check while away would be nice but would have to be connected threw a mobile hotspot. Things i do understand relays contactors dc and ac wirering. Help needed with computer hardware and software. System requirements easy software to set up automations. Easy integration of io to trigger more irrigation zones more fans maybe a heater. Data log of environmental sensors and triggered events. A way to manually trigger outputs to check operation of triggered devices. Obviously in a greenhouse but as outdoor rated as possible. Things that would be nice to have a display to look at current environment and state of devices. Connection to mobile device to view “dashboard” and trigger devices. Connection to mobile hotspot for remote view of dashboard or cameras if i want to get really crazy with the project. Thanks in advance for any and all input.
There are many projects for doing this sort of thing.
Home Assistant can do the job but it’s a bit of using a swiss army knife when you just need a hammer.
Node-red on a pi can get you the automation plenty of gpio to mqtt bridges even pwm to SSR to control ac fans and the like (though this is an insurance issue).
Mind you you can still run home assistant on top for the gui and other integrations.
homeassistant will be your easiest and most reliable path.
Lots of options if you want to roll your own.
have you considered using OpenHAB for your greenhouse automation? It’s highly customizable and can work with wired sensors and triggers. You can set up a dashboard to monitor the environment remotely and integrate with various devices for irrigation and HVAC control. It’s worth checking out for your project!
Not being the most tech savvy and being tech illiterate are two completely different things. If you are tech savvy enough to use complex features of a graphic user interface, GUI, even if they are a bit weird to set up, I recommend something like a hubitat hub. I would not recommend home assistant for you as you are not the most tech savvy person. If you are pretty much tech illiterate, you’re probably just gonna have to use timers. The automation solutions for tech illiterate people don’t allow for much automation flexibility. If you’re somewhere in the middle and have Apple products, you can actually make very powerful HomeKit automations that run completely locally. They are pretty easy to set up as long as you don’t need to use the convert to shortcut action.