this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2026
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I'm planning to build several WiFi connected devices for home automation: an AC remote control and air quality sensors. These devices would send data and be controlled through a local server. I'm considering two approaches: running custom software on a server PC (hardware to be determined) or integrating with Home Assistant's protocols and purchasing their hardware. Would using Home Assistant be excessive for this use case?

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[–] tal@lemmy.today 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I don't run a home automation system, but if you want an open solution and are willing to do some configuration, my understanding is that the main contenders are OpenHAB and Home Assistant.

I'd also suggest !homeautomation@lemmy.world as a more-specialized resource than !selfhosted@lemmy.world, though I imagine that there's overlap.

[–] Trilogy3452@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Thanks. I thought the already thought out protocols and configurations would make it easier to program the micro controllers to plug in with that rather than building something on my own

[–] sobchak@programming.dev 4 points 4 months ago

It's been a while since I messed with home automation, but ESPHome was amazing to program ESP microcontrollers (i.e. you most likely wouldn't have to write any code). You can use ESPHome devices with both Home Assistant and Openhab (using MQTT, IIRC). The last I checked, it was easier to program your own functionality in OpenHAB than Home Assistant.