Home Assistant is the software of choice for those who are hacking together their own smart home. It works with a vast swathe of smart home kit, as well as more mundane devices such as TVs, printers and laptops, bringing all the internet-connected devices in your home under one umbrella. From there you can start to do smart things, such as automating when devices are switched on, or making best use of the energy stored in home batteries, for example.
Installation
Smart Assistant is free software that can be installed on all manner of hardware: PCs, Macs, Raspberry Pi units and even NAS drives. Given that you’re going to want Smart Assistant running 24/7, it’s best not to install it on an energy-guzzling gaming PC, though. Something like a low-powered Pi or an always-on NAS drive makes much more sense.
If you
