5 MORE Home Assistant Beginner Mistakes to AVOID!

[@EverythingSmartHome]

What's the biggest Home Assistant mistake you've made so far?!

[@krazyivan01]

After using HA for a year or so and integrating quite a few systems I think I started out with the wrong version. I started running it in a docker container next to some of my other experimental stuff. I later found through many guides that more advanced topics are made much easier by using the "supervised" version and I am planning to switch to that if i can ever find the time...

[@JorritZuiker]

The biggest mistake i have made is looking at old guides or tutorials. i started in 2020 but now it becomes more more important, sinds it changed drastically over the 2 years

[@Tachikoma-sj6kz]

Naming convention thing is a great call - be nice to see some suggestions though :)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It's a tough one, everyone has their own preferences! But you can see how I name my automations for example in this video

[@koolkiwikat]

@@EverythingSmartHome hard to read on mobile, graphic overlay of example properties would do the trick

[@wouterdr]

@@EverythingSmartHome Would be very nice to get an overview of possible naming schemes.

[@BrianRoy86]

@@wouterdr I go with light.room_device such as light.living_room_lamp_left

[@chasandreae4178]

I just got a HA Green and just got started but I already have so much smart home gear. Thankfully I had to come up with some kid of scheme albeit lacking. I name my devices “ - ”. For example “Sun Room - Sonos Five”. However, what I find difficult is naming all the different things that show up in different ways such as my Sony TV that shows a a thing I can AirPlay to, Cast to and connect to as a Google TV device. Also Roku devices are a pita to name. Mine all show as Roku Ultra despite having proper names.

[@lordburka]

For point 2. I recently restarted my whole home assistant and I learned thst for my night time automation instead of adding each light seperately there was just a call service turn light off and as the entity 'all'. Saved me so much time and lines of code.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Oh yeah that's a really good one that might not be obvious!!

[@acronce]

Great Video! Especially the naming convention point. As a developer working with long lived code bases, the importance of the names of things has become clear. But it's an often underappreciated aspect of coding.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks appreciate it! And I agree, although it's not the most fun thing to do either 😅

[@SlackerLabs]

Some great stuff in this video! Although, while you can overcomplicate automations if you want to build a "smart" home you are going to have complicated automations. haha. And this video gave me an idea....Combining my 209 current automations into one single massive automation. One automation, 407 triggers, and 1573 choices with 679 conditions for the choose action. Oh, and mode would have to be parallel with a max of 200 running at one time. One Automation to Rule Them all. At least then I would know exactly which automation I needed to update when issues came up. lol Or, I guess I could just deploy a naming scheme. :)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

That's true...but there is OVER overcomplicating 😅 Haha, the automation debug tool makes me want to build more complex automations just to get a cool looking diagram...not sure that was it's intented purpose!

[@lelandclayton5462]

I am surprised how many people think the naming scheme is a great suggestion. My opinion it's common sense. The only thing I can think that was a mistake was running my system in a Docker container and loosing supervisor. Just makes it's a little harder to update and backup but I got it figured out.

[@KeyBored101]

I'm just learning that now but I haven't figured it out, too busy at the moment

[@nivyan]

Naming scheme I use: [Floor#] [Room Shorthand] [Zone/Object] [#] ie: 1LRCLamp3 is the name of my 1st floor, Living Room, Ceiling Lamp' 3rd bulb

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Glad you've got a scheme to follow!

[@MichaelAlderete]

Would love to see a whole video touring all of the different kinds of and places to see your logs. I think this is an under-documented aspect of Home Assistant, and understanding where to find things for a specific kind of problem you’re having would be a great help.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I agree, it would be nice to do that, unfortunately it's really hard to know what people want since everyone will have errors that are only specific to them

[@jeffreytackett3922]

I have a perfect example of overcomplicating an automation. I spent an inordinate amount of time setting up all the "if power is on already then do this, if it isn't on, then power it on" nonsense, only to realize sending a power on command to my device, when it's already on, doesn't matter. Automation ended up being 3 steps instead of 11. Odd how much better and more reliably it worked, too.

[@simonburke6681]

Naming conventions are a good one, I like to use the name of the room with the name of the group or devices to be user friendly to guests and easy to remember; sometimes the room name matching the device name with room added will throw alexa off eg. "turn dining group off"; "dining room doesn't support that". I make sure to change the room names in Alexa now.

[@Tachikoma-sj6kz]

mine is -- or where it makes sense -- e.g. kitchen-light-1, lounge-light-front_right.

[@simonburke6681]

@@Tachikoma-sj6kz yeah same here, I forgot to mention numbers. I have lots of downlights and generally just use light groups for em.

[@wb2pcv]

I started a few years ago with Wink, transitioned to Smartthings, and about a year ago changed to HA. I think my biggest mistake may be not learning the next-level coding (Jinja, Python) to make my "complicated" automations more succinct and efficient. I mean, er... the necessarily complicated automations...

[@AverageAutomation]

yeah, I tend to have the most complicated automation for no reason sometimes but hey it works. you can only make use of the information you have at the time you set it up.

[@xmine08]

Mine is not knowing that HA likes to remove l logged data after 10 days or so. Will configure the "recorder" to use Postgres and to keep years of data. Can't see trends without lots of data 😊

[@vikramrajagopal5735]

Appreciate if you could elaborate how to do it.

[@robertaccess]

the biggest Home Assistant mistake I've made so far is to update it immediately, without even read the breaking changes.... :)

[@gferen]

naming convention i use: BW-10A-1G-001 blitzwolf, 10A switch, 1 channel, number

[@jaap7374]

I commonly include the room and try to avoid the brand. For example: Kitchen-Light-Counter-1

[@welshtony1]

I have a Pi4 here ready to deploy for my 1st HA set up and these videos have been so helpful. Thank you for the videos. Oh and yeah 2FA will be getting turned on, I turn it on for EVERYTHING haha

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Haha glad to hear it!!

[@Artificial.Unintelligence]

Do some examples of over complications with simpler solutions or fixes. Or just show the various ways to get the same result for the most common automations.

[@Tenly2009]

Your first tip is to "use a well thought out naming convention" - but then you don't provide any suggestions, recommendations or examples of what we *SHOULD* use - just a couple examples of what might not be great.

[@boopeshkumarprabhakaran]

Hi... Love the way you explain stuffs... Can you make a video on how to use esp 32 as mqtt Clint and use mosquito broker in home assistant.. To controls few stuffs over HA ui...? IT'S really hard to find contents on this topic... This could be useful to control esp custom projects with home automation instead of any physical button press

[@SeraphX2]

That's because while powerful, a GUI that is sized too big and with dropdowns and buttons that take up too much space, things can get unwieldy. Node Red is the solution to that. Complex stuff but easy to read and visualize.

[@cobusbenade3502]

Great video mate! I do my upgrades the second week of the month. So week after the main upgrade. Naming convention…. The time wasted on that one! One thing I would like to do is SSO with 2FA. Haven’t done many changes to my home assistant since heading back to the office, so I have found myself forgetting my password. But still the best tip… backups! Always looking forward to you videos.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thank you sir, appreciate it! 🙏

[@peteradshead2383]

I've only got a few devices now , a power switch , light switch , a button , a few esphome devices I'm playing with, plus setting up a software based alarm . I hit error number 1 so easy when I did know if that binary switch was the light switch or power switch ? I didn't know how to get to the host logs I was wondering about that , I was trying to get my usb speakers to work with text to speech but couldn't get it to work , I may have a better chance now I can see the host logs.

[@waynenocton]

Please elaborate on the naming thing, or point to your video that does, I'm up to 56 devices now and it's becoming an issue at times!

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Haha now is definitely the time to correct that! Unfortunately do not have a video at this time

[@kenthhagstrom]

I might be overcomplicating things, but it's because I'm a noob and have no clue what I'm doing yet. Tryring to get notifications when my doors have been open for too long, I want a helper that sets the time and a boolean to turn it off when it's summer... Wanna keep my doors closed when it's freezing cold outside... Tried to get it to work for a week now, no progress... lol

[@FreshfrogmarketingUk]

Thanks, Lewis, nice video as always. Only been using HA for a few months, but I've made all of these mistakes.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hey, as long as your learning from them and having fun!

[@FreshfrogmarketingUk]

@@EverythingSmartHome it's a journey for sure 🤣🤣

[@PierreLeroy76620]

I am guilty of overcomplicated things so much that for now I've write multiples pages of scenarios I want to do and still didn't do any step to go in home assistant or even buy things. I'm still stuck on "should I replace switch or buy smart light" (with the input I'm not the owner of the house)

[@zyghom]

the fact, that HA does not update the entity in all scripts/automations the moment you rename is really painful

[@EverythingSmartHome]

On the flip side it can also be really useful for if you gave one device the wrong name and you want to switch it to another device. Or you want to replace a device.

[@fluxsmith_]

The devs need to switch to a basic database principle. The user’s key for something and the system’s key should be independent. The name you give it should be what you see but internally the automation should be using a unique system Id to represent it. Then you can rename at will and nothing referencing it needs to change.

[@zyghom]

@@fluxsmith_ on top of that: in different parts of HA you will see reference once to the entity ID and another time to the entity name - painful .., and no consistency

[@MetalheadAndNerd]

The tip to use a naming convention is really helpful but I do not agree with always using 2 factor authentication and constant updating. In my opinion a system like home assistant should never ever be exposed to the internet. A VPN is a must-have if one wants remote access and this of course could use strong key files and/or multi factor authentication. Regarding the updates: I don't want my HOME to constantly change and regularly surprise me with interesting new bugs and quirks. Also I'm sensitive to reaction times. If for example the reaction time of my light switches changes I immediately feel uneasy because it tells me that something has changed without my knowledge. I prefer to read through lengthy changelogs instead of letting others run their experiments on a system that I need around the clock.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

There is no real downside to enabling 2 factor, you only really need to enter the code one time on devices you always use - therefor it makes sense to turn it on. That's why I recommend reading the change control so you aren't surprised 😜

[@MetalheadAndNerd]

@@EverythingSmartHome If the second factor is automatically filled in like the password it makes even less sense.

[@WendellCruden]

Again a great video! Are you planning to do a video on how to update a Conbee 2 stick for people who are using ZHA? I was not able to find a video. I want to prevent having to add all my devices again after updating the stick.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thank you sir! Probably not unfortunately, I don't use or have a Conbee at the moment!

[@WendellCruden]

I will do some more research then. Thanks for your quick reply.

[@uSlackr]

Naming is hard. Our engineers have said, we'll do whatever you ask, just don't ask me to name it. Have any recommendations?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

😂😂 It's a tough one since everyone has their own preferences. For devices I used to do something like "light.livingroom-main-light", but then I dropped the "light" at the end since it's in the domain already. All I can suggest is be as descriptive as you can without making it really long 😅

[@TheHellis]

1:36 Home Assistant does that automatically in automations at least. Quite sure it doesn't do it in node red though

[@JohnMayfield-NS]

My biggest mistake is saying, "there.. that's finished!"

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Haha I think that's something we can all agree on being guilty of!!

[@cassoux]

Hello ! Why home assistant ? Why not another ? Do you know Jeedom ? Domoticz ? Thx

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Home Assistant is superior IMO. But if you like those platforms then great!

[@libertycornwell3144]

@Everything Smart Home what is your Home Assistant showing on the screenshot at the 2:27 mark.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It's called the automation debug tool, done an entire video about it! 😅

[@libertycornwell3144]

@@EverythingSmartHome oh sweet...... I'll go through the channel and look for it. Thank you for the reply. Love your videos. I'm getting a ton of good home automation ideas.

[@streetwiztech5505]

point 1 guilty.. point 2.. guilty, point 3 nope vpn only.. , point 4 usually only a couple of days between updates, point 5... there's logs ??? hahaha my biggest mistake i made was thinking i would be able to complete my HA install ! Great video as always buddy..

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hahaha there is never an end!!

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

LOL @1:52 "mistake number two is to STOP overcomplicating things", so it's a mistake to stop and we should do more overcomplicating😉 (wow, I do have too much time on my hands writing this 😁)

[@makeitworktech]

Great naming conventions! I tried to do it with my devices, but kind of got away from it. But your automation naming is 🗝️! Also, holy updates! Gotta keep up with them - is there any way to be notified when an update arrives? (Besides Twitter)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks buddy, appreciate it! Do you mean when a home assistant update is released? We have a bot in our discord server that tags everyone when an update is released haha 😅 other than that, keep an eye on the GitHub perhaps?

[@makeitworktech]

@@EverythingSmartHome yeah, would be nice to have a notification in HA that lets you know so you don't have to check there Supervisor to know you need to update

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I think there is a sensor now that contains that info

[@jasonguest3447]

@@EverythingSmartHome - this is where I got the sensor setup from: github.com/DavidFW1960/home-assistant/blob/master/packages/updates.yaml

[@ChrisCanuk]

Do you have a suggestion for naming convention?

[@ChrisCanuk]

Wasn’t the first to ask. Noone ever came up with something? Type.device.room.placement Type - input, output, sensor Device - light, heating, camera, doorlock Room - firstfloor livinfroom Placement - backleft Or am I over complicating it already? 😂

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Something like "light.livingroom-main" seems sensible to me!

[@MrAlucardDante]

How to stop otherthinking your automations in one step : stop using HA automations and switch to Node-Red. This could be a good title for a video lol.

[@Gastell0]

Another mistake might be to have too much expectation from plugins, which are created and maintained not by Home Assistant developers

[@EverythingSmartHome]

For sure!

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

Lewis looked so angry in the thumbnail so I didn't dare not watch this 😱😁

[@CommTech19]

All I do is overcomplicate things...regardless of what I am doing

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hahaha I know how you feel

[@chrisbaeyens4513]

It's easy to make something complicated, but it's complicated to make something easy. Always take a step back and take a helicopter view on your processes, you'll see things more clearly.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Totally agree!

[@simonburke6681]

I seen some good advice recently to draw it out on paper

[@Paullik83]

Home assistant = No live anymore, every day you need to fix something (time consumer)

[@doble_G]

Great video!! Will start with naming convention. I left a dm on Twitter. Please your help!!