Should you get Home Assistant Green, and why not

[@gregleitch8271]

I’ve been running HA on a Synology NAS in a docker container for 3 years now and thought I’d try a green for another installation. I’ve been surprised how well the green has performed to date. The green isn’t as fast as my other setup, backups take longer and editing appears to be slower but it does everything the docker installation does. For me the winning point is ease of updating, updating is a breeze, updating the docker version is becoming a pain. I’ve got z-wave and Skyconnect dongles and all are working great. I recommend the green. Keep up the great work BT been watching for years.

[@BeardedTinker]

Thank you for sharing this and of course for the compliment 😉

[@ss-xy2im]

Thank you, I read many pages on the subject and couldn't decide if the green is good for my requirements. in the first 3 minutes of your video I had my answer!

[@BeardedTinker]

Glad it was helpful! And hope you have fun whatever direction you go!

[@genepitney155]

I am running a yellow after migrating from HE and am really satisfied. I use the GPIO with a Z-wave radio for all my Z-wave devices. Now I am learning about Lovelace and making a decent dashboard.

[@BeardedTinker]

Awesome! I also have ZWave on GPIO pins - RaZberry 7 (zwave.me). And just got today Pro version for the test. Dashboards take a long time to fine tune, go slow and enjoy

[@genepitney155]

@@BeardedTinker I am using the Zooz 800 Series Z-Wave Long Range GPIO Module ZAC93 LR and it works great. Now time to design a new dashboard.

[@anonyfamous42]

@@genepitney155 yellow is too expensive

[@gulion06]

I'm using it in a second location which don't need too much power (not too many devices, simple configurations,..) I choose it because it was ready to use (after getting a zigbee dongle). It's a good device to get to know HA without spending too much or having to deal with evaluating the correct hardware setup (and maybe getting it wrong). To be just perfect for beginners I would implement ZHA with a built-in zigbee coordinator out of the box. An optional pair of zigbee devices to be setup (eg: a bulb and a contact sensor) would be even more appealing since the beginner would have already something to play with.

[@BeardedTinker]

Yeah, shame it doesn't include radio module. And it would indeed make it more of a all-in-one device for anyone starting. I'm considering also to move it to second location as ZimaBoard is just a overkill there.

[@robertyasko4721]

I initially installed Home Assistant as a VM in my homelab out of curiosity a few months ago. Due to my setup, it was not possible to add (or passthrough) a USB dongle for Zigbee/Zwave. I settled on the Green for now because of its price, while the lack of availability of CM4 modules for the Yellow have made it a barrier for entry. I just added the Sonoff "E" dongle and have paired just over a dozen Zigbee devices so far. Sensors and automations are quick and reliable.

[@BeardedTinker]

Going from VM to Green can be a step down in terms of performance. But depends on what you do. I would in that case for example offload few addons (if you end up using them) to VM's. That would give you same performance and maybe even more stable setup. I moved for example MQTT and InfluxDB from HA AddOns to Docker - that improved performance (database) but also made system more open for testing (MQTT). Still, Green is powerful enough for most standard use cases. Thanks for sharing - really interesting!

[@KevinTillman1964]

1) i wanted HA Yellow, but ended giving up after waiting more than 9+ months. Green was in stock. 2) Big experiment here: i'm moving from a Proxmox / NUC cluster (of two) with one LXC Container with HA to Green. One reason: Thread and/or Matter. So many timeouts and other bizarre issues that made Thread/Matter devices unstable. Way better with Green albeit not perfect. Plus going to Green allowed me to easily use a MQTT dongle instead of ZHA/skyconnect.

[@BeardedTinker]

If you are using multi-pan, you'll not be happy with upcoming changes in HA. Devs will for now end support for Multi-pan. But that may be for the better as company that was working on framework hasn't been doing that great job, and HA devs had a lot of issues with that framework.

[@MarkJones-lr2lk]

A fair and interesting comparison of the green and yellow. Did not realise that you had "Zwave capability", thought you were a Zibgee man through and through 😊

[@BeardedTinker]

Shhh let's not talk about ZWave :) Actually don't have a single device for it, but wanted to be ready when I needed support for it.

[@TzaraDuchamp]

It seems like a nice entry into HA. It’s not for me though. I’ve run it on Raspberry Pi 400, under Proxmox and bare metal J4125. Used two Coral TPU’s for running Frigate. For me this was still a bit limited, so switched to a VM on an entry level Mac Mini M1. Only paid €330 for it second hand. Assigned it 4 cores and 4gb, it flies. Doesn’t need TPU’s either. Probably total overkill, but I love it and it is somewhat affordable. There’s a good system for anyone who has a use case for HA. Interested to know about other people’s setup.

[@BeardedTinker]

Your last statement is so true. There is no unified perfect system - if it works for your setup, than that's the best system there is - for you.

[@SaferSmartHomes]

What are the two devices you mention @0:53 - Space Shuttle and Moon Lander?

[@BeardedTinker]

Was talking about simple device - that it is not Space Shuttle or Moon lander , but simple Green.

[@joemccall8991]

BT, did you have a video or write-up on migrating HA from eMMC to SSD? I have a CM4 on a RPi I/O Board running HA and would like to migrate to an external SSD. Most of the walk-thru I've read are basically a dump-and-recover versus live migration.

[@BeardedTinker]

It really was very simple - when you add SSD (or NVME in case it's Yellow) - go to settings, storage, and just click on Move Data Disk. That should really be all you need to do. It takes a bit of time to finish, if I remember correctly it also reboots and done. Of course make and download backup, just in case.

[@joemccall8991]

@@BeardedTinker Had to reboot for the SSD to be recognized but it shows up now and I can select Move Data Disk. Is it possible to move data disk back to the eMMC in the future? Some posts I see in the HA community say no.

[@grahamshaw5531]

Started with a Pi400 now on Yellow no plans to change,

[@BeardedTinker]

Yellow is a nice machine. I'm throwing a LOT of things on it, and it's still working great!

[@erbartlett]

I just got a Zimablade to run a DIY Nas on, would it be harder to run HA on that than to go get a green? Would things like Zigbee usb sticks be better supported on a Green?

[@BeardedTinker]

Hi! I'm running one of my instances on ZimaBoard (older brother of Blade). Green is a lot less powerful than both Board and Blade. But also depends if you will run it as Docker on CasaOS or directly on bare metal with HA OS. Support for Zigbee sticks should be same on both, but how easy to setup depends if you go HA OS or CasaOS way. Later one is a bit harder, but not that hard.

[@ronm6585]

Thanks B.T. Still running Blue.

[@BeardedTinker]

Right on! That's a verygood machine!

[@markloughtonUK]

You should start a side hustle... Stand up (or sit down) comedian. I love your sense of humour 😂😅. I'm going to skip the Green and buy a Space Shuttle instead. How do I fit it in my house ? 😊

[@BeardedTinker]

😂😂 actually friends from the office are having hard time watching me on YT as I'm just to serious here :) But you can fit shuttle - convert it to bitcoin and it will shrink so fast, you can fit in the wallet 😉

[@jackipiegg]

6:06 Don't get skyconnect, its overpriced for what you get. Sonoff has a much cheaper module at 1/3 the price which make sense for the Green.

[@BeardedTinker]

True. Don't forget that you need specific Sonoff stick if you want same functionality. And you also need to flash new(er) firmware on it to get normal setup. Out of box firmware from Sonoff is really limited in terms of devices supported.

[@michaelmaliga815]

I am avoiding the yellow because I don't believe that having radios built into a hub is a good idea. There is too much volatility in the wireless space right now. There is a good chance that some update in one of the radio protocols will make you want to upgrade and it makes more sense to change a single gateway device rather than an entire hub. I am also disappointed that there is not much support for local audio output on Home Assistant hubs. Anyone who wants a true local solution for their automation will need TTS rich voice options that do not depend on Google, Nabu Casa, or any other cloud service.

[@BeardedTinker]

My CM4 is without radio, so no issue there. Also built in SkyConnect - somehow really works OK - but I do get your concern with it. In regard to audio output, yeah, I do get you on this, but a lot of people keep devices hidden and tucked away.

[@thefuzzylogic]

@@BeardedTinker I agree, also you're no worse off having the radio built in because you can still plug in a USB dongle if you need some other protocol in the future. Personally I'm using an Odroid-N2 with a Sonoff USB stick, but if I were starting from scratch today I would probably buy a Yellow since I have a spare CM4 module.

[@patrickwasp]

I wish you could install home assistant on an Apple TV. They are way more powerful than green or yellow and cheaper.

[@BeardedTinker]

Not likely :) It's Apple, but yes, a lot of HW we have is idling and it could be used for other things...

[@robert.wigley]

Personally I do not see any advantage to yellow, green or blue over a RPi, even if giving it to a friend. You're going to end up supporting them at the starting gate anyway. A RPi is more repurposable if/when you outgrow it.

[@BeardedTinker]

If you have HW, use that - that's my way of thinking. You can always buy better if you grow out of it. But advantage of Y, G & B over any other HW is out-of-box HA - just plug in network & power - and HA will start. You don't have same experience with any other HW as it does require installation, no matter if it's simple or complex.

[@robert.wigley]

@@BeardedTinker True, although software installation is so trivial on a RPi it kind of takes that advantage away, unless you're a complete non-techie. But then, Home Assistant probably isn't for you anyway. 🙂

[@okkiesmaster7820]

with all due respect, i have to pita a little bit(what does it stand for?) the yellow and green are lovely devices, but an second hand nuc with a hypervisor installed (plenty of noob friendly guides) these days you have those little servers with an N100 processor . alot faster, you can use the overhead to do alot of things like running a plex server, dns server etc. yes they consume a little bit more power. but its very little compared to very little. both are negligable when you have entered the rabithole that is home automation Sidenote, did anyone ever seen the left side of the bearded thinkers face ? i think when he starts looking to the left he suddenly looks like paul hibbart. I mean they have never been seen in the same room.....

[@ivanpironi4913]

)will it work with Frigate and a USB coral (three cameras? anybody has tried?

[@BeardedTinker]

Green, no. There are no drivers for RPi/Green last time I checked.

[@jonnylikertrommer]

Jeez, they keep pushing out all these colors 😂

[@BeardedTinker]

It's like Pokemon - you've got to catch them all 😂 But I don't think we will see any new HW this year - at least not for HA. But who knows, maybe a smart assistant device !?

[@jimmymcguinn2885]

Don't get one.... worst decision ever

[@BeardedTinker]

What was the issue for you?

[@jimmymcguinn2885]

@@BeardedTinker It's too complicated, I thought about using a sonoff switch and it turns out I have to open it up, buy connector, solder... From the videos I've watched, HA is not suitable for average Joes... You need a lot of skills and knowledge enthusiasts have and take for granted

[@BeardedTinker]

@@jimmymcguinn2885 yeah, you are right. Some devices can be like that - that's why I avoid any WiFi device I can, except for shelly and go for Zigbee - as it doesn't require any changes and unless device has been just released 1-2 days ago, works out of box. No way I would do Tasmota or reflash firmware on devices just to get them working.

[@jimmymcguinn2885]

@@BeardedTinker I don't believe HA Green works (out of the box) with Zigbee... you have to buy a dongle

[@BeardedTinker]

@@jimmymcguinn2885 yes, that's correct. I just said I avoid WiFi and go for ZigBee. And sticks can be bought very cheap.