I know openhab is comparable with lots of devices but what is easiest and cheap that will let me control a couple lights in my house? I have it hooked up to Alexa and just want to be able to get some lights to work on it. Just looking what is used most and easiest to use? Simple on and off to start with.
You’re going to get a million answers as this is very opinion centric.
Light and outlets, good all around choices are often zwave or insteon.
Hue or other wifi enabled lights are probably easy but more expensive.
Home grown based on micro controllers will be cheapest but most complicated.
I have zwave and home grown but never worked with hue personally.
Control lights: HOW?
Do you want to switch them on or off?
Do you want multi-colour lights?
Colour-temperature lights?
Indoor lights?
Outdoor lights?
Dimmable?
Location: Kitchen or toilet?
Short-term use vs. long-term use.
…answering some of these would help providing a more succinct answer.
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This gave me what I needed. You gave a list two names I have heard in the past.
Thanks.
lol, “decent” home automation and “cheap” don’t belong in the same sentence. fibaro gets my vote, top quality kit. costly, but there is a reason for it. whatever vendor you choose, go zwave. low power consumption, low bandwidth, fully meshed network (therefore minimal concern for “placement within range of AP” if going wifi), plenty of support, basic built-in functionality into many devices etc.