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2023 Prime Day Deals

Interested in home automation? Here are a few of the prime day deals I would personally recommend.

Note, this is not a kitchen-sink post full of non-relaxant links, but, rather, a list of things I have hands on experience with.

Every single product linked below, will work with Home Assistant, 100% LOCALLY, without any required cloud services or subscriptions.

If, you need reasons as to why required cloud services are bad, see Reasons to avoid cloud products

Home Automation

Smart Plugs

[Wifi] Sonoff

Warning

Warning! The Sonoff S40s are on sale, and are cheap. However, they do not leverage a esp-based processor, and cannot be easily flashed!

Sonoff S31

These are my absolute favorite smart plug at this point in time. I have 30 of these laying around. I use them for turning things on and off. I use them for tracking energy consumption.

Rock solid plugs.

These are flashable to tasmota / esphome. These work 100% locally. The built-in firmware will also work locally too.

Native home assistant integration.

Sonoff S31 Lite

If you don't need energy monitoring, and want to save a few bucks over the S31, you can instead opt for the S31 Lite.

Rock solid plugs.

These are flashable to tasmota / esphome. These work 100% locally. The built-in firmware will also work locally too.

Native home assistant integration.

  • NATIVE Home-Assistant Integration
  • 100% local control.
  • Kasa devices DO require you to do initial setup using the kasa app. However, can be controlled completely by home-assistant afterwards.

Warning

Be careful updating the firmware of kasa devices. They have removed local-only control in the past.

More Inforamtion

Kasa HS103

Generic 15 amp smart plug. No energy monitoring.

I still have 10 of these around the house, and they do work well. But, I prefer sonoff S31s flashed with esphome instead.

These do work 100% locally, but, requires a phone app for initial setup.

KP405 - Outdoor Watertight Dimmer

These plugs are quite handy for outdoor use. I have one I use for controlling yard decorations during christmas time.

These do work 100% locally, but, requires a phone app for initial setup.

[Z-Wave] Zooz ZEN05 Outdoor Plug

Outdoor IP65 rated single-socket smart plug, using z-wave.

Powerstrips

[Wifi] Kasa HS300

6 socket, individually controllable powerstrip with per-plug energy monitoring.

These do work 100% locally, but, requires a phone app for initial setup.

Native home assistant integration.

I have 5 of these around for various use-cases, and can say, they work pretty nicely.

Other

[Wifi] Shelly (Assorted)

All of these products can be flashed to esphome. These are also quite small, and will easily fit inside of a normal outlet box, or switch box.

I have been running the older variants for years. The new "Plus" models are based on esp32 instead of esp8266, and offer bluetooth now as well.

  • Shelly Plus 1PM
    • Single circuit with energy monitoring.
    • Esphome
  • Shelly Plus 2PM
    • two circuits with energy monitoring
    • Esphome
  • Shelly 1 Plus
    • DRY CONTACT switch. (Can be used to switch low voltage DC loads, such as your garage door.)
    • Esphome
  • Shelly EM
    • Supports monitoring up to two channels, 120 amps each. This is used for energy monitoring only.
    • Esphome
  • Shelly RGBW2
    • Used to control RGB / RGBW LEDs. Does NOT control individually addressable LEDs (ie. WS2812b)
    • Esphome
  • Shelly Dimmer 2
    • Used to control up to two lighting circuits. Supports dimming.
    • Esphome
  • Shelly i4
    • This is a pretty niche device. It has 4 inputs, and is intended to be used to trigger other actions externally.
    • Esphome
  • Shelly Plus Addon
    • You can connect sensors up to this. It doesn't control or switch loads. But- you can connect temp sensors to it.

[Z-Wave] Zooz 800-series Z-Wave Stick

My current z-wave stick is a zooz 700 series. It has been rock solid so far, with no issues to speak of. BUT, you can get a 800 series stick pretty cheap right now.

Why 800 series over 700 series?

If you are curious to know the difference between 700 series, and 800 series- I was too. Here are the differences

Differences:

  1. Longer max range. (1.5+ miles vs 1 mile)
  2. S2 + Secure Vault.. (Its more secure... somehow.)

The TLDR; if you already have a 700-series stick, I don't think it is worth upgrading. But, if you are on a 500 series stick, I'd consider upgrading.

[Z-Wave] Aeotec Z-Stick 7 Plus

If, you need a z-wave hub, Aeotec has an option on sale.

These work natively with home assistant.

[Z-Wave] Zooz Remote Control Switch

Z-wave by design, works 100% locally, and doesn't have the capability of talking to the internet even if it wanted to.

Do note- Z-wave does require you to have a z-wave hub.

Info

Note- this is NOT a light switch. Instead, this is a battery-operated z-wave remote-control button, which looks like a light switch.

This is generally used to control other z-wave based devices using scenes.

[Zigbee] Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 Dongle

Disclaimer- I have not used this product before, and cannot confirm nor deny how well it functions.

Light Switches

[Wifi] Kasa HS200 - Light Switch

While, all new switches I replace are generally z-wave based, or something running esphome- I do have one of these in my hallway, and it has been in place since 2020.

And- it still works exactly as well as it did three years ago. That being said, there aren't many fancy features, but, it does work.

These do work 100% locally, but, requires a phone app for initial setup. Does require neutral wire.

Native home assistant integration.

Alarm Components

Do note, I am ONLY going to recommend things that will work 100% locally, with home-assistant, without a required subscription / application / etc....

So, no ring doorbells.

[Z-Wave] Ring Alarm - 14 piece kit

All of these components will work with a proper z-wave setup, WITHOUT having a ring/amazon account.

These keypads, work really nicely. Please see my write-up for details on how to make them work with home assistant very easily.

Kiosks

The 50$ I spent on my refurbished Fire HD10 tablet, has been well worth it. It functions as a kiosk sitting beside my desk, showing me vitals for my home, solar production, and giving quick access to common things.

Do note- if you isolate these devices from the internet (HIGHLY recommended), there are no lock screen ads.

Xtremeownage.com - Fire Tablet as Home Assistant Kiosk

Having ran my fire tablet as a kiosk for over a year, I would highly recommend one. Just- make sure to keep it 100% isolated from the internet!!!!

[Wifi] Fire Tablet

Weather / Temp / Environment Monitoring

[433mhz] Acurite

Most of the acurite hardware works over 433mhz.

You WILL need a working 433mhz setup to properly integrate into home assistant.

RTL-433 Getting Started

(Sadly, I didn't find any of the other acurite hardware on sale)

Smart Blinds

[Z-Wave] iBlinds v3 Smart Motor Kit

Disclaimer- I have not personally used this product. However- this is a z-wave controlled motor you can retrofit into your existing blinds.

[Wifi] Switchbot Blind Tilt Control

Disclaimer- I have not personally used this product either.

However, this offers tilt control for your blinds. As well, it is solar powered with its own battery.