16c Home Automation

SPEC.md

Remote power sockets over Zigbee with Home Assistant

Architecture

• A Raspberry Pi running Home Assistant OS.
• A USB Zigbee coordinator letting HA speak Zigbee 3.0 on 2.4 GHz.
• Mains‑powered Zigbee smart plugs act as routers, so every new plug extends the mesh.
• Control comes from the HA web UI, mobile apps, voice assistants, or YAML automations.

Gubbins

Host computer

Raspberry Pi

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-5?variant=54937425674619

£114.90. Pi 5 16Gb.

NVMe disk

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-m-2-hat?variant=53500768584059

£36.90. 256Gb NVMe disk.

microSD card

Not needed. I have a few and it’s only needed for the initial install.

Power supply

https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-27w-usb-c-power-supply

£11.40. 27W first-party power supply.

Zigbee coordinator (USB dongle)

Sonoff Dongle

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus?variant=54923349098875

£21.00. HA SkyConnect is out of stock everywhere, an update seems likely. The Sonoff will do the job fine.

USB extension

https://thepihut.com/products/usb-3-0-extension-cable

£3.00. We will put the dongle on a short USB extension to dodge Pi‑generated RF noise, plus the Sonoff dongle is quite bulky.

Zigbee smart plugs

Innr Smart Plug

https://amzn.to/442HbCv

£19.99. Cheaper by a two-pack or four-pack. Seems a reliable Zigbee plug.

Total cost

£187.20 excluding plugs.

£247.19 including a four-pack of plugs.

Software Stack

https://home-assistant.io

Home Assistant. Has apps for iOS and Android, and integrates with every ecosystem you care to mention. Gives us the ability to expand the system significantly.

Network Planning

• Keep Zigbee on channels 15–20 to avoid Wi‑Fi 1/6/11.
• Disable joining except while onboarding new devices.
• Snapshot nightly (Google Drive Backup add‑on).
• Retain the Zigbee network key off‑box.

Boogie

💃🏻