I typically avoid anything smart, but given practicality, I’m looking for general tips or recommendations for smart bulbs?

I have just started self-hosting home-assistant, and would prefer ones which integrate well with that.

What should I look out for when buying them? Any brands to avoid? Any cybersecurity concerns you’ve come across? Or should I avoid them altogether?

**Thanks everyone for the responses! I may not get back individually, but it’s a great point to jump in from

  • CameronDev@programming.dev
    14·
    4 days ago

    Esphome or ZigBee bulbs are the way to go, avoid tuya for WiFi bulbs

    https://www.athom.tech/esphome

    ZigBee bulbs I have gotten from aliexpress, they are usually pretty good, but you’ll need a ZigBee antenna or bridge.

    Tuya require a cloud connection, so best to avoid.

    • rowinxavier@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      4 days ago

      I did the same with the Athom bulbs, they were easy to get connected to Home Assistant and the firmware is easy to manage.

      Unfortunately they are not so easy for managing PWM sensitivity. They have a fairly high level of flicker and for some people, such as my partner, it can be quite bad on the eyes.

      Apparently you can modify the PWM frequency to something much higher and fix the problem, but I have not been able to figure it out yet.

    • aloofPenguin@piefed.worldEnglish
      1·
      4 days ago

      I have heard that you can flash the tufa bulbs with localTuya, so if you are comfortable with flashing your stuff, that might be an option. I haven’t tried it myself though, not quite there yet on a skill or comfort level. I now use openhab, so I don’t know if it would work the same, but openhab used the cloud only for discovery and does local control, as per the information on the binding. I don’t know if it works the same way in homeassistant.

      • CameronDev@programming.dev
        3·
        4 days ago

        I have converted some tuya bulbs in the past, but its never been a good time. The exploit methods tend to get patched, so I had to open the bulbs and solder wires to flash, and the bulbs don’t go back together nicely. Better to just avoid that headache imo.