Hi everyone,
I’ve been diving into the world of home automation and wanted to share my experience with integrating OpenHab and Home Assistant. Both platforms have their unique strengths, and combining them has allowed me to create a seamless smart home setup.
First off, I’d like to address a common concern: compatibility. Many users worry about conflicts between the two platforms, especially when running them on the same Raspberry Pi. Through experimentation, I found that running both platforms from a compatible Linux distribution like Raspbian works perfectly. However, it’s crucial to ensure that Docker isn’t involved with Home Assistant if you’re using OpenHab, as this can cause issues with Node-RED communication.
To set this up, I installed both MQTT broker and Node-RED add-ons on Home Assistant. I also had to install Node-RED separately on my Raspberry Pi, following the official installation guide. This step was essential because the Node-RED instance that comes with OpenHabian doesn’t run as a service, which means it needs to be manually started each time—a bit inconvenient.
One thing I learned was the importance of port management. Since you can’t run two Node-RED instances on the same port, I had to configure them to use different ports. This was straightforward in Home Assistant, but for the Raspberry Pi, I had to edit the Node-RED system file. Once this was sorted out, I could bridge almost any items between OpenHab and Home Assistant using MQTT.
This integration has been a game-changer for me. I can now leverage the strengths of both platforms—OpenHab’s robust rule engine and Home Assistant’s user-friendly interface. It’s also great to have a backup system in place, ensuring that my smart home setup remains reliable.
I’d love to hear from others who’ve integrated multiple platforms. What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them? Let’s keep the conversation going!
Best regards,
[Your Name]