Hardware Options
When considering hardware for installing Home Assistant (HA), there is a wide range of options available. Ranging from credit card-sized Raspberry Pis to larger Intel NUCs and even Server Towers, the hardware selection largely depends on your desired performance and power consumption. To help you decide, here is a list of common hardware used for HA installation:
| Hardware | Performance | Power Consumption | Description |
| Home Assistant Yellow | Low | Low (2.5-9 W) | Official Recommendation, Pre-installed with HAOS, Native support for Zigbee and Ethernet |
| Raspberry Pi 3 or 4 (*) | Low | Low (3.4-8 W) | Low cost, credit card-sized computer |
| Intel NUC (Mini PC) | Medium | High (15W-60W) | Performance and configuration similar to a laptop |
| Computer Tower | High | High (60-500W) | Common home desktop computer |
(*) Raspberry Pi supplies may be limited; use https://rpilocator.com/ to find available sales.
Home Assistant Installation
HA officially offers four installation methods. The HAOS installation is the most convenient and comprehensive, however, the hardware resources will be dedicated to HA and cannot be used for other purposes. Home Assistant Supervised is another Docker installation method that I personally prefer, as its functionality is nearly identical to HAOS, minus the OS management.
Difficulty of Different Installation Methods
| Installation type | Difficulty | Description |
| Home Assistant Operating System | Easy | Managed OS with Home Assistant |
| Home Assistant Container | Normal | Running on Docker, no add-on and Supervisor |
| Home Assistant Supervised | Difficult | Running on Docker |
| Home Assistant Core | Difficult | Installed with Python virtual environment, no add-on and Supervisor |
Install HA Supervised on Raspberry Pi 3/4 Debain OS
Initial Configuration
When you first open the Home Assistant IP address, you will be brought to the initial configuration page where you can set up the username and password as well as your measurement unit, country, and language.
you can follow offical onboarding guide to setup.
Integrations Installation
HA will scan and discover smart devices in your local network, and then suggest which integrations you should install. You can choose to skip this step and manually install and configure these integrations later, but following the prompts is recommended for a straightforward configuration. If you are uncertain, refer to the documentation.
HACS Installation
The official integrations HA provides are sufficient for most people’s needs. If you require more customized extensions, Home Assistant Community Store (HACS) is a great option. It offers a variety of integrations and Frontend options to further expand your functions and beautify your interface themes. It is important to remember that these integrations and themes are developed and maintained by community developers; therefore, there is no guarantee of continuous maintenance support.
Add-on Installation
Only available with HAOS or Supervised installation. Add-ons essentially install a Docker container which can provide powerful services such as an MQTT broker or Samba.
UI Theme Installation
The default dashboard style may be outdated for some, so if you want to switch to a more aesthetically pleasing interface, you can try to find a theme you like on the HACS Frontend page.
Remote Access
If you don’t have a dedicated pubilc IP for you home network, and you want access your Home Assistant from anywhere. For Currently, there are three ways of implementing the remote access function:
- Purchase Home Assistant Cloud – no configuration required
- Use DuckDuckgo DNS integration to set up reverse proxy
- Find a server with a public IP, install FRP, and implement reverse proxy
Mobile App
In addition to the web portal, HA also provides iOS and Android versions app for mobile and tablet management and operation. If you are using your own reverse proxy, you will need to configure the internal and external network addresses separately.
