What do I need?
The below is a suggestion based on the majority of installations of Home Assistant. As mentioned in other articles, Home Assistant runs on a wide range of hardware.
You will need:
- Raspberry Pi. I recommend at least the 4GB version but any one will work. 4GB allows you expansion possibilities without having to buy a more powerful Pi at a later date.
- Power Supply. Make sure you purchase one that is capable of powering the Pi. Do not use the USB ports on your PC to power it
- Micro-SD card. Ideally get one that is Application Class 2 as they handle small I/O much more consistently than cards not optimized to host applications. A 32 GB or bigger card is recommended.
- Micro-SD reader, or Micro-SD to SD adapter. This is needed to write the initial operating system image. Many PCs and laptops come with an SD card reader, so check before buying.
- Ethernet cable. Home Assistant will work with Wi-Fi, so this isn’t essential, but a wired connection is more reliable.
- A Raspberry Pi case is optional. If you do opt for a case, make sure it has good cooling as the Pi can get very warm.
You may need other devices at a later date in order to connect to other devices, but for now, I will keep this simple. If you already have some Smart Home equipment and hubs etc. to control them, this should be all for now.
You may be able to get all of the above in a kit. Amazon do a number of kits, I recommend the following Raspberry Pi 4 Starter Kit which has everything you will need.
