by Using the Raspberry Pi 4 Argon ONE M.2 Case for Home Assistant
Home Assistant is running as one of my services on my network to control my IoT devices. It is a powerful open source home automation software that puts local control of your home IoT devices such as smart light bulbs, cameras, sensors, televisions and much more.
Why I use Home Assistant
I have a small home and very little devices at this time that I need automating. The main reason that I use it is because if my internet goes down I want a way to control my smart bulbs and outlet switches. You see, all of the smart things that you buy are controlled by a internet cloud service either by Alexa, Google Home, or the manufacturer of the device. If your internet goes down then there is no way to access the cloud service therefore your smart devices become dumb with no way to control it. Home Assistant will allow you to control your devices on your local network.
Upgrading to the Argon ONE M.2 Case
I was running Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 4 in which the operating system was stored on a SD card and for reasons I don’t understand, Home Assistant seems to kill SD cards. After the second time of this happening, I decided to look for another option. Home Assistant documentation recommends to install the operating system on a Solid State Drive. Looking at some reviews, I decided to go with the Argon ONE M.2 Case.
Features and Installation
The case comes with a break out board that allow you to use full size HDMI connections, IR support in case you want to use it with a remote or controller of some kind, and a USB adapter to the M.2 SSD. My favorite features are that it has a really small form factor and that it uses the aluminum case as a heat sink for the raspberry pi’s processor and memory.
I upgraded my Home Assistant server with the parts listed below:
- Argon ONE M.2 Case for Raspberry Pi 4
- TEAMGROUP MS30 256GB with SLC Cache 3D NAND TLC M.2 2280 SATA III 6Gb/s Internal Solid State Drive SSD
- CanaKit 3.5A Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply
To install Home Assistant in the the Argon One M.2 case watch the Youtube video from Everything Smart Home below.
Home Assistant is a great project for a Raspberry Pi or for someone that likes to tinker with home automation. I hope that this post helps with your home ideas and as always feel free to leave a comment or send me a question.
~Cheers!
Alan
