[plagiarist]

I still cannot believe HA users will accept a cloud API at all. I thought HA was about centralizing control of devices on one's own hardware. If you're using a cloud API the control is neither centralized nor on your hardware.

[paradox460]

Its a choice between a few competing "ideals"

Get everything into HomeAssistant, build dashboards, have cool stats and automations tying stuff together. Increases the family-acceptance-factor as well, as its a hell of a lot easier to say "Everything is in this app on your phone" rather than "ok well the washer is in the Miele app and the lights are in the Lutron app and the sprinklers are the…" If something is cloud based, so what, you can still get it into HomeAssistant. Sure, local is better, but thats a secondary concern over just having it there to begin with.

Additionally, one might observe that you can make a "cloud-only" smart device local control with varying levels of intrusiveness from custom hardware devices. You can stick an ESP32 with a current loop around the power leads on a washing machine, for example, to track when the machine stops running. You could use a light sensor taped over the "DONE" light to do the same. But these are passive, observation only controls. What if you wanted to start the machine too? Or observe where in its cycle it is. An ESP based controller gets a hell of a lot more invasive, and your wife/partner might not be too happy that you just took apart the $2000 washing machine to stick a $2.50 "computer chip board" inside it.

Ideally, we'd all have everything 100% local. I'll even go out of my way to buy things that not only have local control over things that have cloud control, but within limits. Its a checkbox on a comparison sheet, not a be-all-end-all. I'll even favor things that use HTTP based configuration/APIs over apps and stuff (see the UnfoldedCircle remote, which is 100% browser configured) becuase its one less thing to have to worry about

[rekoil]

I can think of several reasons:

    - Reading information from utility providers which few people are able to measure locally
    - You want to integrate with some system which is physically outside your home, like I don't know a smart mailbox if those exist (and god damnit now I want that...)
    - You are forced to because the product you have can't be controlled any other way and it's not feasible to replace it
    - A locally controllable version of X exists, but it's three times the price of one from vendor Y which requires a cloud integration

[paradox460]

RE: Smart Mailbox

I've seen a few people DIY them. You can put a reed switch or similar on the door, and watch for state changes, to trigger a "PostBox opened last at" style sensor, or use a light sensor in the box to do the same.

If you want to seriously over-engineer, you could put the box on a load cell, and measure the weight of the post.

Use an ESP32 for your control board, and its pretty much just basic ESPHome plumbing

[rekoil]

Unfortunately I can't do any of those things because I live in an apartment and we have mailboxes like these: https://kopbrevlada.se/pub/media/webp_image/catalog/product/...

But I appreciate the suggestions!

[drra]

Surely low power PIR sensor would work. Something like this maybe? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGZFg4SVySM

[paradox460]

A light sensor on an ESP taped to the inside of the mailbox would probably work, and a note to the postal carrier informing them of its function, but I suspect you'd have issues with the range of the device.

[rekoil]

Yeah, I live 3 floors up and on the other side of the building from the mailboxes.