Buying guides
The best smart home gear,
ranked by what we'd buy again.
Short lists, not catalogs. Every pick is installed in our farmhouse and runs locally in Home Assistant, unless we're telling you to avoid it.
Start here
Read → 02 The HovelHack Starter Kit: 3 Things I'd Buy First
If I wiped my house and started over tomorrow, I'd buy these first, in this order. All three run locally in Home Assistant, so nothing breaks when the internet does.
Smart plugs
Read → 03 Best Zigbee Smart Plug for Home Assistant (2026)
The one plug we'd buy again, and the one we'd pull out of the ground. Tested on a washing machine, front lights, greenhouse lights, and farm pumps.
Smart bulbs
Read → 04 Best Zigbee Smart Bulbs for Home Assistant (2026)
30 Zigbee bulbs in one farmhouse. Here's what we'd buy again, and the cheap bulb that quietly weakened our whole network.
Don't get burned
Read → Cloud Smart Home Gear to Avoid (and What to Buy Instead)
If a device needs a company's servers to switch on, it can stop working on a day you didn't choose. Here's the gear that burned us and the local swap we'd make.