What hardware do I need to run Home Assistant?
Home Assistant will run on any hardware that meets the following minimum requirements:
- 1Ghz Processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 16GB of Storage
The easiest way to get up and running with Home Assistant is to run it on a dedicated device such as a Raspberry Pi or a small lower-power computer such as an NUC.
NUC
A NUC is a small, but powerful computer that you can hold in your hand. A NUC can be a great choice for Home Assistant as you can often upgrade the memory and storage over time. NUCs will use either an SSD or eMMC for handling Storage.
At Smart Home Shop UK, we offer a number of NUC devices that are sold with Home Assistant pre-installed. All you need to do is plug-in, and you’re up and running!
- HAS-T4: Intel N3350, 4GB Ram, 64GB eMMC Flash
- HAS-T5: Intel N3350, 6GB Ram, 64GB eMMC Flash
- HAS-P1: Intel N3050/N3160/N3700 with up to 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD
All of our HAS devices come with Home Assistant already installed.
A NUC comes with a significant amount of storage which can be helpful for future-proofing your home automation, as well as providing ample storage for media, add-ons and additional integrations.
Some NUCs have the benefit that the storage and RAM can often be upgraded at a later point if needed.
Raspberry Pi
A Raspberry Pi can also be a popular choice for running Home Assistant. A Raspberry Pi is a single circuit board computer which is sufficient for Home Assistant but will often be out performed by the processor on a NUC.
With a Raspberry Pi you will need to install Home Assistant yourself by flashing an SD card or with Home Assistant.
A Raspberry Pi can be a great starter device for getting start with Home Assistant, however it is worth noting that:
- SD Cards can be susceptible to corruption, therefore if you go with a Raspberry Pi you may want to invest in a separate SSD instead
- Depending on how comprehensive your home automation setup ends up being, a Raspberry Pi may struggle if you’re running lots of integrations and additional add-ons.
- Like all computers, the Pis need a power supply which is often overlooked, whereas the NUCs ship with dedicated and correctly rated power supply.
Virtual Environments
It is possible to run Home Assistant in a virtual environment such as in a Docker container or as a virtual machine. This is, however, an advanced option that requires a certain level of technical fluency.
Running Home Assistant in a virtual environment can add additional complications if you want to use additional hardware such as Zigbee gateways or other hardware accessories. With a NUC or Raspberry Pi, Home Assistant runs directly on the device and therefore isn’t subject to these additional complications.
So where should I start?
Adopting Home Automation is often a new territory for most people. The simplest option is to go for one of our NUC devices that comes pre-instsalled with Home Assistant. All you need to do is plug-in, and you’re up and running!
- HAS-T4: Intel N3350, 4GB Ram, 64GB eMMC Flash
- HAS-T5: Intel N3350, 6GB Ram, 64GB eMMC Flash
- HAS-P1: Intel N3050/N3160/N3700 with up to 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD
Check out our guides section for more guides, tutorials and step-by-step walkthroughs to get you started on your home automation journey!