Mike Swanson
aaf4172b3c
New projects from 2026-02-09 research session: Wrightstown Solar: - DIY 48V LiFePO4 battery storage (EVE C40 cells) - Victron MultiPlus II whole-house UPS design - BMS comparison (Victron CAN bus compatible) - EV salvage analysis (new cells won) - Full parts list and budget Wrightstown Smart Home: - Home Assistant Yellow setup (local voice, no cloud) - Local LLM server build guide (Ollama + RTX 4090) - Hybrid LLM bridge (LiteLLM + Claude API + Grok API) - Network security (VLAN architecture, PII sanitization) Machine: ACG-M-L5090 Timestamp: 2026-02-09 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
3.3 KiB
3.3 KiB
Wrightstown Smart Home - Session Log 2026-02-09
Session: Initial Research and Planning Machine: ACG-M-L5090
Work Completed
1. Project Scope Defined
- Privacy-first smart home (no Google/Alexa)
- Home Assistant Yellow (already owned, not set up)
- Local LLM server for private queries
- Hybrid bridge: local + Claude API + Grok API
- Separate project from Wrightstown Solar, with planned crossover
2. Home Assistant Yellow Research
- Yellow still receives updates despite production ending Oct 2025
- Needs CM4 or CM5 compute module (not included)
- Built-in Zigbee 3.0 radio, M.2 NVMe slot
- Local voice: Wyoming + Whisper + Piper (all local, no cloud)
- Victron integration planned via Modbus TCP (future crossover)
3. Local LLM Server Research
- Recommended build: RTX 4090 24GB ($1,940-2,240)
- Software: Ollama (primary) + Open WebUI (interface)
- Models: Qwen 2.5 7B (fast voice), Llama 3.1 70B Q4 (reasoning)
- Alternative builds researched: budget ($580), flagship ($4,000+), Mac Mini M4
4. Hybrid Bridge Design
- LiteLLM proxy as unified routing layer
- Routes: local (Ollama) / Claude API (reasoning) / Grok API (search)
- 80/15/5 split estimated at ~$5/month cloud costs
- Manual routing first, keyword-based later, semantic routing eventual
- Integration with HA via Extended OpenAI Conversation
5. Network Security Design
- 4-VLAN architecture: Trusted / Infrastructure / IoT / Guest
- IoT isolation (devices can't reach trusted network)
- PII sanitization pipeline for cloud-bound queries
- Private data (cameras, sensors, presence) stays local only
- Remote access via Tailscale or WireGuard
Decisions Made
| Decision | Chosen | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Smart home platform | Home Assistant | Open source, local-first, 2000+ integrations |
| Hardware | HA Yellow (owned) | Built-in Zigbee, already purchased |
| Voice assistant | Wyoming/Whisper/Piper | Fully local, no cloud dependency |
| LLM server GPU | RTX 4090 24GB (recommended) | Best price/performance for 70B models |
| LLM software | Ollama | Simplest, OpenAI-compatible API |
| Hybrid routing | LiteLLM | Unified API, cost tracking, fallbacks |
| Cloud: reasoning | Claude API (Anthropic) | Best reasoning quality |
| Cloud: search | Grok API (xAI) | Internet access, 2M context |
| Network | VLAN segmentation | IoT isolation, privacy |
| Separate from solar | Yes | Different timelines, crossover later |
Files Created
projects/wrightstown-smarthome/PROJECT_INDEX.mdprojects/wrightstown-smarthome/documentation/ha-yellow-setup.mdprojects/wrightstown-smarthome/documentation/llm-server-build.mdprojects/wrightstown-smarthome/documentation/hybrid-bridge.mdprojects/wrightstown-smarthome/documentation/network-security.mdprojects/wrightstown-smarthome/session-logs/2026-02-09-session.md(this file)
Next Steps
- Check if CM4/CM5 module is owned or needs purchasing
- Set up HA Yellow (basic install, Zigbee, first automations)
- Research specific Zigbee devices to purchase
- Decide on LLM server GPU budget (3060 budget vs 4090 sweet spot)
- Purchase LLM server hardware
- Decide on VLAN hardware (TP-Link Omada vs Ubiquiti UniFi)
- Set up Ollama + Open WebUI
- Create Anthropic API account + Grok API account
- Configure LiteLLM proxy
- Integrate with HA via Extended OpenAI Conversation