

Personally, I try to avoid wifi devices, because they tend to communicate through a central server, and it’s harder to be sure they aren’t secretly phoning home. Zigbee and Zwave intrinsically lack internet connectivity, so they are necessarily local-first. My network is Zwave - no experience with zigbee - and it’s been great. Devices all have a little QR code that you can scan to add the device to HA, whenever the device gets powered up. Good range of available devices, from switches & lights to environmental sensors. Most of my devices are Minoston or Zooz, bought from their websites; haven’t had any trouble. Honeywell thermostat. Aeotec outdoor thermometer.
I run HA in a container on an RPi, and I have some sensors running off the Pi’s GPIO. Actually started with the GPIO sensors and only got HA running because its visualizations looked easy. Those sensors include temperature, CO2 and airborne particulates.








Rich and comfortable are definitely not synonyms. Rich is a relative descriptor that basically means to have more than other people, so obviously, we can’t all be rich. Comfortable is a state descriptor - shelter, food & clothing needs met, children provided for, time and resources for relaxation - everyone can have that.