EcoEdge
Local Smart Home Automation — Hardware That Works Without the Cloud
EcoEdge builds controllers that run entirely on your local network. No cloud account, no subscription, no single point of failure outside your home.
Why Local-First Automation Matters
Most consumer smart home products route every command through a manufacturer's cloud server. When you tap a button in their app, the signal travels from your phone to a data center and back to your device — even if the device is sitting two meters away. This creates several problems:
- Latency — cloud round-trips add 200–2000ms to every command response
- Internet dependency — your heating, irrigation, and lighting stop responding when your ISP has an outage
- Privacy exposure — your usage data, schedules, and home activity are stored on external servers
- Subscription risk — a vendor shutting down or changing pricing can disable hardware you already own
- Integration limits — proprietary cloud APIs restrict what automations you can build
Local-first automation solves all five. Your controller talks to your MQTT broker over WiFi. Your Home Assistant instance runs on your own hardware. Automations execute in milliseconds with zero external dependencies.
The Local Automation Stack
A complete local-first smart home automation stack typically consists of:
Software layer
- Home Assistant — automation engine, dashboard, device registry
- Mosquitto MQTT broker — message bus for all devices
- Node-RED (optional) — visual flow-based automation
- InfluxDB + Grafana (optional) — long-term logging and analytics
Hardware layer
- EcoEdge ECO1624 — 16-channel 24V output controller
- ESPHome sensors — temperature, humidity, motion, contact
- Zigbee coordinator (optional) — for battery-powered Zigbee devices
- Home Assistant host — Raspberry Pi, NUC, or dedicated server
All components communicate over your local WiFi or wired network. Nothing leaves your home.
EcoEdge ECO1624 as the Output Controller
In a local automation stack, sensors provide inputs and controllers provide outputs. ECO1624 is the high-capacity 24V output controller — the device that physically opens valves, activates heating zones, and triggers relays based on decisions made in Home Assistant.
With 16 independently controllable 24V DC ports at 1.7A each, a single ECO1624 handles:
- A full 16-zone underfloor heating system with individual room thermostats
- An entire garden irrigation system with zone-by-zone scheduling
- A mixed installation combining heating zones, irrigation valves, and HVAC dampers
- Any combination of 24V output devices within the 50W total system budget
Automations That Only Work Locally
Local automation enables response times and reliability that cloud-based systems cannot match:
- Presence-based heating — when the last person leaves home (detected by local Bluetooth or WiFi presence sensor), all heating zones drop to setback temperature within one second
- Rain-cancelled irrigation — a local weather station or rain sensor cancels the morning irrigation run without any internet API call
- Power outage recovery — when power returns, Home Assistant restores all zones to their last-known state; ECO1624 reconnects to the MQTT broker and resynchronises automatically
- Fault detection — if a zone valve fails to respond, Home Assistant can send an alert and disable that zone — all evaluated locally in milliseconds
Frequently Asked Questions
Does EcoEdge require any cloud service to function?
No. ECO1624 communicates entirely over your local WiFi network with your MQTT broker. There is no cloud account, no subscription, and no manufacturer server involved at any point in normal operation.
What happens to my automation if the internet goes down?
Nothing changes. Home Assistant, the MQTT broker, and ECO1624 all run on your local network. Automations continue to execute normally during internet outages.
Is my home data private with EcoEdge?
Yes. No usage data, schedules, or device states are transmitted to EcoEdge or any third-party server. All data stays on your local network and your own Home Assistant instance.
What if EcoEdge as a company changes or closes?
ECO1624 uses standard open protocols (MQTT, documented REST API). It continues to function indefinitely using existing firmware. The MQTT topic structure is documented and does not depend on any EcoEdge server.
What hardware do I need to run a local automation stack?
A Home Assistant host (Raspberry Pi 4 or better, or an x86 mini PC), a local network, and EcoEdge ECO1624 for 24V output control. The Mosquitto MQTT broker runs as a Home Assistant add-on at no additional cost.
Start your local automation stack with ECO1624
16 zones. No cloud. Yours permanently.