Saturday Spotlight: NS Panel Pro

My newest addition to my smart home, the Sonoff NS Panel Pro. This device is quite well equipped, boasting a 3.95" touch screen, Sonoff OS, an integrated Zigbee Device (or Router depending on the settings) and now having native Home Assistant Support. 

One downside that I did notice however, is that the NS Panel (not Pro) does seem to have a relay to allow it to natively control items by itself. Sadly the pro does not have this feature, so if you are wanting to control something, I would recommend you get an additional Relay (I would recommend a Shelly to match your needs).

Initial Use

I had this sat in its box for about a week before I managed to get it installed. Being an Electrician by trade, means that I did not just want to have this sat somewhere in the SONOFF Enclosure (and even then the cables are still on site coming of the enclosure). I chased out my walls installed a switch to isolate the NS Panel when needed to and installed the NS Panel to it's Electrical Circuit. I used the integrated Home Assistant to show this, but to be honest, this was sub-par. 

I was disappointed to say the least, the NS Panel Pro is not exactly cheap, and it just wasn't what I was hoping. However, I did some more research and managed to side-load the device with 'Fully Kiosk'. Now this is where the full functionality of the NS Panel came to life.

This now sit's on my wall by my front door, we use this to arm/disarm my Alarmo integration. Also it shows the camera when someone presses my doorbell. I can control all my lights if the Lux in the rooms isn't low enough for the automations to run. 

Future Plans

The next thing I need is to integrate it so I can use this as an intercom and Speak to people at the door if I do not want to open it. But even then, is it necessary, It is about 2m from my front door so I could just open the door myself. But this isn't just for me, if my Wife is home alone it can mean she can send people away from the door without opening herself up to risk.