I just recently got my first RPi for my home automation needs, so I have no emotional attachment to the RPi ecosystem of the past. Frankly I don't get your rant at all, nor do I see any reason to reassess the approach.
My apartment has old radiators with manual temperature control, so my goal is to automate that with some temperature sensors + Zigbee radiator controllers. And liberating my Hue lights as they keep nagging that I'll soon need a cloud account to control my lights at home.
Nice I've been contemplating doing some home automation for heating, I have a dual fuel forced air furnaces, with only 1 thermostat and a fairly large house. There's a large temperature gradient between the floors, so I was thinking automate booster fans on the lower floor to pull more heat, and or cycle the recirculate fan when the temp gradient is above X.
