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Home Assistant for Commercial Real Estate

Last year I wrote about using Home Assistant at home.

This is the commercial version of that setup. I manage a mixed-use building in Alaska from Seattle—about 1,700 miles away—and Home Assistant has become the always-on system that flags issues before they become after-hours emergencies.

Dashboard #

Here’s the dashboard pinned on my laptop and phone:

Home Assistant dashboard showing cameras, sump pump status, leak sensors, and door logs for the Alaska property

UniFi Protect runs the PoE cameras. Home Assistant Supervisor, Zigbee, and a few cloud integrations bring in everything else—door contacts, leak detectors, sump pump monitors, temperature probes, and weather sensors. The result is a single dashboard that covers physical security, environmental conditions, and equipment status in one view.

Automations that make remote ops manageable #

The building is in Anchorage with freeze–thaw cycles and human error to contend with. These automations run every day:

  • Exterior door alerts – If an exterior door stays open for more than twe=nty minutes, I receive a push notification plus a thumbnail from the nearest UniFi camera. The door log and video make audits straightforward.
  • Restricted room access logs – Door sensors on maintenance rooms report each open/close event so it’s obvious when someone is present.
  • Leak detection + escalation – Zigbee leak sensors sit at hot water tanks and mechanical manifolds. A trip triggers SMS and email notifications with the exact sensor location.
  • Sump pump watchdog – Each pump is on an energy-monitoring smart plug. Home Assistant tracks run-time profiles and fires “Lower Sump Not Running Recently” or the “Upper Sump Triggeredd” equivalent if usage falls outside normal. A backup pump is wired as failover; any switchover generates a “Switch State Change” alert.
  • Temperature monitoring – Sensors throughout the building generate alerts when temperatures move toward freezing or spike beyond normal ranges, so freeze damage and HVAC failures are caught early.

The small items, like the “Alley Door Nagging Alert,” eliminate guesswork and prevent unnecessary site visits.

Key integrations for this site #

  • UniFi Protect – PoE cameras, live view, and still image capture.
  • Zigbee Automation – Low-power, reliable leak, contact, and temperature sensors off the main Wi-Fi.
  • Sonoff + shell commands – Direct control and monitoring of sump pump circuits and power usage.
  • Honeywell Total Connect Comfort – HVAC status and temperature control.
  • Met.no + Sun – Weather and daylight data for freeze and icing logic.
  • Home Assistant Mobile App – Dashboard and push notifications.

None of this requires expensive hardware. It is sensors, UniFi cameras, and a set of automations tuned to one building. If a pump stalls, a door is propped, or a leak starts, I receive a timestamped alert within moments—well before it turns into property damage.