Hardware guide

What to run HomeHQ on

HomeHQ works on most hardware made in the last 10 years. These are tested picks at each price point.

Raspberry Pi

The most popular choice. Quiet, low-power, and fits behind any TV.
★ Recommended
Raspberry Pi 5 — 4 GB
~£65 board only
The best Pi for HomeHQ. Noticeably faster than Pi 4 for Chromium kiosk rendering. Runs cool in a passive case.
CPUCortex-A76 quad-core 2.4 GHz
RAM4 GB LPDDR4X
Storage16 GB SD card minimum
Power~5W idle, 12W peak
DisplayHDMI via micro-HDMI cable
Needs a micro-HDMI to full-size HDMI cable — not included. Use the official USB-C 27W PSU.
Budget pick
Raspberry Pi 4 — 2 GB
~£45 board only
Fully supported. Slightly slower Chromium on the kiosk display but perfectly usable for the server and PWA.
CPUCortex-A72 quad-core 1.8 GHz
RAM2 GB LPDDR4
Storage16 GB SD card minimum
Power~3W idle, 7W peak
2 GB is fine for HomeHQ. 4 GB if you plan to run other services alongside it.
Accessories
What else you'll need
These go with any Pi model:
CaseArgon NEO 5 (Pi 5) — passive cooling, clean look
SD cardSamsung 32 GB Pro Endurance — rated for 24/7 write load
CableMicro-HDMI → HDMI (Pi 5) or standard HDMI (Pi 4)
PowerOfficial Pi USB-C PSU (Pi 5: 27W, Pi 4: 15W)
Total Pi 5 kit: ~£95–110 depending on SD card size.

x86-64 mini PC

More headroom if you want to run Home Assistant, Plex, or other services alongside HomeHQ.
★ Recommended
Intel N100 NUC / mini PC
~£130–170 complete unit
Beelink EQ12, ASUS NUC 14, or similar. The N100 is efficient (6W idle), silent, and miles faster than any Pi for the kiosk.
CPUIntel N100 4-core 3.4 GHz
RAM8–16 GB DDR4/DDR5
Storage256 GB NVMe SSD (usually included)
Power~6W idle, 25W peak
DisplayHDMI 2.0 full-size
Usually ships as a complete unit with RAM and storage. Flash the USB image and boot.
Budget x86
Any spare Windows PC
Free if you have one
Any x86-64 PC from 2012 onwards with UEFI boot and 4 GB RAM will run HomeHQ fine. Great for repurposing old hardware.
Minimum4 GB RAM, 16 GB storage
BootMust support UEFI (not legacy BIOS)
DisplayAny HDMI or DisplayPort output
The x86 image installs to the USB drive itself — it doesn't touch the existing Windows installation.
VM / homelab
Proxmox VM or VirtualBox
Free if you have the hardware
The x86 image boots in any UEFI-capable VM. In Proxmox, use q35 machine type with OVMF (UEFI) bios. Assign 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM minimum.
Machineq35 + OVMF UEFI in Proxmox
DiskImport the .img as raw disk image
DisplayVNC or SPICE console for kiosk
For a headless homelab, skip the kiosk setup and just access the PWA from phones.

Display

HomeHQ works best with a TV or monitor wall-mounted in a common area.
Any HDMI TV (32–55")
The dashboard is designed at 1920×1080 and 1280×720. Any modern TV works. Mount it in the kitchen or hallway where everyone passes by. The Pi/NUC sits behind it.
Set the TV to "PC" or "Game" mode to reduce input lag and disable any annoying smart-TV overlays.
Monitor (24" 1080p)
A standard 1080p monitor works perfectly. Lower cost than a TV for a dedicated kitchen display. Look for one with VESA mount support for wall-mounting.
Disable monitor auto-sleep in the OSD — HomeHQ's DPMS override works at the OS level but some monitors have their own timeout.