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Hi Home Automatons. I've been having a frustrating time trying to find a suitable smart thermostat. Ideally, I want something that works just like Philips Hue - app control from within the house, on my LAN, without the device connecting to the internet/"cloud"; and timed events so I can turn the heating off at 11pm automatically if we forget. As far as I can tell, every off-the-shelf solution for normal people relies on the company's servers to work - the local electronics website offers products from Nest/Google, Tado, Bosch, Honeywell, Netatmo. So first question, am I right in thinking these won't work (usefully) if isolated from the internet? Alternatively, I'm happy to use something more open, e.g. z-wave thermostat, and integrate it with other systems. I've been dabbling with OpenHAB for example. But I'm struggling to find one that works with my heating system. For reference I'm in Europe, my current thermostat is a Honeywell T8851M, and my heating system is a hot-air based, connected to the thermostat by two wires that land on its A and B terminals. That's about as far as I've got. Any tips? E: and there' just one thermostat, in the living room, no "zones" or anything like that Bobstar fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Oct 18, 2020 |
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Oct 18, 2020 15:43
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azurite posted:I like my Radio Thermostat CT50. It's basically a run-of-the-mill programmable thermostat with optional Wifi and Z-Wave modules. I think you can expose it to "the cloud" if you want, but you can also run it entirely without. I use Z-Wave to adjust it via Home Assistant. That looks like the kind of thing, but it also looks like a North American kind of thing, not sure I can get that here. FCKGW posted:I know the Ecobee will work without internet via HomeKit. I can control it even if my internet is down. Yeah I saw that most of them keep doing something without internet, but the ones I've seen don't allow the app to work on LAN, it has to go via their servers. It's possible that what that the precise combination of things I'm looking for doesn't exist.
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Oct 19, 2020 18:42
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Question for Hue-knowers. I was looking for multi-button stations which can be more flexibly configured than the Hue Dimmer Switch, e.g. a different scene on each button. While googling this I came across the iConnectHue app, which claims to be able to make the Hue Dimmer Switch do just that - including press&hold and multi-press actions. Where does that configuration live though? In the Switch? In the Bridge? I'm just not clear how a 3rd party app can alter the config of Hue-brand products in this way. Would be cool though, my day job is basically this but on a commercial building scale, and our configuration software is absurdly flexible, so I often run into Hue limitations and go "dohhhhhh".
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Dec 7, 2020 16:34
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Molten Llama posted:In the Bridge. It's a little, square RESTful web server, and most everything the official Hue app does is accomplished using the published Hue API. There's a flexible rules engine running on the Bridge around which basically everything is built. The catch is that there's a cap on the number of rules (100 with the current model, I think) due to the Bridge's limited resources. Thanks, that makes sense. I'll have a read of the API. My systems's pretty small right now, I use it in the living room (for the ability to turn all the little lamps and ceiling lamps on/off from one switch), and the garden (for the astronomical timed event abilities), but for the bedroom expansion I have planned (wife: "aren't lightbulbs a boring Christmas present?"), I want to make use of colour temp and create a bunch of scenes (working light/cosy/reading etc) and it would be nice to have them on buttons, rather than having to multi-press.
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Dec 13, 2020 12:44
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tuyop posted:So this is interesting. I have those sengled multicolour bulbs hooked up to their HomeKit hub. I don't know these bulbs, but I'm guessing they're RGB-ColdWhite-WarmWhite and the Home app doesn't know that and is talking to them as RGB, which will always give you gross white. What do they show up as in the Home app? Also looking at their site, I'm not quite sure they understand the point of Zigbee Do any of the Smart LED bulbs function as a ZigBee repeater? Our Smart LED bulbs were designed to be used only as ZigBee end devices. Our engineers made this distinction as repeaters require constant power, but people still tend to power off their bulbs with wall switches when leaving a room. With no power to the repeater, other end devices may disconnect. The fact that our Smart LED bulbs are not repeaters also ensures that your ZigBee Network doesn't become overcrowded, which would delay any user controls.
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Dec 24, 2020 22:50
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Subjunctive posted:You could get a combination Z-Wave/Zigbee USB stick and let HA unify it all for you. I'm leaning towards this in the long term I think. So far I've been buying the Hue "dimmer" switches, which are quite nice, but limited when used with the Hue Bridge. The first generation only let you configure the "on" button at the top, while the newer one I just got has an "on/off" button at the top that can be set to either a specific scene, or recall the previous, and a "Hue" button at the bottom that can be another scene (5-press cycle selection). The newer one also has a wider face plate which covers European back boxes and has screw holes for them, hooray! But longer term I want more control (i.e. the ability to configure any button to do anything). Can you add Hue buttons to Home Assistant as generic Zigbee buttons and configure them arbitrarily?
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Apr 4, 2021 20:08
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Good timing on NAS-chat, I'm starting to bump into the limitations of the Hue bridge and am thinking of going all in on Home Assistant. Just playing with it in a Mac VM now, but in the long term: - Is running it on a Synology NAS a good plan, if I'm buying something specially? I have one already but it's a cheaper model that doesn't do Docker. If I upgrade, is it effectively equivalent to running it on a Pi, but with added hard disks, or is it a compromise in some way? - If yes to the above, can you use a Zigbee dongle with a Synology NAS?
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Apr 24, 2021 20:55
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Wow the new Hue app really is awful, isn't it. I haven't touched it for a while, just been enjoying a working system with timers and switches, but I Hue-ified my entrance hall at the weekend, and that's a massive downgrade in usability for settings levels/CT and saving scenes.
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Sep 20, 2021 08:00
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Slash posted:
How are your Xiaomi sensors connected to HA? Via their own hub, or direct to a Zigbee dongle? I finally got round to setting up a managed network with dedicated IoT and NoT VLANS, so if they need a hub that's doable, but I also found a very long HA thread talking about direct integration of random Zigbee stuff. NB I haven't actually got HA running yet, I'm shopping around for what I want in the long term
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Jan 14, 2022 18:01
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And double post to contribute some stuff regarding lighting: there was chat earlier about various approaches to switching. I've gone full remote with my Hue system - linked the live connection through in the backbox, and placed the Hue dimmer switches over the top, which communicate directly with the Hue Bridge via Zigbee. Now this does make the Hue Bridge itself a point of failure - though it doesn't rely on the internet or even the LAN, which is nice - but I'm comfortable with this. Worst case I can cycle the breaker and the bulbs will come on. Guess I could get a second bridge as a cold spare. I love the flexibility of just sticking some extra switches on our bedside tables. Using these newer buttons, where the "Hue" button can be set to do different things at different times, as discussed above re late-night bathrooms.  E.g. in the living room, pressing it after 18:00 brings on a nice warm white evening state. Minor complaint: I wish I could set an automation that goes to this state at that time automatically, but only if the lights are on already. I believe this is possible in HA though, if I integrate it in the future. All Hue bulbs in most of the house, because I like the consistent fade and nice colour temp. Integrated a Tradfri driver for some shelf spots in my office, and a Paulmann-brand ceiling light (both of which occasionally misfire somehow and come on very dim - the Hue bulbs never do this). So a bit pricey but worth it overall.
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Jan 14, 2022 18:17
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Slash posted:Using the XiaoMi hub. But I had to dismantle it and do some soldering so that I could shell into it and change its firewall settings, which is a pretty complex/advanced process. I’ll probably convert them over to a Zigbee/Zwave usb dongle at some point but it works flawlessly at the moment. Ah I see, just googled around that, sounds annoying. I think I'll skip straight to Zigbee2MQTT then. Thanks! General question, if I don't own anything suitable already, is a Raspberry Pi the best thing to run Home Assistant on? Annoyingly I cheaped out when I bought my NAS and it doesn't do that kind of thing 
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Jan 15, 2022 21:50
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Scruff McGruff posted:Normally I'd say that a pi is a good way to start getting into HA but if you don't already have one they're near impossible to find right now or are overpriced like a lot of electronics so I'd say to just pick up a used Optiplex/Think Center/ProDesk instead. They can be found for virtually the same price as rpi4's right now and have the benefit of being upgraded later if for some reason you need more power and can be found in USFF if you don't have a closet to stick a tower in or if you want to use it like a smart home hub. That's a good point. I have no idea how much a pi should cost. A random shop here sells a "Raspberry Pi 4B starter kit 8GB" with all the bits for €127, but it's on backorder anyway. I have an old Windows laptop I can use, I'll get that set up for now.
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Jan 16, 2022 20:25
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After a lot of to and fro, I now have Home Assistant successfully running on a NUC, communicating with my Hue system (those were the easy parts) and Zigbee2MQTT working over a Sonoff Zigbee dongle - that bit was more painful to set up, especially because I was running HA on an old Windows laptop just to get it working, and getting the stick recognised first by Windows, then by the VM, took a while, and then there's a multi-stage process inside HA to get it working. But I got there, and made it talk to an Ikea bulb and my Hue motion sensor as a test. If anyone wants to know more about how I did it just ask, and I'll try and remember! The guides I found online were quite bitty and I had to piece it together by trial and error. Now to buy some Xiaomi stuff to play with.
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Jan 31, 2022 18:34
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Hey Motronic (or anyone), I see you have Kindle Fire tablets as displays/touchscreens - are you happy with them? Do you need to sign in to an Amazon account to use them locally for HA purposes? Otherwise I'm assuming you just need a generic Android tablet that can run the Fully Kiosk app? Like this one https://www.coolblue.nl/en/product/857753/lenovo-tab-m10-2gb-32gb-wifi-white.html
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Feb 4, 2022 09:02
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Thanks both. Looks like you can't actually buy Fires in this country (wtf) so I'll have a play with that Lenovo one. I know nothing about Android but I'll figure it out. Yeah my HA NUC is on my NoT VLAN which can't see the internet (except right now it's wide open while I figure out how to do specific firewall rules). The tablet's going straight on that same VLAN/SSID. On which subject, my Paranoid Network of Things is coming along nicely. I'm loving the Xiaomi bits, they worked instantly on Zigbee2MQTT, and they're so cheap. I've found a Wifi doohickey I can plug into my electric/gas meter to share that back to HA in real time. Looking at OpenTherm gateway to splice into my thermostat-to-heating connection, to get the current value and set point control. Total rabbit hole!
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Feb 4, 2022 16:45
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Since isolating my Hue bridge on a non-internet VLAN, I have a feeling it doesn't know what time it is anymore. Is there a way of feeding it time service information from a local server, or do I need to poke a hole in my firewall for it (and if so, what kind of hole)?
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Feb 13, 2022 18:12
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Weird I was just thinking the same thing, same setup. My upstairs one stopped reporting completely, so I deleted and re-added it. Now it's gone ultra high rate, and the battery's dropping fast. Almost like it's gone "fine, you want me to report, I'll show you reporting!"  I know there's a setting under Zigbee2MQTT > [the device] > Reporting, for a min/max rep interval, which seem to be set to 60/3600 (seconds I assume) by default. But no idea how it decides within that range.
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Feb 19, 2022 11:54
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I have a weird thing going on. Haven't tried everything yet but wanted to run it by the thread. I have a basically standalone Hue system. This is then also integrated into my Home Assistant to show statuses etc. But I also have a single automation that sends the living room from "Bright Day" to "Cosy Evening" IF the lights are on already (which can't be achieved in Hue alone), at sunset or 18:00, whichever is first. This was working perfectly, but then I started messing with the Hue Zigbee channel (because my Zigbee2MQTT stick was on the same one), and since I settled on ch25, some of the bulbs in the living room no longer respond to scene activations from HA. Or rather, they do, but they ignore the colour temp. So e.g. when the automation runs, they stay in their cooler white. Or if I turn the lights off and then activate Cosy Evening from HA, they come on in a cool while, while others go to warm white. This is baffling me because surely the HA is just telling Hue to activate the scene (activating from Hue is always fine).
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Mar 7, 2022 19:05
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Henrik Zetterberg posted:I use Hue strips and used with a proper diffuser channel mount, they look great, plus my toddlers love the different colors. I wrote up an effort-post on Reddit a while back about my install: Semi unrelated, but what is that hexagonal clip octopus (hexopus?) and what do I google to find one? Could do with one at work.
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Apr 30, 2022 14:33
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Henrik Zetterberg posted:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DVZGXSF Awesome thanks!
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Apr 30, 2022 21:25
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Motronic posted:If these consumer monitors were saying "none/some/a little/some more/lots" rather than exact amounts I probably wouldn't have an issue with them, but that's not what I'm seeing. They are pretending to report accurate data and I don't see how they can in the long term. I have the one in question - I bought it just to try out as it wasn't much more than the temp/humidity ones I put everywhere else - and that's what it gives you on its own e-ink display. Currently I'm at 5 leaves out of 5. But it exposes the air quality in ppb to my HA, which is probably where it all falls down. The temp sensors were reporting to 2 decimal places until I told them to stop.
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May 3, 2022 20:07
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I'm having an infuriating problem with my standalone Hue system. A specific subset of lights will, around 1 time in 10, come on at 1% instead of the level in the specific scene. Most often it will show as 1% in the app too, though occasionally it thinks it's at the right level, and also sometimes doesn't come on at all. One lights from the subset will do this at a time. Asking for the scene again normally fixes it. This has started happening recently, after the system was rock solid for a few years. Lights have been added in that time (but see also below) - currently at 39 light devices and around 14 accessories. Happens in the living room (10 lights), bathroom (5 lights) and office (3 lights). Same if activated from a dimmer switch, app or motion sensor Fixes attempted, one at a time: - Power cycling hub - Power cycling all lights - Deleting and re-adding an offending light: normally moves the problem to another light - Tried all possible Zigbee channels - Flattened and reinstalled the entire system from scratch: now a new subset of lights does it - Deleted lights to get it down to 28 - no change - Moved Hue hub to living room (still on wired LAN), no change I'm finding this impossible to google. Any advise welcome!
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Jul 9, 2023 15:59
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SlowBloke posted:Did you checked if all the bulbs are at the latest firmware? Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Did you validate all of the bulbs, hubs, and accessories are firmware up-to-date? Argh. THANK you. The one thing I didn't think of was firmware. I've been very slowly updating since you both replied, and it seems to be doing the trick. It's got rid of the "Hollywood warehouse" effect too. I forgot I threw my Hub on a VLAN with no internet, then bought a load more bulbs so we had a complete mix of firmwares. You wouldn't believe that firmware on (pro-level) architectural lighting was a big part of my day job... Cheers
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Jul 12, 2023 08:04
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Couple of Home Assistant success stories from me, that mean I'm using it more usefully as less as a curio to tinker with to see what the air pressure in my office is (991hPa right now!) I got the Reolink PoE video doorbell integrated nicely, and used a Shelly Plus1 to ring the existing chime (8V AC) when it's pressed. I get a notification on my Apple watch with a picture of who's there, and the ability to toggle a message for delivery people when needed (and mute the chime, why not) This, along with 2 Reolink PTZ cameras (to look at the cats being cute while we're away) live happily on my Camera VLAN with no internet connection. A power-metering smart plug and an Aqara door sensor allow my washing machine to toggle between Idle, Running and Finished, with reminders that we haven't emptied it yet at bedtime. This smart plug seems to have a known bug where it just randomly turns off sometimes, and the easiest fix for this seems to be having an automation to turn it back on again when it does Maybe EU or even NL specific, but the Plugwise Anna thermostat and its companion network box use the OpenTherm standard, which our air heater understands, and do in fact work when isolated from the internet (their website was unclear on exactly how much it would work). The wall-mounted thermostat is neat, and finally getting the heating integrated into HA is most excellent. And finally, I chose our solar panels on other criteria, but was pleasantly surprised when the Enphase Envoy integration just popped up and magically worked. /end nerdery
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Feb 8, 2024 21:34
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TheDK posted:I have a Reolink doorbell and the chime thing is something I've been wanting to figure out! Any more details you can share on that, or send to me? Of course. Previously the circuit was 8V AC transformer - doorbell button (momentary switch, push= ding, release = dong) - chime. I removed the push switch entirely, and now one leg of the chime circuit goes through the switching side of the Shelly (marked O/I). The Shelly device itself is just powered by a random 12V DC brick I had lying around. Added the Shelly to my NoT WiFi network, shows up in HA integrations. Then this is the action step of my "when doorbell rings" automation (alongside phone notifications)  Adjust ding-dong interval (or length of brrring) to taste  TBH I was most impressed with the Shelly device, it can switch and be powered by a crazy range of options. And cheap too!
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Feb 9, 2024 10:29
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