And what I currently already have are: Philips Hue lights, Shelly Wifi switches, a Sonos sound system and thermostats by Tado.
It would appear that Hubitat Elevation fits the bill. So I am close to ordering one.
I have a few questions though.
How easy is it to add your own integrations?
I would specifically like to use my Tado thermostats. These are compatible with apple homekit, I have programming experience, so might be willing to attempt this. Would this be doable?
Are the newer Shelly devices (the "plus" ones) also supported?
I'd recommend keeping your lighting on the Hue Bridge system rather than directly pairing bulbs to Hubitat. There are a couple of apps to choose from that will integrate the two systems at hub level
You sound like a combination of someone who is asking questions that lend themselves to the headline features of the Hubitat platform, the kind of user best suited to the platform and someone willing to ask the right questions about whether their current setup / devices will work.
In terms of the hardware and support, I haven't personally had any issues and I expect the numbers are incredibly low. When users have had issues they are quickly dealt with by support, whether that be through assistance from support to rectify the issue or provide a replacement in the rare cases of any hardware fault. The support staff and other developers from Hubitat are all active participants in the Community alongside the private email based support they provide.
Like I said, you are asking all the right questions. Data and logic being executed locally is a fundamental feature of the HE platform, so you shouldn't have any concerns here.
My personal opinion is that HE started it's life targeting the advanced / DIY user in HA, but has started to re-shape the experience for new users who have not taken the same pre-HE journey. So it is definitely rooted in those happy to tinker with their setup and are comfortable with the technical aspects of what they are constructing.
Writing integrations is definitely possible, I have written a few myself, and the ease really depends on the device / service, but I would say that what Hubitat asks of you is not difficult to do, if that makes sense. The direct answer for your specific devices / services will depend on the ability to integrate with them. I'll leave others to comment on the specifics for what you have listed. Ikea shortcut button may need some consideration if it is a deal-breaker....
I'd also echo @Inge_Jones suggestion to keep your Hue lights on your bridge. It's not a deal-breaker, there are other options, but if you have the bridge, best to make use of it.
I would also add the ability to connect to different systems via the Maker API - a built in app that allows you to control/query devices & state of the Hubitat via RESTful calls. In addition there are a fair amount of apps written by the community that connect with a bunch of different systems allowing device sharing/control including Homebridge (share devices with Apple Home), MQTT, Node-RED, Home Assistant and others.
You also have the ability to share devices between multiple Hubitat hubs using a feature called HubMesh.
That does remind me, the Community is a "feature" on its own. Plenty of great people willing to help at all hours, assisting users with setting up automations or troubleshooting issues alongside support staff, develop add-ons (drivers / apps) to progress the platform beyond what is officially provided / supported capabilities, all while having fun along the way...
Thanks everyone for the replies. That I got several within a few hours gives me confidence.
Regarding the Phillips Hue bridge: I was hoping to be able to get rid of it, as I will probably end up with mostly non Hue stuff. For example. as basic lights in most rooms I want to install recessed spots made by Gledopto. These do work with the Hue Bridge, I would expect them to work with any
Zigbee complient coordinator. (In fact, I did manage to use them with a Conbee for example)
I think one of the reasons people advise keeping the bulbs on a separate zigbee mesh is that a lot of bulbs are not good repeaters and can cause glitches with the other devices. Not sure if the Hue bridge is better at handling this or whether it's just so that any snags can be confined to the lighting system
Yeah, @Inge_Jones 's comments on the Hue bridge are essentially why people typically keep it in their setup. But that's not to say just because a device connects to the Hue bridge you need to keep the bridge to keep using it. Probably worth reading / asking some more questions to flesh out the details on what you are wanting to do and what it may mean if you take on a HE setup.
And get used to the responses, like I said, the Community is a feature.... the cheques in the mail....
I would also recommend you keep your Hue bulbs connected to your Hue bridge.
Hubitat’s built in Hue integration works great, and there are one or two third party integrations that also work well and may give you even more features.
Zigbee bulbs that are also repeaters, such as Hue bulbs, often don’t play nicely with other Zigbee devices on the same mesh network, and will often adversely affect your Zigbee network. If your Hue bulbs are on a Hue bridge, you take a little of the load off of Hubitat’s Zigbee radio. You can easily update the Hue bulbs’ firmware by keeping the Hue bridge. You also have another way of controlling your Hue bulbs with the Hue app if, for instance, your Hubitat ever goes down, and there are a few fun/interesting things you can do with the Hue app.
Sorry, ignorant American here . A pet kangaroo would be nice...
More on topic, and echoing sentiments above - as long as the device can be controlled locally, almost anything is possible with Hubitat, whether with a built-in app/driver or a custom one. I'm aware that community integrations exist for Shelly, Hue, and Homekit. Additional integrations exist beyond these, even for the same devices/systems.
Everything is written in groovy, which is an extension of java - so brush up on that if you want to invest in writing your own integrations! Some of the "official documentation" is a bit sparse, but the community will jump in to assist if you have an issue, and I've found that SmartThings Classic docs (as much as we rag on ST) have been helpful to fill in some of the gaps
The beauty of the Hubitat platform is flexibility. With the built-in and community integrations you can bolt on many different independent platforms and use Hubitat as a central platform. In the case mentioned above about the Hue hub, once you add the easy integration to Hubitat the Hue devices appear on the Hubitat as devices just like any other and control of those devices from Hubitat becomes seamless. The same applies to multiple Hubitat hubs. With hub mesh devices on one Hubitat on the same local network can be shared with the other hubs and appear seamlessly on those shared hubs. Rules and automations on the hubs can use the shared devices just the same as the local devices. As far as compatibility with devices. There is a list of officially supported Hubitat devices that will give you an idea of the breadth of devices and manufacturers that are supported. WIth that being said, the community is extremely active and there are some very talented people that contribute device drivers for new devices regularly. I am an IT guy and I have never seen a community as talented and responsive as this one. It is a true asset to the product.
@krist.vanbesien, snoop around the forum and documentation for a while. Search on the devices you have and the types of functionality you are interested in.
I have been collecting Hue bulbs for years now and have 40+ throughout the home. I keep mine on the Hue bridge for several of the reasons listed above and connect it to Hubitat with the CoCoHue integration. With that I still have access to Hue Groups, Scenes, and even Labs stuff through Hubitat and it's all local. Separate from Hubitat, I also enjoy the Hue Sync feature which allows me to synchronize my lights to music and/or video playing on my HTPC.
As for my Hue motion sensors and buttons, I've moved those over to Hubitat so I can use them to control both Hue and non-Hue devices and to have the ability to do more complex automations.
For buttons, my favorite are the SmartThings buttons. Aeotec has taken over manufacturing them now and they have had price bump as well, but I think they are worth it. I don't have any experience with Ikea's.
. A pet kangaroo would be nice...
