I have an Apple HomeKit that will be the user interface for my home. I have installed and integrated Hubitat to HomeKit.
When adding Sebgled lights, should I add them to the Sengled hub and then expose them from Sengled hub to Hubitat or should I just add the lights directly to Hubitat?
I always try to add devices directly to Hubitat. Some devices will require setup in their native app first (like Google devices for example) but many don't.
Add to hubitat first then expose to homekit
Some devices will require setup in their native app first (like Google devices for example) but many don't.
Will Hubitat handle firmware updates of the devices?
If a firmware update is available for z-wave you can apply the update, for zigbee, if there is an update available you need to give it to @mike.maxwell so he can add it to the database.
That's not even possible. There's no way to connect a Sengled hub to Hubitat. They might add a Matter bridge at some point, but they don't have one now, and until they do, you can't connect the bulbs to their hub then connect their hub to Hubitat.
Your only option is connecting the bulbs straight to Hubitat. That's assuming you bought their ZigBee based bulbs. I think they sell some super low end bluetooth model, and a similarly low end WiFi only one. Neither of those will work with Hubitat, and since you can't connect their hub to hubitat, if you have anything other than their ZigBee line of bulbs you're probably out of luck.
For ZigBee stuff, if the manufacturer has drivers available, then yes, Hubitat will update them. Not all manufacturers provide them. I think Sengled is one that does.
Gotcha, thanks.
I landed on sengled because I want to avoid wifi, cloud products. So I did purchase the zigbee bulbs. I also bought their cheap hub and you’re right, it doesn’t connect to Hubitat. However, I did some reading and they have a hub that is compatible with HomeKit. It’s gonna arrive tomorrow.
And to be honest, the question of whether to discover devices in the vendor app or Hubitat directly is something that I would like advice on?
Thoughts?
Don't open that. Just send it right back.
Connect your bulbs directly to Hubitat. You need nothing else from Sengled.
I've got a number of their bulbs connected directly to Hubitat, and exported to HomeKit by Hubitat using the HomeKit app in Hubitat:
That Sengled hub you have arriving tomorrow has zero use, and you have no need for it.
Fantastic. Thank you!
Thanks for your help so far Daniel. I do have some more questions if you have some time:
1, Since I’m using HomeKit as the user interface, do you recommend any treatment of the lightbulb in Hubitat or do I just pass it through as is and adjust color, temperature and brightness in HomeKit?
Is Sengled the right solution iyo? Non-wifi bulbs.
Do you use a voice assistant? If so, which one and why?
Not sure what you're asking for #1. I just have the bulbs passed through. I probably use HomeKit to adjust something manually maybe, and I mean maybe once a week. For the most part things are automated, and all the automation is on Hubitat since HomeKit automations are total garbage.
For #2, I have a few different bulbs that I like. The Sengled are probably my least favorite since they don't have 'restore to previous state' settings for what they do after a power outage. Having a brief power outage result in all the lights coming on at 100% isn't OK, so I tend to use other bulbs. I've got some Innr brand, they're OK. My Ikea color-temp adjustable ones are nice in terms of the quality of light they produce. Only the Innr ones have 'restore to previous state'.
Most of my bulbs are actually Inovelli Z-wave ones. I got them at a steal for $14 each years ago.
For #3, see my point about not using manual control through HomeKit. Voice control is just manual control, and manual control sucks. For the once or twice a month I might use it for some reason, it's Siri. It boggles my mind that anyone would ever put Google or Amazon devices in their home. The amount of private information they gather is absurd.
#1 - if I want the bulb to turn on in white with K=2500 do I set that in Hubitat or hk?
Yeah, google and alexa are collecting too much data to consider.
Like setting a default "turn on to this" setting? That's for sure something you'll have to do in Hubitat. HomeKit definitely doesn't have anything like that.
What you can do is either use Room Lighting to create an Activator Device (what I'd recommend) or use the Groups and Scenes app to make a scene for "100% brightness at 2500K" and then expose that scene or activator to HomeKit. I've got my office lights set up like that. There's an activator device exposed to HomeKit and when it turns on, Hubitat makes sure that the correct color temp is applied.
Yep. And people don't even realize just what these companies do with it. Google doesn't need to know how many times I get up to pee at night, or what time I last have my kitchen lights on, or any other bits of data that when combined with other data collected provides a LOT of insights into personal habits.
The Sengled are probably my least favorite since they don't have 'restore to previous state' settings for what they do after a power outage.
Is there a device that can automate detection of power failure? If so, run an automation based on that setting all of the singled lights back to where we want them?
I use this to detect power outages:
But even if Hubitat sets them back to "what they're supposed to be" that doesn't change the fact that they'll come on at 100% brightness for a good while, possibly at 3AM. The bulbs take a bit to connect to the hub after turning on, then they need report their state, then Hubitat has to catch that in some sort of Rule, realize it's not what it's supposed to be, then turn the bulb back off.
That's easily 30 seconds of having the lights turned on in the middle of the night.
If that's OK with you, then cool. I'll never put a bulb that doesn't restore to "last state" in a bedroom personally.
Download the Hubitat app
