After one month of owning a Hubitat C-8 Pro

Why Hubitat Elevation
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I'm loving it! The support in this forum is phenomenal too. I just completed adding a motion sensor on the porch which turns on the porch light, office light, and living room lamps when triggered (30 min before sunset to sunrise). And also installed one in the rear of the house which turns on the patio light, then 10 seconds later turns on the living room lamp.

I'm a retired Systems Engineer III and love to tinker, and this is one of the best tinker toys I've ever had! :slight_smile:

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Same here, I love to tinker, and Hubitat is as much of a hobby as it is a tool for me.

If you have any coding experience, the ultimate tinkering is writing your own apps in Groovy to do all your automations.

I wondered at first how people could possibly end up with over 100 devices, but here I am a few years later with well over 100 devices... it is addicting, and fun, and sometimes a bit expensive, but it seems like there is always something new to add or automate.

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Yeah, many devices and five hubs here. :astonished: Although two of those hubs will go away if I ever get the remaining bits migrated off of them. :smiley:

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I'm a noob, but I'm right behind you! :slight_smile:

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Yes, I was a Software Engineer for ~ 5 years. I will almost certainly get involved in coding at some point. But right now I'm focusing on learning Rule Machine and the Hubitat ecosystem in general. I've seen some videos regarding the Hubitat Package Manager which I intend to play with next.

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You may want to just move on to Webcore instead of learning Rule Machine. I would say that Webcore is about halfway between Rule Machine and coding a Groovy App.

While you still build automations using dropdown selections like in RM, you are building logical code structures that look like code. If, then, else, else if.... conditional and, or, xor, and any combination of using those as conditionals. Local variables, arrays, device lists and and a for each device loop you can use the device lists with. Json parsing, web requests...

The way Webcore is designed, you actually learn a lot more about how the hub works than you would with Rule Machine. I used to have about 200 Webcore Pistons for automations, and the logic used and the way it is presented in Webcore makes it very easy to move those automations over to Groovy code later.

Note: Webcore started with SmartThings when SmartThings was Groovy based. Now you cannot even use Webcore with SmartThings, but you will see lots of references to it still. It is a built-in app now on Hubitat that you can install easily like any built-in app.

https://wiki.webcore.co/Functions

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Thanks, I will certainly keep all of this in mind. Right now I'm struggling with Ring motion sensor false alarms. No false alarms at night when things cool off, but many during the day. Of course my triggers are based on sunset - 30 minutes to sunrise, so nothing is triggered during the day anyway. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Here is what AI says about alternatives to PIR motion detectors:

  1. Microwave (Doppler Radar) Sensors
  • Emit microwave signals and detect motion via Doppler shift.
  • Work well through non-metallic materials and in low-light or high-temperature conditions.
  • More sensitive than PIR, but can be prone to false alarms if not properly shielded.

:flashlight: 2. Active Infrared (IR) Beam Sensors

  • Use a transmitter and receiver pair to detect when a beam is broken.
  • Great for perimeter detection or narrow passageways.
  • Require precise alignment but are highly reliable.

:satellite: 3. Millimeter-Wave Radar Sensors

  • Advanced radar tech that detects motion, speed, and even direction.
  • Can sense stationary humans (like someone sitting still) and work through walls or fixtures.
  • Ideal for smart home setups or presence detection in complex environments.

:loud_sound: 4. Ultrasonic Sensors

  • Emit sound waves and measure reflections to detect movement.
  • Effective in enclosed spaces but can be affected by temperature and airflow.

:magnet: 5. Magnetic Contact Sensors

  • Detect when doors, windows, or drawers are opened.
  • Not motion-based, but useful for intrusion detection in specific zones.

:foot: 6. Pressure Mats or Floor Sensors

  • Trigger when someone steps on them.
  • Useful for entryways or hidden detection zones.

:brain: 7. Computer Vision (Camera-Based Detection)

  • Use AI to analyze video feeds for motion or presence.
  • Highly customizable but requires more processing power and privacy considerations.

If you're integrating these into your smart home setup—especially with Hubitat or Alexa routines—you might find radar or beam sensors particularly useful for reducing false positives and improving reliability. Want help picking one based on your specific layout or automation goals?

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I use PIR, mm-wave, and computer vision.

  • PIR: Passthrough areas: Hallways, Stairways, Pantry, Closets, Laundry Room
  • MM-Wave: Stay-In Areas: Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Bedroom, Office, Bathroom, Theater
  • Comp Vision: iSpy camera software on a an old Lenovo Windows Laptop, with Vimtag Cameras and using the iSpy option to trigger a virtual motion sensor in Hubitat via Maker API when motion is detected.

I have all kinds of PIR, way back to the old Iris Zigbee Sensors which are still working somehow, also SmartThings Zigbee sensors, Fibaro Zwave sensors, Third Reality, and some other cheap Zigbee from Amazon.

I have mostly Limptech/Moes ES1 mmWave sensors, and one Aqara FP1. Lots of threads on here about those and good drivers from kkossev.

I'm still clunking along with the old iSpy software for Cameras, but there are certainly other free and paid camera coordinators out there. These cameras are able to be used as local wifi, as they have a local onvif feed that is not advertised, but iSpy finds it.

I draw boxes on the camera image where I want it to detect motion for each camera. iSpy also rebroadcasts the feed as a .mjpeg video url, that when put in a dashboard image tile, displays fairly fluid video on a dashboard.

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Speaking of cameras, what features of the camera can you control from Hubitat? I assume you can't see the video directly in Hubitat.

-Thanks

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I have had issues like that with PIR and mmWave when used outside. I use the camera detection outside, for both surveillance and motion. Just a tree leaf in the wind outside can trigger things with other sensors, but with cameras I get to draw boxes for detection outside of anything that might "flutter". Heat also does not disturb camera detection.

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I can control absolutely nothing from Hubitat, but I'm not sure what I would need to. I see it more as a sensor where you set your preferences and leave it. Granted, I am only using these cheap stationary cameras, but if you want to go with panning or robotic cams that's another thing altogether, and some Hubitat control would be nice.

I can control and view anything for the cameras from anywhere on my phone. So I have cloud access, local recording to an sd card, local recording to my NAS via iSpy, a local dashboard video feed, and a local api call to Hubitat for motion trigger.

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Thanks again for the info.

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The PTZ camera I have by my front door doesn't track anything on the street. It is strictly monitoring my property. Before Ubiquiti updated the app and broke the HE integration I had started experimenting with Snell's driver. When the front gate contact sensor is opened the camera would zoom into the gate. This way I could pick up somebody before they hit the motion and detect zones.

Then they updated the app and broke my main integration. I didn't know where the issue was so I deleted Snell's driver in case it was interfering. Then I learned it was caused by Ubiquiti and with recent HE update it now works again. So now I'm on the built in integration but might reinstall Snell's driver on a different hub to allow control of the PTZ cameras.

So many rabbit holes to explore with HE. :wink:

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I've had my C8 Pro for about six weeks now and am very pleased with it for what I purchased it for - integrating all my devices. I've got a bunch of zwave and zigbee devices and a few wifi, and they are all now in the C8 Pro, integrated together. Only a few simple rules so far, like turning lights on and off at dusk, dawn, etc. I see the weak spot for Hubitat to be the dashboards. I'm trying to avoid having to crank up Home Assistant just for dashboards, but may have to. Giving Sharptools a try. It would be super convenient if the Hubitat folks just bought out Sharptools and integrated it directly as a new feature! :grinning:

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Many of us on this forum are of the theory that automation should handle most of the day-to-day operation of theses smart devices, which minimizes the usage of dashboards.

I do use dashboards on occasion, but it is maybe a couple times a week at most. Most things are triggered via motion, time, or contact sensors. Otherwise things are done via buttons, multi-tap/hold on switches, or the occasional Alexa command.

I do use and like the HD Plus Android app from the Hubitat community developer JPage, in particular, it has Android Auto capability, but it is a very solid app in general.

Edit: here is the HD Plus link: [RELEASE] HD+ - Android Dashboard

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Welcome to the Hubitat universe! I'm having a lot of fun with it. I just installed several Zooz ZSE42 water sensors. Kitchen sink, upstairs air conditioner, washer, and garage. Then two days later I found out my neighbor's refrigerator leaked for several hours, and they had to have their entire downstairs flooring replaced! I've had a leak under the kitchen sink, and also the pipes related to the tankless hot water heater, and also the air conditioner upstairs. Now I'm going to add one near the refrigerator, and all bathrooms!

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Yes, water leak sensors was one of the main reasons for automating! I've got 14 of the Thirdreality zigbee sensors and about to install one of the Ecolink Zwave units behind the refrigerator water tap as soon as it shows up. Had a disaster in a guest bath where water overflowed for 14 hours and warped the wood floors. Reason enough for me to be proactive. Those along with 3 zwave smoke/co2 detectors installed. Now I just have to start thinking about automating the notificatins and actions. There will be a main water cutoff automation coming in the near future as well.

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Thanks for the link to HD+! I have been playing a bit with it and it is quite nice!

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After I made this post I found out my neighbor's refrigerator waterline blew a hole and leaked for 2 1/2 hours before they got home! They posted photos and videos of the water damage and the floor being ripped up afterwards. This was a plastic line, and we intend to replace our plastic lines on our fridge and washer with steel braded lines.

I've already installed 4 leak sensors, and just ordered 5 more, one for each bathroom, and one by the fridge!

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For a full bathroom, you need at least two leak sensors: one for underneath the sink (more if you have more than one sink) and one behind the toilet.

And don’t forget your laundry room and hot water heater – really, any possible source of water.

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