Just looking for a bit of advice. Just received my Hubitat hub and I wanted to know if anybody can give me some advice based on what they went through to get everything over to Hubitat? I have some things working on Webcore pistons and RoomsManager. What is the best way to get everything setup without breaking everything in ST? Also, can the Webcore pistons port over to hubitat?
Have you read any of the other threads on the topic of migrating from ST to HE?
Edit: there is a sub-category of the forum devoted to threads like this.
While there are threads...there really should be a "where do I start" page with some options of how to go about it and what tools are available and how they work. All of the information is here...you just kind of have to search it out and learn. Bottom line.
You aren't just migrating easily to HE from ST without work.
There are tools to replicate devices from one hub to the other so you can have "virtual" devices going in either direction to allow you have both hubs running at the same time. This allows you time to migrate devices from one zwave/zigbee/cloud/local to the other hub slowly. Yes it takes some replicating and duplicate work.
Yes webcore can be run on hubitat. There are threads on that. Rule manage is Hubitat's way of complex rules. There are apps just like ST for simple lighting automations/etc. You'll find those in the apps area.
There is no easy way to do things like "Routines" (at least that I'm aware of someone might correct that) to simplify setting up those "I'm home" "Goodbye" and "Goodnight" routines. You'll be building those yourself.
Some suggestions.
- Look up your devices BEFORE you port them over on here to see if they are compatible and what issues you may have with those. Do those last.
- Have a plan. Everyone does this different. 1 room at a time, etc. but have a plan.
- I found it helpful to export a list of my devices from ST and put some extra columns with Zwave/zwave+/zigbee/AcORbatt/etc. Then I kind of knew what I was going to migrate based on location and repeaters.
- the z-stick while not required to exclude was VERY handy for me as other suggested. It allows a bit easier exclude of zwave devices with a simple push of the button. You do not NEED it. I would exclude from the HE hub...then turn around and include it if you are not using the z-stick.
I read and played for a few hours and then just barged and moved 90% of my stuff in 24 hours. Not sure I would do that a 2nd time. I think I'd migrate just a single room that had examples of every type of sensor (motion/light/dimmer/contact) and really play with RM with JUST that one set of devices to figure out what you can do. I have about 30 rules and afterwards went back and found better ways. I could have avoided this had I played for a few days or a week.
To replicate devices from ST to HE: Hubitat™ SmartThings Integration - this is one way. ST to HE that's it.
To replicate devices from HE to ST: [RELEASE] Other Hub SmartThings Integration 2.0 two way communication. ST can control HE devices with this.
Excluding devices from ST: Inclusion, Exclusion, and Factory Reset procedures
General reading: Hubitat Documentation
Hope this helped at least a little.
4 Likes
Some minor augmentations if you will...
z-stick is actually an Aeon Z-Stick and is something additional to buy, which is why it's handy, not needed. It has a battery and ...omg... how it simplifies Exclusion. You push and hold it's big button til it blinks/pulses Orange and then click/tap/flip a device you're trying to Exclude. The Z-Stick in your hand blinks rapidly and then off, and back to a pulsing orange, ready for the next Exclude.
Start small, move 3 devices, get them working and your automations running. Learn from it and then do more and more.
1 Like
If you exclude the item does it take it out of ST?
If the ZStick is Joined to ST, then yes, ST as the SUC/SIS gets the news of the Exclude and will delete the device. That will impact your ST automations. Therefore, it's suggested you exclude the Z-Stick first, then it won't know who to inform about an exclude. If you join the Z-Stick (right away or eventually) to Hubitat, then Hubitat would get the news about the Exclude but doesn't know anything about the device, nothing to exclude and it ignores the news. Obviously if you've excluded from ST, then Included on Hubitat and you have joined the Z-Stick to Hubitat, an Exclude will send the news to Hubitat, which at that point in time does know, and then it will delete the device, affecting your Hubitat automations.
"affecting your Automations" means, you have devices in the Rules or pistons. When they get excluded, there's a hole in the rule/piston.
I say this on every one of these threads.
Don't do it all in one shot.
Get 1 automation working and tested at a time.
1 Like
Thank you! I had started out reading but it all becomes so involved very fast. I just wanted to know if anybody had some good advise on how and where to start. I understand that maybe working room by room would be easier but I have some things like motion sensors that are in one room but also affect other rooms and things going on. If I take these offline, then other rooms or automations won't work. So maybe using a ST integrations app might help if I can keep it working in ST as well.
Seeing as the Aeon z-stick is $91 from amazon.ca, I think I would prefer to do it using the hubitat hub that I have. Just so I can confirm that I understand the procedure....So if I am in Hubitat and I click on the Z-wave Exclude then I would do the process on the item to be excluded from ST. At that point then I should be able to add this item to Hubitat? Will it still be listed in ST? Or do I start the Z-wave Exclude in Hubitat and then in ST app exclude the item in ST? Will this allow the item then to be added to Hubitat? Just trying to wrap my head around the actual process before I get started.
Any z-wave controller can exclude a z-wave device, regardless of whether or not the device is a part of the same z-wave network as the controller.
So you can exclude a z-wave device with the ST app, the HE web interface, or with a z-stick. There are pluses and minuses to using each method. And there’s no reason to perform a z-wave exclusion on the same device from more than one controller; in fact I don’t think that’s possible since once a device has been excluded, you can’t exclude it again (until it has been paired with a z-wave controller, then of course it could be excluded again in the future).
Or you can follow the instructions in the manual to factory reset your z-wave device, which usually involves some kind of button pushing/holding pattern on the device. That will exclude it and reset the settings/parameters that were previously configured.
So if I Exclude it using ST app then do I have to do anything with the item I have excluded?
Well of course you have to do something, but I’m not quite sure what you’re asking.
Exclusion is a two-step process, regardless of which controller you decide to use. First you put the controller in exclusion mode, then you put the device in exclusion mode (you will need to consult the user manual for the device to know how to do that). Now your device is excluded.
If that’s not what you meant, then after you have excluded your device with the two steps I just mentioned, then you have to pair it to a new z-wave controller.
Got it! Thanks! I wasn't sure if I needed to actually do a procedure to put the device into exclusion or if excluding it using the ST app would just put it into exclusion. So regardless of what item you use to Exclude devices (ie: hubitat, ST, Aeon stick), you still have to do the procedure on each device to exclude it.
I see. Yes, there's always a physical interaction that you must take with the z-wave device in order for it to be included or excluded from a z-wave network. What exactly that physical interaction is, will depend on the device, and the user manual will specify.
... and far too often requires standing on your head and/or using a lot of bad words.
J/K
But remember.. if you do the Exclude from the controller on the same ZWave network as the device, it WILL delete that device from Automations... rules/pistons and apps.
Some people are using Hubitat to do the exclude just so they retain the (dead) device on ST. This is useful if you plan on having a virtual device on ST. Think.. placeholder. When you have the device on Hubitat, and then eventually you have it virtually on ST via an App, then it simplifies remembering where to update.
Your thumb will be getting good excessive if you have any of the Iris smart plugs.
2 Likes
I have my house fully automated with smartthings but now I am considering to move to Hubitat for the reason that it offers full local control. I am reading here and the discussion is about Z-wave devices as those have the exclusion functionality. what about the Zigbee ? what would be the procedure for those?
I'm not an expert but I think for the Zigbee devices just make sure you know how to put deices in pairing mode. I had an older Iris setup and it took a little digging to find all the info.
ok, so that will automatically exclude my device from smartthings and add it to Hubitat?
Not sure but I believe putting Zigbee devices in pairing mode is like a master reset. Worked on my Iris devices and some purchased Zigbee devices (mostly light bulbs) I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
1 Like
