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🌎 Around the World 🇪🇺 Europe
39

Hi @RogerThat,

I finally bought the HE, hope I can have it soon here in Spain.

As a newbie, I am starting from the ground. I only have some echo speakers around the house but no sensors whatsoever.

To start I am planning on buying "cheap" sensors like the xiaomi/aqara ones and link them with the HE. I've read many comments saying that it is difficult to get them to work well without the xiaomi hub.
If I want to use them ( with no special hub), should I stay with xiaomi/aqara products for the sensors and Ikea smart plugs as repeaters?
May I connect then any zigbee light bulb/led strip I want?

As I am new to this world I don't want to complicate myself straight from the beginning. :sweat_smile:

Thank you in advante.

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41

The Trådfri plugs kept my Sylvania mesh happy for a long time. It wasn't until I added about 15 Iris motion sensors that I got bit by the bulb bug. Last night I moved about 30 devices over to a new hub and my now non-Sylvania mesh started responding again.

Now I have to figure out where to put all those Trådfri plugs. I put three on the lighting mesh and I need to find all the old ones on the original mesh and redeploy. The two Zigbee meshes don't overlap 100% so I'm sure there are unneeded or duplicated ones on the old setup.

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42

In preparation for the arrival of my HE I took out, and dusted off, my Hue Bridge and moved all lights from my Homey to the Bridge. I notice a much quicker response from my Homey now controlling the lights.
For the other ZigBee devices, now that the big mesh was broken, I needed a repeater so I went to IKEA and got a Trådfri Switch. Everything is working great with my Homey now, much better than before .

I have other things that isn’t supported by Homey so I looking forward to get my hands on the HE. Right now it is in UPSP Regional Facility in Los Angeles...

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43

Hi @Angel,

I was not quick enough to see your comment.
It seems it has been erased.

Xavier.

44

Thanks Carl!
The return to work has been intense and I hadn't much time to look at the forum. I've also been struggling with the integration of my Danalock V3 ... until I realized that my version of Danalock was Zigbee and not Zwave :joy::joy::joy:
Anyway, I´ve talked with @xbarbera and offered him my own experience to start in this world.

BR
Angel
Barcelona, España

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45

Hi @xbarbera!

It seems to me that the Xiami stuff works great if you have a good zigbe mesh. The struggle some have had, seems to be solved when adding repeaters. So yes, I do not se why you cannot stay with Xiaomi/Aqara. Many have success, including me. :slight_smile:
Here is a good (loooong) thread on how to get them to stay connected: Xiaomi & Aqara Devices - Pairing & Keeping them connected - #667 by BrunoVoeten
The general trick here, in short, is to have a good zigbee mesh, and keep them awake during connection prosess(1. Long press til you see three light blinks. 2 keep tapping connection button every 2-3 seconds until HE finds them)

You can connect any zigbee bulb/strip controller you like, many work with the Generic RGBW driver. But search the forum before ordering to maybe avoid blindshots. I would look at the latest GLEDOPTO series for strips and controllers, if I where you. For Zigbee bulbs, its a bit more tricky. Hue is well known, but GLEDOPTO also works with HUE for a better price. Not so bright, but hey,, good enough, in my opinion. Works great with direct hookup to HE with the Generic RGBW driver. Also the LED strip controller have now the drivers available.

I would also, and started myselves, to look at Yeelights. They are WiFi, but also works locally with HE. Good post about them here: Yeelights - #49 by vjv

I will try some IKEA bulbs going forward, but since we also have a HUE hub in the house, I might mix it up a little. Also so far, GLEDOPTO have been rock solid steady.

This Xiaomi rounded door sensor is very tiny and works great on doors like main door and refrigerator for warnings/alarms. Hihi

610673A9-C812-4BAA-B81C-77C44B504020
610673A9-C812-4BAA-B81C-77C44B5040201586×1386 469 KB

PS: I just ordered 5 pcs. IKEA TRÅDFRI Adapter/Outlets to build my mesh. They have an offer that runs out 12.01.2020, at a very good price. NOK 150/€15 which is much cheaper that CoolCam plugs. Not that pretty, but will put them hidden. They repeat and will help to get a good mesh. At the same time, I will use them for a few Oil filled floor heating ovens, controlled by the HE and very tiny Xiamoi temp/humid sensor I already have in every room now. House heating is the biggest one to save money, and now I can lower and control it all to save the cost of it all. Even if Norway have the cheapest electricity in the world, money is to be saved on heat. We freeze for at least 8 months a year in Norway, so heating is a big one... :joy:

RogerThat

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46

Hi @lairdnox!

Yeah, Hubitat Elevation supports up to 32 Zigbee end devices , in other words, devices paired directly to the hub, without a repeater in place. However, there is no limit to the number (65K) of Zigbee devices that may be added when signal repeaters are used. So repeaters will solve this for you. Another hub is not needed to solve this problem, but hey, why not. HE is great, so a spare cannot hurt, not that I read that they die on you, yet. :slight_smile:
RogerThat

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47

Hi, @Angel!
I bet that helped a bit. :joy::joy::joy:
How is the lock working out for you?
Anything you can share regarding experience so far?
I also have ended up to look for a good deal on the Scandinavian Zigbee model, but not ordered one yet.
RogerThat

48

Hi @RogerThat,

It works fine at the moment. I set up a rule "Going Sleep" that lock the Danalock, close the lights and, in the near future, will down the roller shutters. The only problem (maybe because the kind of my deadbolt) is this:
I have set up the Danalock with automatic latch retract during 5 sec, because I haven't a door handle at the front part of the door, and I need to push when I arrive home. So, if I disarm the "Going Sleep" rule in the morning (maybe from the bed or with a timer) there is a risk the door opened. Maybe I must put a metal spring to prevent this...:thinking::thinking::thinking:
The other thing is that I haven't a Danapad (I open the lock with my phone app), so I think the code options in the "Generic Zigbee Lock Driver" is unusable for me.
Hope this helps.
BR
Angel

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49

I had multiple repeaters. The problem is when one of the bulbs acts as a repeater and it gets more traffic than it can handle. You can’t pick the path a device uses and eventually one of the bulbs will drop. Moving the offending bulbs to their own mesh greatly reduces the chatter on the mesh.

It wasn’t an issue of device count it was just the poor design of the bulbs.

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50

Yeah, I can see that challenge. Did you choose a separate Zigbee channel manually on the second hub, or did it work itselves out magically? :stuck_out_tongue: Just curious...
RogerThat

51

Will soon get my ordered Hubitat and Verisure is an important device in my current smart home controlled by Homey.
Does your cloud driver support status of the alarm and also activate/disengage the alarm?

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52

Yes you are able arm and disarm, control locks & smartplugs, get sensor data from climate sensors and contact sensors. I could include more but those are the devices I have at the moment.

Send me a PM and I’ll hook you up. I really need beta testers so I can release it here in the community.

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53

It was magical. I didn’t change the channel on the new hub - but I had already changed the original hub. :wink:

I did turn off the Z-Wave radio on the new hub.

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54

That sounds great!
I haven’t received my HE yet but when I have a will send you a PM.
I have no clue how to install things on HE but I it’s just to read up on the forum and/or the HE web site.

2 Likes
55

Ordered last week, my package is currently in LA, so some travelling left until it reaches Sweden. Raided IKEA yesterday to get some repeaters and outlet, and also got my hands on a SYMFONISK audio controller (there is a driver so you can use it for dimming as well)

Have kept an eye at Hubitat for about a year, and finally ordered after I got tired at fiddling with the phone on my Homey.

Can't wait to get started :slight_smile:

3 Likes
56

Hi again.
Just added some GLEDOPTO stuff to the Zigbee list on this Wiki. A great source for us that is looking for stuff that is compatible. Better list than the one in the documentation on the hubitat.com site:
Community Device Drivers (FKA Compatible Devices Wiki)

Please help all EU users out, add the stuff you have tried, also with a link where you bought it in a «...I just added the following to the list» post.
I would not post links in the list, to keep it as clean as possible.

Hope it helps!?

RogerThat

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57

Hi again.
I am so childish, hahaha.

I have used the app on one bulb in the living room:
Lights On Motion Plus to keep the one Gledopto 12W bulb to work. [RELEASE] Lights on Motion Plus (dim before off, remember individual bulb states, etc.)

I have set up the one in the master bedroom with the included Motion Lightning app.

Both are triggered with motion with the Xiaomi motion/lux sensor.

It is soo fun! When spending most time in the kitchen today, that living- and bedroom is off, to be able to walk to the bedroom and it all works like a charm. It turns on and without touching anything...
If motion in the living room is seen, it will stay on, but if no motion is seen in the living room, it dimmes for some time to warn you it will shut off, then move a little, it restores the previous state and stays on.
I am soo loving this stuff! :slight_smile:

But, while waiting for the IKEA TRÅDLØS adapters to control more stuff(Heater ovens++) I really wonder what others have been able to use for RS16 fitted dimmers that can work on their own, but also connect to HE?
Anyone tried some of the ELKO or other dimmers and thermostats for heating cables in the bathroom that is allowed in the Nordic/EU with a CE stamp on them?

Any good leads here?

I have so many dimmers, the old once with the wheel, I really want to integrate. Without changing whats dimmed by them today.

I do not want to get in trouble with insurance regarding using AliX stuff, that is not CE compliant for any of this functionality. When connecting stuff to 220V, it better have the right certifications, right?

Any help or tips is soooo appreciated!

RogerThat
Oslo, Norway

59

Nice, thanks for that tip! Did you have any luck with them?
I kinda want to keep the LAN attached devices to a minimum, but not tried any of the yet, so not sure how stable WiFi stuff is yet. Thought I would start out to try some Yeelight WiFi lamps first, just to get the feeling. For dimmers I think I prefer Zigbee/Z-wave, but have no idea if the assumption is correct, for now. Hmm...

I add this store to the wiki I just started here:

RogerThat

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61

Not so sure. For now I have no good argument to stand for that Z-Wave will make any revolution, have noen so far. I still think that a good Zigbee mesh is crutial, but that will also be the case for Zigbee, as far as i know. So for now, I really do not see any preference regarding either or.

I feel that the Fibaro stuff is a bit overpriced, even though they looki like great products, for now.
But where do you buy their products? From AliX, they are overpriced copies, I guess...?

It all adds up to save a few bucks on electricity, so the devices have to be able to pay for itselves within 6-12 months, in my head.
With the low powerbills we have, under €120 uro a month, I bet I will not make it anytime soon, if I like some cool stuff to play with as well.. Hahaha.

All this automation stuff, for now, have a higher cool/wow/hobby factor, than saving huge amounts of money on the bill, for many of us, right...? Hihi :rofl::joy: But we all know we have to pay something for the wow and fun factor., as far as I have seen so far in life... Hehe

RogerThat

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