Dipping my toes into home automation

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Hi Folks,

After a bit of prompting from my better looking half, I've just purchased a new Hubitat C7 hub, I'm a total newbie to home automation, so is there any prep I need to think about or be doing before the hub arrives in a week?

My home is a small 2 story house, I have decent Wifi cover throughout the house. I'm using a couple of Ubiquity Access Points, one upstairs and one down. I've created a separate VLAN which I intend to put all my IOT devices on (so I now have 2 VLANS) and I've Added MDNS to both to enable me to see devices such as my firestick and other MDNS enabled devices (works a treat), I can cast from my phone on my main VLAN to my TV and Firestick on the IOT VLAN.

No firewall rules on my main VLAN to my IOT VLAN so all's good so far.

Is there anything else I have to consider before my new hub arrives? The main thing my wife wants it to switch the lights off when no one is in the room, and the ability to switch the lights off if she forgets and is out of the home? No doubt she will want other things sorted at a later date.

Is there any products that you could suggest to help me accomplish this, any help greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Billy

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Well to start with HE utilizes Zigbee and Zwave (Z-Wave+ devices) protocols to communicate with its devices not wifi.

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Welcome to community.

Take a look at this list before you buy anything:

You go into detail about your WiFi setup but Hubitat's strength is not WiFi devices. There are a couple that work with Hubitat but many do not. Most WiFi devices rely on talking to the mother ship thru internet which is contrary to Hubitat's focus of working locally

Hubitat's strength is Zigbee & Zwave devices and it will be important to build a strong mesh for both as you add devices. There are good threads here about how to build both.

Finally, get ready to do a lot of searching this forum. Lots of us have had the problems you are about to experience. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

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This is no way to make friends here... :wink: Are you kidding me!? You were asked to buy a C7?!? LOL... Many of us have dragged our families kicking and screaming into home automation, suffering slings and arrows of doubt and mistrust, and you drop in and say that?! :smiley:

OK, now I like you again. :slight_smile: Same here - Unifi AP w/separate IoT VLAN and MDNS enabled for casting. OK, you're back on my Christmas list. :smiley:

For the basics and based on your layout and automation desires (trigger on motion, on door open/cose?) you'll need motion and contact sensors and smart dimmers/switches to control the existing lighting. It is best, IMHO, to start out staying w/existing lights in fixtures, and add smart switches to control them. As noted HE does not use Wi-Fi to communicate w/your smart devices.

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Thanks for the info, I'll do a bit of research on that.

I was more just painting a picture of what I currently have set up at home (nothing smart) and looking for a bit of guidance and direction on smart light and smart switches.

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As for devices...

Dimmers and Switches:

  • GE/JASCO/Honeywell. Different branding options for the same HW/FW. Honeywell is usually at the least expensive price point - no reason to pay more for the GE branded version. Generally available around $25-$30, Costco has them on regularly available in a two-pack for $49. Very reliable, don't have some of the fancier options available on some other brands. These are all I use and they have always just worked for me w/out issues.
  • Inovelli: Very innovative company, switches have a more options and ways to tweak their behavior. If you are thinking that you might want to move to colored lights in wall/ceiling fixtures at some point, they can be useful as you can set them to control smart lights directly. Lots of options.
  • Zooz: Also innovative, and like Inovelli has more options to tweak behavior. Good selection of different switch types.

General for motion and contact sensors - I prefer Zigbee motion/contact sensors - they tend to be a bit faster than Z-Wave counterpars, and most of us find our Zigbee sensors and Zigbee network needs less care and feeding than Z-Wave.

Contact sensors:

  • I only use Visonic - it's a small brand, hard to find now. Others will have advice on more common options.
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Thanks for the reply Stephen, I'll spend a bit of time on the forums and read some of the documents. Hopefully, I'll work something out by the time the hub arrives. :grin:

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I tend to waste money and try different brands and devices and then decide which i like the best and works the best over the long haul and get more of those.

for instance when i started there were not a lot of devices.. settled on ge switches and outlets.

eclink contact and motion sensors, (they were like the only one that had a setting to avoid animals setting it off, plus there batteries last like over a year). Their motions are slow to reset though and that is why batteries last.. when they go off they don't reset for 3 minutes.. if that is ok (it is for me as i use for delay light on/off anyway) than fine,, if not look elsewhere. the nyce ones are nice and fast responding, Just tried my first one but they are expensive and i am having issues with spotty temp reporting.

for temp/multi sensors went through quite a few that would not work inside my freezer and battery would last more than a couple of weeks. Unfortunately the st814's are no longer made..
The ecowitt weather station has nice wh31 sensors that can be bought for 12 bucks or so.

For dry relays have settled yet on one.. i have tried zooz and mimo and have had issues with each.

Colored lights: hues and the best especially when you can offload it to the hue hub and response iss still instant.. I am slowly replacing my sylvania/lightify lights with these and they start acting up and dropping off the net.. But there are really no replacements for the outdoor gardenspots that I have yet found (strips are not the same as bulbs that you can aim for instance at the house or bushes)

For water sensors i have jumped around and had issues with aeon and dome etc. with false alarms when batteries get low.. There i also settled on ecolink zwave plus as they have been most reliable.

same for water valves..the best if you can afford it (expensive) and pay for a plumber to install is one like water cop or leakgopher that don't have a moveable arm that turns your valve off and on.

I have gone through quite a few with the moveable arm models that stick part way or are just flakey.. Of those in my opinion dome is one of the best ones..

For plug in switches my favorite so far is the zooz zen06 but not sure they are made anymore or avail. They don't overload your mesh with events and are very strong repeaters in my opinion.

Another multisensor i like with a colored nightlight is the Homeseer HSM200

For garage openers after trying the go your own devices and integrated I like the gdz008 new zwave plus model.

For locks i recently converted all my locks from zwave to zigbee.. i use kwikset but others seem fine..Zigbee is much more reliable in my opinion. And i like the single key on the kwikset so we have one key between all our properties.

Repeaters: Aeon range extender 7, and ring v2. Put 2-3 on each floor of your house.

For zigbee switches I use the sylvania smart+ again i use as repeater.. A couple on each floor.

Get an aeon zstick to remove a failed join in a pinch.. Have it ready if needed already joined to your system and Zwave programmer installed.

Put hub centrally located in house if possible and immediately put in your repeaters/wired switches buiding out from the hub.

Of course these are just my experiences take it or leave it..

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@billy1

Motion sensors... don't forget them especially since you say your wife wants lights to go off after someone leaves the room, that is about the only way to do it.

What you are describing is totally doable, in fact, we haven't touched a light switch is well over 2 years and that is because lights come on via motion, time, mode... tons of options, tons of fun

Don't forget to automate the hot water recirculation pump, hot water within 3-4 mins of telling alexa you want hot water, no more wasting cold water to start the dishwasher or shower...

The skies the limit

This is the best community out there, I have had 3 different platforms and by far, this is the best

Welcome, enjoy and don't be afraid to ask for help

Rick

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Hi. Welcome to the home automation hobby/community/addiction. I've been "at it" for about 15 or so years now.

First, I think the Hubitat C7 is the best HA controller I've ever seen. In case you think about others, here's my experience with some: I used Homeseer for the first few years (loved it in the early PC days but later found their controllers less reliable), had a long stretch with the Universal Devices ISY devices (the 99 and then 994), which were rock-solid reliable but are really showing their age in terms of their user interface and ability to work on their own with third party and mobile devices). I dabbled with SmartThings in one building we owned, but the cloud was the weakness there. So, bottom line, I think you've made a great choice for the core of your system.

As others have noted, your wifi setup sounds great (I, too, keep all IOT on a separate VLAN and wifi network, just in case). But as others have also noted, wifi is not a good "carrier" for home automation devices, beyond just a tiny handful of them. I've tried them, and they'll work well for a few weeks, and then out of the blue, they don't. My preference is z-wave, which now works well. Buy only z-wave plus devices (there are still a few of the older, original, on-plus devices out there - avoid them if possible) and you will be happier as they work better. Brands don't seem to matter much, IMO, although I like Zooz if they make the device I need simply because they've given me no problems. Homeseer also makes decent devices for temp sensors.

The one thing I absolutely recommend is the Aeotec repeater. That made the single biggest difference in my systems (I have three buildings, each with a HE hub) in terms of reliability. My recommendation is that you buy a two-pack of those, and put them in even a smaller home, from day one. Ironically, Aeotec is the one brand of equipment I avoid for everything else (not a fan of their sensors although others love them). But those repeaters are amazing, and in my view, a great addition.

I don't yet use zigbee, but may experiment a bit in the future. A few devices that I need (e.g., a vibration sensor for a motor) appear to be available only in zigbee, so that may necessitate it.

Anyway, good luck, and enjoy. And hats off to having a partner that encourages you to buy things you might enjoy, and/or that improve your life. My wife just encouraged me to buy a $50K tractor (I don't have a farm), which I have to admit I just love. But she sees it as even more useful than the HA stuff!

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One decision you will need to make is whether to go with the less expensive Z-Wave or Zigbee light switches/dimmers, or the more expensive Lutron Caseta light switches/dimmers.

I think most people go with the Z-Wave or Zigbee switches/dimmers. But there are also many people on this forum who are huge supporters of the Lutron Caseta devices because they are about as close to rock solid as you can get. They rarely, if ever, fail to connect or lockup. They simply work as expected.

That said, Lutron Caseta is more expensive and requires a Caseta Pro 2 Bridge. Hubitat provides native integration for Caseta.

Another reason some choose Caseta is because of their Pico remotes. Picos can be totally integrated into Hubitat, and can control not only Caseta lights, but any other device connected to Hubitat. Pico costs about $20 and has a very, very long battery life. They can be mounted nicely and cleanly on the wall, without having to cut out the wall, or installed in a regular electrical box. There is also a nice pedestal accessory for tabletop use of Picos. You can also just Velcro them to a surface.

There are also Caseta in-wall fan controllers. And of course you can also use the Pico remote to control the fan as well.

Welcome to the Hubitat Community and good luck!

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Thanks for spending the time to reply, much appreciated. I'll add those to my list of things to look at.

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$14.99 on Amazon! :slight_smile: A steal at that. :slight_smile:

Amazon.com