HE Novice Home Automation Device, Sensor and Hub "A" List

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HE Novice Home Automation Device, Sensor and Hub "A" List.

I came up a list of "MY" home automation Device(s), Sensor(s) and Hubs that made my "A" list. (IMHO)
These products passed my high quality and reliability control testing and I bought them.
Disclaimer: Product and vendor names are stated.

#1 Hubitat Elevation Hub HE:
Need I say more ...
Local Homeowner Control with local data privacy.
Quality and reliable hardware and software. Rule-5.1 is my favorite.
Excellent product support along with a very active user community.
Zigbee and Z-Wave radios that support many quality and reliable products.

Sengled Smart LED - Zigbee Muti Color LED Bulb:
(On HE compatibility list)
All colors generated are "True" crisp, well-defined colors.

Zooz ZXE29 Z-Wave+ Outdoor Motion Sensor V2.0
(On HE compatibility list)
With a lux sensor (for security) and battery level indicator for easy maintenance.

Evalogik ZW97 Z-wave+ Smart Plug for Outdoors (2 channel)
(On HE compatibility list)
Has 2 internal timers for outdoor LED Flood Light Control Safety.

Seco-Larm Enforcer Retro-Reflected IR Photobeam Sensor E-931-S45RRQ
(NOT on HE compatibility list!) Integrating with HE was somewhat complicated.
Perimeter security - picks up stragglers on my sidewalk at nighttime
and blast them with a high power, football field, LED flood light.

YoLink Sensors and Devices
(NOT on HE compatibility list!) There are some sensors and devices that does not meet my high
quality and reliability standards, so I had to choose YoLink (closed system/cloud/server) for my outdoor PIR security, water leak and level sensors and refrigerator high temperature alert
and mailbox alert. Integrating these special "closed" sensors and devices with HE was no small feat. I just made a special LED annunciator that works with HE.
(Project Hubitat Elevation Christmas Tree Annunciator R1 - on this forum)

ZooZ Z-Wave Plus Universal Relay ZEN17 (contact and relay device)
(On HE compatibility list)
Used for "top secret" HE home security system.

Aeotec MultiSensor6
(On HE compatibility list)
Used for inside environmental detection.

There you have it - my HE Novice Home Automation Device, Sensor and Hub "A" List.
These devices, sensors and HE hub provided for the best home automation system "MY" money can buy!

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You don't see an inherent contradiction in these choices?

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Totally agree BUT "in the future - some say later this year" YoLink will have a "Local" hub just like HE. Since there are no devices and sensors from HE's "compatibility list" even comparable to the devices and sensors YoLink provides then my only choice is create multiple hubs until that time comes. I am trying gradually to find other sensors and devices to work under HE's umbrella but so far nothing beats LoRa, battery sensors and devices. :wink: IMHO

I might add about YoLink Control ...
YoLink Control is their unique device-to-device control technology. Using YoLink Control, YoLink
devices can be controlled without the Hub or an internet connection.
I am using Yolink devices and sensors with YoLink switches/outlets which is local control. :wink:

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If you like the multisensor 6 the 7's are a step forward again imho

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In the language of IoT device startups, “In the future” and “coming soon” oftentimes actually means “never.”

My internet service works very well but I still wouldn’t gamble on a cloud-dependent integration with a water leak sensor.

Which zigbee or z-wave devices didn’t make your cut?

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I'll believe it when I see it. Considering they could have added MQTT to their EXISTING hub, but chose not to, consider me skeptical. Hope they do, though.

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Especially these days, as they can just blame chip shortage/supply chain issues if they run into trouble... It is the "easy button" for all failures lately (whether germane or not).

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Justifiably so. Their existing hardware obviously has a TCP stack. No reason it couldn't run an MQTT client.

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If I can squeeze MQTT into any arduino or esp or LoRa device I have made, they can't tell me they didn't have room on their hub for it. I can't prove them wrong as I don't have their source code, but I simply do not believe it from a technical standpoint. Feels more like a marketing choice/money grab to sell new hubs.

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Point #1 actually means never" - You are 100% correct but, in the meantime, I have come up with hardware solutions in case the silicon valley hype does not come to fruition.

Point #2 "My internet service works very well but I still wouldn’t gamble on a cloud-dependent integration with a water leak sensor." - Since I never had a water leak in 34 years, at this homestead, then I am willing to take that gamble. Amazon AWS services provide the backbone for Yolink's servers!

Point #3 "Which zigbee or z-wave devices didn’t make your cut?"
I cannot be diplomatic with my answer - all of them. Since LoRa devices and sensors have a range of at least 1/4 mile and last for years on batteries what is not to like about that combination? Yolink LoRa devices and sensors ( over 30 of them) provided for me, in the last 2 years, 100% runtime with no hardware/device failures.

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Then why use Hubitat at all, since it doesn't integrate with those? This is sounding suspiciously like an ad for YoLink, lol.

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Not sure I agree with that logic. A single incident of a water leak could cause potentially catastrophic damage. In the nearly 40 years I’ve been living in houses, I’ve never had to evacuate because of a fire, but I still use smoke/CO detectors and used to change the batteries every six months (now I have ones with 10-year batteries).

For me, it comes down to the stakes of the event for which one wants to monitor. I have a Withings sleep pad integrated with Hubitat. It’s dependent on the cloud, but if it doesn’t work, no big deal.

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First - I do not work for YoLink/YoSmart PERIOD. No financial incentives given.
All I am stating is that, in my home automation system, sensors and devices that I found to be very reliable that worked for me. Please review the list I have provided at the topic beginning.
Using the Hubitat's HE hub provides not only an interface for wireless sensors but is also used for home lighting control, weather alerts, advanced security and even as a calendar event reminder!

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How are you integrating YoLink devices with Hubitat? Or are you referring to wireless sensors that are directly paired to Hubitat?

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Hardware solutions to integrate your Yolink devices with Hubitat? Locally? Not sure what you mean.

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All - Zigbee(3.0), Z-Wave+ and LoRa.
For LoRa, you really need to review my topic "Here's a cool thing I did" Project - Hubitat Christmas Tree Annunciator R1. I was able to bridge LoRa outlets/switches to HE.

Hint: From the project picture - I was able to bridge the most important and critical LoRa outlets with 110 AC relays then to ZooZ Z-Wave Plus Universal Relay ZEN17 (contact and relay device) so the HE hub can read them. (Read only) It's a very expensive bridge but it gives me a local hardware link from my critical LoRa devices to HE. :grinning:

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The burning question ...
Some would say "You could have chosen any HE Zigbee or Z-wave device or sensor from HE'S compatibility list! for your application."
I really need to ask, this community, what Zigbee or Z-wave sensor or device can you put into a closed refrigerator, with metal doors, and have it periodically send temperature and humidity data back to the end user and be reliable?

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The community would indicate there are several. @jtmpush18 is currently doing a longevity test and review of half a dozen or so.

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I use Ecowitt sensors for temp and humidity throughout my house. They run on 915 MHz in the US, and with their WiFi bridge I can send data locally to HE thanks to work from community developers.

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Do they work in the refrigerator?