Me too
Me too
Mee too. The combination of HE's apps, in particular Rule Machine plus HA's dashboards are a formidable force.
I have to say that I don't really understand HA too well and find it difficult as a non Teccy. The forums are more complex in their tech jargon. However the HE Forums have been exceptionally easy to understand plus the users and staff are soooo accomodating and have taken me to great heights.
Well done HE, rule machine knocks spots off anything HA can offer IMHO!
I think size of the HA universe makes it challenging. Also the environment is changing quickly
I think working in the HA GUI as much as possible is a good way to start and you can make simple YAML changes right in the GUI.
I love what I was able to do with my reolink cameras. The cameras are smart enough to distinguish between cars, people and pets and that shows up in the HA logbook.
In HA I created a dashboard with several of my reolink cameras and their corresponding logbook cards.
Makes it easy to find interesting events. I then jump over to my reolink app and playback.
No coding necessary
I have a coding background and the coding environment in HA is powerful but YAML is different so it will take some time.
I am using HA to monitor my system health which now includes Hubitat devices
Internet speed (coded a template sensor, the code is in configuration.yaml)
Wi-Fi signal strength (use entities/properties primarily from my Kasa devices positioned around my house)
Battery life
I’ve been a long time HE user (since C3). Just got a C8 Pro.
I’ve setup Home Assistant as a VM on my Synology NAS and setup the HACS-Hubitat Maker API solution.
I use only zigbee devices (my wifi devices use HA discovery), and a big chunk of my lights are Hue so they run through the Hue bridge.
I have quite a few Aqara devices, my most recent one being Roller Shade device for which there is no native support. I have found a user app though, but this is my frustration. I don’t want to rely on ensuring the device is on the HE list or has a user supported driver.
My issue is that I need to always find a driver to expose the devices to HA.
Is there any way to have the devices just ‘pass through’ like I’m just using HE as a zigbee stick? Is seems these devices are more readily found/supported on HA.
Or am I looking at this wrong?
I have a Conbee2 stick integrated in HA and it works but it is in the server cabinet so not ideal but potentially solves my issue. However my HE hub can be placed centrally in my home and the hardware seems great.
I’m loathe to dump HE but I can’t see myself always looking for hacks to get devices working.
Have I missed a way to make this work?
Yes, but you have to look for the Hubitat integration in HACS in HA to send HE devices to HA. You will have to add repository in HACS.
https://github.com/jason0x43/hacs-hubitat
Go back to Post#6 and there are multiple posts discussing it throughout this thread. I believe there is a thread dedicated to that integration as well but I don't have a link to it.
If you want to go other direction, there is a great Home Assistant Device Bridge Hubitat community integration to bring HA devices into HE.
Is there a dark mode... 
Stephen,
I am running the HACS solution. Sorry if that was not clear.
I can make the devices appear in HA if I can get the driver for the device.
The problem is that I constantly need to find the drivers and it's quite hit & miss.
I feel that the zigbee devices in HA have been better represented (natively).
Perhaps I will run a few different zigbee networks, one in HE, and one with another zigbee stick like the ConBee II which then will allow devices that do not have drivers in HE to be registered diretly in HA, hopefully with a robust enough mesh given the positioning issues I have for the stick.
My plan is to use HA for rules (in the main)
I find Rule Machine in HE far superior
There are network connected Zigbee controllers that work with Home Assistant, if you really need to centrally locate the Zigbee controller.
For example
https://tubeszb.com/
Wow. That is not a statement we are used to.
No kidding, lol. As someone that has run HA for years, I still say the rules development is the worst part of it (in my opinion). Blueprints helped, but it's still a pain.
Each to their own, though, of course!
Well, to be honest, I don't have too many things that need too many rules.
Just a lot of grouped lights being turned on/off.
I suspect as I start to get a few more motion/open/close sensors functioning, more events will require triggers etc. I did like the rules engine in HE when I set them up years ago.
The HACS solution was perfect for me because my Zigbee, Z-Wave devices on Hubitat have been working for years. So not having to move them all to HA was great. But if you are setting devices up for the first time it may make sense to use HA.
Hubitat can be tricky getting the driver code and corresponding integration apps installed. Hubitat Package Manager (HPM) helps a lot.
I like Kasa / TP-Link devices but in the beginning I had some challenges getting them to work with HE. I now have a half dozen Kasa HS200s and a couple of HS220s. I recently I bought a new HS200 wall switch to control an outside front garage light. I had used a smart bulb for years and it was still working but the Wi-Fi signal was a little weak and Amazon was selling the HS200 on sale for $10.99 so I figured easy. Imagine my surprise after installing and assigning a static IP when I run the Kasa integration app in Hubitat and the device is not found. Meanwhile I had only had HA up and running a few days and it discovered the new TP-Link switch no problem. Searching the Hubitat community I did find the solution: The firmware on the HS200 had changed so I needed to install a new driver and new integration app.
That being said I think Hubitat is a great solution especially when it comes to getting started with a platform / hardware solution and creating automations.
I run HA in an Oracle VM running on a Windows desktop. It was very interesting getting the software installed and getting Zigbee and Z-Wave dongles working.
Definitely not plug and play
Download the Hubitat app
