Hubitat for AUS/NZ Chat

Can't hurt to try it out mate I assume it's using a TuyaMCU inside, You'll need to convert to Tasmota but that's easy enough. Once that's done you'll be able to request support from here.

haha but the Shelly dimmer is on WiFi too. What's wrong with WiFi? :stuck_out_tongue:

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My bloody WiFi router has just locked up ! :sleepy:

Sounds like you need some Ubiquiti gear then :wink:

I've been using the native Tasmota firmware with my various plugs and lights. Working fine so far. Are you using the custom HE firmware? Any advantage?

Meaning you will continue supporting it?

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Yep running custom HE firmware and specific drivers. If your using things like bulbs, power meters and sensors then its important for stability and functionality. I'd check out that forum and start cutting your stuff over as @markus offers great support.

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Thanks guys for the dimmer suggestions. Regarding the Shelly dimmers, I don't understand how they would be different to the Aeotec ones. They don't seem to have more inputs, at least not three inputs for on/off, dim up, dim down. Am I missing something else?

I did just come across this rotary ZigBee dimmer from Aurora. Looks good, and no neutral required. Not sure if certified for Australia though.
https://aone.auroralighting.com/ProductDetails/AU-A1ZB2WDM

I just re-read your original question. I think the actual answer is there is no such dimmer device with discrete inputs, at least to my knowledge. You are right in that the Shelly operates similarly to your Aeotec ones, using a single push button to control on/off/dimming. Given the Shelly and other Tuya based devices can have cfw like Tasmota flashed to them, it may be possible to control on/off/dimming from a separate set of buttons in software rather than physical buttons (research required) but you'd still be relying on the hub in that case.

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Aurora list that they have distribution In AU but I pinged them about 6 months back but never got any replies.
Pity because they seem to have some good products.

I just read about this little guy from Sonoff. Looks like it supports RF too. Starting to disappear down the rabbit hole but RF support means it will support different RF signals for on/off/dimming so you could rig something up using a Broadlink RM or Sonoff RF bridge. Just a thought.

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I do hope others can help with the support as well, otherwise there will be no new things written :stuck_out_tongue:

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Don't worry I had linked to you and your community for support earlier on, I definitely wasn't implying that you would do all the work :rofl::joy: . You do great work though and we definitely all appreciate it. :call_me_hand:

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I know, I know, I'm just trying to hint (not very subtly) that I need more help supporting so I can develop more :wink:

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I will try and pickup more questioning in your thread then if I am able. Also happy to put together more how to guides too. Anyways lets collaborate on this over PM.

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Hi All,

I'm a sparkie, building a new house for myself.

My question is if you had a blank canvas, what would you do. Where in the house do you wish you had power and or comms cable. What devices are you considering changing, ie GPO's, or I wish I brought this type of door as it has a sensor build in. Or get this type of sensor as it does temp, hum and smoke.

Any tips and reading suggestions are welcome.

And, what I want to do is ... everything really.

Thanks in advance.
Justin

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I'd say that you should make sure you have power and CAT cables in your ceiling spaces so that you can power devices like sensors and POE for cameras if you need them. Especially to the outside wall spaces for camera mounting.

Build a centrally located (well vented) comms cabinet as well, so that you can build a solid mesh out from there.

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I just went through this with our house which completed end of Nov 2019. At a high-level what I installed is the following:

  • Zigbee switches (1, 2, 3gang, 1gang dimmers) throughout the home to build a solid mesh.
  • Comms rack deployed in the garage with Ubiquiti networking, Reolink CCTV and decent sized UPS to protect everything including POE equipment.
  • Ubiquiti in-wall-HD access points deployed at either end of the house running of PoE from comms rack. The best part about these is you also then get 5 usable network ports in these locations too which can be configured to unique VLAN's per port.
  • CAT cable to wherever you want security cameras, all running off POE and UPS back to the comms rack.
  • CAT cable to dashboards I initially had 2 but found I only used the centrally located one. However the other POE port is now used for security keypad to arm/disarm the alarm system.
  • Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet with makesbymike mount and POE kit. I also run FullKioskBrowser on this to lock it down as a kiosk only showing the Sharptools dashboard.
  • Bondhome.io hub used to control my RF DC ceiling fans and RF Somfy battery powered shades.
  • Bulbs, smart plugs etc I have mostly Brilliant brand stuff sold from Officeworks and flashed with Tasmota.
  • Motion, contact, temp, buttons and water sensors I went with majority Xiaomi and "some" Samsung Smartthings or Philips Hue so I didn't need to go to crazy deploying CAT cable everywhere to power these devices. Note, Xiaomi sensors can be really good however you definitely need to plan accordingly.
  • Mains water valve I built and deployed this.
  • Garage door opener I built and deployed using HubDuino see here.
  • Shelly Alarm that I built and deployed see here. Don't forget to run CAT for POE out to here too.

Outside this i'd just make sure you have plenty of GPO's everywhere including one's with USB charging ability, I find you can never really have enough sockets for stuff. I found these USB GPOs to be great and I have 11 of them scattered throughout my home.

I am sure I missed some stuff somewhere but that should guide you with feedback from others. Good luck with your build!

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Pull in a Catx cable to every power point location. Just in case.
Some location might require dual Cat cables e.g. TV's, if you want to stream and control them but this will depend on the TV's you choose. e.g. you might want to put AppleTV at each TV location.
The only RF cable I'd run in would be Antenna to the Comms cabinet, I'd avoid any form of RF TV distribution throughout the house as everything can and should be streamed now.

Define where you'd like Smart lights (Dimmers + Colour changeable but trickier to have manual On/Off) versus Smart light Switches (dimmers) + dumb Lights (much easier to have manual wall control)
With Smart Light globes, they need to be powered the whole time - so that they can be "smart". Turning power OFF via a physical wall switch is not good practice !
With wall mounted dimmers, they're used with dumb light globes and simply control them.

There's no problem mixing the two "topologies / types" within your house but just note that you shouldn't connect smart globes with external dimmers.
At least that's what I've found.

e.g.
I've used Smart light globes in "ambient" or "highlighting" areas which are not critical to family use.
I've used (Z-Wave) Wall Dimmers and Switches in areas more traditional like general room lighting, fans etc.

This has worked well for me allowing a familiar manual control over main lighting tasks whilst also allowing completely hands off, automation based on motion. (Iris V2 Zigbee motion sensors)

I'm no fan of the cheap Xiaomi sensors due to their high TOC, just search these forums.

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Does anyone else feel that these 1400+ post threads are a little unwieldy and that the topic of a country is a little too broad?

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