Wow, firstly, my mind is absolutely blown and I'm holding my hands up and saying I. AM. LOST.
Z-Wave, Zigbee, Wifi, cloud, local and about 3 days of 24-hour research. Somehow I've landed here at Hubitat and I need some guidance.
I'm renting a large 14 bed (1x 3 bed flat, 1 x 4-bed annex, 1 x studio, 6 x Bedrooms with en-suits) - We want to automate the guest experience as much as possible.
Thermostat - Nest - To go to vacant mode at checkout time or if gaps between guests, to be controlled by guest per room (heating zones) but capped. Lock - Yale - Generate pin numbers per booking and delete on time of checkout Noise & air - Minut - To alert when noise goes above db reading and make sure no-one is smoking Hub - Honestly I was looking at Smart things but them stumbled across Hubitat
I thought I had a solution mapped out but then started getting really confused and this is something I really need to get right or life will be an absolute nightmare.
This will then be backed up by software like Guesty.
Is there anyone who can help point me in the right direction or offer some consulting service as a one-off to help build out this solution?
Nest doesn't really have any direct integration yet. They are working on a community driver with the new google API. Nest in general isn't a great thermostat, more out there that are better. The other issue is it's cloud based, so any automations you have with it will require your internet connection. If something happens to your internet connection, that automation will stop dead in it's tracks. Not to mention speed. Best stay away from wifi and any cloud based automations..
Lock... Is it zigbee or z-wave? Lock Code manager can do what you want.
Any smoke detector with an ECOLINK firefighter should do...
There are z-wave and zigbee noise detectors. Not sure if they can be used for what you want...
I can't offer too much apart from some relatively general advice, but hopefully helpful... Given the size of the property I would suggest being mindful of researching the products you plan to use, and even then, only buying a small number to start with for those items that you need to buy lots of, such as lighting, etc. This gives you a chance to test their effectiveness in your property, see how they behave with your home automation setup and iron out any kinks that may come from the product choice.
This forum is your friend as well, so you have made the right decision in posting here, continue that trend. (yes this is Alec's firs post, statisticians please don't comment... )
AFAIK these don't exist commercially to do what you want as you basically want an SPL meter with threshold triggers. You'll need to build one or have one built - see here for an example Sound level sensor?
Probably doable using a PM2.5 particulate sensor - something like the Ecowitt weather system with only the indoor PM2.5 sensor (@sburke781 has kindly taken over stewardship of the drivers for this). But this will detect all forms of smoke particles (cigarette or otherwise) so may not be useful in or near a kitchen
A standard smoke detector (smart or otherwise) sensor is unlikely to be sensitive enough. There are dedicated cigarette smoke alarms but not sure if any of these are "smart", they are usually for commercial properties (eg for use in toilets).
Are there any "smartt" air purifiers that may be able to help in this respect? I know my Philips purifier / dehumidifier tells me when I'm pumping too much olive oil into the bloodstream while I'm cooking, maybe similar devices can detect other impurities in the air... My EcoWitt weather station doesn't care...
It's a DE5205 purifier / dehumidifer which, according to local outlets does appear to have a PM2.5 filter. I have some replacement HEPA filters also sitting in the lounge room to put into the two I have in the living / bedrooms.
To try and wrap up the purifier / dehumidifier conversation, the lesson here for me / @alecpiercy0117 is that this product did not accept any outside input in terms of control. Turning power on to the device does not turn it on and set the device back to the settings it was last running under, so even a smart outlet was not an option to turn it on and off based on logic in the HE hub. When I went to get a dehumidifier for my garage I chose a local manufacturers product that did resume with the previous settings when power was resumed, allowing me to turn a Kasa plug on and off based on a humidity reading from a sensor in the garage. Like I said, start small with each technology choice....
I would over due the smoke detectors (one in each room) and that quickly stops the smoking. You can buy the Z-wave connect ones and you will know if one goes off.
Hubitat is a great hub because everything works locally. It is worth the effort to learn it.
I would agree with you on Nest. I was a big Nest guy way back but now I have been replacing them and will not buy one. Something that integrates is the best.
So that's a no-go for the Nest and it seems people agree so who am I to say otherwise, I also agree as I was researching I did think "what on earth happens if the wifi goes down?!"
Pre-cursor all of my replies with - I don't know how to tell if someone if Zigbee or Z-Wave without googling "brand name Z-Wave" which never produces a good result.
Thermostat - Do you have any recommendations for a smart thermostat that isn't wifi or cloud?
Lock - " Yale Assure Lock Touchscreen, Wi-Fi Smart Lock - Works with the Yale Access App, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, HomeKit, Phillips Hue and Samsung SmartThings, Satin Nickel"
Noise detector I was going to purchase was the Minut - You'll see that this is a pretty awesome noise detector and does much more than this.
Maybe using the thermostat, locks and smoke detector on a local Z-Wave or Zigbee and then everything else can go through the wifi.
With a Hubitat involved, the Honeywell T6 Z-Wave( works well with batteries). Without a hub, I would go with the Honeywell T5 WIFI smart thermostat (requires a C wire).
)
